h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I thought Teflon *was* PTFE...?

The sale of actual "leaded" petrol was banned by the EU as of Jan 1st this year.
Therefore it's probably "Lead Replacement Petrol"...which is pretty much the same stuff as super unleaded.

Polytetraflouroethylene???

OIC, that explains it thanks.
I will have a word with my parents.

I don't know if the cars have cats or not.

Before I start, I should say that I don't have a car. I walk/train to work down here in Surrey and have to say, the trains are great. So many of them actually going useful places. Buses services are crap though.
Anyway, my thoughts on this are that Blairy boy is going to let it go on a little more, perhaps through tomorrow, to let public opinion turn against the protestors when they can't get ot the shops etc. and then they will get the police to get more heavy handed and start moving people. They will also start leaning on the refineries to force their drivers to deliver and the petrol will start flowing again. They might even set up an investigation or something that will lead to a small concesion, at a sufficiently later date, to farmers, professional drivers (taxi's etc. rather than flash corporate gits) and rural types (with any luck) so that they can look magnanimous. Due to the "blockades" being a touch half hearted (to avoid being arrested straight off) this strikes me as the option most likely.
Also, I reckon that people are going to have to come to terms with this. This is the dawn of the twenty first century, the century when oil will run out, so I don't see how it is ever going to get much cheaper. It may have moments but this will only happen again.
Anyway, if you want to hate someone, have a go at the petrol station owners currently selling stuff at a couple of quid a litre. They are still delivering stuff round here (certainly last night) but that has not stopped people panic buying and the price rocketing. There will be some very happy people out there.
As to the tax question, Europe generally taxes higher than America, which is why we have health care, schools, pensions etc. So, what would you not spend that tax money on, to give you a couple of pence off? I believe it is costing France $600 odd million for their deal, and they are not out of the woods yet.

Well folks!
I am leaving work now to catch a bus home..........They may be running tomorrow, I don't know..
I do know I am going to be lucky to find a shop selling bread/milk etc,
so I may be here, but it looks like I will be hungry, thirsty and ANGRY

'G'

Munchkin - no-one would mind so much, but I have to ask, What Health Care? - Even cancer patients are now put on a waiting list until they become in-operable; the schools round her leave a lot to be desired and try speaking to someone surviving on a basic state pension. If we could see what the government was actually doing with the money, perhaps we wouldn't compalin so much. If it's costing France 600 million Dollars (?), it's not very much - barely half a Dome!!

It's amazing how quickly the country's been thrown into chaos, but that's precisely why the government mustn't give in. There may well be a good case for reform of fuel tax, but if this pressure group can cause chaos by picketing oil refineries then anyone can. Imagine if this had happened during the miners strike (which lasted a year and never caused anything like this level of problems). Imagine if we had blockades as often as France does.

I more or less agree with Munchkin's analysis (and I have the benefit of the TV news, which says the oil companies have now agreed to cross picket lines). People may think they support the protest, but they'll change their minds quickly when they can't get to work. A few days and we'd all be feeling the same as Mina. My employers have already announced that anyone who can't get in to work and can't work from home will have to take unpaid leave.

In my view, Blair's big mistake was in delaying the integrated transport strategy. Consultations were supposed to be launched soon after the last election, but Blair wouldn't put the legislation on the timetable. It's only starting now, three years later. If it had been launched even last year, there might be some hope of improved public transport in the near future, and maybe even some form of reform to fuel duties.

Lux

That's what I love about this site - we can consider all sides calmly while everyone else descends into blind chaos

On the contrary - I'm considering all sides calmly while *I* descend into chaos. I've been told the local bus company has enough fuel for another day or two.

Still, always look on the bright side, eh?

Crisis? What Crisis? Didn't everyone stockpile 400l of diesel or was it just me.

~Ha! and they laughed at me when I warned them about the millenium bug Muahahahah!!!~

*checks his stash of food, booze and ciggies*

Also no probs in Northern Ireland. Which surrises me I'd have thought any excuse to throw up a barricade but there you go.

Well, you can't make petrol bombs without petrol. Can you?

What are you implying?

Oh, nothing

Mina, if the car does have a CAT then you can take it off (or get a mechanic to do it) and run LRP, it won't pass it's next MOT unless you put it back on though

It will go faster with unleaded and no CAT anyway, but this is only legal on a 1991 H reg cars or earlier. others are required to have a CAT.

Shame it wasn't diesel 'cos I've got a load of that.

(HANDY BUT ILLEGAL TAX AVOIDING HINT - Fuel oil for heating is the same as diesel but a different colour. it is also taxed much less. you can run a car on this perfectly well but may face TAX evasion charges if caught by customs and Excise)

Gentlemen, why don't you all migrate to New Zealand. I run my 11-seater Mitsubishi van on LPG (natural gas). It costs the equivilant of UK 20p a litre. Unleaded petrol costs 40p a litre.

Expensive fuel costs (everywhere) pushes up the price of the goods being carried.

I've just seen a queue of ambulances. The petrol station round the corner has had the "no fuel" signs up since yesterday, but they have a secret supply of diesel which they're only selling to emergency services. Tonight there was a (short) queue of ambulances waiting to fill up.

This is getting silly.

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Someone told me that the Army are going in to shift the gits.
It started an argument in my house this evening about fuel and tax. I just want to be able to work!

Personally I'm fine with this crisis, as I just use my bike. Sure I'm only working in my town so I don't need to travel long distance but really surly people can adapt rather than just start complaining about this thing, of course I do understand the whole 'I work in London but live in Bristol' argumant. I'm just amazed at how pathetic we are not to be able to cope and say 'hay, we've got no fule so I'll get in a car with someone else so that were not wasting as much fule'.

I'd be really interested to see how many people in those cues for petrol were in a car on their own. It's stupid.

I'm probably not making sense so I'll shut up.

Nick