September

So I guess that means the summer's over? I mean, at any time through August you still think there's a chance we might get a nice hot couple of weeks. By the time we're into September you're just hoping for a dry, sunny, weekend or two - accepting it will never really be hot. Ho hum.

Unfortunately it means two other things this year.

It means that fuel duty has been increased by a couple of pence. I'm now paying £1.08 per litre - and with expected rises in crude coming over the forthcoming winter I think things look set to get worse. This is the third rise in duty over the last 9 months which seems unacceptable to me.

This is the price we pay for bailing out the banks.

It also means that it's illegal to manufacture or import 100 watt light bulbs in the UK. Some may think this is a great idea, as it forces us all to use energy efficient bulbs. Unfortunately for some these are very difficult to read by, and I'm having difficultly tracking down CFL's that are dimmable at a reasonable price. Without these I'll have to have the light switches in some of the rooms replaced when the current bulbs blow.

Viva the nanny state.