16 Aug 2022

And Then A New Choice...

   As the TV ‘news’ cycle fearfest continues, I spotted yet another scary item this morning.
   Seems the number of folk getting evicted from their homes for non payment of council rent or privet rent or for other reasons, is sky rocketing. Very sad but the kicker, for me, was the mention of the number of folk who could even be facing prison for reasons. Thinking it through, could our ‘news’ cycles be unintentionally - or intentionally? - suggesting a new life choice?
   Think about that; living on government benefits has become a life choice for many over the years, right? But now it seems bennies aren’t enough to cover everyday expenses so wot to do? Homeless with winter approaching?  You know wot? Go ahead and lock me up. No  rent, rates, gas, lecky or water bills to pay, no laundry to fret about, just a roof, three hots, a cot and no need to even get a TV license.  Also included is the chance to learn new life skills; pocket picking, scamming, the list goes on.
   Comfy? Close to release day? Punch a warden in the puss to extend your stay. We will see. Man, the stuff my head makes up...
   Anyhoo, finally, for all TV lovers out there and following on from the last post, here’s an old tune that still works except for the vast increase in the number of channels out there with nothin’  on.

Quote;  Joyce Rachelle.

“Don't be afraid to make mistakes. But if you do, make new ones. Life is too short to make the wrong choice twice.”

6 comments:

Ripper said...

Mac,
"and no need to even get a TV license."

If you have one of those you're beyond help anyway. I woke up to that scam in 2006 and haven't had one since. I get a monthly love letter written in red ink, making threats but I'm still here. Also get the occasional visit when I've answered the goon's questions with "none of your business, now piss off". The key is, a complete lack of communication, tell them nothing and don't engage with the goons.

I'm hearing that things are so bad in Germany that the supermarkets are security tagging items like cheese, milk and meat. Not the expensive items like booze but food staples. Speaking of meat, have you seen that disgusting new ad for Birds Eye 'plant based' meat where the kid is trying to guilt trip the mother? I'm sure Birds Eye will sell loads that way.

There are no wood burners either so the Germans are on the edge this winter. Mine was started today, fireplace opened up, new pot/cowl on the chimney and flue installed. Phase 2 is on the 30th when the burner gets installed with the hearth. Meanwhile I'm bagging up all junk mail, sawdust and cardboard which will be used to make briquettes, along with all my wood offcuts. I may starve this winter but at least I'll be warm while I die.

Mac said...

Ripper,
Many still have a license, but fewer by the month I believe. Some still believe in - and fear - the detector vans...
Yes, I saw the German shops are having to tag food and I seem to remember, a while ago, a supermarket chain right here was considering tagging bread, milk an' such.
Can't do the wood burner. No fireplaces and no chimney. I guess ripped out many years ago. I guess we could light a bonfire just outside the door and put a portable fan just beyond to waft warm air into the house. Doubt we'd get away with that for long.

Ripper said...

Mac,

"Can't do the wood burner. No fireplaces and no chimney"

Sure you can, you don't need a fireplace or a chimney, the stove is free standing and sits on a porcelain or glass plinth, either in a corner or along a wall, like this..

https://media.stovesonline.co.uk/browser/PD1.0/acr-wychwood-stove-category-image.jpg

On a stone floor you don't even need the plinth..

https://media.stovesonline.co.uk/browser/PD1.0/woodpecker-wp4-category-image.jpg

For those who do have a chimney breast, check out the inset stoves. Just stunning.

https://img.archiexpo.com/images_ae/photo-g/132967-15242717.jpg

The flue runs through the nearest outside wall and up the side of the building, just like the soil stack from your crapper does. There's a lot of flue options, these stoves are equipped with both top and rear flue outlets, so if you don't like seeing the flue, the stove stands in a corner and the flue comes out the back and straight through the wall. I think the flue adds a bit of character myself, mine will show a couple of feet before it disappears up the chimney but some people have it running up the wall and to the outside in the ceiling space.

My stove will come with a fan to distribute the heat more evenly. The fans just sit on top of the stove and the rising heat from the stove makes them spin. The hotter the stove, the faster the fan goes. These are for any stove.

Its a 5kW multi fuel, so I can also burn smokeless coal in it, and its DEFRA exempt. Of course, I'll be bending the rules a bit but who's to know. In my case I'll be getting free heat from what I, and others would normally throw away. This whole venture has cost me £2,500 which according to the news will be 6 months of energy bills, so after 6 months its paid for itself then I'm in profit. What's not to like? Another factoid is, the stoves are manufactured only a few miles away.

Mac said...

Ripper,
I've never explored wood burners and your notes are news to me.
I may well explore the option further in view of your very useful comment. Thanks my friend - now get back to work, okay? That renovation aint going to do itself you know...

Ripper said...

Mac,
Its up to you buddy, but at least now you know the options available. Until I was 10 I lived in my gran's house, which had gas lighting, no electricity and was coal fired by a range which my gran cooked on. Clothes were washed in a galvanized tub with a dolly peg and manual mangle and the tin bath was kept up the back yard in the store shed next to the outside toilet. Both me and my brother lived on the streets for a couple of years when I was a teenager. This wood burner will be familiar to me and at least its real, unlike the monstrosity just removed. So I doubt very much whether Bojo and his crew of grifters can do anything to me that I haven't already suffered. There's always another way.

"now get back to work, okay? That renovation aint going to do itself you know..."

Errm.. note the time stamp on my last comment. That's when I've packed up, eaten and off to bed. Still partly in night shift mode but its getting better. Usually pack in by 9pm unless there's quiet work to do like painting.

Mac said...

Ripper,
I was lucky compared to you and so very many others, other than one of my pocket money tasks was mangling the washing.
We had so little did we not? No TV, the telephone was in a box way down the road, no central heating so you could scratch your name in your bedroom window upon waking, no car, no bike until saved for - took years - no to so much and we never cried. We had great childhoods exploring the world and learning by the bad knocks occasionally taken.
Now? Seems it's just a smartphone and unsocial muddier apps...
Advances? So many seem to me to be for nothing and are just devices to ensure your hand is continual clutched tightly.