How stupid and superficial are these independence referendum discussions? She said this and we can have it as soon as possible, he said yes but didn’t mean now. Who the hell are these simpletons?

There are some big issues to think about before anybody gallops towards the polls.

What are we going to do with our Armed Services?
What are we going to do with our Nuclear Weapons?
What are we going to do with our Nuclear Power Stations?
What are we going to do about NATO?
What are we going to do about the UK position on the UN Security Council?
What are we going to do about the UK position in the World Order?
What are we going to do about the Commonwealth?

I’m sick of people treating this issue as something that only affects the people living in Scotland. What about all the Scottish people living in England, don’t they get a say in what happens in their Motherland? What about the rest of the UK? Don’t we get a chance to air our opinions on whether we want the United Kingdom to stay united?

We have done very well as a United Kingdom and England has benefited from the influx of labour, materials and services from Scotland, while Scotland has benefited from access to a free market for capital, goods and services.

However, every nation has a right to self-determination (apart from the un-represented English of course) and we should all respect the result of any democratic voting.

I for one would be very sorry to see Scotland leave the UK. I still think if Tony Blah Blah Blah had been half the man he thinks he is, we would have English MPs in the Houses of Parliament and UK MPs in the Upper House (no Lords required thanks). We could have been independent countries in a United Kingdom.

As a lifelong York City fan I was utterly stunned by the antics of the Referee at this Saturday’s match against Woking, who shocked the crowd by sending off 3 York players, no Woking players (should have been two by my interpretation of his rules), and forgot he was in control (I use the word jokingly) of public entertainment.

Perhaps it is time to explore the use of the “sin bin” as used in many other team sports, instead of the sledgehammer approach of red and yellow cards. So many referees seem to be unable to gain the respect of players by controlling the game sensibly. They interpret the rules in a variety of ways and teams have to try to guess whether they are allowed to challenge each other or whether this is a no-contact referee who will blow up for anything.

I’m also beginning to wonder if York should ditch their traditional red shirts and switch to the yellow shirts and blue shorts of the away strip. I begin to wonder if the colour red has something to do with the often very puzzling decisions of many referees. Maybe the red shirt sends a subliminal message about the wearer being aggressive and that affects the referees response to clashes in the games. Possibly this gets worse as the game and the referee heat up, as many odd decisions seem to happen later in the game.

So, does the colour of what we and other people wear affects how they react to each other? My Father commented years ago that he was pleased to see I was feeling more cheerful when I switched from dark colours to clothing that was lighter and more vivid. I wasn’t aware of any mood change on my part but that was the effect on him. Sometimes we see individuals who are dressed in loud clothing and we make assumptions about what they are like and how they will react. Logic suggests that something like this is going on in these football matches and we should at least check it out. Minds greater than mine will no doubt have already explored this colour concept and can advise YCFC what to do.

Only thing is, I’ll have to buy a new YCFC shirt and scarf!

My big news is that I've retired!

After all the shock and heartache of facing redundancy (see early blog entry), here I am choosing to leave, to put that workplace I was so keen to rejoin far behind me. Funny how it all works out isn't it? I suppose it's possible that after about two months I'll be begging for work somewhere but I'll cross that bridge if I come to it, the way I crossed the post-redundancy bridge. The great thing is that I've been able to make choices, I think I'm just getting used to choosing again.

Also I've realised finally that being made redundant and having to take a pension early, isn't the worst thing in the world. Over the last 14 months I've seen a number of people hit by serious illness, and two friends have died. It all serves to remind me that I am not immortal and that I won't always be able put things off until later. Time to write that book!

What has been refreshing has been the way people have responded to the news, congratulating me and wishing me well. So many have also come up with stories that support the idea of retiring, telling me that their relative or friend retired and said "it was the best thing they did". Great to hear that after talking with an 82 year-old man two days ago, who said it was the worst thing he ever did and he would pay to be allowed to go back. I didn't pursue this by asking "how much" as I could use a gardener, I thought it might be a bit cheeky. He was just complaining, which is another skill I'm going to have to develop, happy days.

When I joined a large multinational company based in York, I though when I retired I'd be taking advantage of their dining hall, snooker rooms, afternoon dances, staff shop, gym, showers, day trips, the allotments, the staff shop and Christmas treats. How things have changed in York over those years.

Of course I do have a list of jobs already, which is wonderful (the sarcasm doesn't really come through on the written page does it) but actually I am looking forward to doing them at my leisure, rather than at a rush, which is the normal way.

My lads are taking the mickey of course, which is reassuring because I don't want too much respect as it makes me feel old.

Anyway I'm not that old, am I?

I watched "Make Trade Fair" (BBC Sunday night) and am appalled! Not in the way I suspect I was supposed to be appalled, but because of the total lack of intelligent questioning to highlight any issues that do or don't exist.

The three children from an English School "interviewed" children happily picking cotton, looking suitably horrified that the Indian children were doing this all day rather than going to school, totally missing the point that it was harvest time! Harvest time is not something many children are aware of these days, living in cities where they are totally disconnected from fruit and vegetable seasons. Everything is available all year round because of well-planned and well co-ordinated global supply chains.

Indian children don't do this all year round, they do it for a short period and get paid. Just like I used to do when it was time to harvest the potato crop in England. I used to get paid peanuts for working long days because farmers needed cheap abundant labour. As children we were ideal because we were cheap to employ, worked quickly and enthusiastically, and didn't need to be kept on for the rest of the year. We just went back to school having enjoyed our time in the fields.

If anyone cared enough about what was going on to do a bit more research they might discover that India is a bit more developed than that. Children do go to school and that is why India is developing fast into one of the World's largest and most powerful economies. Children have been a massive asset at harvest time for thousands of years, as they were in England before gradual mechanisation and finally EU limits made them obsolete. Children everywhere helped by upping the labour force for short periods to help bring in the harvest.

I'm sure that farmers in America who pick cotton with machines, but still can't compete with the price of cotton from places like India, will be very happy if Indian prices are forced up. They'll be able to out-compete the competition again and who will the winners be?

It is the responsibility of Programme Producers to make sure that a balanced view is obtained and broadcast. Otherwise the results may not be in the best interests of those we "think" need our support.

I must confess I gave up on the programme at this point and turned over to find something a little more intelligent. Sorry BBC, 1 out of 10, could do very much better if some proper research was carried out!

Well I've tried to "enjoy" the January Sales but have to confess I'm not really built to handle the scrum the way it is today.

You go to the "Men's" section and start to browse, only to find quick little hands darting here and there, bodies pushing in and out, elbows punishing your lumbering stability, and items you were viewing only milliseconds ago disappearing into a basket and out of sight. It really isn't on!

So what's the problem? Sexual equality, there just isn't any when it comes to shopping as women have taken over completely. I remember the days when shops like Burton's used to sell "Menswear" and the only women you'd ever see in the shop were quietly accompanying their boyfriends or husbands. A skilled shop-worker would arrive and measure your chest, waist and leg, show you where your sizes were and discreetly disappear while you fumbled your way through and chose something. Now I have to compete with women who practice shopping as soon as they can walk, have an inbuilt eye for a bargain, can size a garment from thirty feet away and have elbows like spear-points. It simply isn't fair.

Dear old BHS hasn't helped by mercilessly moving Menswear upstairs, next to the Cafeteria, where diners can amuse themselves by watching male shoppers blunder through the shopping experience. Surely I can't be the only man who feels like this?

Perhaps we could have a bit of positive discrimination with "Men Only" nights, where we can shop slowly and privately. We might even pick up a bargain......!!!!

So now it's all over... no more Christmas lights and flashing Santas everywhere and I miss it, everything looks so dull. I know it's not cool or tasteful but it is colourful at a time of year when colour is in short supply. Maybe I've got SAD syndrome and all I need is a bright light to keep me happy but I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like this. I'd suggest having all January as part of Christmas, which would make about 38 Days of Christmas. But, and it is a big but, that blinking song about the twelve days of Christmas (changed to 38) would be so long we'd all be suicidal by the time we'd finished singing it, or hearing it for that matter.
So what's the answer? Well as Baldrick would say I've come up with a cunning plan. If everyone was to take special pills to let them hibernate throughout January, think of all the benefits:
- We could all lose weight because we wouldn't be eating.
- We would save on energy because we'd all be in bed and wouldn't need the heating up so high.
- We would save more energy because we wouldn't be traveling to work in our cars, busses, trains, aeroplanes etc.
- We would save even more energy because we wouldn't need to heat all the workplaces because we'd all be at home (well apart from doctors and nurses and support staff but maybe we could send them and all sick people to warm foreign places so no-one misses out).
- Sam Allardyce and the rest of the moaning Premiership would get their Winter break.

Neat or what? Although I must admit if we did hibernate through January, February would be an absolute sod of a month.

Better plan a holiday!