Ladies and Gentlemen, Start your Engines...

Now, according to an old saying (it's not mine, don't blame me!) a Yorkshireman is like a Scotsman, but with the generosity gene removed. I'm not tight with the old filthy lucre at all, but I have to say that after discussing the price of fuel today at work it suddenly dawned on me or I consciously came to realise that diesel is £1.26 a litre (1.47 Euros or $1.97US).

I guess I've never taken more than a passing interest on fuel price because I have to drive the car, I have no choice (poor or totally impractical public transport), so I just put fuel in when I need it.

Now being in my fifties, I have a certain amount of memory installed somewhere in the old grey matter and sometimes it is difficult to retrieve, but I do recall that when I had my very first car, an old green Ford Escort Popular in 1975 (three forward gears and windscreen wipers that slowed down the faster you went) petrol was sold by the gallon (4.5 litres) and the cost of four star petrol then, although I'm fairly certain the car took three star petrol, was 55 pence a gallon or 0.64 Euros which was just 12 pence a litre. Hmmmmm

On the 1st January 2011 the duty rate (tax that goes to the UK Government for doing absolutely nothing) for the main road fuels went up to up to 58.95p per litre, roughly 46% tax.

I have determined that although the route is not in a straight line by any means, I am going to walk the five miles to and the five miles back from work when the weather gets warmer and drier; I don't trust myself or other road users enough to get on a bike. The days of going out for a Sunday drive will surely be a thing of the past before too long - something that I thoroughly enjoyed doing in the dim and distant past.

Some of the cars we use at work use Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) which is now getting quite expensive too although the economy is better, but the availability of LPG fuel at garages is hit and miss. The electric car is, or will be too expensive (we will be paying for research and development for years through the retail price) and again, recharging points are like rocking horse droppings.

I think the odds on a general election in the UK by September 2011 of around 5/1 is worth a tenner of anyone's money. I just can't see the public putting up with it for a lot longer.

It's a while since I did a list, so here's something for the weekend:

You can tell it's going to be a bad day when*:

• You wake up and your water bed has broken and then you remember you don't own a water bed;
• You put both contact lenses in one eye;
• You put your bra on backwards and it fits better;
• Your twin sister forgets your birthday;
• Your birthday cake collapses with the weight of candles;
• You find a TV news team waiting in your office;
• You find the Yellow Pages open at 'Hit men;'
• You wake up in the morning naked in front of your workmates;
• Your blind date turns out to be your ex-wife;
• Your wife wakes up in an amorous mood and you have a headache!

Chat soon

Ta-ra
*Thanks to Geoff Tibballs