dutchie01

Haha, how come i am not surprised??

Not sure Linas if the differences are so big. Maybe it has to do with different expectations as well. When i entered the workforce early eighties in The Netherlands it was in the middle of a big economic crisis following the Oilcrisis. Youth unemployment was 25% and when i bought my first apartment some 10yrs later interest rate was 17% and yes it was a 2 bedroom flat at a 30 year lease. My first car was 100 Euro did not have more cash. I grew up during the cold war and there is just no comparison with regard to overall quality of life and financial situation of the average household, just not. Now you can eat left turning quinoa yoghurt from Argentina each day and then you were lucky if you could afford meat when you wanted it. Also then it was not possible to go from a junior position to MD in 10 years. Thats a dream. I requires hard work, long hours and just be better than your colleagues. It took me 30 years to be where i am now and it will still take you decades to climb the career ladder. Thing is the younger generation sometimes does not seem to be willing to put in that effort. 4 day working week does not bring you to the top. Nor does hopping from job to job when there is something that you dont like or offends you. Just hang in there, work hard and try to enjoy life as much as possible, have a drink and a good meal and enjoy friends and family. Cheer up mate!

Linas i dont know if you have crossed the dreaded line of 30 years old yet but i sure have and can simply reply with "Everything". The jump in 3 decades in the western world has been immense. Healthcare, Economy, Freedom, Automotive, Air travel, Employment i can go on and on. Yes of course not all is rosy and happy and every period of life has its own problems but overall my life has improved drastically compared to 30 or even 40 years ago. May i politely suggest that if you feel your quality of life has been decreasing you might find a way up again? Like you said maybe find your luck in another country or, but that is my free tip, leave the overcrowded London area and move to more rural surroundings? That is what i did 25 years ago and after 2 years of getting used to the deafening silence and staring at cows i really found my place. I promise you will never look back! Oh, and if you are not happy in your job just get a new one! ( was not so easy 30 yrs ago my friend..).

Really? a bass player in a band showing up in a yaris? Come on Mincey THIS is what you need, add some rock and roll into it! https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202309061610494?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&include-delivery-option=on&make=Chrysler&model=300C&page=1&postcode=bt364rb&fromsra ( paint it matte black with a brush)

Try Catalunia. plenty of space great roads/food/climate low prices and they seem to dislike governmental interference a bit ....

You havent met another car have you?

a new ES300H for 50K or a 2019 one with 29000 miles only full warranty at dealer for 25K. Overhere we have a saying 'you might as well throw your money in the river at least you can see it floating away"

VFR, the facts are that Russian military invaded a country almost 2 years ago and since then deployed WW2 tactics i.e. bombing the hell out of everything, destroying entire cities with artillery, murdering civilians and basically did a WW2 German Nazi terror campaign. The war would be over the moment the Russians would withdraw their troops. There is no other way to interpret the facts. Decades ago i served in the infantry to prevent exactly such an invasion from then the Soviet Union. When this collapsed tensions disappeared and inevitably the western military shrunk, money was going elsewhere. When the tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border i was angry, mad and disappojnted at Russia, the western world and myself, How on earth could we be so naive? I traveled a lot in Russia visiting the big cities like Moscow and st Pet. and always people told me that one day Russia would surprise the west. Well that day did come. A dictator is bringing the country into Isolation, the USA spend some 6% of their annual Defence Budget to destroy half of the Russian army and Russians are seen as the new fascists. No bike shed needed to see what is going on. unless of course it is funded by Moscow

In my idea the vast majority of people are concerned and are trying to do their best for the climate. Separate waste, turn off the tap when brushing your teeth, install solarpanels, explain your children about climate and so on. Nothing wrong here. However, one must not underestimate the power of money. With Climate beeing a number one topic in most countries a multi billion industry has formed behind it. It would be highly interesting to follow the money in most European countries to establish the amount going round in taxes, subsidies, law firms, lobbyists, energy companies, earth saving organisations like greenpeace ( hi Greta), NGO,s and all i forgot. Maybe this has already been done if somebody knows or has a link it would be helpful. Same for immigration. A battalion of lawyers is waiting to offer assistance, people smugglers, suppliers of boats etc. An industry is behind this.

Interesting philosophical question. Who will we send to planet B ?

Alfa Giulia from the seventies. Now that's a steering wheel. Drove it for 4 months some decades ago until it had a flat tire. Could not jack it up as the jack simply went straight through the chassis.

steering wheels that are NOT round but flattened at the bottom as it looks fast. The word says it it needs to be round.

Because Humans are expensive and difficult to find. They dont show up for work and when they are there are not interested in working. They leave you if they can get 50 quid more across the street and report ill when they want. The days of "Mr Humphries are you free?"are long behind us.

I just hate these machines. I am used to 2 varieties, black or with milk. Dont even know what these are!! Just give me a cup of coffee please?

And thats why you see so many very very old Volvos running around the countryside in Sweden, they just never die!

So, Lexus brings a new model to market with new technology without training the technicians beforehand? Is that correct? Do they think the cost of training all technicians countrywide is not justified given the small number of cars they expect to sell?

What engine you have in the 7? how old and how many miles?

Hah, the daily struggle with modern life! I already get confused with those coffeemachines able to serve coffees i never heard of..

Malc, any pics available?

Would that mean the British Cuisine in France ???

Fuelprices are the result of supply and demand nothing else. Crude oil pricing is the result of supply and demand. If supply outstrips demand prices fall, if not they rise. Now, if you are so massively big important huge powerful and have the means to influence supply you can control the price. As these products are traded on the worldmarkets it could potentially maybe be interesting to speak to your international competitors and agree a certain productionlevel that is low enough to push worldprices up or at least prevent them from falling. All participants will make more money this way. As we are talking about oil and it sounds like a cartel agreement lets call it something like an oil cartel. Or better lets give it an official name something like Organisation of the Petrol Exporting Countries. In short is sounds even better OPEC! The members are not companies but governments so they are basically above the law. A normal cartel is illegal some sort of matchfixing but in this case who will arrest who? This leads to the next topic of how multinationals like Shell BP or Unilever influence government policies ot the other way around but lets leave that for another time. Most of the profit of fuel goes to the state in form of taxation. So, would it not be a decent thing to reduce taxes even if momentarily?

You car dealer?