OT Who is the best at spunking away money?

It's the public sector innit. Which has no bottom line to be affected (they just crank up council tax).

Sounds like gross mismanagement to me. Not that I'm surprised, its incompetence pure and simple. Brian

London firm rang to say a piece of custom-built kit had failed. At the time there was a problem with this item blowing a certain fuse for no apparent reason, once per blue moon. Accordingly I had taped spare fuses to the rack. I explained exactly what to do to their (highly qualified) electronics guys. The message came back: it's outside our remit. We'd rather you do it. Invoice was about £400 I think. Later the kit went back to the manufacturer for mods and the fuse problem ended.

Edinburgh TV shop complained that none of the tellys on one of the gondolas would tune in properly (this was pre DSO). They insisted that I attend. The tellys were Thompson which at that time defaulted to French TV standards. The staff hadn't noticed the option to set them to UK standards. Again the invoice was about £400.

A hospital paid a skip firm a few hundred to take away a skip that was completely full of aluminium zimmers etc.

Bill

On 03/07/2022 14:27, williamwright wrote: ...

My recollection of selling scrap was that aluminium was not very profitable and that was pure aluminium, without rubber feet or wheels contaminating it.

In my 45 years installing communal TV systems and domestic aerials I came home with vast quantities* of mixed aluminium scrap. There was always fierce competition between the local scrap men to get their hands on it. They employed urchins to separate the aluminium from the contaminants, which raised the price enormously. Similarly, I once snook a look in a domestic garage near here because I wondered what was going on, having seen strange comings and goings. Inside were three children, squatting on the floor, using stanley knives to strip the insulation from lengths of copper cable.

Bill

Aluminium ore is plentiful and cheap. The cost is the energy used to refine it

Know a guy, a civil engineer long retired whose forte was designing Aluminium Smelters in the 1960s/70s. He told me the cost of electricity was all that mattered and they would transport Bauxite and processed metal to the top of Everest and back if the electricity was the right price. Nothing affects the profitably compared to the electricity cost.

Probably why Alcan. Lynemouth ran their own pulverised fuel (coal) power station.

Certainly why Wylfa nuke was bang next to a smelter.

Some within the optical industry rinse the NHS mercilessly. There must be millions of pairs of glasses issued to kids who don't need them very year at roughly £40 quid per pop.