Is something about to happen?

[Canyoumakecoffeeinamicrowave]

I’m a fairly anxious person, so it could be that, but I keep seeing on different Sm planforms, people saying it feels like similar to before covid lockdown and that something is about to happen.

Does anyone else feel this?

What have you read?

Dunno, I feel similar - that the fuel shortages may lead to mini lockdowns of a sort. Schools closing or learning moving online, shops on restricted hours, WFH. We do seem to be facing a serious gas supply crisis and it may be a case of having to prioritise some use over others.

I'm not walking an eight mile round trip to Lidl for anyone. The train is too expensive and buses are full of <horror> other people, so I'm not doing that either. I don't live in a town so there's nowhere to walk to either, unless you count the chemists and they buggered my prescription up so I don't go there anymore.

Anything could happen tomorrow, Kim Jong-Un might nuke us all because he’s upset that world leaders are getting to play with their war toys and he’s been left out.

Take some Prozac and don’t want the news.

Las I saw (Friday - accept things change) we were very, very far away from the impacts on oil that we saw within a week of the Ukraine war breaking out.

do you have some reason to think it’ll be worse than that?

I suggest you watch the news today. Oil prices have gkne through the roof since Fri

I am assuming you are worried because of what's going on in Iran/The Middle East?

I'm not worried. The UK/world has been through far worse.

I'm guessing you are quite young @Canyoumakecoffeeinamicrowave ?

I don't mean that as patronising or condescending, but everyone I know around my age (older Gen X/around late 50s) and older, is not worried, as we have seen/been through worse. It tends to be younger millennials and GenX who are catastrophising.

You need to see a doctor- that won’t happen quickly but you need tell them
you are thinking this way

in the mean time keep busy volunteer etc
snd either stay off social media or train your algorithm the show you positive news and puppies only

Gen X survived the Cold War, Thatcher, playing in abandoned industrial sites, Spangles (if you know, you know 😉), Chorlton & The Wheelies, random pockets of diesel filled water, and regular beatings with leather belts 💪🏻

We got this 😊

It's already happened, hasn't it? Trump has lit WW3.

When we know we at end of the fixed rate we pay attention anyway - I think most people do these days.

We had to go onto a higher rate than we had prior last year - but much lower than our first mortage on previous house.

Rates go up and down - when you are coming near to an end you keep yourself informed and try for the best deal you can get.

When I was a teen my parents and many other families were badly hit by rising rates as the market was full of variable mortages - now it's somewhere between 70-85% of mortgages are fixed and 55 % owner occupied houses having paid mortages off completely and owned outright. Rate rises affect fewer people immediately.

Despite having a mortage we've 4 years before we need to change and won't need to start looking for another three and half years when rates may be completely different.

Well, it's certainly a situation where a lot of impactful things could happen. I mean, we felt something was about to happen before COVID because we had several months' warning - news that got closer and closer about this new virus. I initially hoped it would be like Swine Flu and get staved off before reaching the UK, but when it reached Italy it was crystal clear it was coming here too.

There's no obvious path forward at the moment - a number of things could happen, none of them good, but I don't think anyone can call what that will be. Especially with the yahoos in charge of America. It'll be bad news if they continue to prosecute this war to fight Trump's low ratings, but it'll also be bad news if they just leave a ruined Iran under a new and even more aggressive despot.

That’s you though, there may be people on 2 yr fixes or with 1 year left and they need to have their eyes open. In fact all of us do, some may pay down capital balance whilst on a favourable rate.

well people might wait until the end of their term not knowing you can secure a rate up to 6 months before. Not everyone knows this

I don’t know why you are downplaying how significant mortgage rates are, for most people it’s their largest expense

We’ve hardly ever had peace though, there’s always been a war happening somewhere. Some wars have been catastrophic, the 30 years War knocked out up to 10% of the European population (50% of some areas of what we know as Germany). I would say experiencing war in some form or another is an inevitable consequence of being human.

What I do think though that we have become a bit over sensitised. We used to be much more focused on our own country and the friendly tribes.This is what was important, that these survived. Weakening an enemy was to be celebrated, because it meant we were less threatened.

Now we have people not sure whose side to take in a war so it makes the feeling very painful because those people will never be able to make sense of the constant wars, their mental health will suffer, society suffers.

Wars will always happen, we seem to have become disconnected from how to survive this fact

The price of oil is sky rocketing and I’ve started to see reports in the news that Brits are being urged to drive less. But apart from that I haven’t seen much.

Bit you said that fuel going up would mean you'd be stuck inside, which is patently untrue. If it did go up to the point that you found it unaffordable then you would have to consider other transport options in order to get to Lidl.

I think society and the world at large (certainly in the West) we were sold a lie and also wanted to believe the lie that wars are over, the war to end all wars (except the one that came after it...!), the UN, NATO, the Human Rights would see the end of the risk of WWIII

Nope, we need to accept exactly what you say, unfortunately we are just a bunch of warring tribes, still the same as ancient peoples, just with cars and computers now.

I don't think we should just wash OP clear of sensible insight. What if Iran hits us with a missile ? I read they have ICBMs

I try to keep up to date with current events and wouldn't say the state of the world is keeping me up at night, given that I'm tucked in a pretty useless part of England. However, I did recently realise that my passport had expired, and not having my 'papers' in order has made me slightly uneasy.

Get off SM and go for a walk. I am doing just that shortly. It's sunny where I am.
Then I am going to eat some icecream and read a book for the rest of the day.

No I don't feel that at all.

It can happen anywhere, this is my point

How could they get a missile here? They’re bombing their neighbours because they cat reach any further away

plus why would they want to bomb the uk?

do you remember all the scare mongering about Putin who was obviously going to sail a nuke over the whole of Europe to blow up our little island? Didn’t come to anything either did it? And we actually helped lead the Ukraine resistance to him 😭

I also feel we are on the cusp of another big world event, US/Israel war vs Iran is a big deal, and they are trying to drag the U.K. and Europe in, it is not likely to be all over and ok in a few weeks, despite what Trump says.

the idea that this would not concern us, is very much an island-mentality

i also guess everyone who is completely unconcerned does not have loved ones in the military or in the Middle East

I do. I do not think they will be helped by me panicking or going on SM.