Discontent #9 food, energy, transport, cost of living, society etc

[Xales]

Only a half day off work? That's some xmas treat

I have the morning after off as well to recover/lay in so a whole day really

 

[Ro98]

Retail and hospitality workers are grossly underpaid too - just because some people are being screwed over by their employers, doesn’t mean we should belittle those who are being paid slightly more but still not enough.
No one can actually live on £20k a year very easily.
Also travel perks are only good if you use them - other than commuting to work, railway workers rarely travel on trains. What’s the point if you’re working almost every weekend anyway?
Final salary pensions are great but at least where I work you have to be employed for over 5 years to be eligible, and if you’re earning £20k you’re going to be sacrificing your financial health way more by staying on that salary than you would if you took a job without a final salary pension. Our generation probably won’t be able to retire until 70+ anyway.



As someone who’s done both, office was way less stressful for me, especially with working from home.

I think the part of a public facing job which is much harder than an office based role is the risk of being verbally/physically attacked as well.
Of course it depends where you live but I’ve noticed peoples anger levels rocket in the last year or so and you can always hang the phone up on someone if they start being abusive, if it’s in person (look at how many train station & bus staff who got spat at during covid) it’s a different situation.
I personally hate taking public transport now because people are starting arguments & physical fights over the smallest of things.

 

[mummy_3]

I work in a supermarket and god you get some rude people right in your face. We've recently moved the fish and the old sign is still up because we need a specialist person in to unscrew the sign from a high wall the amount of people complaining because signs haven't changed but we can't get the people in for some reason to go to the ceiling and unscrew the signs to replace them. I dread Saturday and Sunday shifts as it's insane. I had someone yesterday complaining to me that we don't have microwave for customers to heat up the pie they just brought.
That and people seem to think me and my colleagues personally change prices every week when it's not our fault things have increased in price

 

[Brianbadonde]

Hospitality will suffer regardless of trains. We’re all too broke to eat out.
last time I went for a meal out at a chain with my partner it was £45! We didn’t have alcohol either

This doesn’t seem to be the case in my local city, went out last weekend day drinking and never ever seen it so busy, every pub rammed, every restaurant full, there’s a winter wonderland Xmas market in the square and I saw a queue of at least 50 people waiting for a £5 hot chocolate. Same this weekend when my daughter went in.. I spent the whole time wondering what cost of living crisis! Blew my mind big time.

 

[Falkor]

Strikes for December are already announced.

Thank you - I'm supposed to be going Luton to Gloucestershire on the 12th and then Gloucestershire to Gatwick on the 15th and strikes are 13th, 14th, 16th and 17th!! I'm guessing though that there'll be disruption on 15th because everything will be in the wrong place, so think I'm going to get the Thameslink to Gatwick on the 12th and hire a car there so I don't need a train on 15th (I know I can pick up at Luton and drop off at Gatwick, but it adds over £100 to the hire price as opposed to £36 on the train!)

 

[Romy]

Certain politics (and people) dream of cleaner cities with as less drivers as possible, which is achievable in medium sized cities but much more complicated in a huge city or capital. Some people will always need to drive to the city centers (construction workers for example) and not everyone is privileged as to pay a rent or own a place in city centers where they work.

And if you ask people not to take their cars, you need to have a good enough supply in public transportation and it's a lot of money investment. For instance, we have a huge project here ("Grand Paris Express"), first part due in 2024 and it costs billions. Also they gradually automate the older metro lines and do extensions. And it's all old projects, it takes political agreements, time and money, even before starting the construction. I don't know what is done in London to this purpose.

 

[penny1992]

Hospitality will suffer regardless of trains. We’re all too broke to eat out.
last time I went for a meal out at a chain with my partner it was £45! We didn’t have alcohol either

Prior to covid my husband and I would eat out once a week, sometimes twice.
Since covid we've only ate out a handful of times.
Service has been shite, food portions smaller but more expensive. Tipping is also up. On the card machines now at many restaurants, the starting tip option is 18%. It used to be 10%!! Some you can put a custom tip in and some you can't. This is in Canada btw.
So now we prefer to either get takeout which we do not tip on or make a nice meal at home with a bottle of wine and it's way cheaper than going out.

 

[Chocolategoggler]

I think the part of a public facing job which is much harder than an office based role is the risk of being verbally/physically attacked as well.
Of course it depends where you live but I’ve noticed peoples anger levels rocket in the last year or so and you can always hang the phone up on someone if they start being abusive, if it’s in person (look at how many train station & bus staff who got spat at during covid) it’s a different situation.
I personally hate taking public transport now because people are starting arguments & physical fights over the smallest of things.

Yes! And stalked and threatened they're coming back with a knife to get you and management refusing to walk you to your car or move your car as it's all in your imagination and they can't believe a thug would do that! (woke management - you're abusing their human rights ). Talking about removing screens to be more inclusive to the public - despite screens being put up cos of violence.
p.s. the thug did come back and the security guard was beaten up as the person was on a course elsewhere the next day so wasn't in.

 

[IngressUK]

Can someone please explain how Five Guys is worth the money?

I'm stood outside a branch now looking at their menu.

£10.35 for a standalone cheeseburger.
£3.95 for 'little fries'
£6.95 for a milkshake

= a bloody expensive fast food joint.

By contrast. I've just paid £6.99 for a double QP, medium fries and hot drink in McDonald's.

 

[Princesst]

I really like five guys and we tend to share fries but it’s really expensive. Same for subway. We had 2 foot-longs this week with nothing else & it came to 14.50!!! It was packed in there too and they had constant online orders to make. Next door is an expensive pizza delivery and they had drivers going out consistently when we were waiting for our subs. The big Fast food chains around me are completely booming ever since covid and we live in what’s considered a really low income, deprived area. You wait at least 25-30 mins for a McDonald’s drive through here from joining the huge line there always seems to be. Certain things people won’t give up I guess

 

[Chocolategoggler]

Today I'm feeling so proud of myself as I overcame my fear of the pressure cooker.
The instructions are renowned for being crap and when I have looked for advice on You Tube they always demonstrate the expensive appliances, rather than the cheap ones!
It started going wrong virtually straight away so I switched off at the wall in a panic then when I switched it back on again after trying something different it worked but the waiting around hoping it's going to work and not blow up in your face is not a nice feeling.
Telling you to adjust the dial when hot steam is pouring out is not safe in my opinion.
Anyway now I'm able to try cooking the pressure cooker way. I've only made a dehydrated soup (when it went wrong) and some very moreish brown rice when it went right. Much nicer than cooking it in a pan. Also less risk of damp with not having my heating on. I can bulk cook and save money now. ,

 

[peekachu]

I guess it’s okay to pollute as long as you pay for it.. that’s the message I get from ULEZ.

My partner and I will be charged £25 on top of fuel to drive our 2012 Mini Diesel to visit his parents for a weekend, who live just within the new zone. It will still be cheaper than the two of us getting the train.

Yet we pay absolutely zero tax each year.. because the car was supposedly low emission!

Please make it make sense

 

[givepeasachance]

I saw the soda crystals hack for washing machines - can I use these to clean a dishwasher too (on an empty cycle?) All the hacks I've seen also mention white vinegar which is not good for the rubber bits so I see

 

[Codiaeum]

I saw the soda crystals hack for washing machines - can I use these to clean a dishwasher too (on an empty cycle?) All the hacks I've seen also mention white vinegar which is not good for the rubber bits so I see

Yep, you can! I've done it often with my, simply put it on the bottom and run a hot cycle, otherwise empty.

 

[Chocolategoggler]

I saw the soda crystals hack for washing machines - can I use these to clean a dishwasher too (on an empty cycle?) All the hacks I've seen also mention white vinegar which is not good for the rubber bits so I see

I put vinegar in my dishwasher which cost virtually the price of the machine to repair. I know they say to use vinegar instead of softener in your washing machine but I'm not risking it!

 

[masterone]

Mine just came up for renewal, 70 quid more. I was just gonna let it renew because I've had a lot on and just coulndt be bothered. But then thought no, that's what's they want. It's basically a tax on time/energy/effort. They're not providing you any more for the extra money.

Anyway I did a comparison and got it even cheaper than last year's price. So skrew you Tesco car insurance.

I got stung this year with auto renew with the AA £110 extra, got my dates mixed up and email addresses so had to roll with it, it was one day over the cooling off period so if I took in the cancellation fees and time covered insured wasn't worth cancelling it.

 

[LyraBalaqua]

Today I'm feeling so proud of myself as I overcame my fear of the pressure cooker.
The instructions are renowned for being crap and when I have looked for advice on You Tube they always demonstrate the expensive appliances, rather than the cheap ones!
It started going wrong virtually straight away so I switched off at the wall in a panic then when I switched it back on again after trying something different it worked but the waiting around hoping it's going to work and not blow up in your face is not a nice feeling.
Telling you to adjust the dial when hot steam is pouring out is not safe in my opinion.
Anyway now I'm able to try cooking the pressure cooker way. I've only made a dehydrated soup (when it went wrong) and some very moreish brown rice when it went right. Much nicer than cooking it in a pan. Also less risk of damp with not having my heating on. I can bulk cook and save money now. ,

I’m 54 and can still recall the shrill whistle of the pressure cooker on a Sunday when my parents cooked a roast , It put the fear of God in me .

 

[Romy]

Today I'm feeling so proud of myself as I overcame my fear of the pressure cooker.
The instructions are renowned for being crap and when I have looked for advice on You Tube they always demonstrate the expensive appliances, rather than the cheap ones!
It started going wrong virtually straight away so I switched off at the wall in a panic then when I switched it back on again after trying something different it worked but the waiting around hoping it's going to work and not blow up in your face is not a nice feeling.
Telling you to adjust the dial when hot steam is pouring out is not safe in my opinion.
Anyway now I'm able to try cooking the pressure cooker way. I've only made a dehydrated soup (when it went wrong) and some very moreish brown rice when it went right. Much nicer than cooking it in a pan. Also less risk of damp with not having my heating on. I can bulk cook and save money now. ,

Love it, it's very useful. At first (longtime ago), I was afraid like you but it's very easy to use. Just need patience.

 

[rainbowlemon]

Sign of the times.

 

[Yel]

The milk thing circulated a few days ago, Tesco said it was a mistake. Which makes sense as to just put 4 security tags out of over 100 milk bottles would be silly.