We had to get a doctor to call to our house today as our little boy was ill, and due to the fact that he was  in a lot of pain we could'nt get to go to the doctor/medical centre.

When the doctor came, she was a professional as they all are, and checked him out and gave us a perscription for him.

How much did the visit cost? €90 that's right 90 euro.

Need I say more?

Last Saturday night I along with my family and friends went for dinner in a little Italian Restaurant in Lucan, Co Dublin, named Prego. I was assured by my sister in law that the food was good, and as I like Italian food I felt that you cant kill a pizza.

We went with my extended family at the time of our reservation 6.15pm and as usual I ordered a fine Chianti to assist the digestion. An hour passed, still no starter, even though we asked for the starter's to arrive quickly as my children were hungry.

Eventually starters arrived and so did my cold calamari which I asked to be taken back to be replaced by warm calamari, on protest a free bottle of wine was given, not the fine Chianti as we had "de-stocked" the restaurant.

We finished our respective meals and went home for sleep. I did'nt get much sleep as I was violently ill on numerous occasions throughout the night.

On Monday I decided to cancel my laser transaction, which I did by giving the reason as "serious gaulking".

So just because you had a bad experience in a restaurant, shop, etc just remember that you have the power to get your money back.

Prego

Ken Livingston, Mayor of London, has announced that he has signed an agreement with Venezuela's President, and dictator,Hugo Chavez. The sceme will allow London Bus to buy oil from Venezuela at a 20% reduction, thereby effectively subsidising London Bus to the tune of $32million, or £16million.

Ken, as his friends call him said that this subsidy would be used to help some 250,000 poor people in the form of cheaper bus fares.

In return, and this is the classic bit, Ken will dispatch his transport chief Peter Hendy, to set up and office of the mayor in Caracas,who will empart London's expertise in traffic management.

A G8 capital city receiving economic aid from a South Amercian country, very nice.

So as many of you sit in traffic on the M25,A40 to name two you should reflect on the news that your mayor will have an international office. A first in the history of any mayor I would have thought. Additionally when your council tax goes up just remember that running an international office is'nt cheap and Ken needs the money. All this good news comes in the same week that Londons transport plans for the 2012 Olympics were described as vague and lacked urgency, but rather than sit down with the various agencies involved Ken is in Venezuela picking out curtains for the new office.

I know that we have a fair few idiot politicians in Ireland,but this guy takes the biscuit.

Robert Kilroy Silk,MEP and former talk-show host has accused Marks and Spencers for installing mirrors in womens changing rooms that allegedly distort the female form by making them look slimmer than they actually are. He came to this conculsion when his wife and daughter complained that when they bought the clothes at M&S they look fine in the changing room, but when they got the clothes home they did'nt look the same.

Silk, has raised this in the European Parliment and has called for M&S to be sanctioned under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. He has also written to M&S's chief executive, Stuart Rose, demanding that the offending mirrors be removed and apology be issued to all women. M&S have insisted that the mirrors in all its stores are "bog standard".

Its good to see politicians still have their fingers on the pulse...

Anyway if the mirrors did tell the truth what would men say when the "IS MY BUM BIG IN THIS" question is posed?

Over the last number of weeks, something has begun to annoy and irritate me to the point that I need to get it off my chest.

Why, oh Why, do some adverts for companies and services insist on including www when they announce their respective websites. I cannot recall there been an alternative World Wide Web being launched recently. Its not all companies that insist on doing this but a majority seem to do so.

For example in Ireland , RTE launched its new, improved, website and at the end of the news the presenter tells us that we can watch the stories again on www.RTE.ie/news, where else can a website be found?

So please stop putting www in front of the website address, its 2007.

HMRC you are excused from the above.

And so it begins, the Irish General election is going to take place this year, some believe the 2nd or 3rd Thursday in May as being the most likely dates,and to that end the political parties are gearing up with promises designed to woo the electorate in the run up. Its still only Feburary but two parties, namely the Progressive Democrats and Labour, have nailed two proposal's firmly to their respective political masts already.

On Saturday "The Rabbit", Pat Rabbitte, Labour Leader ,announced that should Labour be part of the next government, it would ensure that the basic rate of income tax would come down from its present 20% to 18% within two years of been in government.In an attempt to counter this "The Rothweiler" Micheal Mc Dowell, Leader of the Progressive Democrats" today announced that should they be returned to power they will increase the Old age Pension to €300 per week from its present €200 per week.

Now on face of these two announcements you would say whats the problem here?, its not the announcements that annoy me its that fact that it appears to be a clear attempt to buy votes. Yes, I know that all political parties make promises at election time, and many of these promises are then not kept, but these announcements seem to be a departure from the norm. Additionally I also feel that the political machines in this election are going to be geared towards the individual on a micro level as opposed to gearing policies and committments on a macro level, for the good of the economy as a whole.These announcements come with a backdrop of our schools being overcrowded, the health services is a shambles, people with special needs are simply ignored, and thugs roam our streets armed to the teeth that will kill or harm you without a second thought.But it appears that these issues are irrelevant to "The Rabbit" and "The Rothweiler".

D'ont get me wrong, I like tax cuts, and I beleive that  pensioners should have a decent amount of money to get by, however I feel such policies should be included in parties overall manifesto's and come with a full costed figure attached. At least that way the electorate has an opportunity to weigh up and analyse the contents of the proposal's and ask ourselves questions like do, I want the 2% reduction or would I prefer to see the money spent elsewhere?. There seems to be a belief by the political parties that we are unable to carry out these types of analysis ourselves.

If this trend continues during the run up to the election we will end up being promised everything from "windmills" from the Green Party, to "2 week holidays in the west" from Fine Gael, and "season tickets to Croke Park from Fianna Fail", just to secure your first pref. It'll be like Christmas in May.

I have a funny feeling that Independents will do well in this election as they will run on tickets that will affect local issues, such as roads, schools etc, which will leave us in a strange situation, but not an unfamilair one as those of us old enough to remember the early 80's when we had three governments of varing colour in the space of 18 months, which lead to the "halcyon" years that followed. The reason they were "halcyon years" was due to the fact there was nobody left, thousands had to go to find work.

Would,nt it be nice for some political party to come up with novel policies such as ,

• We are going to sort out the health service by weeding out the tiers that do not add value.
• We will ensure that our children's schools have proper roofs and heating to afford them the opportunity to learn.
• We will invest wisely for the future and not rehash and repackage old policies and call them new.
• We will tell the truth.

At least it would be better that being sold promises that I d'ont believe are worth the paper they are written on. "The Rabbit" and "The Rothweiler" need to stop the attempts of "buying" votes we are not fools, and I believe that we will return that party or selection of parties that will tackle all the important issues facing the country, and not single giveaway policies

Its has been reported today that some 210,000 pensioners who receive their State pension via the local post office, other than through EFT, will this week get their back money. They will recieve €234 each covering the period from Jan 1 to the end of March, eventhough we are still in Feburary.

Good news for the pensioners, and good news for the local thugs, who now know in advance that the pensioners will have an extra few bob in their purses and wallets, and all the local Post Offices will have extra cash in its vault this week.

Seamus Brennan, Minister for Social Welfare, take a bow for giving the criminal underworld a "heads up" on the timing of this money being given out. It will make any attempt on robbing either pensioners and or post offices that little easier.

Yesterday, Dermot Mannion,chief executive of Aer Lingus, announced that Aer Lingus had signed a strategic partnership with US low-cost carrier Jetblue. According to Mr Mannion this deal "will enable us to grow our revenues and grow passenger numbers" and additionally "introduce the Aer Lingus brand to new markets". The Irish Times headlined this today as "US deal to open 51 routes for Aer Lingus" and Reuters headlined the same story as "Aer Lingus forges ticket alliance with Jet Blue".

On hearing and reading this one would be forgiven to believe that this was a positive "strategic partnership" that would enhance the Aer Lingus brand and add value to the company and its shareholders. From what I have read the deal is'nt even signed, as negotiations are on-going. Asked if Aer Lingus had put together any projections on future passenger growth and therefore revenue? the answer was "no, not at this time".So, it would appear that according to Mr Mannion, Aer Lingus will grow but it will have nothing in place to assess or analyse the effect of this decision. This is beginning to resemble Enron, when its management felt that having a balance sheet was'nt necessary.

On further examination it would appear that the "deal" is simply placing buttons on each others Websites allowing access to each other. Very strategic?.Indeed the announcement also seemed to catch Jetblue off guard who went on to say "that no deal had been agreed, and negotiations were ongoing". When this was put to Mr Mannion he conceded that "there were details that still need to be worked out". Apparently these details include, revenue sharing arrangements and various customer services issues including checking in luggage in Ireland to final destinations in the US and elsewhere. This should prove fun given that Jetblue's model is one that we are all familiar with, ie Ryanairs. I can see us all arriving in Bermuda without any luggage.

Another aspect that was'nt reported in Ireland was that Jet Blue "is still in partnership talks with other international carriers" so should this deal with Aer Lingus go through and Jet Blue also signs similar agreements with other carriers, I have a feeling that capacity will become an issue.

This is bad management, Aer Lingus could find other ways of increasing its revenue by simply increasing its load factor on it transatlantic flights from its present, and declining 80.6% to say 85% would increase its passenger numbers by almost 55,000 passengers. If you use an average return fare of €500 this would equate to €27.5m, and it would the management that would control this strategy, and it will not depend on an outside third party for growth.It may also cost justify the two new 315 seater aircraft that will be on the transatlantic routes later this year. Analysts believe that should this deal go through there will be no increase in revenue for Aer Lingus.They also believe that Aer Lingus should be focusing on the competition that is invading its space in the form of American, Delta, and now Flyglobespan operating from Knock, which by the way needs to be applauded, and shows what can be done with proper strategic thinking.

I can't help feeling that the Management of Aer Lingus is out of its depth in managing this company, it is making profits due to the work put in by former CEO Willie Walsh and his team. The present Management appear to be falling from crisis to crisis,  it became embroiled in another row with unions last week on its cost cutting plan it emerged that the business plan that was finalised days before flotation 4 months ago, is now not worth the paper its written on. I wonder how many investment houses are scratching their collective heads now asking "have we been sold a pig and a poke?". Class action law suits are not uncommon when these things happen.

Aer Lingus share price is presently about €2.91, a valuation that I believe has a Ryanair premium embedded, and valuations for its slots, for example in Heathrow, justifying the price. If Mr Mannion et al d'ont start doing some hard work and stop announcing "incomplete deals" I can see Aer Lingus been broken up and sold off, in a similiar way Eircom was broken up and had 4 new owners in 8 years.I feel the loss felt this time should Aer Lingus go the same route will not be confined to small investors but to all of us as a whole.

I wonder then what will happen to the consumer when Aer Lingus is no longer with us?

I simply could'nt believe it when I heard on the radio to-day that a Russian headmaster,Mr Alexander Ponosov has been arrested for purchasing computer's for his school, that had pre-loaded Microsoft software, that contained pirated software.

Piracy, in all its forms is illegal, but I challenge anyone reading this to ask themselves, if they have ever purchased or used a pirated consumer product?. If there is anyone who can say no, I'd be stunned.It is known by all the major consumer brand's that piracy exists and they wish to stop it, which is their right, but to arrest a teacher in the middle of nowhere,1000 miles from Moscow, for such a crime I feel is a little rich, especially when its Microsoft.

The affair is gaining huge publicity in Russia, and ex-president and Noble Prize winner, Mikail Gorbachev, has written in an open letter to Bill Gates on his website, "A teacher, who has dedicated his life to the education of children and who receives a modest salary that does not bear comparison with the salaries of even regular staff in your company, is threatened with detention in Siberian prison camps,"

Mr Gorbachev goes on to say,"We have great respect for the work of Microsoft's programmers ?¦ and are in no way casting doubt on the principle of punishment for intellectual property violations. However, in this case we ask you to show mercy and withdraw your complaint against Alexander Ponosov,"

Now, to most reasonable people what Mr Gorbachev says in his letter is not un-reasonable and with Bill Gates to have an estimated net worth of some $53bn you would expect a little bit of leniacy. Not a bit of it, Microsoft rebuffed the plea from Mr Gorbachev. It went on to praise Russia's enforcement of intellectual property rights, and sought to distance itself from the affair by issuing statements through its PR agency in London, it did'nt even have the common decency to reply to Gorbachev directly.

So, Microsoft is happy to see " A teacher, who has dedicated his life to the education of children and who receives a modest salary" to go to prison, and be fined, whilst it can spend millions of dollars defending itself in anti-trust suits.

Somehow this does'nt feel right.

Well, Feburary 1, the first day of spring.It should be noted the weather people regard March 1 as the first day of spring.Crocuses are out, snowdrops are out, daffodils are preparing their trumpets for display. Indeed my rhubard has appeared in the vegetable patch along with the first green leaves on the strawberry plants.

What can be really annoying about this? I can hear you say. Its not that things are growing, its all the work that will be needed to be done over the next couple of weeks.

1. Get into shed. I d'ont know about you but every spring the chore of cleaning out the shed is a pain in the arse. I d'ont know what happens from the end of Oct to the start of Feb but my shed looks as if its being hit by a hurricane, on the inside.
2. Locate Lawnmower. Ah yes you will lift up the lawnmower to inspect its blade to see if it needs sharpening. You'll be greeted by the grass from last years last cut, that should now be a lovely mouldly blue/green. Should you feel that you need the blade sharpened, trying to unscrew the blade can be hours of bleeping and cursing.Check the oil, decide that it needs a service, try and fit it into back of saloon car, attempting not to scrap paintwork on car. D'ont worry you will. Drive to lawnmower service man, find out he's gone out of business, curse, drive home with boot hopping up and down. Hope not to be stopped.
3. Cut grass. First cut, avoid Dog S##T, collect grass and add it to compost maker which by now is a sea of slime. I never get compost from mine.
4. Trim back dead pieces on shrubs. End up cutting too hard and plant dies. Off to the Garden Centre to buy replacement, exit garden Centre with enough to replant the Amazon Rain Forest. Stuff them into every available space in the car, think about leaving your child behind to make more space, think better of it. Place child back in car forgetting that the poor child is sitting in thorny plant. Nobody happy.
5. Replanting. Prepare the soil, place the plants in their places, review, unhappy, lift and replant again. Weeks later still at the exercise.
6. New plans. Draw up new plans for garden, never put plans in place. if you do patio uneven, child trips up on corner and cuts lip, wife calls you "feckin eejit". You retreat to shed for beer, wife unhappy cause you're "drinking" in the afternoon. Put up new trellis on wall to support climbers, miss nail hit finger, run around garden shouting and wailing like Homer, wife happy.
7. Waking up.Wake up next day "in bits", takes 30mins to get out of bed, think that you have dislocated your arse, which is medically impossible, slide down stairs only to see that you still have 90% of the rest to do.Go to couch, never leave.

Spring has sprung so enjoy it.