Sunday, 21st April, 2024
If nothing else, you have to admit 800 weeks at 7 times a week of absolute drivel is at least impressive for its persistence. It has far outlasted my expectations and, having come this far, it is difficult to give up now. Sorry. The next celebration will be at Week 832 or 16 full years. Set your diaries and calendars. I’ll have to organise a Blog Party. Of course, you, Dear Reader, will be the prime guest.
My friend, Kevin, is out on his 5th trip to Benidorm this year. Declining his kind invitations each time, we are planning trips to Thessaloniki in Northern Greece and to Athens + islands on a second trip. When we started our Greek flights back in 1981, we were relatively poor and we had big, self-imposed responsibilities. We had a large mortgage, a car loan, a savings and investment programme for the future, private healthcare insurance and holidays were done on the cheap.
I always booked the cheapest flights I could find. Price was the primary decider. As a consequence, we were always flying at unsocial hours with less trustworthy airlines and landing at difficult times with hours to wait for connections. Monarch Airlines was a popular one but I wasn’t beyond booking Lithuanian Airlines if needs be. We certainly had some hairy experiences.
I remember using a flight seat bucket shop seller – Avro who usually sold me Dan Air or Airtours flights. They were always from Manchester to Athens and left late on Friday night after school, getting to Athens around 3.00 am with time to get a cheap bus ride down to Piraeus to buy the cheapest ferry tickets to an island where we booked simple hotels for next to nothing. We had fantastic experiences and it makes the luxury of our travel these days all the more sweet. We really appreciate not having to do things on the cheap now.
This morning, we have been forward booking airport Lounges. In the 1980s, we slept on beach mats on the airports’ floors. These days, our bank gives us ‘free’ access to dozens of Airport Executive Lounges. We tend to fly from Gatwick North these days and there are 5 different Lounges that our membership entitles us to.
Ten years ago, we could just turn up, wave our membership cards and walk straight in. These days, we a have learnt that it pays to pre-book and reserve a space. Non-members are charged £38.00 each for a 3 hr stay but there are so many prepared to do that it makes our pre-book fee of £5.00 well worth it. Of all the 5 possible Lounges in the North Terminal, only 2 still have availability when we want to be there.
Monday, 22nd April, 2024
Nice, sunny morning and I’m off to Shoreham-by-Sea, a delightful, small coastal town about 10 miles away to attend an appointment at Southlands Hospital. I am having an ultrasound scan although I’m not completely clear which part of me is being scanned. Hope it’s one of my best bits. I’ve been given the appointment by my GP following a recent blood test.
Got to get a chunk of my Gym work done before I go or I will be under pressure later in the day. This is one of my personality problems. It has to be done and I don’t feel comfortable until it is.
Talking about the NHS and doctors’ appointments, it’s almost impossible to believe this world – this NHS – existed. Less than 20 years ago. There is no better argument for voting for Labour.
I’m pleased to report that I had more difficulty working out the parking ticket machine this morning than I did with my scan. Why are NHS carparks so difficult to navigate? Fortunately, I was seen right on time and within 30 mins was given the immediate all-clear by the radiologist which was a relief but …. thank you all for asking.
Tuesday, 23rd April, 2024
Went out early this morning to a small, old and fairly linear village of Yapton which is on the road to the seaside town of Bognor Regis. I was going to speak to them about an invitation I have received for a Winter Covid booster because of my recent cancer treatment.
Never been to Yapton before even though it is only 15 mins drive away. As you can see, it is a pleasant but old and a bit down-at-heel village with a Co-op, a chip shop, a village hall and a pub.
What they did have was a fantastic, old fashioned Butcher’s shop where I bought thick, back bacon and pork ribs to go with artisan pork sausages to make my ‘world famous’ Cassoulet. When I say, world famous, I mean I have famously cooked it in a number of places around the world. We will serve it for Supper and you are invited, Dear Reader. You’re very welcome.
Are you old, Dear Reader? Am I? New research suggests the age at which ‘old’ kicks in is increasing. A recently published piece of research showed that when participants who were born in 1911 were 65 years old, they said the beginning of old age was 71. However, participants born in 1956 said old age begins at 74, on average, when they were 65. Recently, participants at age 74 said old age started at 76.8. For me, Dear Reader, old age begins when I meet my destiny.
Wednesday, 24th April, 2024
A bright and sunny morning but not one to be swimming in the sea. Clothes are definitely required this morning. Well, the cassoulet supper went down really well last night. You should have been here, Dear Reader.
Had to drive an elderly lady to town this morning. She wanted to go to M&S on the sea front. We parked in Waitrose carpark and walked through the town down along the linear, pop-up market stalls which appear on Wednesdays and then down the more trendy Warwick Lane with its cascade of Restaurants, informal eateries, bars and cafes. It didn’t feel terribly warm this morning although plenty of people were drinking coffee outside at the pavement tables.
The elderly lady was chauffeured back after a successful although reasonably cheap shopping trip and I got her home in time for Prime Minister’s Questions. Her cup runneth over … particularly after she settled down to order another £200.00’s worth of Summer clothes online from Lands End.
Had a weirdly unsettling dream last night that fed into an old insecurity of mine. I don’t know if this will mean anything to readers but I’ve always had a strange feeling of vulnerability in houses. We build a sense of security within the frail walls of our homes when there is little between us as we sleep and the cold winds of the streets chasing along outside. Although I came from a comfortable, middle class, family home as a child, I experienced some fairly dilapidated rented accommodation as a student and as a young teacher.
The property above, behind the sandwich shed which used to be a hairdressers, was where I paid £5.00 per week for 2 rooms – the two windows downstairs on the right of the smaller photo below – when I started teaching. It was horrible but all I could get at the time. The little photo below is taken from the property sale site when it was valued at over £300,000 and the 2nd most expensive property in the street which tells you a lot about the other houses.
I have had this recurring dream across my life ever since, where my subconscious seems to liken poor housing to the fragility of camping which I also hated. I am definitely someone who needs his creature comforts and the certainty of 4, well constructed walls around me. Last night the insecurity of my student flat morphed into the horrendous property I rented in my early teaching years and presented itself like an out-of-body experience where I watched a young couple enter a rented room with huge gaps in the walls and damp on the floors and yet they seemed oblivious to it and were intent on enjoying their new found freedom. I woke up feeling shaky and unclean.
This syndrome really establishes why I like new build, latest-standards homes with the best insulation, the most efficient heating and air conditioning, quality, modern materials built to exacting standards.
Thursday, 25th April, 2024
Lovely evening in our Marina yesterday which boded well for today. Currently, it is a nice morning of cloud and sunshine.
Went to Sainsburys and was shocked to find the Chicken Breasts were security protected. In Sainsburys!! I know that Lidl has manned gun towers on the roof but shop lifters at Sainsburys!
Times must be hard. Certainly prices of some things are soaring for different reasons. Brexit-broken supply chains play a part but climate change has also had a significant effect on olive oil and coffee beans. I’m currently trying to find some new coffee beans because I am bored with my current ones. These three bags of coffee beans to try out cost £21.50 which is 50% more than I was paying 2 years ago. Olive oil is more than double the price 2 years ago.
I drink quite a lot – maybe too much – coffee each day. I cannot drink it unsweetened. I use sweeteners. I haven’t used sugar since the early 1970s. In cooking, we use Splenda powder and for many years, I have used Sweetex tablets in drinks at a rate of 3 per cup. Recently, there have been doubts raised about the effects of artificial sweeteners on our gut health so I’ve decided to monitor my intake. Over today, I drank a total of 17 drinks and included 33 Sweetex tablets. Is that too many? Probably. It may well be a bit to late for me but it will be interesting to see if I can kick the habit after all these years
Supposed to have had a discussion with my GP about Monday’s scan results but it has been postponed and I am booked for a phone review next week. Suggests the initial radiographer’s observations were accurate and there is no great need for concern.
Friday, 26th April, 2024
Out early to a high street branch of a Private Investment Bank to increase our investments in the new tax year. We went in during the first week after April 6th but it was under such pressure that we have had to wait two weeks for an appointment. This morning, we were there for 9.00 am and seen fairly promptly.
In July last year, I managed to invest in a 2 year fixed rate bond at 6.05% and two, 2 year fixed rate ISAs at 5.35%. These investments were taken out at a time when inflation (CPI) was 6.4%. At that time, I expected inflation to fall and wrote so in my Blog. With 14 months still on that fixed rate, we have been able to put in a second year’s 2 x £20,000 under the 5.35% ISA wrapper. Inflation (CPI) is currently 3.2% and expected to fall to around 2% in the next few months. So, even at this point, our investments have gone from small earnings deficit to comparably large earnings surplus over the 10 months so far.
Inflation rates are absolutely critical to earnings and savings rates. In March 2023, inflation (CPI) was 10.1%. Our Teachers Pensions are uprated by CPI each year. It used to be RPI inflation rate at one time but deliberately reduced by the Tories to CPI which doesn’t include housing/mortgage costs. Ten years of 10.1% inflation would totally wipe out anyone’s savings over that time. The same would double our Teachers Pension.
Although it is a pittance and one of the worst State Pensions in Europe, the Triple Lock increase on State Pensions has seen it increase by 60% over the past 12 years. We rather treat it like pocket money and can’t imagine how someone could actually live on it but, for the first time for many years, our investments will have earned more than our joint state pensions and will continue to do so next year as well which feels rather nice after years of almost no earnings at all.
Just to emphasise that money isn’t everything and to remind me of my mortality, the postman delivered two packages when we got home. The National Bowel Cancer Tests arrived for the last time automatically. In two years time when it would be next due, I will be 75 and will have to specifically request it. Of course, I will do so …. if I’m still alive.
Saturday, 27th April, 2024
My Mum, Catherine, Lily Coghlan born on August 22nd, 1923 died 16 years ago today. It is still shocking how times recede in the memory and need to be regularly revived and commemorated. This photo is of her in 1936 aged 13, three years before war broke out. She is in Brighton with her Dad in the seaside town where Grandad Coghlan was born. It is ironic that I now live 10 miles away from where they were photographed 87 years ago.
Lovely, sunny morning. A jobs morning. Chef is baking bread and making strawberry jam. She buys packs of frozen strawberries from Sainsburys and the flavour they produce is of Summer whatever the time of year. This is one of the few occasions in the kitchen where sugar is allowed/required.
I am going to pressure wash the drive on this lovely, warm morning. This is how the jobs list is allocated according to gender.
Fifteen years ago this week, we were tidying up our garden in Quarry Court, Huddersfield in preparation for putting the property up for sale prior to setting off on our drive to our Greek house. Quite liked that garden.