The Retirement Thread

[Deleted member 1258]

I thought I'd come into the Retirement Room, after all I am Retired, and got a bit scared at the mention of Time Trials. I guess there's room for me as well though, and you won't mind if I just amble along.

Hello and

 

[PaulSB]

I thought I'd come into the Retirement Room, after all I am Retired, and got a bit scared at the mention of Time Trials. I guess there's room for me as well though, and you won't mind if I just amble along.

If you're ambling you'll possibly be on the front.

 

[PaulSB]

Welcome 👍 they’re an eccentric bunch on here, and good hearted. I’m probably the only sensible one on here 😉

And of course the first rule is don't believe everything you read on the web....

 

[PaulSB]

Thought I should have a five minute break and check you're all behaving well. Seems OK at the moment.

Five days ago the energy company gave us smart meters and yet another electronic gizmo to sit on the windowsill.

They promised it would help us save money. Yeah!!! Rock on Tommy. We've saved a fortune so far............not a single unit of gas or electric consumed in five days........that's what the gizmo says.

 

[Mo1959]

Thought I should have a five minute break and check you're all behaving well. Seems OK at the moment.

Five days ago the energy company gave us smart meters and yet another electronic gizmo to sit on the windowsill.

They promised it would help us save money. Yeah!!! Rock on Tommy. We've saved a fortune so far............not a single unit of gas or electric consumed in five days........that's what the gizmo says.

When the adverts come on the TV I just laugh at them. No fancy meter will save you a penny unless you turn stuff off/down and you can do that without a silly gizmo.

I bought a nice tuna baguette when I was in the Co-op earlier so off to have that for lunch shortly.

We may have heavy thundery showers this afternoon.

 

[BoldonLad]

Thought I should have a five minute break and check you're all behaving well. Seems OK at the moment.

Five days ago the energy company gave us smart meters and yet another electronic gizmo to sit on the windowsill.

They promised it would help us save money. Yeah!!! Rock on Tommy. We've saved a fortune so far............not a single unit of gas or electric consumed in five days........that's what the gizmo says.

Assuming you have a Fridge and Freezer running.... I would suggest.... the Gizmo is not working

 

[Dirk]

Pleased with the way my onions, carrots & beans have turned out this year.

 

[pawl]

When the adverts come on the TV I just laugh at them. No fancy meter will save you a penny unless you turn stuff off/down and you can do that without a silly gizmo.

I bought a nice tuna baguette when I was in the Co-op earlier so off to have that for lunch shortly.

We may have heavy thundery showers this afternoon.

I’m going to have two rounds of marmalade on toast.for lunchPlease note marmalade on toastNOT MARMITE

 

[classic33]

I’m going to have two rounds of marmalade on toast.for lunchPlease note marmalade on toastNOT MARMITE

Not Marm'alade?

 

[numbnuts]

I hate Hermes I hate Hermes I hate Hermes I hate Hermes I hate Hermes

 

[Sterlo]

Pleased with the way my onions, carrots & beans have turned out this year.

View attachment 603331

Wow that's fantastic, how do you get them to grow above the ground like that? I'd be pleased as well.

 

[ColinJ]

Have you tried the Trainsplit app? Obviously I don't know the full details but two minutes on the app using a random choice with a Senior Railcard:

Depart Todmorden 09.55 today
Arrive Exeter Central 16.56

Return August 16th
Depart Exeter Central 13.12
Arrive Todmorden 19.34

Cost £88.20 return. Clearly I haven't looked at this in depth.

The Trainline app now offers the option to find the cheapest option (‘SplitSave’) when you use the journey planner and buy tickets from it. We saved £15 on two singles back to Norwich from Darlington in July.

As I posted above... You can save money by split ticketing and buying Advance tickets but that ties you to particular trains.

It is nice to able to extend or shorten trips if the forecasts home and/or away favour one or the other.

The other problem with Advance split tickets is that (the last time I checked) the terms and conditions of travel state that missing a booked Advance journey means that you have to buy a full-price replacement ticket. The only way that you can get on a non-booked train with an Advance ticket is if you missed the booked train because a train was late on an earlier part of the overall journey AND BOTH JOURNEYS ARE ON THE SAME TICKET (i.e. NOT split tickets).

We went to the ticket office at Todmorden station this morning. The prices I quoted originally ARE correct... It is no cheaper to catch the train from Leeds than it is to catch a different train to Leeds from Hebden Bridge and then catch the other train from Leeds. It is over £12 cheaper to catch the train from Todmorden to Hebden Bridge, stay on it to Leeds, then change to the train from Leeds!

We queried this and the man at the ticket office said "It makes no sense - it is just a pricing anomaly!"

Changing stations in Manchester is only +/- 10 minutes. In my experience swapping certain platforms at Picadilly can take 5+ minutes.

You would be crazy to work on 10 minutes from getting off a train at Manchester Victoria to getting on one at Manchester Piccadilly. I wouldn't be happy with less than 45-60 minutes between arrival at Victoria and departure from Piccadilly, given the likelihood of the first train being late, and just missing a bus or tram between the stations. Alternatively - it is about a 15-20 minute brisk walk but I would arrive very sweaty if I did it in that time carrying luggage.

I hate Hermes I hate Hermes I hate Hermes I hate Hermes I hate Hermes

While I was at Todmorden station today, I noticed that there are Hermes and Amazon parcel lockers there. If a parcel were not huge then it would be quite handy to get it delivered to a locker if you were going to be out when it was due to arrive. I imagine that there must be lockers like those in every reasonably-sized town now?

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

By a miracle I escaped a soaking this morning, got back from a 30 mile potter just as the heavens opened.
Then a trip to Sainsburys, mostly ok but quite a few missing items nonetheless. The frozen veg section seemed particularly empty. And no loose leaf tea either. Toilet roll was ok though.
No thunder as yet.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

I thought I'd come into the Retirement Room, after all I am Retired, and got a bit scared at the mention of Time Trials. I guess there's room for me as well though, and you won't mind if I just amble along.

Hello and , there’s not much talk of time trials here. Apart from my current avatar that is. We do get regular UK earthquake reports though

 

[12boy]

Bien venidos, 249ccjames.
The smoke is back...and yet we will continue. A ride will still be had, but kind of like those folks who cycle along smoking a cigarette.
Paul SB you are close.. it is popo to rhyme with hoho, ah, then zha. So, popoahzha.
Be well and safe.