The Retirement Thread

[SpokeyDokey]

£76 lighter at the dentist which I wasn’t expecting. I had forgotten my bank card so I was glad of Apple Pay on my watch. I got an x-ray to check in between teeth for decay, a scale and polish plus she did a bit of composite bonding on my 2 chipped front teeth. Thank goodness I’m still NHS or you could probably add another zero.

Dentist prices are a joke & we are still NHS, too.

Solicitors are worse - ours charges £350 per hour. Back in the late 90's/early 2000's I earned £66 per hour, I thought that was a lot. But even with inflation factored in it would still be way short of £350 per hour.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Where has the 'heatwave' gone?

13°C here. CH on. Looks like it could rain at any minute.

 

[Mo1959]

Where has the 'heatwave' gone?

13°C here. CH on. Looks like it could rain at any minute.

I consider 13 degrees quite warm. Sitting here in my pjs with all the windows open!

 

[PeteXXX]

Thwim has been thwum.. 500m today 🏊

No 14 omnibus both ways 🚌

 

[Dave7]

Dentist prices are a joke & we are still NHS, too.

Solicitors are worse - ours charges £350 per hour. Back in the late 90's/early 2000's I earned £66 per hour, I thought that was a lot. But even with inflation factored in it would still be way short of £350 per hour.

In the 90s, some nights i could earn up to £8K.
Being a cat burglar was enjoyable back then

 

[Chief Broom]

Hi folks enjoyed a sunny ride today, hope there will be lots more. Loads of toads crossing the single track with many flattened or in heroic death poses toads specialise in also noticed there were 'considerate' toads giving a 'backie'...some of these were squished together too.
Added another bird to my list of those that respond to a passible call imitation, buzzards! 'mew' to them and they will 'mew' back.
Came home and potted up 30 echiums which i'll put in when i pull the wallflowers up [bees love them].

Echiums

 

[Mo1959]

Hi folks enjoyed a sunny ride today, hope there will be lots more. Loads of toads crossing the single track with many flattened or in heroic death poses toads specialise in also noticed there were 'considerate' toads giving a 'backie'...some of these were squished together too.
Added another bird to my list of those that respond to a passible call imitation, buzzards! 'mew' to them and they will 'mew' back.
Came home and potted up 30 echiums which i'll put in when i pull the wallflowers up [bees love them].

View attachment 802936

Echiums

I noticed a huge amount on the road on yesterday’s walk too. Seems to happen every so often. Some were intact but many seemed to have injuries. I wondered if birds maybe pick them up and discover they don’t taste good and drop them?

 

[Chief Broom]

I noticed a huge amount on the road on yesterday’s walk too. Seems to happen every so often. Some were intact but many seemed to have injuries. I wondered if birds maybe pick them up and discover they don’t taste good and drop them?

Hi Mo, i havent noticed anything predating them here though i expect most corvids would have a go. Traffic encounters tend to be 'comprehensive, in the injury department...

 

[numbnuts]

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Just had an email from AgeUK
They need a group of volunteers to go to a group discussion and how the local branch is run

Hmmm
think is - I can be a nice pleasant sort of person - no honest - I can fool people as well as anyone - I just don;t always bother with you lot

and I have "views"
and i have experience of several organisation - some of which were pretty big

and I have seen how thing can be run

My wife thinks they either do not know what they are letting themselves in for
or they want someone to re-enforce the concepts they need to get more funding in some areas!

we shall see!

 

[Gunk]

We are having the house painted outside at the moment, he has almost finished and it looks great, but the temperatures have dropped and all the windows and front door are still propped open, Mrs Gunk has lit the log burner so at least we won’t freeze.

Lovely chap doing it, but talks for England!

 

[mikeIow]

£76 lighter at the dentist which I wasn’t expecting. I had forgotten my bank card so I was glad of Apple Pay on my watch. I got an x-ray to check in between teeth for decay, a scale and polish plus she did a bit of composite bonding on my 2 chipped front teeth. Thank goodness I’m still NHS or you could probably add another zero.

I had my first (hopefully last 🫣) crown done recently…luckily they staged payments over 4 months; £75 a week might have just covered it 😱

 

[gavroche]

Well done.
I have nearly completed mine but have (so far) restricted it to childhood up to marriage. I have done mine mainly for the grandchildren. I am a bit older than you at 79 and the grandchildren will struggle to fully grasp things like not having a phone in the house (we had to use the one in the kiosk on the road) and not knowing anyone that owned a car.
Tell me, where did you get it printed and bound ?

It isn't that posh. I printed it on my printer and just used a folder with punched holes in it.

 

[gavroche]

I received my council tax for 2026/2027 ,this morning. What a rip off!! It is now £2481 . Our council tax in Conwy area has gone up 30% in the last 4 years. My pension has not.
What the heck do they do with our money? Roads are full of potholes and we have to pay extra to get rid of certain things at the rubbish tip.
This is insane.

 

[Paulus]

I received my council tax for 2026/2027 ,this morning. What a rip off!! It is now £2481 . Our council tax in Conwy area has gone up 30% in the last 4 years. My pension has not.
What the heck do they do with our money? Roads are full of potholes and we have to pay extra to get rid of certain things at the rubbish tip.
This is insane.

You should be able to get a breakdown of all the services the council, ie. the public pay for.