Ramblings in Retirement

March 2006

I’d No pictures this month as my camera "died" and I am awaiting a replacement. However, here is a photo of a recent addition to the family, this is my sister and her new granddaughter Chloe.

Penny had to return to the UK again just at the end of February as the hospital changed her appointment (bringing it forward 2 weeks). The weather has been great meanwhile with temperatures reaching 25 degrees although we have had some wind. It is pollen time and everywhere around the house is covered in a film of yellow dust and, as I write, the pine seeds (which look like Rice Crispies) are starting to fall and accumulate everywhere.

Maintenance around the house and garden has been the order of the day (actually 2 weeks) and I have repainted the hall, replaced some light and power-points, finished the new rose-bed, repositioned the automatic watering system and repainted the entry door to the garage and iron railings. All boring stuff really but I did learn a valuable lesson, when you paint black iron railings they are still black! Not as silly as it sounds because visitors would not really notice where all the chips and bits of rust were, but I do.

Last year our pool light blew out again! This is the third time in 8 years and is most unusual. I am not confident enough to cut the electricity supply and then remove the lamp (I like fried food but not the idea of being fried food)!

I have therefore drained the pool entirely to enable replacement of the lamp (inspection has shown that it would be best to replace the entire housing) and, to carry out some general pool maintenance on the edging, stained ceramics and grout etc.. These tasks however will have to wait till I return from the UK as I set off on the 16^th.

Penny has had a rough old time of it this year and although the National Health Service has been excellent, she has been to and fro not only from the hospital, but also to Spain, owing to the ongoing series of tests. It is really annoying that the “specialist cardiologist” in Spain could not identify the problem she has and, that we had to rely on dear old NHS to come to the rescue. Spain has an excellent medical service which we have used and commended, but on this important occasion it has let us down! As at the end of March we are awaiting another hospital appointment for Penny to receive Angioplasty, so we are returning home in the meanwhile.

Observations whilst in the UK.

When I arrived at Leeds there was a gale blowing, rain and freezing temperatures!! These conditions were to prevail for most of the next three weeks with only occasional periods of weak sunshine. I learned that as of the end of March, two Water Boards were imposing “hosepipe” bans in their specific regions. How can this happen in a country where there is so much rainfall.

Taxation continues to grow in the UK and, in late March, Gordon Brown set out his budget for the next year (together with the now customary “stealth tax” for future years). On doing a little research, (was I bored, or not) I learned that he will shortly become the highest taxing chancellor of modern times even beating Callaghan (who?). However, the general populace seem inured to whatever he throws at them and appear to accept it as a way of life.

A recent article said that the average person in Britain had an overdraft of £700, in the main, this was to pay for Council Tax, mortgage or general day to day living costs. If £700 is an average and there are 60 million people that’s some math. Notwithstanding this, they are paying a massive 29.8% interest on the overdraft (I bet they also regularly switch their Credit card balances and seek the lowest mortgage rates to save money)!!!!

Retail Park-itis seems to be continuing ad-nauseum. It seems to me that almost every town wants to have at least one large retail park where the same old shop names are selling the same old stuff. Drop me in Cardiff, Bedford or Leeds and I can buy the same as you from the same chain store. One consequence of the retail park is the demise of the town centre which in many cases have become virtual daytime ghost towns, pandering only to pensioners scouring the growing array of charity shops. In the evenings they are thronging with pub-goers seeking the latest 2 for 1 booze offers and thrilling possibility of a punch-up!

As of 1^st April Scotland is adopting a very strict “No Smoking” legislation which does not permit smoking in any building including Pubs and Restaurants. (In Spain, we had the common sense to allow premises to opt for whether to allow or deny smoking thereby giving the customer a choice). This was reinforced by a sight spied recently on a visit to Scotland: two beer swilling, tattoo ridden, foul mouthed hard-men, standing outside a pub, in the rain, "enjoying" their fags. The following day, I noticed an article in the paper which claimed a local council were now going to apply “£50 instant fines” for any smoker caught dropping their cigarette ends on the pavement! (not a joke)!

Sorry for the short edition (and late) in which there are no photos as camera died.