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Pyro Pete

The Cost Of Living Crisis

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1 hour ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

The request to the Queen is effectively a traditional courtesy of a ceremonial nature;

Oh really?? Then perhaps you could enlighten me a little further as I've spent 60ish years following the news and have yet to see or read anything about the ceremony involved in this event. This is a little odd as every other royal ceremony I can think of is normally covered live on TV and extensively in news broadcasts.

it is technically true that she could do what you say, but if the Queen was to follow through with your absurd suggestion then most people would agree that she would be creating a constitutional crisis unnecessarily. Most people would also agree that this sort of procedural question is more suited to judicial review than the monarch exercising ultimate authority in such an extreme way, which is reinforced by the fact that the supreme court did quash the prorogation. 

I don't agree at all that people would think she was creating an unnecessary constitutional crisis - Johnson created the crisis under false pretences and with malign intentions, and she sanctioned it illegally as the Supreme Court eventually stated. Had she acted as a proper Head of State the crisis would have very quickly been averted.

You yourself suggested circumstances in which the monarch should and would step in - personally I don't believe she would in any circumstance, and now you are suggesting that in practice she can't and that it is only a polite ceremony for the tourists anyway. Which is it?

Actually it doesn't really matter because whichever of us is correct all this discussion is doing IMO is making a compelling case for us to have a properly constituted Head of State with a well defined role and powers to carry out the role, you know like virtually other modern democracy on the globe has.

In the event, the quashing of the prorogation proved totally inconsequential anyway; parliament forced a request for a pointless extension to the withdrawal process, only for things to be followed quickly by a general election where the the electorate put an end to the paralysis in parliament that had been the status quo for the last couple of years. In my opinion, the failure of parliament to come to agreement when there was the opportunity for cross-party compromise ultimately led to the Conservatives getting it all their way. 

With all due respect, I think you should learn a bit more about how our democratic system does actually work before getting too carried away with opinions on what needs to be changed. 

😂😂😂 It doesn't work, I thought that was something we'd almost agreed on or were you just joshing when you said "Our FPTP system would be every bit as dysfunctional without the monarchy as with it. Electoral reform for Westminster to a proportional system is the key to dealing with the failures of representation." or even "Most people would also agree that this sort of procedural question is more suited to judicial review than the monarch exercising ultimate authority in such an extreme way". So which bit of our democratic system is working well in your opinion?

Incidentally, this is a link to the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks. http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/, which is a quite entertaining read, not to mention 'educational' for people who don't 'understand' how to use 'quotation marks'. 😉

Thanks for the link and whilst I love to be patronised by smug g*ts, I can assure you that I'm absolutely fine with the correct use of quotation marks  - a traditional grammar school education which I'm sure that a Tory like yourself would fully approve of. My incorrect use of them was quite deliberate and a trivial attempt to irritate you. Petty I know, but you seem to put a lot of time and effort into winding people up so if a few incorrectly applied punctuation remarks are the most abusive response you receive then then I think you should consider yourself very fortunate 😀

 

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1 hour ago, Yellow Fever said:

Yup - I will add a 6 to 10KW PV system in due course (plus car charger) - large due south facing roof but much the same conclusion. The 'heat pump' for us wont really cut it. Redid all the windows a few years back but a number of large double wooden door sets to go!

Add a battery to that PV system if you can afford it - I think the cost of them is probably coming down now to where it would make economic sense, especially with a system of that size.

I've had a 4kW system for 12 years now and whilst it has been absolutely great, despite my best efforts to use as much as I can of the electricity that I generate, I still end up exporting a large proportion of it back to the grid during the sunnier months of the year. Financially, that isn't a major problem as the Feed In tariff re-imburses me quite well but if I could stick that exported energy into a battery for my own use then better still 😀

Agree with you re the ASHP - they certainly have merit in some circumstances but are bing massively overhyped at the moment as they are a long way from a universal solution. Would love to have a ground (or water) source heat pump but unfortunately like most suburban residents it just isn't feasible for me.

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14 minutes ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Add a battery to that PV system if you can afford it - I think the cost of them is probably coming down now to where it would make economic sense, especially with a system of that size.

I've had a 4kW system for 12 years now and whilst it has been absolutely great, despite my best efforts to use as much as I can of the electricity that I generate, I still end up exporting a large proportion of it back to the grid during the sunnier months of the year. Financially, that isn't a major problem as the Feed In tariff re-imburses me quite well but if I could stick that exported energy into a battery for my own use then better still 😀

Agree with you re the ASHP - they certainly have merit in some circumstances but are bing massively overhyped at the moment as they are a long way from a universal solution. Would love to have a ground (or water) source heat pump but unfortunately like most suburban residents it just isn't feasible for me.

Just one comment on this, if you are considering an Electric car then you can use the batteries in the car to power the house, Just need a suitable charger.

As for the rest CM, I'm in exactly the same position as you, but only for 4 years so our FIT is lower 😞

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9 minutes ago, SteveN8458 said:

Just one comment on this, if you are considering an Electric car then you can use the batteries in the car to power the house, Just need a suitable charger.

As for the rest CM, I'm in exactly the same position as you, but only for 4 years so our FIT is lower 😞

Interesting - I have got an electric car and that certainly has hugely reduced the amount of PV energy I export. Pre-electric car and pre-working from home I was actually exporting 70% of my PV generation!

For the last 6/7 years I've been working from home and that has obviously meant I've used a bit more & exported a somewhat lower proportion though I haven't checked it exactly. Since the electic car I've obviously reduced the proportion exported very significantly - I really ought to check but I'm guessing it could still be 10-20%.

However, I may have missed a trick - no idea whether my charger is capable of doing that or not. Silly of me really, that has always been one of the many elements of the 'smart grid' that was supposed to have been in place in the UK at least 5 years ago but appears to have completely disappeared off the agenda. Think my attention had drifted to directly attached a battery to the PV but the car battery would be a much more cost effective solution, certainly for the next couple of years or so.

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1 hour ago, SteveN8458 said:

Just one comment on this, if you are considering an Electric car then you can use the batteries in the car to power the house, Just need a suitable charger.

As for the rest CM, I'm in exactly the same position as you, but only for 4 years so our FIT is lower 😞

A battery may make sense - but I'm always dubious as to the real usable life of a battery (same as with electric cars - c.f mobile phones) and the huge replacement cost. Think that technology has a way to go!  Did cross my mind that the battery could charge during the day and then run a dual stage heat pump (i.e similar to normal boiler) however inefficient during the evening/night. At this rate I'll be 'off grid' quite quickly especially with a surfeit of wood available! Sadly I'm on first name terms with a tree surgeon which is another cost entirely.

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2 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

A battery may make sense - but I'm always dubious as to the real usable life of a battery (same as with electric cars - c.f mobile phones) and the huge replacement cost. Think that technology has a way to go!  Did cross my mind that the battery could charge during the day and then run a dual stage heat pump (i.e similar to normal boiler) however inefficient during the evening/night. At this rate I'll be 'off grid' quite quickly especially with a surfeit of wood available! Sadly I'm on first name terms with a tree surgeon which is another cost entirely.

if you are buying an electric car, you will probably be getting one with a battery capacity of 45Kw or higher.

Typically solar batteries are itro £1200 for a 2.4Kw batt'.

Now you can't take your solar batteries to Lidl/Aldi and plug that in a charger for free like you can your car!!!

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50 minutes ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Interesting - I have got an electric car and that certainly has hugely reduced the amount of PV energy I export. Pre-electric car and pre-working from home I was actually exporting 70% of my PV generation!

For the last 6/7 years I've been working from home and that has obviously meant I've used a bit more & exported a somewhat lower proportion though I haven't checked it exactly. Since the electic car I've obviously reduced the proportion exported very significantly - I really ought to check but I'm guessing it could still be 10-20%.

However, I may have missed a trick - no idea whether my charger is capable of doing that or not. Silly of me really, that has always been one of the many elements of the 'smart grid' that was supposed to have been in place in the UK at least 5 years ago but appears to have completely disappeared off the agenda. Think my attention had drifted to directly attached a battery to the PV but the car battery would be a much more cost effective solution, certainly for the next couple of years or so.

As above, with the capacity you have in the car you could be almost 100% off-grid, especially if you shop at Lidl/Aldi 🙂

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56 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

A battery may make sense - but I'm always dubious as to the real usable life of a battery (same as with electric cars - c.f mobile phones) and the huge replacement cost. Think that technology has a way to go!  Did cross my mind that the battery could charge during the day and then run a dual stage heat pump (i.e similar to normal boiler) however inefficient during the evening/night. At this rate I'll be 'off grid' quite quickly especially with a surfeit of wood available! Sadly I'm on first name terms with a tree surgeon which is another cost entirely.

A very sensible worry but if you buy a Kia the batteries are included in their 7 year warranty - first question I asked the salesman when we went to look at the car 😀

Edited by Creative Midfielder
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1 hour ago, Yellow Fever said:

A battery may make sense - but I'm always dubious as to the real usable life of a battery (same as with electric cars - c.f mobile phones) and the huge replacement cost. Think that technology has a way to go!  Did cross my mind that the battery could charge during the day and then run a dual stage heat pump (i.e similar to normal boiler) however inefficient during the evening/night. At this rate I'll be 'off grid' quite quickly especially with a surfeit of wood available! Sadly I'm on first name terms with a tree surgeon which is another cost entirely.

Although something as seemingly natural as burning wood produces carbon as well as a lot of particulate pollutants, hence the move against installing log burners in homes.

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13 minutes ago, Naturalcynic said:

Although something as seemingly natural as burning wood produces carbon as well as a lot of particulate pollutants, hence the move against installing log burners in homes.

Yes - the CO2 on wood burning (or biomass) is of course carbon neutral but wood needs to be seasoned (dry) before use. I believe they are clamping down on selling what might be called 'green' or 'wet' wood anyway.

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5 hours ago, Tetteys Jig said:

I don’t have a smart meter (they couldn’t get it to connect apparently) and it would still work for me. I can just go look at the meter regularly whenever I need to assess my usage.

Hate to fight somewhat on the govt side of things but it is a bit “you scratch our backs we scratch yours” that has to happen. People need to cut back and be responsible. For most of us (up to that average cost) they keep putting in the headline) we can keep our costs to a reasonable level and not freeze to death. If people want to be irresponsible with energy then let them pay for it.

I wasn't really really disagreeing with you, more raising the issue that even the most sensible policies are not going  to be perfect.

I think you raise a good point about seeing what you are using. Just like in a an old fashioned cab with a meter the more aware we are of what we are paying, the more inclined we will be to control it.

Also I think Indy may have raised a worthwhile point- maybe it is only now that energy charges are actually beginning to reflect the true cost of energy use

 

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1 hour ago, Yellow Fever said:

Yes - the CO2 on wood burning (or biomass) is of course carbon neutral but wood needs to be seasoned (dry) before use. I believe they are clamping down on selling what might be called 'green' or 'wet' wood anyway.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see widespread "wild" wood gathering this coming winter, some of it will involve theft and ecological vandalism I further proffer.

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3 hours ago, Creative Midfielder said:

A very sensible worry but if you buy a Kia the batteries are included in their 7 year warranty - first question I asked the salesman when we went to look at the car 😀

There may be a problem there. I think current Lithium ion batteries last perhaps deep 2000 charges - normally enough for 'car' use - ergo 100K miles 7 or 8 years but if I was a car manufacturer I would void any guarantee of any such battery in-situ that was 'repurposed' when not 'driving' as grid (solar) storage - charging discharging daily. Indeed I'd make damn sure the control s/w stopped it (or that you could only charge but not discharge the battery). That may be why 'grid' storage vs electric car batteries isn't presently a runner - 3 years and a complete battery change might give EV cars a very bad bad name.

Lead acid for solar?

Edited by Yellow Fever

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2 hours ago, Yellow Fever said:

Lead acid for solar?

Certainly that has been the case historically but I think things are moving towards lithium even with PV - having said that I am not at all up-to-date nowadays.

Ten years ago I was very much involved in the renewables industry, nowadays I am still to an extent but rather peripherally and at a less technical level.

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7 hours ago, Barbe bleu said:

I wasn't really really disagreeing with you, more raising the issue that even the most sensible policies are not going  to be perfect.

I think you raise a good point about seeing what you are using. Just like in a an old fashioned cab with a meter the more aware we are of what we are paying, the more inclined we will be to control it.

Also I think Indy may have raised a worthwhile point- maybe it is only now that energy charges are actually beginning to reflect the true cost of energy use

 

Just did an extra gas reading now… used a total of 2 kWh in the last 3 months!

still not sure why most of the focus is on “freezing this winter” when gas will usually make up the far smaller part of peoples bills. Cutting on electric is the biggest thing to try do though things like turning off the fridge just aren’t the correct thing to do sadly so not really sure there’s even a right answer…

You’d be far better just heating your home with the usual gas heating as normal and then cutting back on as much electric as realistically possible if you’re struggling to afford things.

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On 30/08/2022 at 09:16, A Load of Squit said:

This doesn't take into account the Standing Charges which you pay regardless of your usage.

 

On 30/08/2022 at 09:41, Tetteys Jig said:

They actually have the opposite effect and are completely regressive. They should be scrapped for now (or covered by the govt handouts). At least they appear to have been basically frozen so for most people it’s an insignificant portion of the total bill

Today's Money Saving Expert email contain a calculator that tells you what you new charges are likely to be based on your annual usage. Mine will be going up from £4,200.00 to £7,800.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When this was originally spoken about a few months ago we made the decision to over pay so that we had built up a large surplus (we are lucky that we could afford to do it) it will help but I'm still completely shocked at how much it will increase.

Average Standing Charges in the UK (SC are charged regionally, people in the north pay more, so much for levelling up) is £273.00 per year.

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8 minutes ago, A Load of Squit said:

 

Today's Money Saving Expert email contain a calculator that tells you what you new charges are likely to be based on your annual usage. Mine will be going up from £4,200.00 to £7,800.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When this was originally spoken about a few months ago we made the decision to over pay so that we had built up a large surplus (we are lucky that we could afford to do it) it will help but I'm still completely shocked at how much it will increase.

Average Standing Charges in the UK (SC are charged regionally, people in the north pay more, so much for levelling up) is £273.00 per year.

Our rise is estimated to be:

Current £2750

after Oct 1st: £5090, Ohh Duck (85% increase)

here  https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/what-are-the-price-cap-unit-rates-/#tool

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21 hours ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Thanks for the link and whilst I love to be patronised by smug g*ts, I can assure you that I'm absolutely fine with the correct use of quotation marks  - a traditional grammar school education which I'm sure that a Tory like yourself would fully approve of. My incorrect use of them was quite deliberate and a trivial attempt to irritate you. Petty I know, but you seem to put a lot of time and effort into winding people up so if a few incorrectly applied punctuation remarks are the most abusive response you receive then then I think you should consider yourself very fortunate.

Careful CM or I will wheel out my explanation of the correct usage of square brackets, or brackets as they are called in American English.🤓

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15 hours ago, Yellow Fever said:

There may be a problem there. I think current Lithium ion batteries last perhaps deep 2000 charges - normally enough for 'car' use - ergo 100K miles 7 or 8 years but if I was a car manufacturer I would void any guarantee of any such battery in-situ that was 'repurposed' when not 'driving' as grid (solar) storage - charging discharging daily. Indeed I'd make damn sure the control s/w stopped it (or that you could only charge but not discharge the battery). That may be why 'grid' storage vs electric car batteries isn't presently a runner - 3 years and a complete battery change might give EV cars a very bad bad name.

Lead acid for solar?

Kia are one of the few that have embraced this very technology, as it requires the car to have a specific charge/discharge equipment.

A little reading here https://www.homechargingstations.com/ev-bi-directional-charging/

How can they void the warranty, if they install the required technology?

It's like fitting the wheels and voiding the warranty if you drive forwards!!??

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13 hours ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Certainly that has been the case historically but I think things are moving towards lithium even with PV - having said that I am not at all up-to-date nowadays.

Ten years ago I was very much involved in the renewables industry, nowadays I am still to an extent but rather peripherally and at a less technical level.

Lithium is the current 'favored' technology, used in Tesla Power-walls etc with a charge cycle of approx 3000

I don't know factually but I think cars have a similar charge cycle life as Tesla use the same batteries in the power wall as their cars!

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30 minutes ago, SteveN8458 said:

Kia are one of the few that have embraced this very technology, as it requires the car to have a specific charge/discharge equipment.

A little reading here https://www.homechargingstations.com/ev-bi-directional-charging/

How can they void the warranty, if they install the required technology?

It's like fitting the wheels and voiding the warranty if you drive forwards!!??

It's good if they do - but using the battery for solar as well is very much like putting miles on the battery if not the car. It can't help but reduce its life (in years). 

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41 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

Careful CM or I will wheel out my explanation of the correct usage of square brackets, or brackets as they are called in American English.🤓

We might get into the correct etiquette of emoji's next! I l also note on here that it's very much an 'American spellchecker' if you go for anything unusual. s and z work both ways generally.   

Edited by Yellow Fever
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1 hour ago, Yellow Fever said:

It's good if they do - but using the battery for solar as well is very much like putting miles on the battery if not the car. It can't help but reduce its life (in years). 

Yes it will reduce the life of the batteries in years/miles, I accept that.

But if I can save say £1500/yr of my now predicted £5000 energy bill and plan to trade in the car after say 3 years, that's a saving of £4500. Will the car depreciate by an extra £4500? It's a tradeoff.

Also need to factor in that I don't have to purchase the batteries/charger for the home, circa £10,000 at current prices for about 7Kw of batteries.

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10 minutes ago, SteveN8458 said:

Yes it will reduce the life of the batteries in years/miles, I accept that.

But if I can save say £1500/yr of my now predicted £5000 energy bill and plan to trade in the car after say 3 years, that's a saving of £4500. Will the car depreciate by an extra £4500? It's a tradeoff.

Also need to factor in that I don't have to purchase the batteries/charger for the home, circa £10,000 at current prices for about 7Kw of batteries.

Yes - but from a car purchase point of view - the batteries are supposed to work 'for the life of the car' - is that now only 7 or 8 years (per the guarantee)? You pay for the new batteries one way or another if the car devalues.

For business use and long trips (600 mile tomorrow) I still use a 14 year old diesel. Hasn't needed a new engine and owes me nothing! I don't accept that the life of a vehicle is only 7 or 8 years.

Edited by Yellow Fever

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53 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

Yes - but from a car purchase point of view - the batteries are supposed to work 'for the life of the car' - is that now only 7 or 8 years (per the guarantee)? You pay for the new batteries one way or another if the car devalues.

For business use and long trips (600 mile tomorrow) I still use a 14 year old diesel. Hasn't needed a new engine and owes me nothing! I don't accept that the life of a vehicle is only 7 or 8 years.

"the batteries are supposed to work 'for the life of the car'"

Where did you get this from? can you post a link?

I am NOT aware of any car manufacturer who guarantees the engines in their car for the life of the car.

I am also NOT aware of any EV manufacturer who guarantees the batteries for the life of the car.

Your perception of a vehicles life is not necessarily the same as the manufacturers!

FYI I drive a 17 year old diesel car, which has the original engine and also owes me nothing. Does need a new set of tyres tho 😞

Edited by SteveN8458
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17 minutes ago, SteveN8458 said:

"the batteries are supposed to work 'for the life of the car'"

Where did you get this from? can you post a link?

I am NOT aware of any car manufacturer who guarantees the engines in their car for the life of the car.

I am also NOT aware of any EV manufacturer who guarantees the batteries for the life of the car.

Your perception of a vehicles life is not necessarily the same as the manufacturers!

FYI I drive a 17 year old diesel car, which has the original engine and also owes me nothing. Does need a new set of tyres tho 😞

Here's a 2022 link that implies 100K miles or 8 years is about the life time of the car (similar to petrol or diesel apparently!!!).I think that's being spun as kind to the batteries in reality 

https://www.carbuyer.co.uk/car-technology/303898/how-long-do-electric-car-batteries-last

"The cost of a battery replacement shouldn’t be a great cause for concern for most buyers, however, because most electric car batteries are designed to last for the serviceable life of the car."

Edited by Yellow Fever

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53 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

Here's a 2022 link that implies 100K miles or 8 years is about the life time of the car (similar to petrol or diesel apparently!!!).I think that's being spun as kind to the batteries in reality 

https://www.carbuyer.co.uk/car-technology/303898/how-long-do-electric-car-batteries-last

"The cost of a battery replacement shouldn’t be a great cause for concern for most buyers, however, because most electric car batteries are designed to last for the serviceable life of the car."

Thanks for the link👍

"EV batteries are either repurposed or recycled at the end of their lives. Retired EV batteries can be reused for storing energy in places such as factories, shopping centres or even homes, helping reduce the pollution caused by disposing of electric car batteries at the end of their life."

Something I read elsewhere was that most domestic battery systems use 'used' car batteries, and they quote a charge cycle of 3000 over 10 years. Now this would be on top of anything that has happened during it's life in the car!!

Personally I think EV's (& the original batteries) will last longer than 8 - 10 years. Like petrol or diesel powered cars the level of maintenance and 'care' will have a big impact of a vehicles life.

here's a question: can an EV's charge/discharge history be retrieved from the car's memory?? like mileage, can it be 'forged' ?

 

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Just now, SteveN8458 said:

can an EV's charge/discharge history be retrieved from the car's memory?? like mileage, can it be 'forged' ?

Without researching, I would say almost certainly it is recorded and logged into a "secure" memory of the vehicle, and again I would say it's almost certain that this could altered by someone with the right "skills", however, I feel this would be just the same as clocking a modern car, you will leave a footprint somewhere. 

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