What's all the (G)rumpus about?

Are fireworks as popular as they once were?

Do as many people have their own private fireworks display in the back garden?

Is it because we see so many massive fireworks displays all year round, particularly on television, that the "Oooh - Aaah!!" factor has been dissipated?

Are we all getting the Health and Safety bug?

There seem to be plenty of public displays again this year, put on mainly I imagine by volunteers for charity, but the H&S influence gets ever stronger. Spectators kept well away from bonfires. Fireworks lit by licensed professionals and viewed only from a designated distance. Kiddies not allowed to bring their own sparklers into the arena.

All a far cry from my youth when we rode round on our bikes chucking lighted bangers at each other!

I buy my electricity from the Gas company! I buy my gas from the Electricity company! How stupid is that??

The Gas company just phoned to persuade me to switch to buying my gas from them. Makes some sense. That's what I used to do before the IWRTC (Idiots Who Run The Country) opened the floodgates of stupidity and allowed anyone to sell anything to anybody!!

Imagine the extra cost to the consumer of all the administration and accounting for this unnecessary, pointless and totally confusing cross-trading.

Since the young man who phoned took care to advise me that the call would be recorded "for monitoring purposes, etc.", I took the opportunity to make my feelings known, in no uncertain terms, as to what I thought of being constantly pestered to switch from one supplier to another when their bills are so deliberatly complicated that it is impossible to tell if one is getting a better deal.

Oh for the good old days, when you put a shilling in the meter or walked to the oil-shop for a gallon of parafin for the Valor heater or some candles.

Recession could turn into Depression. People are losing their jobs, getting into arrears on their mortgages, having their homes repossessed. Many more families are seeking advice and help with credit card debt, money problems, consolidation loans, IVAs, bankruptcy. Pensioners are hit with rising prices and almost zero interest on savings.

Most of these money, credit and debt troubles have become apparent to us, the common people, in the last six months. But these problems have been festering for years, unknown to us but watched over and ignored, or even condoned, by Gordon Brown. Gordon Brown, now passing himself off as the saviour of Britain and indeed the World, is largely responsible for the current crisis, certainly in the UK.

Read this open letter: Click Here

The letter only demands Brown's resignation, but for what he has done to this country maybe a long prison sentence would be too good!

TTBM ... Things that bug me, ie, almost everything!

Tele-sales people who greet you enthusiastically with phrases like, "Hi! I'm Jackie from (insert name of pestering company). How are you today?", and then try to kid you they are not selling anything, they are just doing a survey. Oh, Yeah!!

TTBM ... Things that bug me, ie, almost everything!

Reality TV shows like "Strictly Come Brotherly X-Pop Talent Factor Celebrity Ice-Dancing in the Jungle" which loosely pack 5 minutes of purile entertainment into a whole hour of repetitive television and THEN, an hour or so later, subject us to another 30 minutes of re-run clips before boring us to distraction with the results of the phone vote when all the idiots with more money than brains, and nothing better to do, have voted to keep the worst contestant in the competition! Clever!