Post your thoughts (2021 Edition)

[Nineteenx]

Anyone got their revised energy bills? 200 quid a month! Going up 80 pounds.
NI rise in April, Council tax rise too.
No hols fir me and kids this year unless I get plenty of overtime.
Very worrying for some, my sister is very worried that she won't manage. She will be fine as my folks can help but I really feel for those who don't have support. How on earth do people manage who are already struggling.
This Govt are allowing this to happen too, the Russia Ukraine situation is a convenient distraction for them.

The Russia sanctions situation is making it even worse, it's pushing fuel prices even higher

There could be a serious issue with gas supply also, I read last night that almost all our gas is supplied by Norway, but in their agreement with the EU, if events occur that leave EU nations short, they have to stop our supply to make sure the EU has its

The Tories, as much as I loathe them didn't actually create this cost of living crisis all by themselves, it's the result of historic Tory and New Labour policy over the past 40 years, the cost of living crisis has been with us since the early 90's, because of the nature of the policy that creates it, it was always going to affect more people with each passing year affecting those first affected to greater extent each year

Policies on privatisation, housing, zero hours contracts and fiddling the inflation registers to get everyone working for less each year are the fundamental causes of the cost of living crisis

With the inflation register it has always been incredibly apparent to me that they are fiddled, the fiddle overall inflation for everything people need to present as artificially much lower than actual, and they fiddle wage inflation to present as much higher than actual

They're trying to tell us right now that inflation is at 5.5% Look at your bills, look at the essentials people need to live, food, electric, gas, fuel, rent/mortgage council tax, phone, internet, it's pertinently over 50% right now, it's been at least 5% every year for the past 40 years

I've been banging on about this for almost 40 years now and the dangers of the "I'm alright Jack attitude" I've continually said about the cost of living crisis and housing crisis that it will 'catch up' with and 'engulf' almost all the people who voted for more of the same time and time again because it wasn't affecting them

[Daffydd]

I daresay the Ukrainian crisis is a great excuse for every sector to raise their prices and blame it on Putin and the fog of war. Canned food was mentioned today.

[redebreck]

Fecking greedy energy companies are raising gas prices because the number of suppliers is being compromised (Russian suppliers being sanctioned).

[teesred]

Fecking greedy energy companies are raising gas prices because the number of suppliers is being compromised (Russian suppliers being sanctioned).

Imagine if this shithouse Govt had done the decent thing and not given carte blanche to raise prices upto 54%. They should have followed Frances lead, it should not be allowed when energy companies are making obscene profits but that's this Govt all over.
They do not give a fuck about working people and are literally taking the piss out of us daily.
The next election will be interesting. There's always the Tory voters who'll vote for them regardless but the middle group, the ones who are swayed in the weeks leading upto it are the ones who need to have the last few months etched into their minds. The sleaze,cronyism,parties,cost of living etc, that's before anyone mentions the word Brexit and how they have made a baboons arse of it.

The last 11 years of their legacy are a fucking stain on the country there isn't one thing they have improved.
Nobody in my opinion can justify this Govt, its the worst in our lifetime by a stretch. They are fucking abhorrent.

[Nineteenx]

Imagine if this shithouse Govt had done the decent thing and not given carte blanche to raise prices upto 54%. They should have followed Frances lead, it should not be allowed when energy companies are making obscene profits but that's this Govt all over.
They do not give a fuck about working people and are literally taking the piss out of us daily.
The next election will be interesting. There's always the Tory voters who'll vote for them regardless but the middle group, the ones who are swayed in the weeks leading upto it are the ones who need to have the last few months etched into their minds. The sleaze,cronyism,parties,cost of living etc, that's before anyone mentions the word Brexit and how they have made a baboons arse of it.

The last 11 years of their legacy are a fucking stain on the country there isn't one thing they have improved.
Nobody in my opinion can justify this Govt, its the worst in our lifetime by a stretch. They are fucking abhorrent.

It's all the govs over the past 40 years Tees, in my lifetime, since I was old enough to vote, we have only had the opportunity to elect one party, a Labour Party, when it was led by Corbyn, whatever people think of him, that is the only time in most of our lifetimes there was a party we could have elected that would represent normal working people and put and end to us all being ripped off -

But idiots who follow the medias Goldfish bowl politics who've never bothered to follow the thread and have no idea how we arrived where we are somehow let Farage and CO convince them that the EU was to blame for all theirs and the UKs problems, rather than it being the 40 years of Tory and New Labour policy that actually did

Starmer is desperately trying to absolutely bury all of the policy for desperately needed change, that most of had over 65% public approval and support, that he got elected Labour leader swearing to continue with, just as Blair did with New Labour MK1 the last time the Tories made themselves unelectable

Thank the morons for fucking us all over with their stupidity and ignorance, because with Starmer leading Labour and pissing all over the parties democracy, just as Blair did, we almost certainly won't get another shot at having anyone available to elect who will bring the much needed change in any of our lifetimes

[teesred]

It's all the govs over the past 40 years Tees, in my lifetime, since I was old enough to vote, we have only had the opportunity to elect one party, a Labour Party, when it was led by Corbyn, whatever people think of him, that is the only time in most of our lifetimes there was a party we could have elected that would represent normal working people and put and end to us all being ripped off -

But idiots who follow the medias Goldfish bowl politics who've never bothered to follow the thread and have no idea how we arrived where we are somehow let Farage and CO convince them that the EU was to blame for all theirs and the UKs problems, rather than it being the 40 years of Tory and New Labour policy that actually did

Starmer is desperately trying to absolutely bury all of the policy for desperately needed change, that most of had over 65% public approval and support, that he got elected Labour leader swearing to continue with, just as Blair did with New Labour MK1 the last time the Tories made themselves unelectable

Thank the morons for fucking us all over with their stupidity and ignorance, because with Starmer leading Labour and pissing all over the parties democracy, just as Blair did, we almost certainly won't get another shot at having anyone available to elect who will bring the much needed change in any of our lifetimes

Totally agree about Corbyn. A thoroughly decent man who actually cares about people and wants equality and fairness.
A total hatchet job done on him by the scum media in this country. He didn't help himself at times and he was a bit of a disaster of a leader in some ways. Nobody can deny his integrity and values though and they're the reason he was smeared so much.
I've always said that I genuinely don't think he ever really wanted the job, imagine what would have happened to him had he been in charge during the pandemic and what's happening now.

[ianlfc]

We were at Center Parcs in Cumbria. Its a red squirrel sanctuary. Lots of them there.
A mink! Never seen one or an Otter in the wild.
Why are Minks bad for the ecosystem?

Well, if you'd stop going to Centre parcs on holidays you'd have plenty of money too spend !!
I priced it and Mexico was cheaper !!

[teesred]

Well, if you'd stop going to Centre parcs on holidays you'd have plenty of money too spend !!
I priced it and Mexico was cheaper !!

😱 It was for 6 of us. 1100 quid just before Xmas for a weekend, we hadn't been on hols for a while so was a bit of a xmas splurge for the kids. Priced up for summer because they enjoyed it so much but its going to be a bridge too far.
We bought a French bulldog puppy instead!

[Nineteenx]

�� It was for 6 of us. 1100 quid just before Xmas for a weekend, we hadn't been on hols for a while so was a bit of a xmas splurge for the kids. Priced up for summer because they enjoyed it so much but its going to be a bridge too far.
We bought a French bulldog puppy instead!

Don't worry Tees, when I win the Omaze prize draw house in the Lakes, you can go there on your holidays

[teesred]

Don't worry Tees, when I win the Omaze prize draw house in the Lakes, you can go there on your holidays

Haha cheers dude, I've seen that comp.
Do you really enter it? How much is it?

[Insidious]

Have invested in a new Camera.

I got a lot of use from my last one (which will still get used) but as a Technophobe I was very reliant on Automatic settings.

Determined to "study" a bit more with the new one - actually aim to get the most from it, gain a better understanding of ISO, shutter speed and so on, with a view to furthering my Wildlife Photographs - I won't go so far to say "photography" as the standard out there is very high and my images generally are okay-ish and not more, but it is what it is.

Might start some sort of Blog/WordPress as a sort of picture Diary with (relatively) short captions to supplement a project I want to set up for specialised Nestboxes.

If I get to a stage where I do that sort of thing and set up a subsequent Twitter/Instagram/whatever I'll update the thread and anyone who has an interest in following said Nature stuff and wants to follow me and all that guff, they're very welcome, though that side of it is a way off yet.

[Nineteenx]

Haha cheers dude, I've seen that comp.
Do you really enter it? How much is it?

I did enter it, so fingers crossed You never know, I've spread a lot of light and joy to a lot of people in this life through my Christian outlook and it being in my nature to do so, maybe i'm long overdue a bit of good luck, it's all I have to cling onto in truth, the hope of a bit of incredible good fortune that facilitates me being able to live away from a society that made me ill and makes me ill that I've always had a severe aversion to. So I can be at peace. It disturbs me and causes me incredible distress every time people who don't really understand mental health try to make me partake in their 'society' that makes me so desperately ill

Time and talking to fellow sufferers has led me to numerous epiphanies these past few years, I've realised my condition is far more severe and debilitating than I ever realised and the absolute importance of environment most of all, and that my music industry environment, protected, in a bubble very much away from society I spent 16 years of my life in, with only the incredibly positive aspects of my so called disorders affecting me throughout and my becoming incredibly ill every time I had tried to enter 'society', it really brought it home.

[Nineteenx]

Re them not understanding mental health

The connection goes a lot deeper than that, and the history of that connection goes a lot further back too. In fact, some modern psychologists theorize that illustrious scientists such as Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein might have been autistic.

'Might have been' if they understood at all, every single one of them would realise in a instant that Einstein very obviously suffered from both autism and bipolar when reading his quotes. If you view the world in a certain way, differently to almost all other people and have done all your life, through having those disorders and read those quotes, it is so obvious

[teesred]

I did enter it, so fingers crossed You never know, I've spread a lot of light and joy to a lot of people in this life through my Christian outlook and it being in my nature to do so, maybe i'm long overdue a bit of good luck, it's all I have to cling onto in truth, the hope of a bit of incredible good fortune that facilitates me being able to live away from a society that made me ill and makes me ill that I've always had a severe aversion to. So I can be at peace. It disturbs me and causes me incredible distress every time people who don't really understand mental health try to make me partake in their 'society' that makes me so desperately ill

Time and talking to fellow sufferers has led me to numerous epiphanies these past few years, I've realised my condition is far more severe and debilitating than I ever realised and the absolute importance of environment most of all, and that my music industry environment, protected, in a bubble very much away from society I spent 16 years of my life in, with only the incredibly positive aspects of my so called disorders affecting me throughout and my becoming incredibly ill every time I had tried to enter 'society', it really brought it home.

Good on you mate, I hope you get to where you want to be.

[Nineteenx]

Good on you mate, I hope you get to where you want to be.

Honestly, it is literally being the living dead, you know your life is over, the only thing you need and hope for is to be able to be secure financially, not loaded, but to have enough to get by away from everyone else and a society that makes you ill. The football and my great nephew are the only 2 things I have