CouRteSy Of Ebenezer Scrooge and Charles Dickens ...BAH! HUMBUG.

There in front of me, in print, I read that Royal Mail 'International Economy Mail' for for post of a weight up to 20g and specified small measurements was 81p.  

• A quick bit of mental arithmetic immediately told me that I might save a whopping 16p per item on the 97p 'Standard' International Mail.  Read on...

• If I was not in a hurry for mail to arrive, it would be at destination within two weeks.  At this stage, the end of November 2014, there was plenty of time for my international Christmas mail to go Economy class. 

This was getting quite exciting......

I scrolled down the page where I found an invitation to print my own stamps at no more cost than it would be at a Post Office counter.  

Now that was a bit far fetched. I would be using my printer ink; my paper; my labels; all at my cost, and pay the full up postage costs.  I would still have to physically post the mail into a mail box either outside the Post Office, or, a mail box at the Sorting Office, equidistant in the opposite direction.  It definitely was not difficult to decline the invitation to be my own post mistress.  Anyway, I rather like having a fully functioning Post Office to take my business to.

Scrolling down a bit further I was invited to click for further guidance;

• International Economy Mail is the smart new name for what we used to know as Surface Mail -  Enlightenment dawned;  that's why using this posting method would take some time to get there, but that's okay, time is on my side.
• Uh oh. The definition for 'International' is lots of places on the map except the land mass we know as Western Europe. 
                           Except Western Europe !!!!
• So, Folks, it's great news if your mail is going mostly anywhere but in Western Europe.  If your mail is going west, your extra pennies will go with it at a minimum of 97p per letter, up to maximum weight of 20g and within specified quite small measurements.

  Bah! Humbug.

BELT TIGHTENING MADE GLORIOUS

Sharp cold days are not so positively invigorating when there is an underlying dampness.  Sure enough,  about tea time, (our new tea time with clocks back an hour to winter time) a particular plump grey cloud was seen approaching. The cloud only produced spits of rain, not like this morning when, it seemed the wet weather was setting in for the day.  I am glad that we had three or four hours of bright weather with glaring but cold sunlight.  This is a metaphor for our times. We have had the glister, and now, we have cold stark slicing.

My bit of slicing today was putting out a wee bit of washing to dry, it did quite well.  Most of it came in cold, a couple or three items were quite damp.  Dampness in that instance, is at least 75% drier than the clothing was when it was pegged out.  

 I  am not keen on using the tumble drier too much, as we know to our cost that while we economise on fuel our bills soar; our incomes are either frozen, or increases, if any, are nominal and do not offset the soaring daily living costs.

Price rises for all necessities are increasing at percentages way above anything that people in work can obtain on salaries.  There is no effort to contain any price increases, the effort goes into suppressing incomes; that is the way in our type of economy.  It is clear that the majority will have to budget with reduced incomes.  It's all about belt-tightening we are told: we are all in it together, we are told;  some, visibly more than others.  But, then, that is the way with our type of economy. 

We are now in the winter of 2012 in more ways than one.  I sincerely hope and trust it will not be, to quote Shakespeare....."The winter of our discontent."(Richard III).   I do not yet see that it is likely to be, "Made glorious summer ...." by any foreseeable event, for many a year.

THE PAST AND THE PRESENT

My radiators are covered with items of clothing at various stages of drying. It's not that I am stingy about using the the tumble-dryer and using fuel; it is that my consciousness has been assaulted with being economic with the earth's resources. I work much like the local farmers do, observing weather patterns, waiting to quickly take and use any windows of opportunity. In my case, I wait for half decent weather so I can peg out the washing to dry in what nature can provide for the purpose. As the season changes the opportunities to dry the washing outside will contract. 

I am almost wistful for bygone days when rooms in houses were large enough to sustain a wooden dryer fixed with a pulley, which rose to the ceiling. We had one, when I was young, and it settled in a high area in line with the rising heat from the coal range, mostly used for heating. Those were the days of city smog. I would not wish that back. With the thought in mind, I have been eying up any spaces that might accommodate a pulley dryer/airer. The obvious one would be our utility area, but that is far too narrow.

Damp is another issue to think about. These days, with smaller room sizes and the encouragement to insulate houses well, ventilation is more restricted. On the other hand if a house is heated with dry heat, a little moisture might balance things off a bit. The correct balances could be difficult to achieve.

Increasing heating costs focus the mind and the purse. Where I live, there are very limited periods when the heating is completely off during the year. The thinking cap will have to go on again. Meantime, the airers over the radiators and the radiators themselves will have to do their best to support the ecological argument on the basis that every little helps it, and also, every little helps to support the domestic economy drive.

GAMBLING, SAVING, SHAREHOLDING - ITS BUSINESS

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• This is not a defence of shareholders, savers,or anyone who gambles in any shape or form. It is time to try and set the record straight, get some balance, into the subject. There are a lot of misconceptions being peddled and myths being encouraged, because its suits various groups to deflect the attention of the masses as to what is really happening in the U.K today. 
  
  Time and again, denigrating pronouncements and insulting jibes are thrown at various sectors of the population when it suits particular pressure groups, Unions and Government. The media grab at it,and if not already provided, create sound bites that are bandied about till the myth that it helps create, is established as fact. When you take a closer look, the cracks and flaws in the comments and the myths become evident. 
  
  Savers have had a roller-coaster of a ride in recent times in the various banking institutions with which they tried to build their nest eggs. No-one considered it a gamble, trusting those who worked in the global financial markets, to care for personal assets, of any size. It was and it is a financial gamble. The banks have a compulsory financial guarantee for savers, whereas, other money building models do not. Risk for bank savers is therefore, reduced. 
  
  Many individuals and families take a flutter on market stocks and shares, with various amounts of money they have saved. The buying and selling of stocks and shares is mainly managed by an industry of brokers and fund managers. Investors take the risk, they can win or lose. 
  
  There's the flutter with various alternative forms of gambling: The Lottery, bingo, cards, games machines, raffles and horses. All these flutters have spawned a vast supporting gambling industry. It is an avenue from which Government can divert money to the Treasury coffers. This financial risk is entirely yours; you can win or lose.
  
  Bank and building society savings accounts appear to be less of a gamble than other forms of investing, however, it is clear from recent and ongoing events that there is a risk attached to them, though much less than with other forms of gambling.
  
  A very large number of shareholdings are held by people who have invested modest amounts for a medium or long term, (years).  The investment may accrue in value and there may be dividend payments for the loan and use of the money during the time it is invested.  It is all taxable.  When the investments work well, they contribute to a person's or family's income, at various stages of life. The largest shareholdings are corporate ones. There are issues around corporate power, which in recent times have affected the small and individual shareholder. This is a matter for another discussion. 
  
  The quick flutter will involve the exchanging of modest or large sums of money for the high risk strategy of early gratification. The winnings, like the shares income, can be taxed. Huge numbers of people enjoy the quick gamble, some are addicted to it. The vast majority lose lots of money. Financial gains, if any, will not reflect the aggregated amounts gamblers lose. That is how this style of gambling is meant to work. 
  
  What is the difference between the groups of gamblers? It is convenient to peddle the myth that all shareholders are wealthy greedy pigs. The small shareholders, of which there are many, have chosen to gamble, (many with relatively modest amounts of money that they have saved) in a different manner to the other groups of gamblers. Like the bank account savers, the aim is to save and benefit from the gamble, (investment) over time. They are not looking for the excitement of the racetrack. The bank savers and shareholders have similar aims but the shareholders do not have the cushion of the banking financial guarantee. 
  
  Buying a bet on a horse or dog, buying lottery tickets regularly spending money on bingo, is an extremely short term risky investment strategy. The quick gamble, gives short term excitement, generates an adrenalin rush and over time, will leave most punters well out of pocket. What the overall spend is in the quick gambling arena, is hard to assess. We do know that the quick gamble instinct is tapped into with great success. This can be seen in annual healthy profit figures produced by the gambling industry.
  
  As things stand, following the global financial crisis, the short-term gamblers, the savers and individual and family shareholders are all in similar positions.
  
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