General Chat

Morning all - how good to see the replaced avatars. Those wretched Gunners are back, I see!

Oh dear RMS - no snow and now grass fires? That really is not good. Does this mean water restrictions in the proper summer? What's in you avatar; its a bit difficult to see clearly.

Did you enjoy the panto Maz? And you didn't even have the excuse of taking a child! I haven't been to one for over 25 years. We couldn't afford the tickets to take all 3 plus one or two adults.

Nothing wretched about my Gunners :-D.
I am possibly off to another panto with the Brownies and the Rainbows in Feb. We support our local Amateur Dramatic clubs whose performances are usually great and cheap.

Catch you later one and all as this is a flying visit.

ps. DET the Avitar is a temp one until I find something else that takes my fancy :-D

morning all it was the new film lol and it was full of kids am i bothered lol
Day off to do some chores so am catching up on the chores ,Have just spoken to the council about next door on Anti social behaviour etc ,
I am also ploughing through a desk full of admin but i am also enjoying a break lol

Pleased to hear you have contacted the council Maz. Were they any help, do you think?

Wretched!!! What a good word, DET!! Well done!! :-D :-D :-D

30 to go to 15,000!!!!

hi there i will wait and see they are going to talk to the letting agency ,And the landlord ,The police are right behind me and will back me up with any enquiry from that direction .I have to just keep phoning the police when the noise is bad .so we will see .how it goes

Imagine,NUFC beating MU 3-0 :-D

Well David, at least person's little boy is pleased!

Hope you get somewhere with the council. Perhaps they can give you an out of hours number so they can catch the noise makers in the act. Reported poor behaviour isn't enough. Then they can slap a fine on them, or take them to court. It's all grist to the Mill towards an ASBO or whatever.

Blimey! Its like the Marie Celeste here!

Ah well, nothing else for it - snuggle down until the stop outs come home.

Hi everybody.

Every time I try to come on here I'm called away by hubby or son, they've always got something they want me to do. Did I tell you that my husband decided to retire?

Maz, it's hard to believe you're still having bother with them next door. I would continue to hassle the landlord until he gets rid of them.

David, Newcastle did very well didn't they? :-D

Hello all. Currently entertaining OHs niece, the second new rellie found through fh research. Seems a down to earth person who has weathered her share of trials and tribulations life has thrown at her. Good positive outlook on life.

Could someone take Sweetpea back to UK. I have internet problems, I have broken my desk lamp, blown a globe in the ceiling light in this room, and today we had a fierce storm sweep through here in about fifteen minutes.

The tree in our backyard dropped a giant branch, on the back fence, the neighbours clothes line and my clothes line. OH and neighbour have a big clean up to do tomorrow morning. Our tree, our responsibility, etc etc.

Our visitor requested a visit to the Zoo and the famous Pandas. I have expressed my non admiration of the enterprise before but being accommodating hosts off we trotted. And what was the day like??????

The cost is ridiculous! Even with concessions for two it still cost three of us $75 to get through the gate. Most of the two thousand animals were hiding in their ecologically advanced environmentally superb habitats. I takes me hat off to what they have done to make the animals feel at home. However, what's the point if you can't see them. The pandas are a pair of grubby black and white koalas on steriods. Their enclosure is a landscaped masterpiece a couple of backyard gardeners and a fork lift, could have thrown together over a weekend. Parents spent more time photographing ankle biters on the concrete panda statues. The food, for human consumption, is cr*p. It is take away at its greasiest. After we had eaten or starve we found the sandwiches stored in a drinks fridge. A cup of tea is a paper cup of hot water, a tea bag, and milk on the counter. There were more species of toy animals in the zoo shop than real ones on show outside. It rained. And we took OH with us! He drove the wrong way going there despite female advice to the contrary, his pace around the zoo would have done a marathon runner proud, and after an hour and a half without a cigarette it was obvious he was not enjoying himself. I suggested he hide himself in the panda's bamboo forest and have a quick puff. He declined that suggestion and we left.

Nearly forgot the weather forecast. Very warm and humid. Rained heavily today and forecast is for more rain. Done a bit on the tree adding in new rellies and offspring. Did you know we won the cricket???

Good morning all. Hope everyone had recovered from what ever they were up to last night.

Happy retirement to Pauline's OH. I hope you/he has lots of projects for him to get stuck into. The first few months take a bit of getting used to; its all too easy to spend too many hours lazing around, when nothing gets done...and he is under your feet with no 'role' in the household. Mind you, OH had a list of 'projects' which he has now completed, and is now bored ridged (not that he would admit it)

Oh - sorry missed Aunty!

So you enjoyed the outing to the Pandas? :-D ;-) You did try at least. Its ages since we went to a Zoo, but yes those sort of places do charge an arm and a leg. You should of thought to have taken snacks, or isn't that allowed? At least it was a day to remember, with your new found blood relatives.

Now if *you* retired, you could take road trips to visit them :-D :-D

See if your or next doors house insurance will help with the costs of storm damage. Some do, some don't. Its the Act of God clause. At least it didn't fall on a building. You may have heard of the gale force winds we've had in the UK. Although not as bad as the 1980 something one, there has been at least one death caused by a falling tree onto a vehicle, and numerous vans/lorries overturned.

That trip to the zoo made me LOL, Aunty........... although I don't think it made you laugh. :-D

DET, we've watched so many DVDs that my eyes have glazed over and I can no longer see properly. For some reason he can't watch a film by himself.......... I have to be sitting next to him! He says he needs to do something to keep his brain working........... but can't be bothered yet. I've suggested learning a new language and offered to go with him but he says he's not ready to do anything yet.

I wasn't up to anything last night DET!! I was lurking, but there wasn't anyone to talk to, so I stuck with the tv instead!!

Poor Aunty, what an expedition!! I haven't been to a zoo for years either. No idea what the cost is in the UK nowadays

Pauline, you can send your OH down here and I will keep him occupied for six months with various jobs that need doing!! ;-) :-D

Joking apart, the Christmas holiday bored me to tears, so I don't know how I will cope when I finally decide to leave work, much as I would love not having to go in every day and face the stress and politcs of our office. I must admit that I normally enjoy my holidays, even in winter, so perhaps feeling under the weather contributed to the boredom this time.

Well tsk, tsk, and tsk, YG - you should have posted then someone may have crept out of the shadows! We were watching TV for most of the evening, hence the late appearance.

I suspect that retirement needs to be planned for, and various activities or wish lists researched/organised before you give up. Mind you, in my case I just wanted to get out of a job I had come to dislike, and the FH to concentrate on as well as various diy things to complete.

Pauline's comments re her OH were discussed with OH, and we talked about various options, not that mine is likely to take any of them up! He is about to serve dinner (sharing the cooking being one thing he has taken on board since he 'retired) so I may be back later. ;-)

Right then - lets get you organised

Search for "volunteers in (your area/county)" There are all sorts of things going on, such as visiting the elderly, hospital drivers as well as with youth groups or (in our area) helping tidy up gardens for those who can't cope.

Take up photography - combined with walking perhaps?
A Ramblers association/group - look out for items in the local paper.

Join a Working Mans or Country Club for the social activities or sports - billiards etc.
Women's Institutes/Townswomen's Guilds.
Take classes to learn a new skill - marquetry, jewellery making, embroidery, art classes, IT. See what is available in your area.

Volunteer for Jury Service if under 65. Yes, I mean it! OH was 'called' as in its muggins turn, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Find an Active Retirement Association in your area - the names usually end in ARA. They often have their activities and meetings during the day (after all, you are retired)

Stand for election to the parish council - you never know where it might lead
Get involved with a clean up your area campaign.

Think about your strengths gained in your paid work. Build on those, giving back to society.
Volunteer at a local school, perhaps listening to them read, or in the workshops.
See if the Secondary schools want invigilators. You don't need to have worked with children before, as long as you are fairly fit, and literate.

Get involved, or more hands on, with a charity of your choice.

The world's your oyster, and apart from your time, shouldn't cost you much, if anything.

I don't think that you can equate a 2 week holiday with retirement as you are still running on Adrenalin; Once you give up work, you do slow down and it doesn't really matter if the decorating takes 4 weeks instead of 2. This time of year can be rather soul destroying and its easy to look out the window and decide to stay in. Sometimes you have to wrap up warm and force yourself out. You feel much better after being in natural light and the fresh air, as well as just being in social contact with other people.

We probably haven't attempted many of the above, but different people have different personalities and things to offer. I'm still trying to get OH to agree to join the local ARA. He doesn't classify himself as a 'wrinkly' despite being eligible for free prescriptions!

Although we have let it lapse, the best investment we made was a sub for the National Trust. It made us go out to get our monies worth. Otherwise we'd have just sat at home. English Heritage is a lot cheaper, but they don't have many 'indoor' places to visit.

evening all , Had a good shift , into Richmond with one on the bus,had lunch but had a really good day ,
Pauline the landlord is not bothered he asked for a home visit when i first contacted him they warned them so all was organised and fine ,the letting agency said she is a model tenant lol well they have at leats one broken window a garden full of dog sh@@@@ and smells ,The rubbish has not been taken for 8 weeks and I dont care .I had an awful night with them last night again patio door opens slams dog barks and cries .I am not giving up at all
Aunty well done for enduring the trip the best zoos i have seen are the ones in Germany and also the wildparks that they have are good too

Poor Maz :-( The landlord has to give 48 hours written notice to gain entry, although there is nothing to stop him doing a drive-by or look over your backfence. The broken window is probably his responsibility to fix. Have a word with the letting agents, and suggest they do an inspection, At least there is a chance they will get things cleared up!

Found Pauline's comment about having to sit next to OH while he watched the telly or DVD quite interesting. I have had the same reaction here. It goes, you are never here. I say what would you like to do. He says nothing I have my TV program to watch. I say but I don't like those programs and I have other things to do. My OH and Spot have their day planned. They work around the house in the morning and after lunch have a rest then watch a bit of telly, then prepare the evening meal, watch more telly and go to bed early. This will drive me crazy, is driving me crazy, filling me with concern, has me worried. However we muddle along together OK and when I do retire he will just have to make a place for me in his schedule. I will not be sitting next to him while he watches the TV. I don't do it now. I am really looking forward to being able to do family history while I am not tired. OH has suggested I have found him sufficient rellies, thank you. I know there are heaps more hurdles to overcome before my tree is how I want it.

We are insured for the tree damage. OH has scheduled that as the morning activity. I think I might supervise. Have family coming over for morning tea so that will be extra bodies to lend a hand with the clean up. Wouldn't want to get in their way.

Good to see you jumping up and down with your neighbourhood terrorists, Maz. Complain until you achieve a result. We too have touristy wild life parks over here and have visited them in the olden days. I like all your retirement options DET, did you mention lawn bowls? Another option is to get a dog and walk it each day. Amazing how quickly you will form friendships with others. Then again it wouldn't be much fun in the snow.