Social Welfare the Bane of Society
While we were in the UK, checking out our houses, we realised that one of them had several defects. Previous guests had damaged window locks, locks to the porch, kitchen. There were overgrown weeds, nettles that stung me, fences blown over. We called someone to clear the drains for us. It cost us £75! I bet it took less than 2 hours of work! The fence costs us £600 for half a day of work. The materials probably cost £20 to 40. In Dublin, I backed into a pole and the rear light was cracked, the bumper scrapped. It cost me £1041! Now when you are overseas, if you rent from reputable car companies like Hertz, Avis, etc. it is always insured comprehensively with an excess of around £1500 to 2000. When you reach the office, the person registering you will usually try to upsell you their own insurance for the excess, to reduce it to zero. A car without that excess insurance may cost £50 to 60 per day for an auto, family-sized car. With excess insurance, you may pay 50% more per day, wh...