Gas Prices, Supply Issues and Collapsing Suppliers

[baargain]

This is insane.

[Topcat]

If this is the final nail in the coffin of the high street then surely city centre offices will follow.

The Telegraph are already pushing a back to work narrative again based on how much more it will cost to wfh with these inflated prices, the absolute tossers.

[Mountain Goat]

What will offices do if they find they're paying a fortune for heating but only three people are turning up, I wonder? Force people in? Close down offices?

[Topcat]

Mine is utterly ridiculous and has been since Covid. Five floors of city centre Georgian townhouse (so Grade 2 listed so difficult to make any improvements) with the huge ceilings and associated terrrible insulation and whenever I am in there, there maybe four others in at a maximum. We literally have an entire floor each.

I suspect that most archaic businesses that force people in will fail when their staff leave for a more modern thinking employer, I really hope that mine will get with the program although their track record on things like this really isn't great.

[Mountain Goat]

Maybe the closure of more city centre offices might be what finally convinces these fucking bastards to do something.

I hope yours does get with the programme.

ETA: clarification - in this particular post, "these fucking bastards" refers to the Tory party.

[Ella77]

If this is a clever ruse, I have no idea what the end-game is (other than the usual disaster capitalism).

[Topcat]

Thats all that you can hope, Goat. Once their property portoflios aren't full of renters and can't be sold then something may happen. Its my guess anyway.

I really hope that my mob get their heads around it too. Most of the board are onboard I think, its just a couple of 80's hangovers that still think a large presence in a city is in any way a good thing. It's not anymore.

The adjusted target for inflation in January is now 22% by the way, this is not sustainable.

[Bat Macdui]

My Manager was just telling us that the power bill took up a lot of SMT yesterday as its gone up 7-fold. We're a social enterprise and most of the money comes through public projects that we bid for two or three years ago that obviously didn't have contingency for that level of inflation in the budgets because if we'd put that in we wouldn't have won the work. Eeek.

[Lily]

It says a lot that I have no idea what SMT is. I still read it as Special Moon Time.

[Ella77]

Senior Management Team?

[George]

It’s Senior Management Team in my line of work.

I’ve just finally managed to online chat with British Gas about the fact that my smart meter hasn’t worked for ages. They claim to be able to fix it remotely if I gave them up to date readings, which sounds dodgy to me, but what can you do? It’s ancient, probably at least 12, and it hasn’t been plugged in for ages. I’d be amazed if it magically comes back to life at some point in the next two weeks, but that is apparently what will happen.

[Ella77]

I see the pound is in free-fall now. Where’s it all going to end?

[rosy]

Someone on the radio earlier today casually predicted 22% inflation in January.

[Kleio]

A local bakery has turned an upstairs room (above their ovens) into a large living room style space. They've said the ovens kick out so much heat the rooms are naturally warm so why not allow people to use them. They've put a kettle plus tea and coffee and a tv up there and have said they're free to use to anyone who needs them during the day.

How have we come to this?

[Epponnee Rae]

How have we come to this?

The fucking Tories is how. But I know you know that.

[Sky]

I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't all one big scheme to get everyone back into the office and out of the wfh mentality. If you can't afford to heat your home then of course you're going to go to work and use their heating instead.

I've also been considering an airfryer for time and I think this is the push I need to just effing do it. My oven is ancient and shit and already costs a fortune to run so there's no way I'll be using it later in the year.

[Disco]

I have rearranged my kitchen to bring out my combi convection oven, grill, microwave which was in the pantry working only as a microwave to cook petite pois.

I've been using it as an oven this week and will continue when I'm only using one shelf. I bring out the Instant Pot, DFF and griddle as and when required.

Also my water pipes do such a meandering route from the combi boiler to the taps, it takes weeks before the hot water comes through, so if I'm washing my hands it would take almost three sinkfuls before it became hot so it's always a tepid soapy handwash really. I might as well use the cold tap to stop the boiler firing up every time I put the hot tap on.

British Gas has still not replied to my email with screenshots but I note they have silently switched me to the fixed rate tariff and have extended it by two months. Naturally I took a screenshot in case they silently revoke it.

[Dutchie]

My BIL sent us a Whatsapp this week to say his fixed rate energy contract was coming to an end and from 1 Sept they would no longer be paying €172 but €583 a month! That comes to around 7 grand a year, 5 grand more than before, which they simply don't have. He's a plumber, she's a waitress - where are they meant to find a spare 5 grand?

[Ella77]

British Gas has still not replied to my email with screenshots but I note they have silently switched me to the fixed rate tariff and have extended it by two months. Naturally I took a screenshot in case they silently revoke it.

Bastards.

[Topcat]

Hello.

For anyone still circling airfryers, I bought one last Saturday and still haven't turned the oven on since. I guess it depends what you are cooking in it, but its been pretty brilliant for me so far.