The Long Wet Winter

Just as it did yesterday, it snowed again today. This weather can really deplete a person. I am so desperate for that 'sap is rising' sort of feeling that one gets during the spring. I know it seems as though I go on a bit about the weather, but it really does suck!

We worry about the rising cost of heating this house and try to conserve where we can. We don't want to let our house become a damp house in the process of saving a few pennies. Unheated or underheated houses have a problem with dampness. Damp creeps in, makes normally dry things well, um . . . . damp to the touch, causes wallpaper to peel off the wall (even expensive £18 per roll wallpaper) and ultimately makes the plaster bubble and crumble off the walls where it is supposed to stay. Damp will also cause the heels of your shoes to grow mold (!) while they are on a shoe rack in the bedroom closet.

I went into this same closet in our bedroom to get a clean tablecloth and discovered that just about everything on the shelves in there feels damp to the touch.

As today looks to be a miraculously non-rainy day, I am going to have to haul just about everything off those closet shelves and pin them out on the clothesline.

Fuel prices have become hideously high here in the UK. When we got the new oil fired central heating system installed in the house, heating oil was approximately £.33 pence per litre. Now it is. £.52 pence per litre. The oil tank here at Whitelees holds about 1500 litres of heating oil.

So the last time we ordered 500 litres of heating oil, it cost us about £260. It cost us about £780 to fill the entire tank.

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Note: Using today's rate of exchange - US dollars of $1.98 dollars to £1.00 UK pound on XE Currency Conversion
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When converting the prices to US dollars, you may be shocked. 500 litres of heating fuel costs $516.70 and the big fill of 1500 should we ever need to do that again would cost $1,550.26!

The house isn't the only thing to run on fuel. We've got two cars to run as well. Thankfully I have a fuel card, provided by my employer so that the fuel I burn in the car for work, is paid for by somebody else. I did however take note of how much the total diesel price was the last time I filled the tank. The cost at the pump for diesel is £1.16 per litre.

For those of you who would like a conversion of how that works out in US gallons and dollars it works like this: There are 3.785 liters to the US gallon which makes the fuel price £4.39 per gallon. Translating that into the US Dollar (1.99 USD to the GBP) reveals that I paid $8.72 dollars per US gallon.

It cost me (my employer) £62 pounds to fill up my car. That works out at approximately $123.23 to fill up the car.

The Man of the Place and I would happily take the bus instead of driving everywhere. Sadly, there is very little bus service out our way.

As bad as things are, there is always somebody worse off.

Here is a table provided by the UK Automotive Association or AA - it is the UK equivalent of the US AAA. They publish a report comparing the cost of fuel across Europe adding in the cost of fuel for the USA as well.

		Converted to UK pence per litre
Country		Unleaded	Diesel
Austria		97.21	94.46
Belgium		116.62	99.65
Czech Republic		94.09	95.02
Denmark		112.41	109.88
Finland		111.59	98.78
France		107.51	98.70
Germany		112.54	105.31
Greece		87.86	90.06
Netherlands		120.24	102.08
Hungary		91.67	95.95
Ireland		94.46	96.03
Italy		109.86	110.49
Luxembourg		93.36	89.04
Estonia		76.50	83.55
Norway		122.21	123.09
Latvia		80.25	85.85
Lithuania		80.39	84.72
Poland		96.70	92.92
Slovakia		95.36	100.00
Slovenia		83.14	87.47
Portugal		111.12	97.05
Spain		87.94	86.29
Sweden		105.31	111.97
Switzerland		90.49	98.53
USA		43.37	52.49
Bulgaria		84.39	89.62
Malta		91.16	80.16
Cyprus		80.16	83.69

Again these are the prices per litre. Multiply the price per litre by 3.78 and you will have the price per gallon in UK pounds. Then multiply that price per pound by 1.98 to get the price per US gallon in US dollars. (you could simply just double the price in pounds to get the price in dollars if you're not all that bothered about pinpoint accuracy)

I'm glad I don't have to fill up my car in Norway!

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On a lighter note, the sun is out today!!! I am going to start pinning all those damp sheets and towels to the clothesline before I go to work. The sunshine should freshen things up. If not, I'll be rewashing the lot!