The view from my window

The view from my window
The view from my window

Sunday 21 August 2022

That was nasty!!!!!

I've been offline again for a while because quite frankly there's not been much going on (well, not in my part of the world anyway). Oh apart from the exciting stuff like getting Jordan's US passport application sent off and his US taxes prepared (he is severely dyslexic so I'm happy to do it)! We'll see how long it takes to get his passport back and I'm not worried about being late for the IRS. He earns a pittance and at least he files, right! On Friday I kept Charlie for a few hours for him to do some running around and must have left around 5.30 p.m. - and that was when the heavens opened, the drought decided to end and the most awful storm hit out of nowhere. I'm usually quite level-headed but it was that nasty I was starting to get scared. Grey sky, sleeting grey rain, grey walls on both sides of the highway at the worst part where it was just single lane traffic. I thought briefly about stopping but then reckoned I'd get slammed by someone unable to see coming from behind, so I crawled along with my hazards on as slowly as I dared - and somehow made it out of there! But I just saw on the news that Paris, London and Spain (Menorca, I think) also got hammered, and of course where there are underground rail networks they are the first to get flooded! I haven't heard of anywhere else but I'm sure they can't have been the only places. I'm just glad I made it home all right!

La Roche held it's annual Blue Grass festival a few days ago and luckily the bad weather held off for that. The musicians come from all over the world and are so talented it's incredible! I believe it was originally only meant to be a one-time thing but it was such a success that it's now held every year and is very popular!

Another "roaring success" (depending on your point of view) would seem to be a grass roots scheme that has started up in the UK in protest at the massive increases in energy prices scheduled from October. As I understand it, energy prices were capped up until now but that cap will be increased horrendously come October - and all the while the energy companies are announcing record profits! I first heard about it from a US vlogger who described it as "Don't Pay UK", thinking that people were being told not to pay their bills. Turns out that's not the case at all - people are being encouraged to cancel their direct debits which allow the energy companies to debit whatever they like in the name of "estimated bills". One Scottish lady vlogged about a young man she worked with who had just bought his first place. The electricity company quoted him a direct debit amount of £56/month (if I remember correctly), then a few minutes later raised that to £86, then thirty minutes later to £150 and a few days later to £250/month!!! He was totally panicked so this lady told  him to cancel his direct debit and call his actual consumption in every month and pay that way. Now I have heard that the energy companies give a reduced rate for direct debits but those kinds of increases are just insane. As far as I know 108,000 people have so far followed suit and they are hoping to have a million people on board by October! Damn, what complete and utter madness! I think I read that Germany's electricity prices are going to go up by 23% and France's by just 4% (France kept it's nuclear power plants running), but to see these projected price hikes in the UK - well I think they could have a revolution on their hands soon!

But as I say, not much has been happening here and I haven't been going out much because it's still too hot, so I was at home this afternoon when the most God-awful argument broke out next door! Worse than anything I have heard in the 30+ years I've lived here. Their daughter was there (I presume come for lunch with her husband and daughter) and eventually got it calmed down enough for the wife to jump in her car and disappear for a few hours. Damn, that used to be us - we were the neighbourhood "entertainment" for so many years. I can tell you, I don't miss that at all but I feel desperately sorry for a couple who so obviously can't stand each other but yet are seemingly trapped together!

Finally, just because I spotted it this afternoon, I thought I'd post this Spike Milligan clip from years ago. It's making fun of the Irish - but then nobody does that better than the Irish themselves. I just love their sense of humour and Milligan was Anglo-Irish anyway, so no offence meant! Oddly enough years ago when I was young I didn't find him funny in the least and now, like so many things, I can see how clever he actually was. And a fitting story to remember him by - apparently he had "see, I told you I was ill" inscribed on his tombstone!

10 comments:

  1. The video was cute. I never do Direct Debit. I like to control when my money comes out of my account.

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    1. I pretty much have everything on direct debit but wouldn't hesitate to stop them if this kind of crap was happening! If I remember correctly the FIRST cap increase is around 54% and can then go up from there so it makes absolute sense to block the dd and put the money away yourself if needs be, doesn't it!

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  2. Those energy hikes are insane. That's my daughter's biggest wirry- the unknown bills. Sure, she had estimates, but they could be low. She's not running air, but needed a dehumidifier and water softener. She's. Good for Jordan getting the passport situation moving. I admit, DH gets on my nerves and vice versa, but we usually back off if that makes sense, when too much nerviness happens. Probably good the lady left for a while.

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    1. Initially I think the unknown bills are a worry too. They were even for me when I was retiring because I kept wondering what I had missed - nothing as it turned out, thankfully. But I think in the UK it's price gouging (one of the companies made over 100% profit last year) so I'm glad people are reacting. To be honest, they can't afford not too because electricity bills of over £5,000 per year would just be impossible to pay for many. And of course there are tensions in any marriage but their marriage (like mine at the end) is way beyond "tensions" unfortunately!

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  3. We encountered a thunderstorm a couple of days ago whilst driving. Nothing like as bad as yours by the sound of it, but it was certainly unnerving to drive in, especially when we haven’t experienced heavy rain for so long. Worst bit for us was when 2 dogs on leashes at the side of the road were suddenly spooked by the thunder crash and the owner who was totally drenched momentarily lost control!

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    1. Wow that would have been scary too! I forgot to mention the flooding but once I got through that it was uphill - so no flooding but avoiding the downed trees! I was just so grateful not to have the babe with me!

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  4. There is nothing worse than driving in a storm like that. It would have created a panic attack in me for sure.
    Why are the men in that clip wearing wigs? I don't understand that part of the humor.

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  5. It was awful - and I've driven through quite a few! As for the wigs - I have no idea. Maybe they were recognizable comedians from the time and they wanted to disguise them. Either way, Milligan was an insane law unto himself!

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  6. We have had lots of rain as well! Driving through the storms is the worst. I feel so sorry for your neighbour, trapped. My parents had nasty fights and a nasty marriage, I hope she can get out.

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    1. I suppose the prolonged heatwave was going to cause some nasty storms wasn't it. And I feel sorry for my neighbour too. That was us for so long but at least I had a good job and could get a divorce!

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