Beam me to Planet Gore !
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.’
I might be a bit off on the size of the flat. Or, perhaps she was angling for some money from her dad. But I doubt that. From a young age she knows she that she always had to pay her own way for things like that.
You should get her to call out a company rep to check her meter.
That’s what my brother told her. Not sure if she did or not. She now lives in Manhattan. Went there on one-week’s notice because “a friend knows someone that is moving out of an apartment there and we can get it for a lot less but we have to move in by Monday and then it will be easier for me to find a job in the publishing business if I’m already out there”!!
She is doing okay and somehow makes ends meet by working at a large bookstore. My brother had a friend that knew someone at one of the big publishing house and got an interview for her. She didn’t pursue it though as it wasn’t exactly what she wanted. (And working minimum wage is!!??)
I guess she can always use her employee discount to buy books to use in heating her apartment.
Well, that’s one thing that Amazon Kindle won’t do.
I saw one in real early talkie movie of 1929 those meters back in da day
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.