Cutting Debts
I was listening yesterday to the BBC’s morning phone-in and they were talking about debts and especially how people have got into trouble over Christmas.
If I look at my finances over the last year, they have improved somewhat and I felt that although I’m living on my savings until my house is sold, I’ve probably got almost a year more before my avings run out, than when I moved here in December 2010.
So what major savings have I made.
The first is the the television, phones and broadband. I like Sky Sports, and the big saving is that I can’t have an obvious dish here, as it’s a Conservation Area. Although, I could probably hide one on the roof! I did try Virgin by cable to get Sky Sports 1 and 2. Now I’ve switched to BT Vision with of course Freeview. I now pay about £50 a month to get phone calls, broadband and Sky Sports 1 and 2.
I don’t seem to miss out on watching anything I want to, but the saving is a thousand on Virgin Media and a couple of thousand compared to Sky.
Note that I only rarely watch films on television and generally stick to the four BBC channels, the two Sky Sports channels and radio.
The biggest saving is not having a car. I don’t miss it one bit, although perhaps it would have helped on Christmas Day to get to my son’s. But with the amount of money I save, I can afford the occasional black cab or mini-cab.
Getting rid of the car has other benefits too in addition to the obvious financial and logistical ones.
You walk a lot more, which is obviously good for you. I always walk with my eyes open too and I see things in shop windows that I might like to buy to improve my lifestyle or things that are just interesting in the street.
Walking is a real joy in a city and in no way inferior to walking in the country. In fact, I think it is more thought-provoking.
So how many people with serious debt problems have still got the expensive television, the full Sky and an expensive car?
Practical Risk Taking
David Spiegelhalter is Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at Cambridge University. His personal home page doesn’t look like most you find for academics of his august reputation.
We will all have the chance to see him on television tonight.
Not in some economics program about what the various rating agencies think of the euro or a discussion on the risk of smoking, but in the first edition of the BBC’s new series called Winter Wipeout. In an article in The Times today, he said that he considered it an obligation under my terms of employment to apply.
What did the University’s Health and Safety Department say? He does not disclose this in The Times.
Let’s hope though, that after his performance, where I hope he does well, that the politicians, bankers, businessmen and the general public take statistics more seriously. And act on what they say they should do!
Roof Clutter
This house is near to where I live.
Roof Clutter
There has been a lot of controversy about whether the solar panels they have installed should be allowed. You can just about see them. But surely the real eyesores are the television aerials, satellite dish and the overhead wires to bring in the phone lines!
BT Broadband/Vision and Virgin Media Compared – Prices
A couple of months ago, I compared the two systems for getting TV and broadband.
The only thing, I didn’t have was any sensible price comparison. My last seven months of Virgin cost me an avverage of £132.75 and I’ve just paid my first BT bill without any setup charges. It was £45.85, which is a saving of about a thousand pounds by using BT instead of Virgin.
I’m also still getting junk mail from Virgin.
Salford Claims A Victim
Tim Gudgin has read the football results on the BBC for the last 16 or so years.
Today will be his last reading, as he has resigned. He did indicate that to travel every week from the South Coast where he lives to Salford would just be too much.
The ridiculous move to Salford will change the BBC in many ways. not all, by any means will be positive.
Moving to Salford will prove to be a disastrous folly.
The Americanisation of the FA Cup
I hope the idiot, who thought it would be a good idea to ask Budweiser to sponsor the FA Cup, has done the right thing and gone to repent for the rest of his life in a monastery in Nepal or on Mount Assos.
The FA Cup is a British institution and although, it has been sponsored for some time now, all of the sponsors, hsve either been British or come from countries, where football is the national game.
Budweiser is an American company and luckily I’ve never ever sampled any of its products. In fact as a coeliac, I can’t unless I want to be ill.
Just imagine what would happen if British Airways say, wanted to sponsor a major sporting event in the United States.
Yet again, the FA has shown that the fans don’t count.
One of the outcomes of this deal or perhaps the fact that the television rights have gone to ITV and ESPN, was that the BBC weren’t able to broadcast a radio commentary of the game this afternoon.
BT Broadband/Vision and Virgin Media Compared
When I first moved, I went the Virgin Media route and subscribed to Sky Sports 1 and 2.
A couple of months ago, I threw the cable out, as Virgin Media couldn’t give me a working landline telephone.
I now have BT broadband, with which I use BT Vision to get the same Sky channels.
I don’t regret the changes one bit.
- BT is much cheaper. Not sure totally how much, as I haven’t had a bill with all my landline calls. It looks like it might be about £70 compared to £130 for Virgin.
- The BT service appears to be more reliable. Virgin cable seemed to go up and down like a whore’s drawers. Perhaps this was partly due to the state of their boxes in the street, which had had the doors removed.
- Since I signed up with BT, I think I’ve only had one spam e-mail or leaflet in the mail. Virgin still keep sending them, although in the last week, they seem to have stopped. Perhaps, they’ve got the message.
- With BT, if I lose broadband, I still have the TV without Sky through Freeview.
- I know this is personal taste, but I think the BT website is easier to use. The login is certainly better.
So bye-bye Virgin and never may you grace my door again.
I suspect though it will be all irrevelant in the future, who your broadband supplier is. You’ll get all your TV channels other than the free-to-air ones on subscription of some sort through it.
I suspect too, that you’ll be able to subscribe to advert-free versions of things like Sky. At a premium of course.
Why Is The BBC Going To Salford?
I can’t see any good reason and now the Evening Standard is claiming the move is causing marital problems.
I have always thought it a silly move to move a lot of the BBC to Salford. This is especially silly with respect to programs like BBCBreakfast, which has always got quality guests to grace the sofa. Are they going to go to Manchester? Some will of course, but why would a film star in the UK for say a day to promote a film, waste half of that in travelling to a studio up north?
The only reason I can think for the move is that it is some Machiavellian plot dreamed up by NuLabor to reduce the effectiveness of the BBC. Did Tony Blair instigate this to please his friends in News International? Of course not, but you could make a case for it.
One thing it will do, is lower quality, as the best producers, directors, program makers and presenters have the power to say that they don’t want the hassle and they will be snapped up quickly by other networks. Many of this experienced group are probably at an age when they can retire too, which will make the decision to go a lot easier.
BT Vision
I have just installed BT Vision.
It seems to work well and I’m just watching the cricket on Sky Sports 1.
Technically, I like the concept of watching most things free through Freeview and getting other things from broadband or by unlocking channels on Freeview. I think it is a concept that will grow like Topsy.
I know too, that I’m paying a lot less than I did for a poor service from Virgin.
A few points of comparison.
- I have Freeview television in my bedroom, so now I have the same channel numbers in my living room and my bedroom. I didn’t with Sky or with Virgin.
- Picture quality is good, but I have just fitted a new aerial.
- All the features like stop the picture and then contunue are there. Virgin may have had them, but I never found out how to use them. The designer of the Virgin box, was probably a games-optimised person, who didn’t understand logical system design for those who don’t and never will play games.
I’ll add to this list as time goes on. But I’m not regretting moving away from Virgin.
Where To Watch Premier League Football in Blackpool
I found this sign outside a pub in Blackpool.
All Premier League Matches Here!
Note that the Manchester City match can be watched at three. Which of course, is the same time, that the Blackpool Ipswich match started!
So perhaps you have to watch it with a Greek commentary!
The Anonymous Widower 