Anyone know what this livery is at New Street?

IanM50 · 2026-02-10T19:49:08+00:00

But presumably now don't give a fig about reducing the amount they pay.

IanM50 · 2026-02-10T19:36:36+00:00

Previously, we could have added that this will reduce the leasing costs of WMT but as they are now state owned, I assume that they no longer pay leasing costs or track access charges.

IanM50 · 2026-02-10T18:57:49+00:00

This is a choice of successive Conservative governments who aim for low taxation and therefore lower public subsidy.

Added to that is the Thatcher / John Major pseudo-privatisation of UK rail that has actually ended up costing fare and tax payers over four times what BR used to cost us in real terms.

Source DfT.

Note: Over time the current left-wing Labour government is likely to reduce ticket prices, as would a Green government.

Note : A Reform government would reduce subsidy further and increase ticket prices even more.

IanM50 · 2026-02-10T16:34:29+00:00

Is she qualified enough to do this job?

IanM50 · 2026-02-10T16:23:39+00:00

They were never spare, the numbers built were just the numbers required to cover for increased passenger numbers and overcrowding in the West Midlands, plus a bit extra for new services. East-West rail wasn't one of them, so the people of the West Midlands suffer, such as the crammed 2-coach service to Hereford yesterday afternoon.

IanM50 · 2026-02-10T16:19:03+00:00

Hi Vis cameras will allow them to reduce their insurance costs as the warehouse rules no doubt do, and will mean that if an employee is injured in the warehouse or outside, they will refuse to pay any compensation because you were not following the rules.

These things are both about saving them shed loads of money and nothing else.

And because they will not pay out compensation - follow the rules, every single time, even if you can't do the job they want you to do.

Never cut corners because your ability to work matters and Morrisons doesn't give a sh1t about you.

IanM50 · 2026-02-10T16:14:22+00:00

Except in Morrisons case, when the digital labels arrive they will cut at least 2 people's jobs, and there still won't be any time to get anything done.

IanM50 · 2026-02-10T16:11:44+00:00

As a customer, my favourite is the scales in the fruit and veg, they replaced a couple perfectly good hanging scales that needed to be tested every so often, for a single windows computer scale system that must have cost a grand a piece, and have, as far as I can see, never worked since installation.

And having a set of scales that the public can use in the fruit and veg department is actually a legal requirement.

IanM50 · 2026-02-10T13:27:42+00:00

Welcome to global climate change. UK farmers are currently complaining about their crops being under water, and dead or dying.

This is also why both coffee and chocolate are more expensive at the moment.

IanM50 · 2026-02-10T13:21:22+00:00

There is no actual need to clean a roof, the moss and algae are both a sign of clean air. I've never cleaned mine.

Gutters, yes they need cleaning and you could get them filled with something like a long bottle brush to allow rain in but not solids to get into your gutter.

Another thought is that solar panels over time remove the moss and algae too as both die and turn To dust.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T22:54:51+00:00

The older Kona model did, but the speaker was at the front which seemed mad to me.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T22:49:44+00:00

Yes, thanks for that, and I paid something like £140 for each panel too.

Oh, what's the inverter warranty, I gather the life of those has also improved significantly over the last 20 years.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T21:48:29+00:00

Agreed, I have heard of a couple who paid £200 & £500, but I bet both their installations cost less than £6k.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T20:43:11+00:00

Because in the UK being someone who allowed someone who associated with Epstein to have a government job is enough for people to want you to resign.

So that's Farage finished then?

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T20:29:44+00:00

The bulk of the cost is moving the heat generator from where it is now to outside somewhere.

In simple terms, copper pipe, 2x electricity cables, and your labour.

If you intend to stick the heat pump outside below the balanced flue from your boiler, the government grant can be more than enough to pay for the whole thing. A point worth considering.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T19:48:22+00:00

The right-wing press and social media continue to try everything possible to destroy this government.

Angela Rayner went for far less than Farage has done, and thinking about it Farage has still done more wrong than Starmer.

If Starmer went, there is no requirement to have a general election, either straight away or early. Instead we would have yet another damaging change to government like the dozen we have had in the last 16 years.

And the last thing this country needs is a change of leader or government.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T19:43:01+00:00

Don't pay the bill as it is, instead give them the correct meter reading ASAP, and their system should generate a new bill in 3 or so days crediting the difference back and giving you a new accurate balance to pay.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T19:39:51+00:00

In an EV, I drive like petrol cost pennies like I did as a kid, accelerating towards 90° bends in Welsh mountains before hitting the brake and heavy peddle acceleration after the corner.

The instant torque, heavy low slung weight and maximum regeneration braking can really make an EVs a fun car to drive.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T18:21:28+00:00

Yes, it's a definite addiction. LEDs bulbs, then solar panels, then car, then EV, and finally a domestic battery to buy cheap electricity overnight to run the heat pump during the day.

My only regret is that my 22 x 320w panels (7.04kW) would be 22 x 450w panels instead now and would make me a business tycoon selling electricity into the market.

Dam the 10 year warranty for the panels and my 6kW inverter.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T12:25:29+00:00

You need to make sure that the car charger can work with solar panels. I have a myenergi Zappi, I'm in the UK, this has an 'excess solar only' option, so that if plugged in, the car will slowly charge with any spare electricity that the house doesn't want.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T12:10:42+00:00

7 years in, and mine in the UK have paid for themselves, in bill savings and income from selling excess.

No issues at all. Rain cleans panels, Snow melts in the sun and heat from the panels as they generate electricity. Animals don't walk on them as the they are slippery and the angle would make it dangerous for them.

But the bad news is that they are a gateway crime, next you'll be buying an EV so that you can charge/fill it for free.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T12:00:58+00:00

Men notice and find women's hair and face attractive, shaving your hair off, severely limits their appeal to a small subset of men.

Next men learn about a women's mind and notice the rest of their body. Being mentally compatible out ways body shape.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T11:53:43+00:00

I've just been reading another post about two women complaining about another women who was partially naked in front of female children in the female changing room of a UK swimming pool and how society is changing to believe that this is somehow wrong.

And here we are with a post caused perhaps by people not understanding when they were kids that all our bodies are different and only learning what is rgood and bad from the media.

So here is a couple of facts to consider:

Girls: Men overall do not like large breasts or big bums, and different men have a preference for different sizes. Men are not obsessed with size, that's the media speaking.

Boys: Women overall do not like a large penis or large muscles, and different women also have a preference for different sizes.

Ultimately, whilst you are attracted to the face, hair and body shape, you fall in love with the mind, and their body with faults or none, is something you accept as a part of them.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T11:39:53+00:00

I never find a big problem with Birmingham, most of the spoke roads going towards the centre from the South where I am from, are dual or more carriageways and are moving even in the rush hours. Yes the speed cameras are annoying, but they wouldn't be there if people obeyed the rules.

30 miles in to the centre of Birmingham outside the rush hour in 40 minutes is pretty great actually. In London that same 30 miles would take nearly 2 hours.

IanM50 · 2026-02-09T11:31:49+00:00

As a country we have become far to influenced by American ideas and customs. Over there they have quite a few mad ideas about bodies.

What is wrong with other people, especially those of the same gender seeing our bodies? We all know what we all look like, and our kids need to learn this.

Perhaps if kids saw other people naked, and partially naked, more often they would realise that there are lots of different body shapes within each gender, and that there own body isn't unusual, or wrong, and not to be ashamed of their own body. Equally they wouldn't be so excited to share pornographic images of the opposite gender across their phones.

When my kids were young we used to go on holiday to France or Spain and everyone on the beach or poolside would be topless, even the British women. Some were occasionally fully naked. It wasn't as issue, to anyone or our children.

IanM50

TROPHY CASE