Posted on 01/05/2010 12:50:43 PM PST by Parody
Volunteers have reported that ‘a large number’ of elderly customers are snapping up hardbacks as cheap fuel for their fires and stoves.
Temperatures this week are forecast to plummet as low as -13ºC in the Scottish Highlands, with the mercury falling to -6ºC in London, -5ºC in Birmingham and -7ºC in Manchester as one of the coldest winters in years continues to bite.
Workers at one charity shop in Swansea, in south Wales, described how the most vulnerable shoppers were seeking out thick books such as encyclopaedias for a few pence because they were cheaper than coal.
One assistant said: ‘Book burning seems terribly wrong but we have to get rid of unsold stock for pennies and some of the pensioners say the books make ideal slow-burning fuel for fires and stoves.
A lot of them buy up large hardback volumes so they can stick them in the fire to last all night.’
A 500g book can sell for as little as 5p, while a 20kg bag of coal costs £5.
Since January 2008, gas bills have risen 40 per cent and electricity prices 20 per cent, although people over 60 are entitled to a winter fuel allowance of between £125 and £400.
Jonathan Stearn, energy expert for Consumer Focus, said: ‘If pensioners are taking such desperate measures to heat their homes it is shocking. With low wholesale prices and increasing profit margins, there is clearly room for energy companies to make price cuts immediately.’
Ruth Davison, of the National Housing Federation, said: ‘The spiralling cost of energy means heating homes has become a luxury rather than a necessity for many people – particularly the elderly, low paid and unemployed.’
*bookmark*
I love how the eurotwits are always telling US what to do, but they can’t even efficiently deal with unusually high/low temperatures.
Remember all the elderly French who died during a heat wave because their “families” wouldn’t postpone or cancel their all important vacations?
How much does a koran cost?
The cost of the Koran? Untold misery.
I’m sure we can start with the school libraries’ copies of Marx and Alinsky’s texts...
My niece lived in London last year. She went in on a large flat with a bunch of other kids (20’s). I think it was 8 people in a 3-4 bedroom apartment. They all chipped in some money to buy a pre-paid credit card that plugs into the meter in the flat. (Or something like that). That pays for the electric and heat, etc.
I forget exactly, but I think they started off with over $400 on the card and they figured that would last them the month. It lasted less than a week! Unbelievable how expensive it is over there!
Next thing you know we will be unable to keep the electricity on just like some third world countries (like the US)... Or maybe we’ll have to abandon whole cities due to a little storm, just like yank morons had to during Katrina...
And so it begins.....
I used to wonder if the homeschooling movement would eventually be like the monks of a prior age; Knowledge kept by the few who value it.
Mark Twain late in his career served as a correspondent for a New York newspaper, answering questions from readers of the paper. One woman wrote and asked him if a book made the perfect gift.
He told her a thin book could shim the leg of a wobbly table, a leather bound one could serve as a razor strop, a heavy book was good to throw at a howling cat.
We find more and more uses for books every day, don’t we?
I saw one of those in the 1931 film, Waterloo Bridge, when Mae Clark tries to heat some water for tea, she is out of credit and the male guest needs to cough up the coins, for the meter on the kitchen wall.
I remember that
Some French family didnt’ even bother take Granny on holiday with them I read that on UK Daily Telegraph
OMG
OH MAN I saw that on TCM
That good movie one of they consider pre code movie
My niece had to go back to the utility company (across town on the various mass transit) to get more credit put onto the card (maybe it was a usb drive?). They got something like $800 on it and vowed to keep the heat low, turn off lights, short showers, etc. I think the $800 lasted them less than 3 weeks.
As my brother said “Well, that’s how you learn. By your mistakes. But she’s dealing with it and figuring it out. On her own.”
Wonderful movie and Mae Clarke performance, and I was really surprised when I saw those individual meters inside the flat, especially that far back.
I see lots of testimony of two-br flats with energy (gas plus electric) running less than $150 per month. That would be about $300 a month for a 3/4 br. Me thinks that there is more to the story.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.