Sunday 1 March

Good afternoon from a bright Stornoway, which is plagued by beefy downpours. Today is St David's Day, so leeks and daffs galore west of Offa's Dyke. For those who wonder what on earth I'm talking about: it's the national day for Wales today.

Found an interesting article on the phenomenon of the trillion, which has hit the headlines in the wake of the advent of that economic crisis. Being of continental provenance, I am more confussed than ever. You see, where I'm from, the term 'billion' is used for the number 1012, or 1,000,000,000,000 - or 1,000 times what is termed a billion in Anglo-Saxon / American terms. What comes beyond that is a totally different ballgame: a 'billiard' - yep, that's a game with two white and one red ball, a cue-stick and green baize tables - is 1015, or 1,000,000,000,000,000. You are lost? So am I. Wish they'd all stick to the same blinking terms. And did I say I'm fed up to the back teeth with all this talk of money, the greedy bankers, still wishing to pocket nearly three-quarters of a million pounds a year for a pension at the age of 50 for achieving an absolute and abject failure of their business.