The other day, I bought a traditional 100 Watt incandescent light bulb from my local supermarket whilst they were still in stock, since it will become illegal to manufacture or import these from 1st September 2009 under new EU legislation.

Of course it's claimed that this will save up to 15m tonnes of CO2, which represents a hefty decrease of 0.00375% of the 4 billion tons produced every year in the EU. But wait... Since I use my light bulb only in the dark, which most of the time is in the winter, the 90% of the energy not utilized for light generation by my bulb helps warm my house and save on central heating. I've signed up for a “green” electricity account, so that this heating is produced from renewable resources. If everybody could do the same, vast amounts of fossil fuels needed by gas fired central heating systems could be saved, making the polar bears very happy.

The great KLM ripoff...

Suppose you got on the number 67 bus to visit your favourite granny. You walk to the nearest bus stop, whilst checking your watch to make sure that you are on time for the 08:53 am bus. When the bus arrives, you step on board and pay the driver the advertised Eur 8.90 return fare. The following week, your granny, impressed with the way you "rocked up" at her bedsit with a flaccid takeaway Pizza which you had microwaved for 2 minutes and 37 secs before leaving your house, decides to pay you a return visit.

Boarding the same number 67 bus at a similar time and with the same Eur 8.90 fare in her hand as you had previously paid, the bus driver refuses to let her board the bus - fare is now Eur 20,40... Last hope is to buy a singe ticket assuming that you will be able to help her out with the return fare. Misjudged again - single fare is Eur 50,20!!