The Retirement Thread

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

PaulSB

Squire
Geez, what a weekend. Heavy frost Saturday morning and that's all I know about the weather. Saturday morning went shopping and to do various shop related chores. I mean B&Q is just a chore really.

........and then small person arrived around 2.00pm for a sleepover. Parents had tickets for Peter Kay in Manchester. She's now 2. Two year olds don't go to bed easily. 90 minutes to get her settled. Sunday 5.18am....."granddad" Snuggled** into bed with me for some fitful sleep.

Up at 7.30......and I had lunch to cook for 7!!!!!🤣😇😇😇

** snuggling with your granddaughter is pretty damn good.

I have G&T and England are 2 - 0 up. ^_^
 

PaulSB

Squire
While I remember. #1 son has a friend who works for Ticketmaster........apparently at one point 2,000,000 people queued online for Peter Kay tickets.........would have been a very big queue selling those tickets from Manchester Arena.

I once spent two days queuing on Leeds Headrow for Bob Dylan tickets........but I was young......a long time ago.
 

welsh dragon

Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
Geez, what a weekend. Heavy frost Saturday morning and that's all I know about the weather. Saturday morning went shopping and to do various shop related chores. I mean B&Q is just a chore really.

........and then small person arrived around 2.00pm for a sleepover. Parents had tickets for Peter Kay in Manchester. She's now 2. Two year olds don't go to bed easily. 90 minutes to get her settled. Sunday 5.18am....."granddad" Snuggled** into bed with me for some fitful sleep.

Up at 7.30......and I had lunch to cook for 7!!!!!🤣😇😇😇

** snuggling with your granddaughter is pretty damn good.

I have G&T and England are 2 - 0 up. ^_^



I loved my grandsons snuggling at the weekend. They would burst in and then hog the entire bed.:laugh:
 

Mo1959

Legendary Member
Morning. My bed was cosy and Molly was snuggling in so I lay for a bit longer.

A chilly start with a cold wind. Winter has finally arrived. We have lots of cold, frosty days to come but mostly dry thank goodness.

I switched the telly on when I went to bed last night and ended up watching a film called Angel has Fallen with Gerard Butler. Bit of a shoot em up but quite good.
 

Paulus

Started young, and still going.
Location
Barnet,
Good morning all.
Both bin lorries have been down already.
It's dark and cloudy out there at the moment. I think it will be like yesterday, one of those days where it doesn't actually get properly light.
All the usual things to do, plus a bimble out on the bike for some essentials from the local shops.
Enjoy your day everyone :cuppa:
 

PaulSB

Squire
Good morning. It's dark, still, dry and chilly. I'm going for a ride at 9.00am, probably the last chance for a few days as the temperatures are hovering around -1 to +1C for the week. Too dodgy for an old codger on wheels. It's forecast dry so I can do allotment stuff. So that's it really. What can I tell you? Ah, I know. The holiday........................briefly.

We had four great weeks in California, focused on my goddaughter's wedding, a lovely affair. Their best friend from childhood married them, it was very moving. Apparently in California anyone can perform a wedding so long as the paperwork gets "filed." A beautiful idea. We based our stay in Sacramento with our oldest friend of 45 years now. We have other friends in the city and everyone hosted us on 2,3,4 day trips to touristy spots which worked well as we saw places not covered by guide books. So...........Cambria to visit Hearst Castle built as a retreat by the newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, interesting and learned a lot about a very different man from that I'd have expected. On to Morro Bay for sea otters, elephant seals and WHALES! - Never see a whale before. Very emotional. Up to Santa Cruz for a few days, Monarch butterflies were the highlight. The Coastal redwoods, Napa Valley, Yosemite - deer, black deer, very beautiful, coyotes - Hetch Hetchy a beautiful now dammed valley. I loved the drive to this place - for 40+ years I've felt a rather silly emotional attachment to giant Sequoias but only seen them in touristy spots. Along this road they grow everywhere , it was like my own private trees. Wonderful. Lake Tahoe, where we had snow, proper snow! From there back to San Francisco and a couple of great days wandering through Golden Gate Park and Haight Ashbury and its wonderful architecture. Saw the Jefferson Airplane house, go ask Alice! 😄

Owt unusual was the question? Unusual? Probably not. Unexpected? Yes. @12boy these are my impressions and I hope I don't cause offence. The widespread use of recreational drugs, mainly dope, even amongst folk of my age. We didn't partake, that was part of my youth and not for today. Homelessness levels are astonishing. California has an estimated 30% of the US homeless population - climate and liberal social laws. Encampments of 10-20 people, in underpasses, side streets, train stations, just everywhere. The downtown area near the SF Capitol is estimated to be home to 10,000 homeless people, think the Westminster area or central Manchester. Many of these folk were out of their heads on drugs or severe mental health issues. Areas of some cities seemed to have been abandoned by people with money. We know America has a huge ethnic diversity but we hardly saw any black or African Americans, every other ethnicity is widespread.........I'm not sure what that says but I don't like the obvious conclusion. The cost of living is off the scale, very, very expensive to live on a day to day basis. I don't mean tourist prices, just living stuff. How low income families cope I do not know. The area from Santa Cruz to the north of the bay is just one huge expanse of concrete and tarmac, I found that disturbing. I left feeling American society is teetering on the edge and that's a very scary thought.

And Aviation gin. WOW!
 

mikeIow

Guru
Location
Leicester
Oh and pelicans. Love a pelican. We went canoeing one day and there were squadrons of pelicans flying low, 3 feet off the water, all around us. A great sight.

I spent over half my career with US firms….too many times to SanFran….watching pelicans land can be a funny sight, they are incredibly ungainly 🤣

I always felt there was a very much two-tier US….it doesn’t bode well for the decades ahead, I suspect 😳
 

Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
Ohh yes......my jacket potato!!! Photo below
20221203_172345.jpg
It made a nice noise as it hit the floor ^_^
 

pawl

Legendary Member
Morning. My bed was cosy and Molly was snuggling in so I lay for a bit longer.

A chilly start with a cold wind. Winter has finally arrived. We have lots of cold, frosty days to come but mostly dry thank goodness.

I switched the telly on when I went to bed last night and ended up watching a film called Angel has Fallen with Gerard Butler. Bit of a shoot em up but quite good.

I watched that film some time ago Do enjoy a good shoot up.👍👍
 
Top Bottom