Good luck to my mate Chippie (Mo Dagia). Any chip counts pls

Good luck to Bookie Jim.

In 1731, Marie Souet, a frenchwoman, put herself into a trance and was hung over a roaring fire for 35 minutes without suffering any ill effects.

Last-ditch talks aimed at averting a four-day strike by hundreds of fuel tanker drivers in a row over pay have broken down.

The drivers, who deliver fuel to Shell petrol stations across the UK, will now go ahead with the walk-out from 6am on Friday, leading to fears of petrol shortages.

Officials from the Unite union and managers from two firms which deliver fuel to Shell garages held more than nine hours of talks to try to break the deadlocked dispute, following 10 hours of negotiations on Wednesday.

But Unite announced that the talks had broken down and said the strike would go ahead as planned.

Hoyer and Suckling Transport, the two firms involved in the dispute, said they had put two offers to the union - an increase for this year of 7.3% backdated to January 1 2008, which would take average earnings to over £39,000, with a further 6% increase from January 1 2009, which would take earnings to around £41,500.

The firms said they asked the union to suspend the strike and put the offers to a ballot of the workers but accused Unite of refusing.

Spokesman Bernie Holloway said: "We offered a substantial amount to the drivers. We extended our offer to the very limits that our business could sustain. We are disappointed that our improved offers have been rejected. Unfortunately, it looks likely now that there will be a damaging and costly strike."

Car drivers in some parts of the country have already started to panic-buy fuel despite pleas from the Government and the oil and transport industries to fill up cars as normal.

Some people admitted they were topping up half-full petrol tanks even though this could lead to shortages. One in 10 of Britain's 9,500 filling stations will be affected by the industrial action.

The Government has drawn up contingency plans to deal with the stoppage, allowing suppliers to share information about stocks without falling foul of competition laws.

More Miles Per Gallon

Keep You Car in Good Shape
A regularly serviced car will be more efficient on fuel. There are several major factors to consider:

Keep tyres pumped up to the correct level, you can find the correct pressure for you vehicle from your vehicle handbook. If you do not have the handbook you should be able to find out the correct tyre pressure for your make and model from the sign next to the air at the petrol station.
Fuel economy can be improved by 5% by keeping your tyres inflating to the correct pressure and using the recommended motor oil.
Replace your air filter when necessary.
Use the recommended fuel and oil for your vehicle for best fuel efficiency.

Don't be Lazy
Avoid taking lots of short journeys where possible. Try and combine short trips so that once you warm up the engine, you keep it running for a while. Continually warming up your engine for lots of short errands will waste fuel.

Keeping Cool
Think about your in car ventilation. Try not to excessively use your air conditioning as this will cause your car to burn more fuel. On the other hand, driving with the windows down is also inefficient as the drag on the car increases, especially at high speeds. Use air conditioning for motorway driving only when necessary and wind the windows down on slower journeys.

Safer and Slower
 
Avoid erratic driving. By flooring the accelerator at the lights when in a rush or slamming on the brakes when driving too fast you will increase your cars fuel consumption. Try and accelerate and brake smoothly and steadily to improve fuel economy as well as your road safety.

Drive at the recommended speed. If you drive too fast you will soon notice your fuel gauge dropping just as quickly. Every 5 miles per hour that you drive over 60mph can reduce your fuel economy by 10%.

 
Lose Excess Weight
Avoid driving with an unnecessarily full car. An empty roof rack or a full boot will add to your fuel consumption.

Avoid Idling
Avoid excessive idling of your engine. Many people run their engines whilst stationary in order to warm them up but the car is then consuming fuel but not going anywhere. If waiting somewhere for more than a few minutes, e.g. waiting to pick someone up or waiting in a non moving traffic jam then it is often more economical to switch the engine off. Idling also adds to pollution.

 
Top Gear
Drive in the correct gear. Most fuel is consumed in the lower gears when starting as more power is needed but when driving at higher speeds you should drive in the highest gear possible for best fuel economy.

Keep It Clean
 
Keep your car clean. It’s not all about looking good! Apparently a washed and waxed car has better aerodynamics which improves fuel economy. This would really apply to longer journeys at higher speeds and may not be a huge amount, but every little helps!

A planned four day strike by 500 oil tanker drivers has been attacked by Downing Street as the Government urged motorists not to panic buy fuel amid fears of petrol shortages.

Members of the Unite union employed by two firms working on Shell contracts are due to walk out from 6am on Friday until 6am the following Tuesday in a pay dispute which could hit one in 10 filling stations across the UK.

Talks aimed at resolving the row are due to be held at a secret location under the chairmanship of the conciliation service Acas, but time is running out to break the deadlocked row.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman said contingency plans were in hand to minimise disruption using new measures put in place last week. He told reporters: "We believe that this strike is unnecessary and we would want to ensure that nothing was done that inconvenienced the public. But the most responsible thing the public can do is to continue to buy as normal."

Bernie Holloway, spokesman for Hoyer, the biggest of the two transport companies involved in the dispute, said it was "disappointing" that Unite had rejected an improved pay offer last week. "We believe this was a very good offer that would take the average drivers' pay up to around £39,000," he said.

The company said its improved offer, made during a meeting last week, was worth 6.8%.

Unite repeated its call for Shell to get involved in the dispute and stop "sitting on its hands".

A spokesman for the Business Department said it was "inevitable" that some petrol stations would run out of fuel if the industrial action went ahead. "If the strike were to affect other retailers it would have a more significant impact," he added.

Downing Street said contingency measures included allowing suppliers to share information about stocks without falling foul of competition laws. "The Government is working with the wider fuel industry on what could be done to reduce any disruption to the public and business," the PM's spokesman said.

Unite assistant general secretary Len McCluskey said: "Only Shell sets the terms of this contract and only it can solve this dispute. This is one of the most profitable companies on Earth and it now needs to provide the financial flexibility to avert this dispute. It is no use Shell bosses, who have themselves enjoyed 15%-plus pay increases in the last year, sitting on their hands."

People need to be smart, avoid those garages taking the piss. If virtually everyone does this it wont happen. Alas people are too thick, have pointless protests and dont play the big companies at their own game.

I don't think its necessarily being thick - its just a convenience thing.

If a service station is 5p a litre more it'll prob cost me an extra 2 quid to fill up. I'm fairly likely to pay that rather than spend ten minutes driving to a cheaper station. there is also the extra cost to hunt down the cheaper garage. It just depends how much you value your time and how you look at the costs you incur.

You don't need to hunt down cheaper garages, as I said in the thread earlier. Go to www.petrolprices.com and it tells you where to get the cheapest petrol near to where you live.

I'm just trying to help Tighty. LOL

My son when he was about two and a half.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nKFLDZCgjFw

Lift Sharing

With the cost of petrol continually rising and environmental issues at the forefront of a lot of people's minds, liftsharing is a great option, lessening the amount of driver only cars on the road and enabling two or more people to do one journey.

So what is the best way to find a lift? We have had a look at various web sites and by far the best is www.Liftshare.com set up by Ali Clabburn in 1998. The site now has over 130,000 registered members so finding someone to share your commute or a one-off journey with should take you just a few minutes.

The Benefits of Lift Sharing
Individuals, employers, communities and councils are being urged to encourage car sharing schemes. The numerous benefits include:


Reduced petrol costs
Reduced wear and tear on your vehicle
Reduced mileage and depreciation
Reduced space needed for car parking in workplaces
Reduced traffic congestion in and around offices and work places
A reduction in the high-level of pollution created by rush-hour commuters
A reduction in the cost of providing employee parking spaces
A reduction in morning congestion (kids being taken to school makes up to 15% of morning road traffic)
Statistics

If everyone who drives to work on their own caught a lift with someone else only once a week, commuting car journeys would be reduced by up to 25%.
 
Only a 3.6% increase in car occupancy would have the same impact on C02 levels and road congestion as doubling the number of people who use buses!

The Samsung looks a lot smarter.

no problem.

I found a good Website to find out where the cheapest petrol and diesel is, near to where you live. www.petrolprices.com

What about this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJWSEeBYdN8

Bikers stage fuel price protest
  5 June 2008 03:56pm
Scores of bikers have caused rush-hour disruption in a protest against rising fuel prices.

The protesters gathered at Birch services on the M62 north of Manchester before heading off in a slow-moving convoy.

The demo was organised by motorcycling groups, but they were joined by some taxi and lorry drivers.

Police stopped traffic on the motorway before the bikers left the service station, bound for Salford. The Highways Agency warned motorists to find alternative routes if possible.

It was the latest in a long line of fuel protests and came as some Labour backbenchers joined a chorus of voices warning Prime Minister Gordon Brown not to go ahead with a planned 2p increase in fuel duty this autumn.

Police estimate between 400 and 500 bikers took part in the protest.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said a "small number" of lorry drivers failed to comply with the rules agreed with the organisers of today's protest.

The truckers were accused of breaking away from the protest group and driving at an unacceptably slow speed.

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: "The vast majority of those taking part have expressed their views in a way that was agreed with police, that was safe for motorists and that caused minimum disruption.

"We are disappointed that a small number of other demonstrators let them down and acted in an unacceptable way, causing added disruption to some drivers."