Preparedness for when

Perplexed_Pineapple

Mardatha, RBS is bizarrely a private business that is now 64% owned by the UK government, the remaining 36% being mostly in the hands of institutional investors (pension funds and insurance companies). All the other big banks are owned by shareholders - private individuals and institutions, again. HSBC is a big multinational (it stands for Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) and is substantially owned by Far East investors. HTH!
ETA: I once owned a teeny weeny bit of Barclays when they took over a building society I had some savings with and I took the shares rather than the windfall cash. I sold them to help raise a mortgage deposit, fortuitously at just the right time judging by what the share price has done since:
http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=BARC.L#symbol=barc.l;range=20061201,20131202;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined; :rotfl:

pineapple

GreyQueen wrote: »

I have never liked Big Brother being able to see what and where I spend so have been dealing in cash all my life. Makes the bank statements nice and tidy too; the utility bills and rent out on DD and the rest a couple or three cash withdrawals and then my business is my business, not the State's to nose around in.

I'll admit to getting the new 'puter on a debit card but usually it's cash all the way. I get cash out via cash machines but always draw the same amount so I can see straight way if there have been any 'strange withdrawals' on the bank statement. But cash also helps me keep track of spending.
Was cancelling a direct debit via the 'phone the other day. Normally for ID they ask what was the last thing bought with a card. I have a problem with this as the answer is usually 'Err can't remember. Never?'. This time I was triumphantly brandishing the 'puter receipt when they asked about the last cash withdrawal :mad:. Fortunately it's always the same amount
As for the banking glitch it's a concern. It'll happen nationwide if they decide to do a system reset. But also - cyber could be the new warfare imo. Apart from the practical problems just think about how the general populace would react if it was widespread. It won't be pretty.

RAS

Memory_Girl wrote: »

My Orcadian friend rates winds on a funny scale

1. Stiff wind - no action required
2. Moderate Howler- consider long sleeves
3. Official Gale - a coat on (maybe .... lets not get overly dramatic here)
4. Blowing so hard you can't breathe outside (think I will put TWO pegs on my washing then) :rotfl:

Mind you they breed them tough up there - I am just a "southern softie" (in that I live in the central belt not near London but its all relative, innit?

MG

http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2011/11/23/damaging-storms-allen-fraser/

I vaguely remember being told that at speeds of 90mph the advice was not to go outside and above 70, hang on to something that is nailed down.

Can see why everyone has sheds up there; much of the winter it is about the only place you can work safely.

maryb

I thought it was all a bit odd that it kicked off when it did at about 6pm. Normally IT glitches happen when the systems are updated overnight. I do wonder what would have triggered a meltdown late afternoon. I know it was Cyber Monday and all that, but most people would have been doing online shopping later than that, when they got home from work - unless they were being naughty and doing their shopping on work computer. Even so, you wouldn't have expected the volume of transactions to have peaked by late afternoon to the point where systems couldn't cope.

I was talking to the girl behind the counter in Boots yesterday about the chaos and she said that she used to live and work in a small town which suffered a local power outage. Not for very long but it was enough to stop all the card readers working in every shop in town- they appeared to work but couldn't establish a connection.

But a National Grid infrastructure problem would not have affected just RBS - though I could see us having incidents of that kind as the system gets increasingly strained.

Austin_Allegro

I don't think there's much you can do if society collapses - it will be every oldstyler for him (or her) self!

I do believe in short term SHTF preparations though.

At the moment I'm making up a winter car pack for my wife, who goes on long driving trips for work.

It's got a folding snowshovel, cig lighter heating element and mug to heat water, tinfoil survival blanket, wind up torch, whistle, compass, plus a couple of tins of stew, dehydrated mash and water.

The idea is if she gets snowed in by the roadside for 24 hours or so (which happened to a lot of motorists where we live this spring) she'll have just enough to keep warm and fed.

pineapple

Just back from Hebden Bridge where I got a mega bunch of tall twisty bamboo which will be festooned with lights and Christmassy things. My budget alternative to a tree and re-usable .
But oh dear I then went into a charity shop and spied the the perfect parka affair. It was £25. £25 - in a charity shop? :eek: But it looked quality and brand new and the style was just 'me', so I just had to have it. At the till I was accosted by the woman who had brought it in just seconds before. It had been worn all of once and had cost £75. So I'm a happy bunny. :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Well found PINEAPPLE but £25? even if it did cost £75 brand new that is still an emormous price for a charity shop to be charging. It will undoubtedly last you long enough to pay for itself and so is well worth the money but I think most people would have walked away having seen that kind of a price tag! Lyn xxx.

elaine241

Hello All
Im following the banking discussion with interest. I do use cards, credit cards all the time! My credit card pays me to spend what I would have normally spent by cash or debit card, I had built up just over £300 last time I looked. I allow the balance of my bank account build up, get my £5 reward, and then clear the credit card before I pay any interest. I have a SHTF credit card that has £4800 limit on it (nil at the moment) which I keep if I need to jet off somewhere for a family emergency or if I am stuck away from home. I also keep cash in the house and keep a fair bit on me just in case. My get home bag also has cash and change in it again just in case!! I admit I get a bit apprehensive if I do not have cash in my bag or at home although I hate using cash points as they have been "hijacked" in our area with scanning of pins etc.

Other preps today involved the purchase of a back up hand operated tin opener and a lot of torches. We use a lot of torches round the farm and find the rechargeable ones a pain in that they give no warning of going flat, there one min and gone the next!! The battery ones fade and give some warning. I now have three big torches and a rechargeable one ready in the utility plus torches (battery, wind up, rechargeable) dotted around the home, in drawers and next to beds, also in the car.

The candle stash has increased as I found a mixed lot for 20p each in our local charity shop. I have increased the blanket tally finding throws and a handmade crochet blanket also in the local chazza!
Still havent got round to the copying of documents or storing online, tbh its a boring task probably for a wet miserable day when I can go outside.

We are expecting cold winds and a drop in temperature tomorrow, I will be in work wrapped up in thermals under my smart office attire!! Everyone else walking round shivering and complaining, still in their office attire!! Hardly a cardy anywhere! let alone a fleecy blanket wrapped round the office chair and over their knees! I look like a granny in work, but a warm comfortable one!!!! Others are starting to take notice and I have noticed a couple of fleeces turning up on chairs!!

Anyway got to venture out now to feed the ducks and put them to bed. TBH they are thick compared to chickens in that the hens go to bed in their hut and the ducks just stand outside waiting to be told to go to bed even though their stable is open!

jk0

Some of my tenants had a completely unexpected SHTF today:

Next door to the block where I have a flat is a building site. This morning someone hit the water main with his digger, and flooded all the ground floor flats. The fire brigade & council have now pumped out all the water. (It was about 6" deep!) I helped my tenants move some items from their affected rooms, and I have paid for them to spend two nights in a hotel while the flat dries out.

The site manager of the building firm came over, and has arranged cleaners to go in tomorrow. I have sent him copies of the hotel receipts. I hope he is as good as his word.

GreyQueen

Evening all.

Getting bitterly cold here as the day ended with a cloudless blue sky; it will be a darned cold night. I have just put the heating on.

Caught the weatehr forecast on Radio 4 a whisker before 6pm and was horrified to hear that there may be a North Sea surge which might overtop sea defenses. I was once a wide-eyed listener to a talk given by an elderly lady (about 20 years ago) about getting caught up in the 1953 flood on the east coast and I've never forgotten it. That was a north sea surge, too.

Really hope that people on the coast stay safe tonight.

jk0, what a horror for your tenants and good on you for putting them up in a hotel and I hope you get re-imbursed in due course. As a ground-floor flat dweller myself, I always have concerns of a similar nature myself.

Wondering what kind of weather I will see tomorrow morning. Don't know if it's going to get wild and wooly this far south, at the moment it's a flat calm and clear but that could change in the next few hours. Keep warm and lock up your wheelie bins, you peeps in exposed places.