Heating Your Greenhouse in Europe This Winter

[David Pilling]

There's nothing like a tropical storm to focus the attention of gardeners in its path.

"Britain was hit by torrential rain yesterday as the remnants of Hurricane Nigel and Lee continue to sweep across the UK and flood warnings remain in place.

The storm initially formed in the centre of the Atlantic on Saturday but quickly picked up power, developing into a Category 1 hurricane on Monday morning."

[Bern]

the remnants of Hurricane Nigel and Lee continue to sweep across the UK and flood warnings remain in place.

It is amazing how a storm like Lee can form in the tropics in the Atlantic, make landfall in Canada, and then head east over the North Atlantic to dump rain on Britain. And there's still at least two months left in this year's hurricane season.

[Bern]

Now that Autumn is here and there's the certainty of cooler weather ahead, one can daydream about spending the colder months in a warmer climate. Here's a property that popped up when I was looking at real estate in Florida. Aston Martin, the luxury UK carmaker, has constructed a very high-end condominium complex in Miami.  For only $59 million, you can purchase a 19,686 sq ft condo in the heart of Miami.  That's about $3000 a sq ft.  Of course, the monthly HOA fees are a pittance at $20,931.  And the best feature of all is that the doorknob to your condo is leather covered, just like the gear shift on your Aston Martin sports car!  Here's the link.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/300-Biscayne-Boulevard-Way-Apt-6301_Miami_FL_33131_M99661-31795?from=srp-list-card

[janemcgary]

Hope it comes with a high-end boat for the times when there's a meter of water surrounding the building.

[David Pilling]

Interesting to see the Aston Martin building, I'd be happier with house A, the one with flamingos and cardboard roof - has a garden, and I suspect the AM flats would not have storage for all my stuff.

"Morgan – The only entirely British-owned and British-made car company."

This week you could describe AM as Canadian. Like many others it was once partly owned by Ford.

[Bern]

Energy prices doubled when the Ukraine war started and word now is that they will never be coming back down.

The morning air temps are quite a bit cooler now with the onset of Autumn and this causes me to wonder about the energy situation as winter makes its way toward us. The Ukraine war is ongoing and at least in the UK, energy prices are not coming down. I came across a few videos with catch words such as "heat or eat" and "s**t life syndrome" and "sleeping rough" in the UK and the EU. Other videos of poverty and homelessness in the US were equally disturbing.  Here are some of the videos that I viewed, at least partially. I'm not recommending that anyone view them, but the problem is large and real and here.

UK video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK68yyrKUOA

US videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f78ZVLVdO0A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VZ3uzuVZeQ

There are some very heroic people in these videos working to help people and there are success stories. 

[Bern]

And in contrast with the previous post on poverty, tonight's Powerball jackpot is over $1 billion. I purchase one ticket when it's over $1B. This happens several times a year now. Occasionally, I will get one number and I'll win back my $2.00 ticket purchase price.

 

[David Pilling]

Bern, that video "Poverty in Britain - Why are millions of Brits so broke?" from the German broadcaster DW is not available in the UK and has comments turned off.

This Winter energy prices will not have the benefit of government subsidies, the expectation is that they will be slightly below the price after subsidy last year. I believe I can fix my energy price for the next year for close to no cost - the expectation then must be for a slight decline in price.

Things may go horribly wrong, it might be an extra cold Winter. Mr Putin is banning the export of diesel etc.

The general situation. Prices, interest rates and rents have gone up. All will be making life difficult for someone. Whilst debt may be a lot greater than in the 70s unemployment is lower. It is said shoplifting is more prevalent, surprising to see staff in supermarkets wearing body cameras. Although here they seem to have got fed up and stopped.

Apparently the UK is poorer than any state in the USA, but with a population of getting on for 70 million, there's room for a lot of variation in experience.

If you won the powerball, are you going to buy a botanic garden...

[Bern]

Bern, that video "Poverty in Britain - Why are millions of Brits so broke?" from the German broadcaster DW is not available in the UK and has comments turned off.

David, I am shocked that this video was censored.  It is not inflammatory or overtly political; it simple laid out some basic facts about poverty in the UK that I was unaware of.  The "heat or eat" dilemma was completely new to me. One gentlemen showed how he would take a device for his electric meter to a convenience store and purchase 20 pounds of electricity for his flat. He complained about the surcharge for this device, but then went home to show how it fit into his electric meter until his 20 pounds was used up. Needless to say, 20 pounds does not purchase you much electricity. I had never seen or imagined any such thing before. Another major item was the doctors at the National Health Service and some of the restrictions they must follow to treat patients.  One heroic doctor was interviewed and he was able to do some good things for some of his patients using imagination and skill, but he was onerously burdened by the government restrictions.

I've seen some incredible poverty here in the USA, mostly on Indian reservations in the southwest, but also in some of the major cities, as well as rural areas here in the south.  NAFTA destroyed many prosperous small towns in the south when the furniture and textile factories were offshored.  They will never recover.  True that these areas are not as bad as the shanty towns I've seen in South America, Kenya, and South Africa, but they are pretty bad nonetheless.  And the drug dealers have moved into these areas to help the unemployed folks there by selling them heroine and other opioids.

surprising to see staff in supermarkets wearing body cameras

This is another new item for me.  I'm going to look to see if this starts happening here. 

The general situation. Prices, interest rates and rents have gone up.

The same is true here. I talk with people like hairdressers and other service workers and they are hurting badly.

If you won the powerball, are you going to buy a botanic garden...

The short answer is yes, but perhaps in Australia or New Zealand?  No way would I buy that Aston Martin condo in Miami!  The jackpot was not won last night.  It's up to $1.2 billion for Wednesday.  I'll have a go for one ticket at $2.00.

[David Pilling]

In my experience DW delights its viewers by showing Brits suffering - maybe they have limited the geographical scope of the video to avoid the backlash in the comments.

(I tried via a proxy, still does not work, 6 million have watched in the last couple of months).

This is no big deal, The Daily Telegraph also thrives on schadenfreude "Germany Now Sick Man of Europe".

Axel Springer is being suggested as a buyer of the Telegraph, which will be an interesting blend of cultures.

Prepayment meters have been a thing in the UK for a very long time - however big business has been harsh in installing them in recent times. One of our UK pounds will get you 3 KWh of electricity.

I gather energy in the UK is a lot more expensive than the US, but food is apparently a lot cheaper.

NHS budget close to 300 billion pounds a year. That's about 4000 quid per person. 10% of GDP.

[Bern]

If you won the powerball, are you going to buy a botanic garden...

We're happy to confirm that your prize has been transferred to your Virginia Lottery account!

Game: Powerball
Date Won: 10/09/2023
Amount: $4
Draw: 1540
Congratulations on your win!

I've still got a long way to go before I can purchase a botanic garden.  Wednesday's jackpot is $1.73 billion.  Crazy......

[David Pilling]

We're happy to confirm that your prize has been transferred to your Virginia Lottery account!

Quit while you're ahead.

Always worrying if reversion to the mean applies to luck.

I've still got a long way to go before I can purchase a botanic garden.

Every botanic garden starts with a packet of seeds.

[Robert_Parks]

I've still got a long way to go before I can purchase a botanic garden.

Every botanic garden starts with a packet of seeds.

Unless you have half a billion US$ to play with

[Bern]

Unless you have half a billion US$ to play with

Ticket sold in California wins Powerball jackpot of $1.73 billion

" One ticket had all the numbers. It was sold in Frasier Park, California, which is located between Los Angeles and Bakersfield in Kern County."

"The grand prize, had an estimated lump sum payout of $756.6 million."

The after tax amount is staggering.  Someone in CA is very happy today.

[David Pilling]

"The long-shot odds of winning are 1 in 292.2 million. For comparison, the odds of being struck by lightning over the next year is 1 in 1.22 million, according to the U.S. National Weather Service."

$1.77 billion over 30 years or a $774.1 million lump-sum payment.

That's one problem they face.