Regular readers of my blog -- and fellow full-time Fools -- are no doubt aware that I'm a Corrie fan. I could list many things I enjoy about this soap, which I watch because it provides light relief from the daily grind:

* I love Blanche, the crabbiest character ever created;
* I'm fascinated by Liz McDonald's courageous fashion efforts;
* I guffaw at the utter ridiculousness of nine out of ten story lines...

However, over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed references to the global financial crisis slowly but surely creeping in. It seems even fictional streets aren't immune to the real-life effects of the credit crunch.

Tony Gordon's business is in dire straits.
The swanky luxury flats he owns aren't selling, and now Tony(who we hate, because he had Liam murdered) is having serious cash-flow problems.

Showing a prospective buyer around his properties during an episode last week, Tony insisted most of the apartments had already been snapped up -- and that the ones he had left were a real bargain. "This time last year they would have been," came the reply. You'll never sell them for this much with house prices seriously on the slide, was the implication.

Tony got narky and refused to negotiate, against the advice of his rather more sensible accountant. But now...

Tony can't pay the factory girls.
Tony's at the bottom of his overdraft, so Sally Webster et al have been left to suffer without any dosh.

(When the girls discovered their wages hadn't made it to their bank accounts, one decried the drawbacks of the newfangled BACS system: "This never would've happened under Baldwin: with a weekly pay packet in your hand, you knew where you stood.")

Initially, Tony blamed his bank for the cock-up. There was a problem processing the payments, he claimed.

This didn't wash with the factory girls, so Tony changed tack: "Other businesses are not paying their bills," he whined, "which means I have a problem even though I'm paying mine... And now it's affecting you." Thus, he invoked the impending British recession as an excuse for his own shoddy money management.

In turn, the factory girls bleated: "But it's not good enough, Mr Gordon!"; "We all have bills to pay!"; "Times are hard!"

They walked out of Underworld (yes, the real name of the factory) in protest -- but, of course, found a few quid between them to sup a pint in the Rovers Return while waiting for the boss to sort himself out.

Now left with little choice (well, he's obviously not going to admit he's got a problem), Tony has started stealing cash from his joint account -- in a perfect demonstration of the risk we run when we link our finances to a parner.

Also thrown into the mix last week was a doom-laden pronouncement on the future of the Post Office from Blanche, which she delivered to her five year old great-grandson -- who inspired it while innocently watching an episode of Postman Pat.

Luckily for me, there are still enough implausible, insane events happening on the Street to keep me giggling. Let's face it, if I wanted doom and gloom, I'd be watching EastEnders wouldn't I?

Last night began in a less than exciting manner for me.

I had a check-up appointment with my GP. I waited the usual insane amount of time before I could be seen. The consultation I got lasted all of five minutes.

But the evening ended in a far more interesting way -- because my doctor's surgery is just over the road from the new Westfield London shopping park, which (conveniently) opened its doors to the public yesterday.

I couldn't help trotting over for a look around before heading home from my appointment. The boyfriend works in Shepherds Bush, so he came for a nosey as well. Some Fools may remember I expressed concern at the start of this month over whether the centre's future can really be as bright as its planners originally hoped. After all, we are heading towards what could be a serious recession -- and that could really damage the performance of the shops in the complex.

Now I've seen the place, I can't deny I was impressed. But I'm still not sure how it will fare.

Things I liked about Westfield:

1. The free champagne.
OK, this won't be available every time I pop over there -- but last night it was a pleasant surprise to be handed a flute of bubbly as I milled around Westfield's branch of Oasis.

2. The sheer size and spectacle of it.
It's bright, spacious, clean and modern-looking. At one point, as I was aimlessly wandering around (without a clue where I was going), I actually turned a corner and caught my breath. The ceiling arched up, beyond any height I had expected, and became a web of bright white beams. It was totally unexpected, and rather beautiful.

3. The thrill.
I can't deny that there was a buzz about the place. Everyone seemed excited to be there, and there was a strong, positive sense that this could be a new start for the surrounding area. I used to live in Shepherds Bush, so I know the development of Westfield has been controversial -- but no one I saw last night seemed to be wrinkling their nose in disgust or wailing that it would wreck the local community. Rather, there was a sense of wonder: can something this huge, this anticipated, this potentially profitable, seriously be here?

4. The free dinner.
When Wagamama open a new restaurant, they like to try it out on a sample of customers before they open it up to the general populace -- and believe it or not, they make this possible by giving away free dinners! Amazingly, I managed to bag one of them last night. Me and the BF got a main meal, a side dish and two drinks each in return for filling in a little customer satisfaction survey. The food was delicious, so we left a friendly, thankful tip.

5. The shops.
I love clothes, shoes and shopping. In some ways, there was never any doubt: I was going to love Westfield. Everywhere I went, I saw pretty, shiny new things I liked. It gave me a lift.

Things I didn't like about Westfield:

1. The crowds.
The place was absolutely rammed. I know it was only day one yesterday, but the sheer number of people there was intimidating, and the centre was crawling with police officers and security guards. Hopefully, this will calm down with time -- but it certainly didn't make for a comfortable wander round last night!

2. The band performing an M People song.
Someone should have told them this would not be cool.

3. The uniformity.
I know I've praised the architecture -- but despite its ambition and attractiveness, I felt Westfield lacked what most shopping centres do: soul. There's something about a small high street, market place or department store than feels homelier.

The shop fronts in the parts of Westfield I saw were designed, I suppose, to look individual. But they were individuals wearing 'tonal colours', to invoke a fashion metaphor. It was all too neat and too uniform to feel 'real'.

4. The shops.
This was always going to be a double-edged sword! At a time like this, it can be painful to want things you can't afford.

So, I think I'll be staying away from Westfield for a little while now I've seen it from the inside. I'll give it long enough for the crowds to calm down, the remainder of its retailers to open, and long enough for the whole place to develop a bit of character.

Hopefully, by then, my financial landscape will be looking a little greener... And popping in to Europe's largest indoor shopping complex won't automatically mean playing Russian roulette with my bank balance! Edited at 2008-10-31 17:48:02

Perhaps the owners of Selfridges, the luxury department store, are just as worried as the rest of us about entering a recession. But, like the general populace, it seems they recognise there's little they can do about the nation's immediate economic future.

And why respond to the situation by wailing about it, when you could respond with wit -- and chocolate? I suggested seeing the lighter side of life in this blog.

However, it appears Selfridges went one better during National Chocolate Week (13 - 19 October). Surfing the web today, I came across the store's answer to all the doom and gloom in the air: Credit Crunch Chocolate.

Apparently, it's "a more-ish marriage of the very best velvet-rich Valrhona chocolate, thickly coated over hokey pokey honeycomb pieces" -- and it retailed at £3.99 for a 150g bag during National Chocolate Week. (Admittedly, the price isn't ringing my bargain bell... But the hokey pokey honeycomb has me thrown!)

I think Credit Crunch Chocolate looks and sounds pretty delicious. And let's face it, trawling around somewhere as posh as Selfridges and leaving less than a fiver worse off isn't really bad going.

So, we come to the burning question: is Credit Crunch Chocolate still available? I don't know. After all, National Chocolate Week (did you know it existed?) is over.

Nevertheless, I'm seriously contemplating a jaunt down Oxford Street to try and find out. According to the Selfridges website, “Whether as a sensitive gift or a secret indulgence, ‘Credit Crunch’ brings comfort and joy to the season, whatever the weather.”

Comfort, joy, sensitivity and a brilliantly bad joke. I fancy some of that... Edited at 2008-10-29 17:42:48

Last Thursday night, I sat in my front room and began to feel strange.

My throat dried up. My voice started to crack. My head began to feel like it was swelling up. Within a very short space of time, it seemed, I'd developed a horrible cold.

To date, I haven't managed to completely shake it off -- but my boyfriend and I have spent a small fortune on over the counter remedies.

Who would have thought that having a cold could be so insanely expensive? Here's a little run down of the things I've tried to get well, and how much they've set us back...

1. Lemsip
Let me be clear: I think the stuff tastes foul. And no, the blackcurrant ones are not any nicer than the lemon flavour. However, when it comes to battering the symptoms of the common cold, I do think hot medicated drinks work.

I have now tried to wean myself off them, but for six days I drank the maximum amount of Lemsip allowed: four sachets every 24 hours.

Unfortunately, when my cold descended, we didn't have any in the house. This meant that, for the first few days I was ill, we had to rely on the local shop to get hold of it.... And there, boxes of five Lemsip sachets retail at an eye-watering £3.79!

So: 6 days x 4 hot lemon sachets = (ohmygosh!) 24 drinks quaffed.

Of the 24, 20 were the crazy-costing local Lemsip sachets. Total cost: £15.16!

After these, I felt well enough to venture out to Boots and buy a box of 10 own-brand hot lemon drinks. These cost a far less ridiculous £1.99.

However, the combined total me and the poor BF spent on cold remedies stands at £17.15. Ouch!

2. Fruit
Common cold remedies are often packed full of added vitamins to help the body recover and repair itself. But I also think it makes sense to eat as healthily as you can while feeling rough.

Cue a couple of extra punnets of strawberries and a bag of nectarines, again from a local store.

Total cost: £7.00.

3. Entertainment
I enjoy talking. A lot. My long-suffering colleagues will testify to this.

Being unable to speak or move for several days is something I find torturous. So, my lovely boyfriend took pity on me and brought me home a copy of The (trashy!) Tudors, season 2, so I had something to watch while sneezing.

Cost: £19.99.

4. Tissues
An absolute necessity.

Cost: £1.89.

THE TOTAL DAMAGE...
Was a whopping £46.03! I almost wish I hadn't paused to work it out.

More depressingly, I've been surfing the net this evening to check out how much my medicine would have set me back if I'd bought it online. Not surprisingly, it would have been cheaper.

I didn't know I was going to get ill, and that isn't my fault. However, what I've learnt over the past week is that it's sensible to stock up on a few cough and cold remedies from a discount website such as Chemist Direct or Chemist 4 U

Hopefully, other Fools will learn from my lack of organisation. If I'd been better prepared for this year's inevitable sniffles, perhaps I wouldn't be feeling any better right now... But I'd certainly be better off! Edited at 2008-10-24 17:46:10

After weeks of global financial turmoil, there was more bad news today. According to the BBC, both Mervyn King and Gordon Brown have publicly announced that a recession in the UK is "likely".

I mean, come on guys. You don't need to be Mystic Meg to come up with that kind of prediction.

And there you have the point of this evening's blog, folks: among my first reactions to the BBC's report on the forthcoming troubles was not tears or wailing or gnashing of teeth. It was the knee-jerk need to make a joke.

It isn't that I don't take the global financial crisis seriously. Goodness knows I've thought about little else during working hours for months on end -- and I do worry about how a deep economic downturn might affect me, my friends and family.

Nevertheless, I can't bear to be depressed and worried all the time. So bizarrely, I've recently found myself more irreverent and jolly than ever.

Here are the things that have been making me happy (and making me laugh like a lunatic) over the past couple of weeks. I hope they offer you some cheer too!

1. Coronation Street
It really is the best show on telly. Lest we forget, it's the soap which featured the immortal line: "You're Norman Bates with a briefcase."

Every character is, on some level, hilarious. My personal favourite is Blanche, Deirdre Barlow's mother, who never has a good word to say about anything or anyone, drinks like a fish and generally just seems to enjoy being cantankerous.

Also deserving of a special mention is Rosie Webster, who was recently imprisoned in her old English teacher's gran's attic (yes, really). This Monday night, when she ranted at her captor that she was bored, he insisted there was plenty to read up there. "J.D. Salinger? Thomas Hardy?" Rosie screeched, "I want Heat magazine!"

Genius.

2. Autumn
Apparently, this autumn will be one of the most beautiful we've had in years, thanks the the wet weather we all suffered under in August.

This morning, it was chilly, I could see my breath in the air, I wore gloves and a scarf... And as I walked down the hill towards my local tube station, it seemed the leaves on every single tree had turned red, gold and rust-coloured overnight.

Keats's most beautiful poem was about Autumn. Even the people at Waitrose like it: for their new advert, they've taken his words, fused them with The Stranglers' fantastic song 'Golden Brown' and layered the whole lot over gorgeous shots of delicious goodies.

3. The X Factor
It's cheesy. For some of the hapless contestants, it's nothing short of humiliating. But the show is entertaining, and (call me naive if you like) it could change the lives of some of its performers forever.

While they're all singing dreadful songs their useless mentors have chosen for them, wheeling out the same old sob stories and whining that "this is their dream", yes, I'll laugh. But when it comes down to it, I'll end up rooting for someone to win and achieve all the things they've longed for. I always do.

4. Pop music
As Szu Ping and AV Andy will testify after hearing it on a road trip we took last week, much of the stuff on my iPod is wahh-wahh indie rock. But there will always be a place in my heart for lightweight, unashamedly FUN pop music. Cue the new song from Girls Aloud, which is all 60s throwback and sassy.

5. Parsnips and potatoes
This is the season for them, and my Irish roots are my excuse for eating more root vegetables than is ordinarily perceived as sane. The smell of roasting vegetables is truly among the most beautiful scents in the world... And the taste is even better.

So what are my fellow Fools doing, reading, watching or eating to stay smiling right now? Please share!

When I recently wrote about food shopping, I was amazed at the number of comments my 'Lidl Vs. Tesco' article generated.

Some Fools felt I was rather unfair to poor old Lidl, but I could only speak as I found -- and what I found unfortunately didn't convince me to start shopping there. Other readers even suggested I was in the pay of that widely hated multinational conglomerate, Tesco! I'm really not. Honest.

In truth, I find choosing where to shop pretty difficult. I love food and believe quality is important, but I also enjoy saving a few quid wherever I can. These priorities can seem difficult to match up: my budget is limited, but I'm afraid the tastebuds know no bounds.

The boyfriend cuttingly reminded me of all this when I suggested we give Ocado (John Lewis/Waitrose's online arm) a try. I'd heard good things about its service from a friend, but he was convinced a basket of goods from there would be pricey. Now is hardly the best time to start paying more for our shopping, he said. But apparently they price match Tesco, I argued, so maybe it won't cost more. Let's just try.

A compromise was reached: we'd select our shopping list through MySupermarket.co.uk, check out the price difference between Ocado and its nearest rival -- and plump for the new guy if this was small.

You could have cut the tension with a knife the night we placed the order. The TV was on, but neither of us was watching it. With every click on every packet of bagels/carton of milk/bag of broccoli, we were watching the running totals at the top of my laptop screen. How much would Asda charge for this? How much would Tesco charge for that? Who's winning?! Let me seeeeeeeeeee!

There were points when it looked like Ocado was losing to Tesco. (I can hear all the Tesco-haters booing as I type.) But interestingly, despite its reputation as a bit posh, the total price for our shopping list was, through every stage of the selection process, less expensive at Ocado than at Sainsbury's. Of course, that was our shopping on that particular day -- but nevertheless, I was surprised.

When we'd clicked on our final item (Coco Pops, in case you're interested), Ocado's trolley was about £1 more than Tesco's. I smiled triumphantly and selected 'Send trolley' on the web page.

Then, before I moved my goodies to the checkout, I had a hunt on HotUKDeals for a shopping voucher. Sure enough, there was a 15% off code, so we saved the price of delivery (and then some) on our food for the week.

So was Ocado any good? Well, when the delivery came it was prompt, packed sensibly into separate bags (freezer, fridge, cupboard)... And I'd been sent a free bar of Lindt chocolate!

Even before the van turned up with our food, I'd received reminders of the delivery slot via email and text message -- and had even been sent an 'apology' text letting me know one of the things we wanted wasn't available.

Now we've polished off the choccy and a good chunk of the groceries we bought, I have to say that the quality of the fruit and vegetables in particular has been pleasing. Things seem to taste fresher and have definitely lasted longer than the stuff we've had delivered from other supermarkets.

And in the end, I think our experiment proves that it pays to mix things up a bit: not all supermarket myths turn out to be true.

Opting for Ocado didn't prove any more expensive than sticking with the UK's biggest supermarket brand. So I think we'll be trying them a second time, again through MySupermarket to ensure we are getting a good deal*.

What do my fellow Fools make of this revelation?

*I should add, Ocado has promised me a free bottle of wine next time I place an order. This has in no way (ahem) swayed my decision to give it another go...

As regular readers of my blog might have guessed, I was away from work last week.

Although the bf and I didn't go away, we spent a lovely relaxing week here in London -- which culminated in an all-day cinema trip last Friday, during which I picked a film (Mammia Mia - brilliant) and he picked a film (Tropic Thunder - gross, silly, violent, and some more gross).

Anyway, during Mamma Mia -- before I could be distracted by Pierce Brosnan's rousing version of 'S.O.S' -- I concentrated enough on the plot to feel a real affinity with Meryl Streep's character, Donna. It isn't just that she jumps about in dungarees for most of the film and generally seems a bit stroppy. No: the bit where she sings 'Money, Money, Money' was the part that really got me.

It must be funny in a rich man's world, she sings. Yes, I thought as I munched on my popcorn, it must. Whereas I have to work all night and work all day to pay the bills I have to pay. Ain't it sad?

That said, the super-rich folk who've masterminded and invested in London's Westfield shopping centre development might well be quaking in their designer boots right now.

The super mall, set to be the largest inner city retail centre in Europe, will open at the end of this month -- and no doubt the launch will be accompanied by much ceremony, many celebs and lots of London style. But with the British economy sliding towards an almost inevitable recession, is this really the time to be opening a colossal cathedral of consumerism?

I suppose they don't have a great deal of choice now but to throw the doors wide open, promote the place as though all our lives depend upon it and hope for the best. Still -- I wonder if the centre would have been designed on such a massively ambitious scale had its backers been able to forsee the credit crunch and all its foul fallout.

The thing that I think might save Westfield is its focus on an upmarket, high fashion offering. Prada, Tiffany and Louis Vuitton have all signed up for stores in the centre -- and while the likes of me try to break our Topshop habits this winter, I imagine the kind of person who regularly shops in boutiques is probably not feeling the pinch in quite the same way as me. Or Meryl/Donna.

Nevertheless, I'll be interested to see how the mega mall fares over the next six months -- and which of its shops are the most (and least) packed on a typical Saturday afternoon.

And while I'm watching out for news of other people's shopping habits, I suppose I -- and many of the nation's other credit-crunched consumers -- will continue trying to reign in spending, pay down debts and keep costs under control.

But hey. I'm going to carry on singing while I do it. After all, it was ever a rich man's world -- as Abba so jauntily remind us.

This might spark some controversy among my fellow Fools. But I have to confess: I'm an ex-chequer.

I hate cheques. I avoid writing them whenever I can, and I (almost) loathe receiving them.

Of course, money is still money -- and you won't catch me turning it down in any guise, whether it be cash, a cheque or dodgy pirate deblunes. It's just that I'd prefer to be given whatever money I'm due in a form that won't lead to interminable amounts of frustration.

Finding a bank that's open when it's convenient for me to cash a cheque. In my experience, this is the modern/real-life equivalent of a medieval quest. Achieving this objective tends to require effort of Herculean proportions.

At the very least, it means getting up early on a Saturday morning -- and who's able to feel enthused about that?

A very nice lady gave me a cheque last week, which I've been carrying around in my wallet ever since. Yesterday, I caught myself thinking: Oh well, I can cash it next week, while I'm away from work.

Is this what we have come to? Do I have to take time off work to put the cheque where it's supposed to go?! It's ridiculous, I said to myself -- as I plodded to the nearest cash point in n