Oil giant's profits - NOT amateur radio

The war in Ukraine has caused an undeniable rise in the costs of fuel and household gas. Only today one of the giants in the industry announced huge profits. 

Now I know some times things can be much harder, but most companies were not expecting these huge profits. This is at a time when millions of ordinary people are struggling to eat and keep warm.

My view is simple: this is obscene.

I am not a vocal politician, but this is asking for trouble. In many countries I think this could lead to revolt or even revolution.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62382624 .

Dealer profits

For a long time I have thought dealers aimed to make excessive profits. We all know that they have costs such as wages, premises etc.

Maybe I am being unfair? 

I am all for fair profits (after all, this is their business), but I object to excessive profits. In my opinion many dealers and magazines will go out of business in the coming years as most amateurs get old and buy fewer radios. Magazines will suffer as there will be fewer dealers and less revenue.

Maybe the strategy is to make as much money as possible whilst they can? 

Personal touch? - NOT amateur radio

Call me a "grumpy old git", but in the last few weeks I have had total, disinterested contacts with the following:

• My bank
• My car insurer
• A train company
• Someone selling bonds
• The Post Office
• My utilities company.

     and others.

It would appear that I am just a meaningless number and I do not really matter. The overall impression is that no-one really cares.  If I am lucky, I might get a computer generated letter.  All that matters is that god "profit".

What happened to the days when people mattered?

Getting worse? - NOT amateur radio

Perhaps it is me becoming more of a grumpy old man, but in many ways things seem to be going backwards. In our village our only bank has closed. About a year ago our local building society branch in the village closed. Years ago you could ring your local bank manager. Now you are just an anonymous number in an Indian call centre! I tried to contact a train company but was connected to an Indian call centre who really did not have a clue. In fact they were totally useless. Many shops have closed.

Some things are better, but I think that god "profit" is gradually making life harder for us all.

Somehow we have lost that personal touch. I am sure this is a worldwide issue and not just here in the UK. Slowly but surely, life is getting harder, when it should be getting easier.

Amateur radio prices

Just now, I received an email from MLS giving details of their "something for the weekend" special offers. Now I appreciate that dealers have to make a profit - after all, this is their business - but I remain amazed by some of the prices. All dealers are similar, so I am not singling out MLS.

For example, one HF antenna sells for £409 when the manufacturing cost is unlikely to be more than £10, especially if made in China. Someone is making a huge profit. Of course, dealers sell for the prices we are prepared to pay. Reasonable is fine, but rip-offs are not. More fool us for playing the game.

In 20 years many dealers will be gone. Those that remain should be those that provide a good service, make reasonable profits and do not rip off their customers. Any dealer that rips off customers deserves to fail.