The Pointless Page

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  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #1082

    Well done! laughing

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #1083

    The problem, David, is that over the years many threads were closed because of excessive reporting by some who did not like the topic of discussion and wanted it closed. This frustrated others who found the topic of discussion interesting. Not everybody finds it interesting to discuss mundane matters such as their washing and ironing!

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #1084

    There may be more rewarding jobs around, cariadon, but I'm happy with this job. I like the people that I work with because everyone gets on well with each other and are happy to work as a team and I get to meet the customers too, most of whom are nice.  My biggest problem is the cost of unleaded petrol. It is a problem that I'm getting resolved through the purchase of a car that runs on electric, so I no longer have to buy a fossil fuel that I can no longer afford from my drop money and tips!

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #1085

    Tell me about it! Ever since we first met, my wife and I have had to contend with visa problems. When we were in China, the problem was a Chinese visa for me. Now the problem is a UK visa for my wife!

    When we were in China, I was allowed a maximum stay of 180 days. When this expired, I was required to leave China for another country in order to renew. The nearest border was Hong Kong which was a huge, costly journey from Wuhan to Shenzhen. There are 3 border crossings from Shenzhen into Hong Kong, all of which have hordes of people queueing to get across. Amazingly, many of the them were school children whose parents obviously believed could get a better education in Hong Kong than China. It seems they would cross the border daily to commute to and from Hong Kong.

    The best time to cross the border was between midnight and 2 a.m. when there were less people, so much quicker!

    Often enough, the visa application, even using the fast process and paying the additional fee would take more than a day, necessitating an overnight stay in a hotel in Hong Kong, at £100 per night.

  • cariadon
    cariadon Forum Participant Posts: 861
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    edited January 2018 #1086

    How do you know why a thread is closed,  you assume it's because people wanted it closed when it could be because everything that could be said had been said.

    For you discussing washing and ironing is mundane, others might find discussing eating, shopping, commuting, loyalty points  children, grandchildren a pointless and mundane. We are all different in what we enjoy.

  • cariadon
    cariadon Forum Participant Posts: 861
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    edited January 2018 #1087

    Many people are finding it hard to travel to work whether by train, bus or car and are not able to change the situation as you are able,  So you are not alone with lengthy, costly traveling cost.

    More and more banks are closing, so for us it means a 30 mile round trip is we want to pay in money, only to find the bank full of machines not cashiers. Pointless complain because it's profit before customer service.

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #1088

    Thank you, R2B! 

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #1089

    Yes but the biggest issue, as far as I'm concerned is cost. I have worked a solution to that. By changing to an electric car, I can substantially reduce my costs.

    Every business has to look at costs to see if there is a lower cost way. Income doesn't just come from customers, it can be increased by reduction in costs. My biggest overhead was fuel, an overhead that can be eliminated through a change to electric.

    It stands to reason that if I am paying over £2500 a year on fuel, I would be £2500 a year better off with an electric car. That's like increasing my pay from £7.50 an hour to £10.83 per hour due to the drop money and tips being added to my overall pay instead of being spent on petrol!

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #1090

    Unfortunately, cariadon, the drop money doesn't go up everytime the price of petrol goes up, so that causes a shortfall. To stay afloat, it is essential to address this issue. Many businesses go bankrupt in situations where their outgoings exceed their incomings. It's like CY quoted about Mr. Macawber!

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,303 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #1091

    It stands to reason that if I am paying over £2500 a year on fuel, I would be £2500 a year better off with an electric car. That's like increasing my pay from £7.50 an hour to £10.83 per hour due to the drop money and tips being added to my overall pay instead of being spent on petrol!

    Only to be spent on the extra cost of buying the car, over and above keeping the present, one. It is not even benefiting the environment that much, as much  of your fuel will still be derived from fossil fuels,

    Pointless!!!

  • huskydog
    huskydog Club Member Posts: 5,460 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #1092

    "Every business has to look at costs to see if there is a lower cost way. Income doesn't just come from customers, it can be increased by reduction in costs. My biggest overhead was fuel, an overhead that can be eliminated through a change to electric."

     

    But Malc , you want other people to pay for the "fuel" for your EV, is that fair ??????

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited January 2018 #1093

    I have to agree Steve. Take a hit on trading in present car having paid VAT and suffered the highest bits of depreciation. Buy a new car that does not have suitable range for proposed winter usage with a gas guzzler as a second car, pay for extra gas over winter months. 

    I hardly see the situation as win - win. 

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited January 2018 #1094

    Let's not go there HD

  • huskydog
    huskydog Club Member Posts: 5,460 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #1095

    OK, i'll go back in my kennel wink

  • Yertiz
    Yertiz Forum Participant Posts: 324 ✭✭✭
    edited January 2018 #1096

    Hmm, that didn't last long then! undecided

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #1097

    That discussion was closed after it was agreed that EVs can be charged at no extra cost by plugging into a caravan three pin socket in the normal way that other appliances are plugged in. If the overall usage exceeded the 16 amp supply then the bollard would trip. It is NOT other people that are paying, HD. It is the user of the pitch that is paying up front when they pay their site fees that include EHU.

  • Yertiz
    Yertiz Forum Participant Posts: 324 ✭✭✭
    edited January 2018 #1098

    Is it "Groundhog Day" today?

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited January 2018 #1099

    Judging by your comment it might well be Yertiz  wink

  • Yertiz
    Yertiz Forum Participant Posts: 324 ✭✭✭
    edited January 2018 #1100

     Obviously so Easy T wink

  • cariadon
    cariadon Forum Participant Posts: 861
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    edited January 2018 #1101

    Pointless saying anything, but I would buy a new calculator as yours does not add up properly

  • huskydog
    huskydog Club Member Posts: 5,460 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #1102

    I'm thinking of converting my Vauxhall diesel van to battery , how many AA batterys would I need to do a 100 mile round trip ???undecidedinnocent

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #1103

    The present Smart car will not be kept by me, SteveL. It will be part exchanged for the new Electric version.

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited January 2018 #1104

  • Justus2
    Justus2 Forum Participant Posts: 897
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    edited January 2018 #1105

    You need a few of these wink

     

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #1106

    Well put it this way, HD. If you were staying at Baltic Wharf CMC site over Christmas and New Year for 21 nights at an average cost of £33 per night that included EHU. Do you really think that this is not enough payment to cover the cost of plugging in an Electric car to top up the battery charge? 

    Incidentally I didn't have an EV at the time but needed the EHU for other electric appliances in the caravan.

     

  • Yertiz
    Yertiz Forum Participant Posts: 324 ✭✭✭
    edited January 2018 #1107
  • cariadon
    cariadon Forum Participant Posts: 861
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    edited January 2018 #1108

    Every business has to look at costs to see if there is a lower cost way. Income doesn't just come from customers, it can be increased by reduction in costs. My biggest overhead was fuel, an overhead that can be eliminated through a change to electric.

     

    Are you the business owner then. Many workers are not in a position to change the situation, maybe they cannot afford to buy and run cars, have to travel by public transport at inflated prices, 5 days a week, so be grateful Malcolm that you have the means to changed.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited January 2018 #1109

     I have just read in the news ,that the take up of grants from the government to councils to part pay for EV charging points has had little uptake, and the local councils are saying why should we install the charging points which at some point is hoped to replace commercially operated fuel stations,  at a cost to our residents ,  the infrastruture and equipment they need,  should be down to the commercial sectors and then charged as appropriate by the companies as now with fossil fuel stations

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited January 2018 #1110

    local councils are saying why should we install the charging points which at some point is hoped to replace commercially operated fuel stations, at a cost to our residents

    I totally agree with this view. 

    I also read: 

    Ministers invited councils to bid for part of a £1.5million fund in 2017/18 but interest from town halls has been “extremely disappointing”.

    Just £150,000 has been allocated so far with two councils - Portsmouth and also Kensington and Chelsea - benefitting while the three other applications are still being assessed.

    The money that has been handed out is only enough to deliver approximately 110 chargepoints and bidding for the £1.5m is no longer open which means much of the funding is likely to be handed back to the Treasury.

     

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/01/12/government-scheme-fund-electric-car-charging-points-falls-flat/

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited January 2018 #1111

    That's a similar piece