Regrets, I have a few...

[PeteXXX]

But I did it my way!

A few regrets throughout my life..

▪️Selling the 2nd house I bought with the previous MrsPete. It was a late Victorian/early Edwardian semi-detached 3 bed 3 reception house that hadn't been touched decorationwise since it was built! Still had working gas lights throughout (fed by lead piping behind the plaster💥)
2 cellars, one with a WW2 bomb shelter & tunnelling dug by, I think, squaddies billeted there. It emerged half way down next doors garden.
A 120' garden enclosed by 6' flint walls with a thatched cottage at the end.

▪️Not keeping hold of a 1960`s full campag Youngs racing bike, given to me by Ernie Young himself as my dad's shop was next door, 292 Lee High Road. (I also went boat fishing with him once & caught a bigger fish than him 😂)

▪️Getting rid of my 1952 A40 Devon that an old chap I used to chat with in Cliffsend, Thanet, gave me as he couldn't drive anymore and he knew how much I admired it..

Similar to this one.
Registration number GAP 39

I'm sure there's more regrets, should I put my mind to it..

Oh, and when I was 14, not snogging Leslie Frost when I had the chance... ♥️

 

[wiggydiggy]

A sombre one but when my dad died I was with him but I didn't talk to him, just held my mum and his hands. I've read that the hearing is the last to go when you die. I don't regret as such not saying anything as you can't change it, and we'd talked plenty down the years. But I will, if in a similar situation again, make sure to talk to whomever is passing.

Oh, and when I was 14, not snogging Leslie Frost when I had the chance... ♥️

On a lighter note I can think back to at least 3 occasions where I have been oblivious to 'the signs' and probably missed out on some company lol. I'm not great at picking up hints apparently!

 

[raleighnut]

Loads but one that really galls is not buying a QUAD 22 and a pair of QUAD 11 Valve amps when I was offered them

 

[Punkawallah]

‘Je ne regret de riem’.

 

[gbb]

Not pushing myself when I was younger.
It struck me when my eldest GD said to me...Grandad, you really should have had a better position at work. She said it in a kind way, I know what she meant..
In my last 20 years at work, I travelled very extensively, S America, Egypt,, a lot in Cyprus and Spain, became an expert on various types of machinery, surprised even the experts (the Spanish) and gained their respect and even helped them find solutions, became the go to guy at work, trainer, project manager etc etc...and i remained a hands on engineer despite being offered a management role (albeit a small team on a small site).
Should have done better...
So regrets, but no regrets, I enjoyed it all right up to retirement

 

[gavroche]

My main one is not to speak to my two children in French when they were little. They would be fluent in two languages now if I had . Three languages for my daughter as she speaks fluent Welsh as well.

 

[numbnuts]

Only two
Leaving Aussie
Getting married

 

[Dave7]

Only two
Leaving Aussie
Getting married

Are you Australian or English/UK ?

 

[Profpointy]

Not pushing myself when I was younger.
It struck me when my eldest GD said to me...Grandad, you really should have had a better position at work. She said it in a kind way, I know what she meant..
In my last 20 years at work, I travelled very extensively, S America, Egypt,, a lot in Cyprus and Spain, became an expert on various types of machinery, surprised even the experts (the Spanish) and gained their respect and even helped them find solutions, became the go to guy at work, trainer, project manager etc etc...and i remained a hands on engineer despite being offered a management role (albeit a small team on a small site).
Should have done better...
So regrets, but no regrets, I enjoyed it all right up to retirement

On the other hand I became a middle manager but whilst I enjoyed some aspects, not just the money, I enjoyed doing projects a lot more, and hassles are mostly technical rather that people. At one point a very able colleague asked to be demoted back to the coalface and I'd been thinking the same but our boss was so cross about having to accommodate it that I didn't dare. The thing I (and he) hated the most was annual review time when you had to identify a quota of "underperformers" which was grossly unfair as they generally weren't "under" performing but simply not as good as the stars. You'd be hoping someone would actually cock something up so you could justify their low score. Of course HR didn't help as they told everyone if they met their goals they'd get a good rating, but we had to score on a bell curve. Completely demoralising for staff and managers alike.

 

[Profpointy]

Here's one we saw today

Sorry, read the title wrong

 

[Pblakeney]

None. If I'd taken a different path then I wouldn't be where I am today. That alternative future could be better, could be worse. We'll never know.
Caveat being that when I was young I was advised to live my life to not have regrets so possibly had a head start.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Should have done better...

It wouldn’t necessarily be better. Be happy in what you do / did. Too many deeply miserable buggers trying to climb the “career” ladder. Their hourly rate actually goes down as they are expected to work so many more hours with added pressure.

 

[wiggydiggy]

On the other hand I became a middle manager but whilst I enjoyed some aspects, not just the money, I enjoyed doing projects a lot more, and hassles are mostly technical rather that people. At one point a very able colleague asked to be demoted back to the coalface and I'd been thinking the same but our boss was so cross about having to accommodate it that I didn't dare. The thing I (and he) hated the most was annual review time when you had to identify a quota of "underperformers" which was grossly unfair as they generally weren't "under" performing but simply not as good as the stars. You'd be hoping someone would actually cock something up so you could justify their low score. Of course HR didn't help as they told everyone if they met their goals they'd get a good rating, but we had to score on a bell curve. Completely demoralising for staff and managers alike.

Forced distribution. At my old job I changed teams and was immediately put in the "Not performing" category even though I'd only just joined. Luckily Lloyds managed to fark itself up that badly I was moved a new team within 18 months or so. It actively affected your pay award, top performers getting more and under performers getting less. I ended up leaving the company within about 3 years of that initial move and I suppose I could regret not leaving sooner.

At my current job the day I joined I asked about reviews, it has no bearing whatsoever on you or your pay award. It's just a yearly chat to see how your doing, as it should be. I've been there 7 or 8 years now, happy as can be

 

[biggs682]

I did what I did and can't change things afterwards so just get on with it

 

[Baldy]

Oh, and when I was 14, not snogging Leslie Frost when I had the chance... ♥️

Lots of this sort of regrets, the list of names would be several pages long.

Not going to Antarctica with the Antarctic servey when I could have.