53 minutes ago, Tdci-Peter said:

It looks good, it tastes good, and by golly it does you good. Mackeson advert I well recall.

 

 

Mackeson Stout, now there's a blast from the past! I went through a phase of drinking 'Black and Tans' with Mackesons instead of the usual bottles of Sweetheart Stout. 

I do like somehow acquiring another cat in the time I was away! 

We lost one of our cats a few weeks ago on the road and apparently Mrs Turvey decided a couple of days later that we needed another one to join our two remaining cats.

One of our sons friends mums cats had a litter looking for new homes so unbeknown to me she arranged collection. Apparently she came over on the boat from one of the closer islands just carrying the cat ie not in a carrier! 

He's actually quite cute and doesn't hate me like our other cats! 😀

Give the cat chance to know you and it will turn on you. 😂😂😂😂

12 minutes ago, iantt said:

Give the cat chance to know you and it will turn on you. 😂😂😂😂

Fair chance! 🙄 😀

I'm happy to say I got another car to replace my Citroen C1. A Peugeot 107 which is the same platform but fully loaded with alloy wheels, tinted rear windows and a few other stuff. 

 

I also went to my first work party. Was a boat party for the A&E department. Did enjoy it though praying there won't be another covid outbreak like what happened in the Christmas party. Was a boat ride across the river Thames. Couldn't believe it seeing colleagues faces not covered up by masks

 

@zain611 Is that an Allure?  I had one in that spec and colour back in 2014!

(Edit - Mine wasn't the Allure,  just rememberer it was an Envy model, basically the same but with the white roof and leather seat inserts.)

Apparently the government is going to give all electricity users £400 in October this year to help with the cost of this excellent renewable energy which is bankrupting most of the western world.

2 minutes ago, unofix said:

Apparently the government is going to give all electricity users £400 in October this year to help with the cost of this excellent renewable energy which is bankrupting most of the western world.

Keep up man, this £400 announcement was made 2 months ago LOL 🤣 Or, are you recycling the news to save the planet?

No the previous announcement was a £200 credit to be paid back over 5 years.

Maybe news gets to you in Europe faster than it dose to me here in the UK 🤣

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-living-support/cost-of-living-support-factsheet-26-may-2022

Looks like North East radio were having a quite day when they put that information out this morning 🤣

Just now, unofix said:

Looks like North East radio were having a quite day when they put that information out this morning 🤣

Nope, you were right the 1st time, being in Europe, I got the news well before the proper UK LOL

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

Nope, you were right the 1st time, being in Europe, I got the news well before the proper UK LOL

I'm in proper UK and I got that news weeks ago. I don't need it but it will indirectly pay towards our long weekend in Barcelona in Oct. . Result. 

10 hours ago, iantt said:

... I don't need it but it will indirectly pay towards our long weekend in Barcelona in Oct. . Result. 

I actually do need it, and am looking forward to squandering it on the purchase of some heating oil for the winter...

They are separate things...

The £200 has already been paid to anyone with an electric bill in their name paid as a council tax rebate.  This needs to repaid in £40 increments over 5 years.

The cost of living payments are for people on low incomes (in receipt of certain benefits) which will be split into 2 lump sums, £326 this month, and then another £324 later in the year.  These do not need to be repaid.

The £400 energy grant is for everyone with an electricity bill in their name and will be paid from October.  This does not need to be repaid.

The Warm Home Discount is increasing to £150 this year.  However the eligibility criteria for this is changing.  It will be based on the cost of your energy, as well as your income/benefits.  This does not need to be repaid, but gets added directly to your energy account, unlike the others which are paid into a bank account.

2 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

They are separate things...

The £200 has already been paid to anyone with an electric bill in their name paid as a council tax rebate.  This needs to repaid in £40 increments over 5 years.

The cost of living payments are for people on low incomes (in receipt of certain benefits) which will be split into 2 lump sums, £326 this month, and then another £324 later in the year.  These do not need to be repaid.

The £400 energy grant is for everyone with an electricity bill in their name and will be paid from October.  This does not need to be repaid.

The Warm Home Discount is increasing to £150 this year.  However the eligibility criteria for this is changing.  It will be based on the cost of your energy, as well as your income/benefits.  This does not need to be repaid, but gets added directly to your energy account, unlike the others which are paid into a bank account.

Not quite, it was £150 through council tax rebate, that never gets paid back.

And originally it was also £200 "loan" on energy bills, where we get discount in October, then a levy added over 5 years.

That loan has now been scrapped, it's been changed to £400 discount on energy bill that doesn't get paid back.

So in total, for people who pay council tax and energy bills, it's a total of £550 grants from the government, which don't get paid back*

(*technically all government expenditure is paid through taxes, but it's just not directly being paid back like originally planned)

10 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Not quite, it was £150 through council tax rebate, that never gets paid back.

 

Great to see the government has designed such an easy system so that everyone can understand. Also, with no government in NI, we're bound to be screwed too in the admin of it all...

9 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Not quite, it was £150 through council tax rebate, that never gets paid back.

Whoops...  Though in the current climate, what's £50 these days?  A loaf of bread, a tub of Lurpak and a gallon of a petrol?  

2 hours ago, StephenFord said:

with no government in NI,

?????

I thought Angela Merkel was in charge of NI and the leader of your government 🤣 🤣 🤣

6 minutes ago, unofix said:

?????

I thought Angela Merkel was in charge of NI and the leader of your government 🤣 🤣 🤣

 

Oh dear, you do know she resigned in September 2021?? Your local radio not caught that story yet? 😂

Yes I know, but I thought that was to take up her new position over in NI 🤣

You never know you could hit lucky and get Tony Blair next !!

Just now, unofix said:

You never know you could hit lucky and get Tony Blair next !!

Wash your mouth out right now young man!! 😂

17 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

@zain611 Is that an Allure?  I had one in that spec and colour back in 2014!

(Edit - Mine wasn't the Allure,  just rememberer it was an Envy model, basically the same but with the white roof and leather seat inserts.)

Yep an allure spec. I always said to my dad about the allure being the top model and that it comes with the rear tints and alloys. Last year he saw this one going for cheap and me and him went and bought it. We originally was going to get it for me but my sister kept pushing it that she keeps that and I drive the Citroen.

The first day she drove the pug she hit the wing on another car and since hasn't been driving. Gave me the chance to have the pug after we fixed it and sell the Citroen on.

Nice!  Just found pics of mine.  

Was meant to be an 'upgrade' from the 306 HDI DTurbo that I bought cheap with a snapped cambelt and chucked a spare engine in for free!  The 107 lasted all of about a week, upsetting my stomach every time I tried to drive it, so I ended up back in the 306 for another few months before eventually putting the same money into a Focus that was 5 times as old and had 4 times as many miles on the clock...   

The HDI DTurbo was basically the Zetec S of the 306's...had GTI styling, but with 55mpg!  Quite rare in 5 door as most people bought the 3 doors new.  (I did also have a 3 door version briefly!)  And a quick remap saw an easy ~125bhp from the 2.0 HDi engine...which seems ridiculously small from a 2.0 by todays standards, but they were fixed turbo, not VNT, and didn't have an intercooler so couldn't be pushed too far at stage 1, even though the engine was more capable.  I never did like the colour though.  Moonstone blue.  Eurgh.

 

I sold it to a forum member (Peugeot forum, not this one lol) who went on to add another turbo for a bi-turbo project, and took it to a few car shows I'd never have been able to attend myself.  It was sadly written off in an RTC a couple of years later.