And Then A Bit O’ Maths…

   Thus the furore regards the cancellation of the pensioners winter fuel allowance rumbles on.
   The bit I caught via the televisual receiving device this morning was when that robber in chief, answering a question regards this, replied that the cancellation was justified and anyway the state pension will{?} be going up, due to that triple lock thingy, by nine percent in April next year.
   A couple of things the opposition{?} questioner failed to mention was, firstly, April comes after winter and secondly if the lady in charge of the countries money has in her possession a recently invented bit o’ kit called a calculator.
   Wot for? Well, hasn’t it just been announced that the price fix for gas and lekky will rise by ten percent in October? Now I’m dumber un a rock but I do believe I can see the result of this but it would seem there’s nobody up there that can do the maths and figure out the net result between nine percent in verses ten percent more out. Nor any of our seekers of truth in the MSM apparently.
   Oh, and as mentioned before, how many more pensioners will that nine percent tip over that exciting threshold and into having yet more taken via income tax?
Anyhoo, let’s give all that no never mind and have a new ear political number as our new glorious leader drives us, ever faster, to the brink of who knows wot...

Quote; John Barrymore.

“Why is there so much month left at the end of the money?”

And Then A Pension Idea...

   In the ‘news’ yesterday it was suggested that there are plans afoot to raise the retirement age to 68. Bummer. This is because the state pension is getting over costly. This despite the government taking a chunk of earnings in National Insurance a part of which is to fund said pensions. Supposedly.
   Thus I thought of a cunning plan.
   Once folk are firmly on the road of work and have accepted their worth whatever work they do then it’s time to think of the future. How about taking out a private pension? Whoa! A tad expensive is it not?
   And that’s where it gets cleaver. If you do take on a private pension, the monthly cost of that is deducted from your National Insurance stoppage. That will be a choice as having the private cost deducted from the government cost will result in no state pension.
  So, well paid work? Go private and keep N.I. resulting in two pensions. Not that affordable? Do the maths and make your choice bearing in mind that private  you’ll be able to bail-out of work at sixty or sixty-five.
   Wot’s wrong with giving folk choices regards their hard earned money and planning for the future?

Quote;  Abe Lemons.

“The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.”

And Then Up Or Down...

   As a break from co-co, I’m sure you out there of an age remember how the state pension triple-lock was declared, by government, to be a thing of wonder for pensioners.
   Well, so, here we are and I’m also sure you old folk wot continue to clutter the place up, have seen the news that the government, in that shape shifting shape of Richie Sad-Sack are considering, now a pension increase looked to be almost worthwhile, almost, that the triple-lock possibly isn’t such a thing of wonder after all and could be ignored. 
   The reason? Seeing the old getting a ‘pay rise’ could upset the young. Is anything in this scary new world not acted upon without first and foremost considering hurty words and/or hurty feelings of others?
   Those National Insurance deductions from my wages, wages hard earned in the old world since age fifteen, went towards helping those that came before me. Now? Seems those working don’t give those that have come before them no never mind.
   Just a wild guess, but I’m wildly guessing that ‘they’ may well be ‘considering’ another angle like this for when the final announcement is made: In view of the ‘disaster’ co-co has inflicted on the economy, the triple-lock indicates there needs to be a reduction in the state pension of twenty percent so, well, sorry, but that’s how the triple-lock works, right? As with your lottery ticket, better luck next year...    
   Further to this, it will be announced that, in the near future, all pension payments accrued via work or private pension schemes individuals have payed into and are now receiving, will be deducted by the government at source, for the greater good you understand, thus putting all the elderly on a level poverty playing field.
   The above will not be applicable to the pensions of those that would rule over you, civil serpents or any of those in the public sector all of whom are working tirelessly to make your life down there as miserable as they possibly can, by any means at their disposal. But that’s only common sense.
   If a civil serpent happens to blunder through this Mirror, those last three paragraphs are for fun and not to be construed in any shape or form as an advisory, okay? Well? Okay? Hello?

        

Quote;  R.C. Sherriff.

“When a man retires and time is no longer a matter of urgent importance, his colleagues generally present him with a watch.”

And Then Two Choons; Again...

It’s not too long ago that I popped these two numbers up here but here they be again to celebrate Rippers retirement. Play the first twice at your peril, because if you do, trust me, the chorus will be with you for a week, minimum.

            

This one? Just a reminder, should one be needed, that regardless of the ‘dangers’ of this present flue thingy and the general hazards involved with being alive, and this and that getting banned and made illegal, life is to be lived and enjoyed, risks taken and troubles overcome  so we should all strive, against all the odds, to enjoy to the full our brief, butterfly-like, moment in the sun. Damn! Would you just look at the time already...

            

Quote;  Hunter S. Thompson

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a Ride!'”

And Then An Alarming Story….

Okay, it's not as alarming as the title may suggest.  The alarm referred to is that attached to a clock.  Allow me to expand on this.

While I was far, far, far away this time I listened in to a conversation revolving round the subject of retirement.  One conversationalist couldn't wait, the other could.

Personally, when I retired, there were no withdrawal symptoms what-so-ever.  What I did miss, and still do, are the people I worked with, with very few exceptions, and the camaraderie. 

To help those involved in the drilling game, or similar stuff, shortly to retire, or considering retirement, may I offer the one sure trick that'll ease your transition from chaos to calm.

I'll assume your normal day at work starts at 06:00 and ends at 18:00, although you're most likely on twenty four hour call and oh, those calls; at two in the morning, if someone bangs on you cabin door, bursts in and throws the lights on, trust me on this, it's not going to be to cheerily announce, "Hay, wake up!!  I've got some really, really good news for ya!!"

Right.  The alarm.

When you finally decide to call it Kelly down**, keep your alarm clock set to sound at 05:00.  When it rings, reach out, turn it off, laugh for fifteen minutes and go back to sleep.

This is especially satisfying on dark winter mornings when the wind's howling and the rain's battering your bedroom window.  At those times your fifteen minutes of laughter can stretch a tad longer and may become slightly hysterical.

**A loooong time ago I worked with a driller, whom I only remember as Nigel, who purchased his dream country cottage to 'do up' ready for retirement and named it Kelly Down.  He was forever thereafter affectionately known as Nearly Normal Nigel.  

It was also Nearly Normal, on a boisterous crew change, while a bunch of the boys were whooping it up down at the Rose and Crown, when one of the local boys indicated a guy further down the bar and remarked whisperingly, "He's a latent homosexual you know." responded jovially and loudly with, "Well, better latent than never."

Quote;  ??

"I retired early for health reasons - my company was sick of me and I was sick of them."

            Gene Perret.

"I’m now as free as the breeze – with roughly the same income."