Winter like wot we used to 'ave.

Stone the crows! It's brass monkeys out there! My small fish pond has a layer of ice on it that's an inch thick. We haven't seen a winter like this for many a long year, and the country is ill prepared for it. That is the trouble with a proper winter coming upon you only once every few years - local authorities have no sound economic reason to invest in fleets of snow ploughs and mountains of road salt: it would all be sitting around in depots doing nothing.

Now, with the UK covered in snow and ice, Councils and the Highways Agency are running out of salt and grit, and are being selective in which roads they treat. Motorways and A roads are being looked after, but one wonders whether there is any point if one is unable to reach the major roads in the first place because the minor connecting roads are either impassable or ice rinks.

The other night in south Devon two hundred motorists were stranded in their cars for six hours, and people had to be taken to reception centres for food, warmth and sleep.

Then we come to the problem of accidents that shouldn't occur because they are caused by drivers who have had neither the experience nor the tuition for driving in ice and snow. They seem to expect their cars to behave in exactly the same way as they do under normal conditions.

Quite a winter we are having .. an ice cold economy in an ice cold climate.

On the day that London's buses all came to a halt last week, our capital city's eccentric mayor, Boris Johnson, was interviewed for TV and he said there was no reason why people should not make the effort to get into work, and if they couldn't, well - they could always work from home. So there you are, you lazy layabout teachers, nurses, doctors, surgeons, policemen, electricians, plumbers, utility workers, couriers, van and truck drivers .. you can work at home .. get stuck in!

Meanwhile the Bank of England is leaving those of us with a few quid in savings out in the freezing cold. The interest rate's been cut again - to 1 percent. What is this meant to achieve? Earlier cuts in interest achieved nothing, and I suspect this will achieve nothing. Do we now have to look forward to ZERO percent interest? I was interested to hear the other day that there are six times as many savers in the UK as there are borrowers. Our money is sitting around doing nothing for us, and people who rely on savings interest to live on are having a hard time.

I ventured out into the sub-zero climate this morning with a plastic bin liner, having made the rash promise at the height of summer to be "litter monitor" at the childrens' playground. The playground committee had most months covered by a rota of volunteers, but were lacking someone for the jolly month of February. So that's where yours truly steps into the breach.

I trudge down the frosty road to the playground, half fill my bag with plastic bottles, bits of paper and other assorted bits of rubbish thrown to the ground by half-wits that know no better and within 10 minutes I'm in the middle of another snow storm. So, it's back to the warmth of my house and a cup of coffee. I'll have another trudge down there with a plastic bag next Saturday. Something to look forward to.

Crunchy Credit (& other biscuits)

As we plunge deeper into world recession it throws into sharp relief the question faced by all of us as we grow older, namely, at what stage of our lives is it sensible to stop saving money and start spending our savings instead?

If we are lucky enough to build up a retirement fund, is there much point in not spending it when we finally retire? The trouble is, you get the savings habit (we hope!) and it's hard to break. Meanwhile we get older and older until you either get too old to spend it usefully or you kick the bucket leaving it all in the bank.

You could decide to keep the money there to pay for a care home, but if you haven't got any money when you need a care home, then Social Services come up with the goods anyway (but only after you have spent all your own dosh). What about leaving money in the bank for your children? Bill Gates clearly doesn't think this is a good idea. My own parents didn't leave me anything and I survived.

The Bank of England has been busy slashing interest rates in recent weeks, and there is even talk of it falling to as low as 1% or even approaching zero%! Under these conditions it would normally be good news for mortgage holders - if only the banks and building societies would be so good as to pass on the rate cuts to the suffering borrowers. Meanwhile it's bad news for savers, since at these rates of interest you might as well stuff your hard-earned lolly under the mattress.

I have at least made one good decision, and that is to take a lump out of my savings to pay off a couple of credit cards completely, since my savings are earning less money than I'm paying in interest on the credit card loans - crazy economics. At such times I appreciate the benefits of online banking which allows me to move money about all over the place just by sitting at home and pressing a few keys.

Of course it's going to be necessary to have some cash stashed away for domestic emergencies.

For example, from time to time the old boiler causes me some problems, but I wouldn't have it any other way: we've been married for 46 years.

Then there's garden maintenance. We live in a road jointly owned by me and my two neighbours, and there's nearly a hundred yards of hedging to be maintained (which I volunteer to do), and that's not to mention another 70 yards of hedges in my own garden. There will come a time when I am too decrepit to do this work, and my neighbours won't be in much better condition either by then, so we'll have to pay for a contractor to do the job. 

Perhaps I'm going to need a Hedge Fund manager.

It's a good time not to have money invested in the stock market. I have studiously avoided placing my money in anything perceived to carry risk. I did make an exception just once. I bought £500 of shares in Harry Ramsden's Fish & Chip shops. A year later, before things got fishy, I cashed in my chips and doubled my investment. I knew how to make BIG money in those days!

Like a lot of people I regarded banks and building societies as a safer bet. How wrong could we have been?! As the frozen food shop TV advert says, "Mum's gone to Iceland". Poor Mum!

Meanwhile, what of the 2012 Olympics? As we all run out money, perhaps we can look forward to the London Olympics being held in a large marquee, with an opening ceremony consisting of London Mayor Boris Johnson cycling round the arena, blond tousled hair blowing in the wind, carrying the Union Flag, with a couple of sparklers attached to the luggage rack.

Chin up - we'll get through it - (Flash) Gordon Brown is going to save the world.

Is the BBC completely bonkers?

Why is the BBC paying Jonothan Ross (top) and Graham Norton (above) millions of pounds for their services as chat show hosts and reality TV show presenters?

Ross is an adult with the mind of an adolescent: his sense of humour has not progressed beyond the sixth form at school, and his reliance upon constant sexual innuendo and references to various bodily functions become increasingly boring. He is, in fact, a right royal pain in the backside. I am no prude, but this man is too much. His financial reward for his puerile performaces are obscene.

Whilst relying much on the same sense of humour for which licence fee payers are showering Ross with cash, Graham Norton can at least can be credited with being quite amusing, but again I cannot begin to understand why he is worth so much money.

Apparently the BBC governing body does not consider that the financial rewards given to Ross and Norton are excessive. I beg to differ.