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#265065 - 12/09/2005 20:13 Fscking brain dead sheep
andym
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4236676.stm

This further reinforces my theory that everyone in the UK (with the exception of those who read this wonderful BBS and their immediate family) is fscking stupid. What annoys me even further is that I genuinely have to fill as I coasted back from Liverpool Airport tonight on fumes whereas some c*ck in a land cruiser just tops his tank up 'just in case', multiply this by every fscking tw*t in the country which results in a 'fuel crisis' and the lobbyists haven't even done anything yet.

Or maybe it's because I've been up since 3AM and have spent the entire day trudging round IBC in Amsterdam.
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#265066 - 12/09/2005 20:24 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
CrackersMcCheese
pooh-bah

Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
Tell me about it. My local Tesco station was queued for a couple of hundred yards. I go through about £30 of petrol a week so not too bad but I need the car for work so what annoys me more is the grannies in their micras topping up the tank. They'll never use it all and they'll be sitting with a full tank when this protest is going on while those who need petrol will suffer cos everyone has panick-bought. Hissss!

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#265067 - 12/09/2005 20:24 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
I hear you...

I had to pay £1.03 a litre for Super Unleaded today and had to search around for a garage that didn't have a crazy queue. The stupidest thing about it is that the guys "organising" the protest have stated that they won't be blockading the refineries anyway.
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#265068 - 12/09/2005 21:58 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
g_attrill
old hand

Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
The thing that annoys me is that the BBC changed that story during the day.

Late morning I read this article on Sky News:

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13436119,00.html
PETROL PANIC BUYING
Motorists have been told to keep calm amid a spate of panic-buying as fuel protesters threatened a week of blockades and go-slows.

Then I went for lunch, passing a petrol queue thirty cars long, got back then read the article posted above appeared, but with completely different text which I unfortunately don't have a copy of, basically it was saying "no signs of panic buying"!

Anyway, my tank takes £65 and I brimmed it last week the day after the protests were announced. Worst comes the worst I could work from home pretty easily, in fact I could do that permanently if I had some neat Asterisk > SIP phone redirection stuff going on.....

Gareth

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#265069 - 12/09/2005 22:24 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
msaeger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 3608
Loc: Minnetonka, MN
How many protesters are there that people are worried about not being able to buy gas ? How would people protesting prevent you from getting gas anyway ?
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#265070 - 12/09/2005 22:41 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: msaeger]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
Last time this happened in the UK The protestors simply blocked the exits to the various oil refineries and gas distribution hubs around the country. They did a very effective job of stopping gas getting to the gas stations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_fuel_protest


Edited by andy (12/09/2005 22:51)
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#265071 - 12/09/2005 23:00 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andy]
g_attrill
old hand

Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
Rumour has it that all police leave is cancelled and the major oil terminals will be tightly controlled by police, however I doubt this possibility has p

I can't imagine that the gov't will let anything like last time happen again, which either means it will be:

a) A damp squib - bit of argy bargy and they go home, possibly a go-slow or two

b) Major confrontations with the police, blockades *outside* the cordons (causing even more havoc)

c) Same as last time.

Given the rumours of petrol rationing and no word from the gov't on what they are planning to do then I have no idea which of the above will happen.

There will be serious panic buying tomorrow for sure, whatever happens! Apparently some cities up north are already dry.

Gareth

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#265072 - 13/09/2005 02:30 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: g_attrill]
FireFox31
pooh-bah

Registered: 19/09/2002
Posts: 2494
Loc: East Coast, USA
<rant>
Isn't it fun to look at the world through the "Mad Max glasses" of gas deprevation? Go ahead world, keep on filling those Hummers and racing Nascar/Indy/F1. Sure, there's plenty of gas for more important uses like the military and emergency vehicles. And if not, a fire truck can run off batteries and an F15 can run off solar panels, right?

(damn wasteful Americans and SUVs and car racing with their wasteful aircraft "fly by's". i can't wait till the world runs out of crude oil and we'll all be putting along in our hydro-, solar-, or vegetable-oil powered cars.)
</rant>
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#265073 - 13/09/2005 03:36 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: FireFox31]
hybrid8
carpal tunnel

Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
US military is one of the biggest petrol wasters. Besides, there's plenty of crude in Iraq to refine and power the US' military might. And conveniently much of that armament is already in the middle East and Iraq proper.

I'm sure Bush et al. are rubbing their little grubby hands together smiling their biggest grins. Don't worry, they'll make sure the gasoline flows. But it's going to be at prices you're not going to like - but they'll make sure you have to pay.

Bruno
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#265074 - 13/09/2005 04:39 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
Cris
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
Same here in Leeds !!!

One Esso dropped the price from 95.9p to 90.9p mid afternoon, and that instantly sparked panic buying, I wouldn'd have minded but I wanted to stop there, but not for petrol, but couldn't get anywhere near the place.

People in this country really do need to sort themselves out !!!

Cheers

Cris.

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#265075 - 13/09/2005 05:42 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: Cris]
frog51
pooh-bah

Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
Haven't seen any signs of panic buying up here yet. Realistically I have to fill my car every two days or so anyway, and with SuperUnleaded at £1.11 now it is getting less fun...especially as from next year our company allowance drops from 40p a mile to 13p a mile.

Maybe the Prodrive Performance Pack was not such a good idea
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#265076 - 13/09/2005 07:34 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
g_attrill
old hand

Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
Also there appears to be a media blackout. This appears to be a busy forum and there is rumours about a media blackout, or "soft pedal" at least. For example many cities are "dry", definate panic buying at the local station on the way to work but look at the BBC news or Sky news front pages and you wouldn't know anything about it!

Gareth

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#265077 - 13/09/2005 08:15 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
JeffS
carpal tunnel

Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2858
Loc: Atlanta, GA
In Atlanta we had fuel problems right after Katrina hit. The governor of GA said not to panic and not to top off. He said that gas supply wouldn't be a problem.

Well, he was wrong. Two days later half the stations were out of gas and my wife and I almost ran out looking for a gas station. We were driving across the city and had to try 8 different stations before we found one with gas, and we were running on fumes when we did. We'd have been better off if we paniced and got gas when it was still available. , ,
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#265078 - 13/09/2005 09:57 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: JeffS]
andym
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
All that says to me is that you're buggered if you do, and you're buggered if you don't. At least you can rest assured you didn't give in to idiocy.

To add insult to injury it looks like we might have to call off our holiday we were due to take this weekend to Newquay as it's unlikely we'll be able to get the petrol to get down there and back.

EDIT: On second thoughts you're problem isn't the same as ours, the government and the protesters have said there aren't any problems with the supply of fuel it's just people being stupid.


Edited by andym (13/09/2005 09:58)
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Andy M

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#265079 - 13/09/2005 12:14 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
furtive
old hand

Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
I can't wait until the weekend. I don't use my cars during the week and both have a full tank.

Driving was bliss back in 2000 when we had the last protests
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#265080 - 13/09/2005 13:46 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
People around here seem to be being a little more sensible today.

I took my camera with me when I went out to buy cat food, with the idea of documenting the silliness. I was surprised to find that all but one of the local garages had fairly normal sized queues.

The only garage with a silly queue was the local Shell. Now I know why I prefer Shell (I try to only use Shell Optimax in the Scooby and MX5), but I don't know why only Shell had a big queue.

Guess which garage I spotted a press photographer outside ? Yep, he was there at the Shell carefully positioned to get shots maximising the length of the queue

I didn't take any shots in the end, left him to it.

Unless something goes wrong tomorrow (like some other group of idiots join in the protest) I don't get the feeling we are going to have the problems of last time. I think your holiday is safe Andy...
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#265081 - 13/09/2005 13:48 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: furtive]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
Quote:
I can't wait until the weekend. I don't use my cars during the week and both have a full tank.

Driving was bliss back in 2000 when we had the last protests


My best driving day ever was the day of Diana's funeral. It was the day I picked up my MX5 from the dealer (the first car I ever owned). The roads really were the emptiest I have ever seen them.
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#265082 - 13/09/2005 13:57 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: g_attrill]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
Quote:
Also there appears to be a media blackout. This appears to be a busy forum and there is rumours about a media blackout, or "soft pedal" at least.


I'm personally very pleased that the BBC aren't going overboard on the story. My experience today with the press photographer shows that it is very easy for a story like this to get spun and blown out of all proportion, which will of course lead to panic buying and a "real" story...

Anyway, the BBC coverage looks fairly balanced, it isn't as if they are denying some garages have run dry:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4241162.stm
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#265083 - 13/09/2005 16:20 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
Cris
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
All 4 of the Petrol Stations (Jet - Stanningley, Esso - Adel and Horsforth, Texeco - Ring Road) I passed on my way home around the Leeds Ring Road tonight had signs up saying "No Petrol, Pumps Closed". People were still filling up with Diesel though. The Shell's around here are still open, but there are people queueing onto the roads.

It's total madness if you ask me, I bet the stations aren't even dry and they are just doing a damage limitation exercise, which is just sparking more panic buying.

AndyM - How about going on the train ? I bet it is all ok by the weekend anyway.

Cheers

Cris.

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#265084 - 13/09/2005 17:58 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: Cris]
andym
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
I managed to stick 20 quid in this afternoon which was all I was allowed, but at a result I've now got a 3/4 full tank. The garage in question had no queue. I figure unless something happens tomorrow (blockades and the like) then things will be back to normal by the weekend and I'll be able to fill up on the way.
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Andy M

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#265085 - 13/09/2005 18:05 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: Cris]
andym
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
Quote:
How about going on the train ?


That made me curious, according to thetrainline.co.uk the cheapest return ticket for the two of us is £250 and the journey is 8 hours long and involves 4 changes, nice.
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Andy M

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#265086 - 13/09/2005 18:31 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
bonzi
pooh-bah

Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
Quote:
That made me curious, according to thetrainline.co.uk the cheapest return ticket for the two of us is £250 and the journey is 8 hours long and involves 4 changes, nice.

Yeah, that's what you get when you privatize railways to make them more efficient and cheaper...
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#265087 - 13/09/2005 18:39 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andym]
Cris
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
LOL That sounds like fun

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#265088 - 14/09/2005 06:30 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andy]
frog51
pooh-bah

Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
Went to a wedding the day of Diana's funeral - a four hour drive became a two hour drive! Filling up at a Shell garage last night was excellent - all normal pumps shut, and obviously most folks don't realise you can use Optimax instead of normal unleaded so those pumps were empty.

Got a good blatt in this morning as well
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#265089 - 14/09/2005 22:46 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andy]
FireFox31
pooh-bah

Registered: 19/09/2002
Posts: 2494
Loc: East Coast, USA
Why not start our own, excruciatingly more effective protest by taking public transportation to work? Possible, or impossible?

Using the train, my 1.5 hour, 64 mile round trip could be turned into a morning nap and much-needed evening reading time. I'd just need to bike 3 miles to my station and 7 urban-ish, heavy traffic miles to work (those are one way numbers). 20 miles a day... Would be nice in Fall and Spring... If I can bring my bike on the train, I just might try it.

<edit>Further math:
Let's guess 10 mph on the bike, 20 mile total biking daily, so that's 2 hours there.
Best-case train + bike total = 3 hours.
Best-case car total = 1.5 hours.
Best-case times using train+bike = leave home 7am -> work 8:32am, leave work 4:50pm -> home 6:24pm.

Cost for train+bike = $140 to $160/month, assuming use 4 days a week + $27/month drive 1 day a week.
Cost to drive = July/Aug05 $120/month, Sept05 $153/month

So, train+bike costs more and takes longer, yet gets me in shape biking 20 miles a day and forces me to do real work for 1 hour on the train AND saves gas!!
Clearly it would be easier to car pool with either of two co-workers who live somewhat nearby me. Instant 1/2 cost and fuel usage.
</edit>


Edited by FireFox31 (15/09/2005 00:42)
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#265090 - 14/09/2005 23:16 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: FireFox31]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
Quote:
Why not start our own, excruciatingly more effective protest by taking public transportation to work? Possible, or impossible?



If only.

When I work in the office I try to get there before 7am so I can leave nice and early. At that time of the morning it only takes me 40 minutes to drive the 38 miles (it can easily be a 2.5 hour drive during the "rush" "hour").

From my local station the earliest train is at 06:05, which would get me to the other end by 07:50. There isn't another train until 07:05, which means if the early train is cancelled I am left sitting at the station for another hour.

Because I wouldn't get to the office until after 08:00 I would have to then leave later. The earliest return train I could get would be 17:05, getting back to my home station at 18:49.

So I have the choice of driving and leaving the house at 06:00 and getting home before 16:00, or getting the trains and leaving the house at 05:40 to get home at 19:10. Ten hours vs. thirteen and an half.

No competition really, especially as I get the chance to have fun driving on fairly empty roads.

Thankfully I have been working at home for most of the last year, I've got a four month stint in the office coming up soon though.
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#265091 - 15/09/2005 12:46 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: FireFox31]
Roger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
Quote:
Why not start our own, excruciatingly more effective protest by taking public transportation to work? Possible, or impossible?


If I take the tube to work (I live in North London, work in West London), it takes about an hour on a good day, 1h20 on an average day, 2h30 on a bad day*. It costs me £5, and I have to share the tube with a few hundred other sweaty people. I have one change -- in Central London. If I leave a little earlier or later, it doesn't seem to make any appreciable difference to the time taken.

If I drive (11 miles on the North Circular), it takes a little over an hour at that time in the morning. If I leave earlier or later, it can take as little as 30 minutes. I get to sit by myself, in an air-conditioned car, listening to my empeg. I neither know, nor care, how much it costs.

If it weren't for the fact that, some days, I like to go out for a couple of beers after work (meaning that I don't drive home), I'd drive to work every day.

This week, however, I've been using the tube, so that I don't have to worry about petrol prices or queues: the car's sitting in my space at home with half a tank in it, and it's not going anywhere.

* on 7/7, I didn't actually manage to get to work -- and this was before the bombs went off.
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#265092 - 15/09/2005 12:46 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: andy]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Exactly. My 20 minute commute by car would turn into at least a 1 hour, 47 minute bus commute with two changes on two different bus lines.
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#265093 - 15/09/2005 12:50 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: wfaulk]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
If I took a contract in Central London then I would use the trains, as it would actually be quicker than driving. I don't take contracts in London for this reason (even though I could probably earn an extra $40 an hour).
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#265094 - 15/09/2005 13:58 Re: Fscking brain dead sheep [Re: FireFox31]
Ezekiel
pooh-bah

Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
No service/not possible. The only person I could car pool with is very punctual about arriving/leaving. While I'm punctual about arriving, I often work until 6 or 6:30 at night. Car ride: 55 minutes each way unless there's heavy snow or ice. No traffic to speak of.

-Zeke
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