Drago's murder deathkill slaughter massacre panic petrol buying watch!!!

[Bollo]

Now I know it's been a while since I was at uni, but does she have no friends or flatmates or at least a resident advisor watching for such things as freshers being stuck in their rooms for days on end? Or if you'd been unable to travel, wouldn't you have begged her to go to A&E or at least the uni med centre? After all, you had an idea that it was serious, as you went, so if you couldn't go and feared she wouldn't manage to seek help, wouldn't you have called help in for her?

I'm glad for you all that you could go and that you went and it all seems to be working out and I fear that saying this to a parent will be unpopular, but I don't think that trip should be mentioned in the same context as essential workers being left stranded. If that trip hadn't happened due to lack of fuel, things still should have worked out.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I'm pissed off that student welfare systems failed to the point you felt you needed to go on such a mercy mission.

I don't want to get into a massive debate on what happened and why but I'll just say that I've been light on the personal details and not everything runs like a flowchart. No fingers need to be pointed at anyone other than the two-hats with the jerrycans. We made the journey and I think we could justifiably call it important.

I wasn't comparing our journey with the needs of essential workers, but pointing out that this stupidity and selfishness affects wider society. While the effect of the current shortages on us was a delay of about an hour and a huge amount of emotional distress, in other circumstances the consequences can be life-threatening. As it happens, the A&E was missing some staff as the shortages had caught them out and there was also a slight issue transferring her from our local A&E to the regional general due to some fuel-related shuffling of patient transports. Not the end of the world, but completely unnecessary.

 

[stephec]

That's nothing, when I were young, I left school at 5 and was working down local pit and sweeping chimneys in my leisure time.

Eeeeeee, tha's nowt but a big girl's blouse if thee didn't start work until 5, you bloody soft southern Jessie. 😂

 

[Tenkaykev]

Eeeeeee, tha's nowt but a big girl's blouse if thee didn't start work until 5, you bloody soft southern Jessie. 😂

That reminds me of visiting our daughter who was, at the time, living in the Harehills area of Leeds. There was a quiz night at a nearby pub, great atmosphere and friendly locals. “ Soft Southern Jessies “ was the name I picked for our team. This drew much raucous laughter when the scores were being read out 😁

 

[vickster]

I filled up at Tesco Crewkerne on Friday before driving back from Somerset, good half a tank left which should last me a few weeks. They were out of diesel but had plenty of my required Optimum

My brother went out to Tesco at 5.30 on Saturday morning to fill up his near empty car as needed for a longish drive at weekend. Big queue and getting longer he said.
Maybe it’ll stop people making unnecessary journeys for a bit?

 

[Dolorous Edd]

This could soon become a common sight around petrol stations and anywhere there’s some fuel in the U.K..

View attachment 611125

What is stopping those cans from simply sliding off the end of that stick the moment it is on the slightest angle?

 

[I like Skol]

Got lots , but it's all a rather fetching shade of pink

Can I have some for my 'tractor'

Last night returned from a weekend in the Lake District so thought I would stomach the prices and fill up at the last Mway services before home rather than face the Manchester madness at my local stations.
Car was below 1/4 of a tank remaining so would have taken £50-60 to fill up but sales were limited to £30 per customer. That has taken me to just over half so that should cover us here for a week or two if no big trips crop up. Fingers crossed it all calms down by then......

 

[mudsticks]

Not in your car, I guess 😉

Course not..

Unless it was a real emergency..

I'm surprised to hear that ambulances are driving around looking for fuel though

I guess I naïvely thought that the emergency services would have their own exclusive to them fuel depots .

Even be allowed to use lower duty diesel like us farmers can.

I mean I know if they're out on a long call they may well use more than a tanks worth, but shouldn't there be a network of refuelling stations so they never need to be driving round trying to refuel, during what should be urgent call out time .??

 

[mudsticks]

What is stopping those cans from simply sliding off the end of that stick the moment it is on the slightest angle?

Yes poorly thought through, all in all.

I'd have a hoe or broom going through from each side so it couldn't slide off .

I kinda get the feeling he's put more thought into the outfit , than the carrying practicalities

 

[Fab Foodie]

I thought wimps retired years ago?

From her official job yes, but has a part-time gig as 'Houskeeper' at the Bird Observatory....

 

[Fab Foodie]

Course not..

Unless it was a real emergency..

I'm surprised to hear that ambulances are driving around looking for fuel though

I guess I naïvely thought that the emergency services would have their own exclusive to them fuel depots .

Even be allowed to use lower duty diesel like us farmers can.

I mean I know if they're out on a long call they may well use more than a tanks worth, but shouldn't there be a network of refuelling stations so they never need to be driving round trying to refuel, during what should be urgent call out time .??

Some of the above would require foresight and planning... and as we know children, that means investment (best leave the rest to the other place)....

 

[Fab Foodie]

close enough to cycle to work

That's like me saying it's close enough to Pogo-stick to work...it may be, but it ain't never gonna happen

 

[CanucksTraveller]

I guess I naïvely thought that the emergency services would have their own exclusive to them fuel depots .

Nope, ambulances use petrol stations routinely, I'm surprised you've not noticed them filling up before. Each vehicle has a fuel card, usually on a BP account so you have to use their stations, or it has been with the trusts I've worked for (including LAS). I think the police are the same, BP fuel cards.

 

[mudsticks]

Some of the above would require foresight and planning... and as we know children, that means investment (best leave the rest to the other place)....

Hmm yeah I guess.

Investment in 'people not dying because an ambulance doesn't make it to them in time'

Way too controversial you're right.


Anyhow, im hoping for an excursion to Cornwall this weekend.

So it will probs be by train - but how are they doing for diesel stocks.??

Does anyone here know??

 

[mjr]

I don't want to get into a massive debate on what happened and why but I'll just say that I've been light on the personal details and not everything runs like a flowchart. No fingers need to be pointed at anyone other than the two-hats with the jerrycans. We made the journey and I think we could justifiably call it important.

And I agree you've assessed that journey correctly: important, but not essential. While I agree with pointing at the panic-buyers, I am going to point a little finger (?!?!?) at you for emphasising in your story that the situation "could then have become life-threatening" which is strictly true but a bit misleading. After all, getting out of bed in the morning could become life-threatening if it goes badly wrong. There were far more ways that it could (and indeed should) have still worked out OK for Boletta without a parental car visit.

I don't excuse myself either: my journey was not essential strictly-speaking, my small extra purchase on Friday to give me the range to reach home Sunday won't have helped and it was almost only luck that I was refuelling at a big station before the panic started causing outages there.

I wasn't comparing our journey with the needs of essential workers, but [...]

I apologise for misinterpreting one being mentioned immediately after the other.

As it happens, the A&E was missing some staff as the shortages had caught them out and there was also a slight issue transferring her from our local A&E to the regional general due to some fuel-related shuffling of patient transports. Not the end of the world, but completely unnecessary.

And then this digs the hole further! How can you be sure that none of those A&E staff "caught out" or the patient transports suffering "some fuel-related shuffling" weren't after you at the "very last place [in] the City [that] had some fuel"? Maybe everyone thinks their own journey's important? You do and I did too (both about your journey and mine).

I would really like things to change so that at least strategic service stations (the ones mentioned earlier as planned and previously government-leased) go to some sort of "essential workers only" service once they reach a certain reasoned low point, instead of selling out... but will any government be brave enough to say "Bollo can't go on that mercy mission and mjr can't go to this funeral because we are failing at sustainable transport and need to make sure NHS workers can still car to work"? I think fuel outages will become more common as it runs out and/or demand dwindles, and we switch over to other transport, so this nettle will be offered up for grasping many more times in the future.

 

[mudsticks]

Nope, ambulances use petrol stations routinely, I'm surprised you've not noticed them filling up before. Each vehicle has a fuel card, usually on a BP account so you have to use their stations, or it has been with the trusts I've worked for (including LAS). I think the police are the same, BP fuel cards.

Thinking about it I've probs seen both ambulances and police cars in them.

I guess I assumed they were just topping up far from home.

But in many ways if fuel stations are well supplied it makes total sense to use the existing supply and storage network.

It's just I s'pose I thought there might be a contingency for emergencies like now.

Should I contact my local ambulance service to tell them I've got some , if they're really desperate do you think??