This Will Cost You

[poohbcarrot]

and pooh fiat(fix it again tommorow) have just bought 20% of gm

But 20% of nothing is still nothing!

[Jan Van Quirm]

and $10 is only 1 gallon over here

Yes, but your pound is worth almost twice as much as our dollar.
In real-time money, that'd be ~ 75p or $1.50's difference.

Plus you have that whole We Have Health Care thing going for you.
Yes, I am envious, actually.

Er no not really Trish - The exchange rate for GBP to the USD has been just about constantly been well below $1.5 for 6 months and more...

... and your gas prices have always been ludicrously much lower than ours - I remember laughing like a drain years back we were self-driving in S.Cali when there was a so called massive 'hike-up' and we were paying like 3 times as much per gallon so it was peanuts to us. We saved loads on that hols and did a lot more long-distance trips than we thought we would. Happy days when I had a career *sighs*

As for our 'cushy' Health Care - it can be great at times but for long-term draining conditions and illnesses it's pants and you're harrassed from pillar to post having to justify how ill you are *goes back to completing her IB50 (Personal Capability Assessment) feeling like a shiftless workshy leper*

[poohbcarrot]

The dollar against the yen has been roughly stable (give or take 5 yen) for the last 6 months.
The pound has been going down and up like a yoyo.
5 months ago the rate was 1 pound = 120 yen
Today 1 pound = 162 yen. A 33% increase!

Therefore I reckon the pound must have risen against the dollar in the last 2 months by at least 15%.

I've just checked Jan, the pound is currently $1.64

http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi

[Tonyblack]

I was cetainly getting around $2 to the Pound this time last year - not so good this year - not that that will stop me coming over here.

[poohbcarrot]

This time last year the pound was ridculously high.

1 pound = 245 yen (a year ago)
1 pound = 120 yen (4 months ago)
1 pound = 162 yen (today)

[Jan Van Quirm]

I've just checked Jan, the pound is currently $1.64

http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi

Last week when I looked it was 1.4 something - well that's hopeful I may re-open my T-shirt shop

[Tonyblack]

I've just checked Jan, the pound is currently $1.64

http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi

Last week when I looked it was 1.4 something - well that's hopeful I may re-open my T-shirt shop

Ohh goodie!

[Trish]

Jan--
You're right, it is something else again to look at a thing from the outside.
You don't really see it.


Gasoline here is cheaper for a few reasons, mostly storage. We have land to spare, GB doesn't.

Also, Canadian oil. Canada is our biggest supplier; Alberta's got to be doing very well. On top of that, the CDN oil exclusivity-bit kept the OPEC countries from charging the US (and Canada) outrageous prices.

Now, it seems it's the oil companies and refineries (a friend of a buddy works in a refinery in Oklahoma and you would not believe the idiocy of that industry) are getting rich just because they can.


Health care. Well. Can't say that crappy is better than none, because with mediocre health care... you end up dead of something innocuous.

I haven't had health insurance for most of this decade. Oops, century.
Cannot possibly afford it. If I sold everything I had, I could afford it for a year.

And it's tough. I had an earache in March that was killer. Couldn't even get a doctor to see me because of the no-insurance thing. Ended up at a clinic and got the wrong antibiotic.


Somehow, I think computerizing patient records isn't going to help this...

[Jan Van Quirm]

And it's tough. I had an earache in March that was killer. Couldn't even get a doctor to see me because of the no-insurance thing. Ended up at a clinic and got the wrong antibiotic.

Somehow, I think computerizing patient records isn't going to help this...

Yeah... our doctor's are on computer record and so we can get repeat prescriptions online (I prepay mine and spread the cost over the year) - except they just revamped it so you can get family orders - but you have to re-register. I did this nearly an hour ago and am still waiting for the activation email... Ho hum

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

From Trish...Gasoline here is cheaper for a few reasons, mostly storage. We have land to spare, GB doesn't.

Also, Canadian oil. Canada is our biggest supplier; Alberta's got to be doing very well. On top of that, the CDN oil exclusivity-bit kept the OPEC countries from charging the US (and Canada) outrageous prices.

Now, it seems it's the oil companies and refineries (a friend of a buddy works in a refinery in Oklahoma and you would not believe the idiocy of that industry) are getting rich just because they can. /end quote

Don't forget that crazy...Hugo Chavez in Argentina... We get a lot from there.