Today I was in the garden and the young man next door was picking daffodils and spoke to me. I asked him why he was picking the daffs. He then told me that the weather was about to change so they might as well have a few flowers in the house rather than let them get damaged outside.
He then asked me if I had managed to get any fuel. I told him the tale of going to Grantham where the traffic was horrendous but I managed to get filled up near here. Of course I told him where. He then told me that they were restricting each caller to £25 worth of petrol or diesel. Also he told me that in Mablethorpe there was no petrol and very little at all in Louth. I did mention to him that in Skegness the queues were bad at every filling station. As he works in Immingham I asked him if he had sufficient and then suggested that he could call at our local Garage. I also told him that I would presume that there would be fuel there as it is very expensive. He told me he had not thought of going there but here in the rural community fuel was expensive everywhere and you had to go to Skegness to get cheaper fuel. The savings are about 8p a litre. Mind you I have enough now for a few weeks as I do not go travelling a lot. More soon.
Friday, 30 March 2012
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Headless chickens
As I said yesterday I was going to Grantham today.
The traffic was horrendous, my Sister told me that every day that the schoolchildren were at school, the traffic was near gridlock from 8.30am to 9.30am. What compounded the situation was the bottlenecks near Petrol Stations. Thank goodness I managed to get to Morrison's and do my shopping first. Morrison's don't have a filling station on site.
Going to my Sister's I pass ASDA. Filling Station. I think there are 4 different filling areas each having 2 pumps. There were art least 50 cars either waiting in a queue or waiting to get on to their site. I hurriedly went to my Sister's. She told me that yesterday was just the same. She asked me if I was going to hunt around for some fuel but I told her I had enough to get home.
I eventually left her home around 10.15am. The traffic was still very bad and it wasn't until I got out of town that the traffic returned to something like normality.
I went to a small local Filling Station that is attended service. Yes there were 2 cars there but I only had to wait a few minutes. You see there are benefits of living in the country.
I rung my mate up a little earlier and he told me that Skegness had been similar to Grantham with queues around every filling station. I reminded him that so far no strike had been ordered and fuel was still being delivered regularly.
What on earth is the Country coming to?
By the way, I went and tried to take a photo of Grantham Town Hall and Isaac Newton. What a disaster. Firstly I only managed to get a small part of the Town Hall. The second was of a tree nothing like Isaac Newton. I must inform my American friend of my complete failure. The worst of it is that I have no idea what I did wrong. Oh dear. More soon.
The traffic was horrendous, my Sister told me that every day that the schoolchildren were at school, the traffic was near gridlock from 8.30am to 9.30am. What compounded the situation was the bottlenecks near Petrol Stations. Thank goodness I managed to get to Morrison's and do my shopping first. Morrison's don't have a filling station on site.
Going to my Sister's I pass ASDA. Filling Station. I think there are 4 different filling areas each having 2 pumps. There were art least 50 cars either waiting in a queue or waiting to get on to their site. I hurriedly went to my Sister's. She told me that yesterday was just the same. She asked me if I was going to hunt around for some fuel but I told her I had enough to get home.
I eventually left her home around 10.15am. The traffic was still very bad and it wasn't until I got out of town that the traffic returned to something like normality.
I went to a small local Filling Station that is attended service. Yes there were 2 cars there but I only had to wait a few minutes. You see there are benefits of living in the country.
I rung my mate up a little earlier and he told me that Skegness had been similar to Grantham with queues around every filling station. I reminded him that so far no strike had been ordered and fuel was still being delivered regularly.
What on earth is the Country coming to?
By the way, I went and tried to take a photo of Grantham Town Hall and Isaac Newton. What a disaster. Firstly I only managed to get a small part of the Town Hall. The second was of a tree nothing like Isaac Newton. I must inform my American friend of my complete failure. The worst of it is that I have no idea what I did wrong. Oh dear. More soon.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Fuel
It is my intention of travelling to Grantham tomorrow to see my Sister, however I am a little concerned because I have not filled up my car since I was last there and if there is a fuel shortage, then it is possible that I will be extremely low by the time I get home.
What are the general public thinking of? There is no sign at the moment of a possible Tankers strike. Mind you that can afford to go on strike if what they say they earn per annum is true £45,000. Much wants more. The disparity between the rich and poor gets ever wider.
the Royal Mail has decided in their wisdom to increase the cost of posting a letter to 60p for first class and 50p for second class. This is being done, I think as a way of preparing to privatise the Royal Mail. All it will mean is that there will be less mail therefore less staff. I sometimes wonder who has these brainstorms.
The weather these last few days has been unbroken sunshine. On Sunday we never saw the sun at all but since then it has been glorious by day. Most nights though there has been a frost. As soon as I have finished this blog I will go and cover my few things growing in the greenhouse and polytunnel. The largest items are the potatoes. I will go now and cover them up. More soon.
What are the general public thinking of? There is no sign at the moment of a possible Tankers strike. Mind you that can afford to go on strike if what they say they earn per annum is true £45,000. Much wants more. The disparity between the rich and poor gets ever wider.
the Royal Mail has decided in their wisdom to increase the cost of posting a letter to 60p for first class and 50p for second class. This is being done, I think as a way of preparing to privatise the Royal Mail. All it will mean is that there will be less mail therefore less staff. I sometimes wonder who has these brainstorms.
The weather these last few days has been unbroken sunshine. On Sunday we never saw the sun at all but since then it has been glorious by day. Most nights though there has been a frost. As soon as I have finished this blog I will go and cover my few things growing in the greenhouse and polytunnel. The largest items are the potatoes. I will go now and cover them up. More soon.
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
memories
When I go over to see my Sister she save me the local paper. I always look to see who has weighed in(died).
As I had quite a lot, the reason was the time before I forgot to bring them hoe with me so I had several months of local news to catch up.
The first person who I saw had left us was a guy who I last saw in 1977. Yes I can be sure because I had just bought a Datsun(now Nissan)120Y estate in December 1976. In those days there were no rear window wipers on and it was just like driving a van in winter rainy weather and in 1978 I changed it for a Toyota Celica.
Anyway I was taking my late Mother to Wilkinson's in Grantham. At that time they had a small car park to the rear of their shop with access by another road. There were spaces for about 20 cars but was nearly always less than half full. As I got out of the car, I head a guy shout. "Is that you ****" I turned round to see an ex Railway man who I hadn't seen for at least 12 years. He got out of his car and gave me a nice hug. It was most unusual really as we were never close friends but good mates as almost everyone was on the Loco. I asked him how he was and he told me that he had just recovered from cancer. He told me that he was lucky as the screening van had just gone to his place of works. By then the Loco department had more or less finished. He told me that something told him to go and have an X.ray on his chest. He told me that within a couple of days he was summoned to his G.P and was told there was a shadow on his lung and an appointment was made for him to go to see a Specialist at the Hospital. He said that he was admitted almost immediately and had one of his lungs removed. They had informed him that he had been lucky and they had caught it just in time. He told me that his pal came to see him in tears because he thought he was about to die. He said that he had just been given the all clear and was convalescing ready to start work again.
He then said to me that the days on the Loco were good days. I told him they were the happiest days of my life stating that what we got up to would be hard for anybody to believe.
He readily agreed with me stating that he would talk to his son Tony and tell him some of the things that went on, stating that he didn't believe him.
Obviously the operation was a success as he managed to live over 30 years with one lung.
When I saw his obituary it bought back many happy memories. More soon.
As I had quite a lot, the reason was the time before I forgot to bring them hoe with me so I had several months of local news to catch up.
The first person who I saw had left us was a guy who I last saw in 1977. Yes I can be sure because I had just bought a Datsun(now Nissan)120Y estate in December 1976. In those days there were no rear window wipers on and it was just like driving a van in winter rainy weather and in 1978 I changed it for a Toyota Celica.
Anyway I was taking my late Mother to Wilkinson's in Grantham. At that time they had a small car park to the rear of their shop with access by another road. There were spaces for about 20 cars but was nearly always less than half full. As I got out of the car, I head a guy shout. "Is that you ****" I turned round to see an ex Railway man who I hadn't seen for at least 12 years. He got out of his car and gave me a nice hug. It was most unusual really as we were never close friends but good mates as almost everyone was on the Loco. I asked him how he was and he told me that he had just recovered from cancer. He told me that he was lucky as the screening van had just gone to his place of works. By then the Loco department had more or less finished. He told me that something told him to go and have an X.ray on his chest. He told me that within a couple of days he was summoned to his G.P and was told there was a shadow on his lung and an appointment was made for him to go to see a Specialist at the Hospital. He said that he was admitted almost immediately and had one of his lungs removed. They had informed him that he had been lucky and they had caught it just in time. He told me that his pal came to see him in tears because he thought he was about to die. He said that he had just been given the all clear and was convalescing ready to start work again.
He then said to me that the days on the Loco were good days. I told him they were the happiest days of my life stating that what we got up to would be hard for anybody to believe.
He readily agreed with me stating that he would talk to his son Tony and tell him some of the things that went on, stating that he didn't believe him.
Obviously the operation was a success as he managed to live over 30 years with one lung.
When I saw his obituary it bought back many happy memories. More soon.
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Phone call
Yesterday my old employee called me. It is always nice to hear from him but he generally rings me when he is on his way home from something to do with his job.
It was like that last night, he told me he had just come away from the Company meeting in London and was on his way back home. He lives in Exeter, a long way to go.
Anyway he asked me about the Budget and specifically about the fuel increase which is due in August. I had to tell him that it had not been scrapped so was going to be implemented in August. He was rather disappointed. He told me that last year his expenses were around £12,000 which £10.000 was due to motoring expenses. I didn't say anything to him but I thought I had never earned £12.000 a year in my life. Mind you I have not worked since 1997.
We talked for about an hour and when we finished it was too late for me to contact my mate who I had tried to contact on Tuesday only to find it was engaged. No doubt he will tell me how much electricity he has produced these last few days. I must admit I have done very well these last few days. I have produced about 37kw. hours over the last 4 days. Mind you, it will come to a sudden stop for tomorrow it is forecasting a dull day. In fact the next 3 days are not promising.
This morning when I woke it was foggy but it cleared before 8.00am. When I went out to feed the birds I noticed ice on the bird bath so we must not be carried away with the recent warm spell. Mind you, today there has been a cold easterly wind and the temperature just crept up to 12c. Tomorrow though is going to be a lot colder according to the weather men.
I did manage to set a row of peas outside today but small seeds will not be set just yet. More soon.
It was like that last night, he told me he had just come away from the Company meeting in London and was on his way back home. He lives in Exeter, a long way to go.
Anyway he asked me about the Budget and specifically about the fuel increase which is due in August. I had to tell him that it had not been scrapped so was going to be implemented in August. He was rather disappointed. He told me that last year his expenses were around £12,000 which £10.000 was due to motoring expenses. I didn't say anything to him but I thought I had never earned £12.000 a year in my life. Mind you I have not worked since 1997.
We talked for about an hour and when we finished it was too late for me to contact my mate who I had tried to contact on Tuesday only to find it was engaged. No doubt he will tell me how much electricity he has produced these last few days. I must admit I have done very well these last few days. I have produced about 37kw. hours over the last 4 days. Mind you, it will come to a sudden stop for tomorrow it is forecasting a dull day. In fact the next 3 days are not promising.
This morning when I woke it was foggy but it cleared before 8.00am. When I went out to feed the birds I noticed ice on the bird bath so we must not be carried away with the recent warm spell. Mind you, today there has been a cold easterly wind and the temperature just crept up to 12c. Tomorrow though is going to be a lot colder according to the weather men.
I did manage to set a row of peas outside today but small seeds will not be set just yet. More soon.
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Nice weather
These last couple of days have been a little warmer and sunnier. All you get on the News is that it is very dry. We have had plenty of rain recently. So much so that the ground is still a little too wet to do any sowing of seeds.
With the warm sunshine, I had to once again dig my raised beds. The recent heavy rais had compacted the soil. Even with the sunshining the ground was not really dry enough to take a full spade. I used a garden fork and even in parts where the sun had not shone much there was a tendency for the soil to stick to the fork. With a few days of sunshine though, the ground will be sufficiently dry to start to sow the first of the root vegetables.
Yersterday my Sister rung me and asked if I could give her the latest offers on fuel on the internet. I did tell her that most of the offers were for internet users only. My Sister does not have access to the internet. Why I can't understand as she was familiar with Computers for years and used one in her job. She did tell me some sad news though. My eldest Sister has just been told that she has cancer. I think she said Non Hodgkins Lymphonia. It is her Birthday in early April so I will try to get over to see her next week. She is 4 years older than I am. Let us hope that something can be done to help her. More soon.
With the warm sunshine, I had to once again dig my raised beds. The recent heavy rais had compacted the soil. Even with the sunshining the ground was not really dry enough to take a full spade. I used a garden fork and even in parts where the sun had not shone much there was a tendency for the soil to stick to the fork. With a few days of sunshine though, the ground will be sufficiently dry to start to sow the first of the root vegetables.
Yersterday my Sister rung me and asked if I could give her the latest offers on fuel on the internet. I did tell her that most of the offers were for internet users only. My Sister does not have access to the internet. Why I can't understand as she was familiar with Computers for years and used one in her job. She did tell me some sad news though. My eldest Sister has just been told that she has cancer. I think she said Non Hodgkins Lymphonia. It is her Birthday in early April so I will try to get over to see her next week. She is 4 years older than I am. Let us hope that something can be done to help her. More soon.
Monday, 19 March 2012
Pinny
As I mentioned it. I went to see my Mate on Friday. his Mum was not so good and she told me she felt a little less than 100%.
I try to always to cheer her up. My mate just said to me that I was ready to work. I then told him about how my Mum had always wore a pinny. (Pinafore or Apron). Upon hearing me say the word, his Mum perked up. She readily agreed that when one went to buy an apron or pinafore you would naturally ask for a pinny. It seemed to tickle her fancy, she kept on about it for ages and I then told her that my Mother was never dressed without her pinny and I guess that is where I get the same from wearing my overalls. Perhaps in the summer months I will cease wearing them every day. Time will tell.
It transpired that my mate's Mum used to wear her pinny most of the day. She told me that it was because it saved changing her clothes so often. As I have mentioned it before 50 years ago it was common policy to change your clothes once a week. Men would have perhaps a studded collar changed if they were going out anywhere special.
Perhaps most people won't realise that shirts came with detachable collars. They were fitted with a stud. thank goodness they were just about out of fashion by the time I was old enough to wear men's shirts. This would be at the age of 14 or so. Enough rubbish for today. More soon.
I try to always to cheer her up. My mate just said to me that I was ready to work. I then told him about how my Mum had always wore a pinny. (Pinafore or Apron). Upon hearing me say the word, his Mum perked up. She readily agreed that when one went to buy an apron or pinafore you would naturally ask for a pinny. It seemed to tickle her fancy, she kept on about it for ages and I then told her that my Mother was never dressed without her pinny and I guess that is where I get the same from wearing my overalls. Perhaps in the summer months I will cease wearing them every day. Time will tell.
It transpired that my mate's Mum used to wear her pinny most of the day. She told me that it was because it saved changing her clothes so often. As I have mentioned it before 50 years ago it was common policy to change your clothes once a week. Men would have perhaps a studded collar changed if they were going out anywhere special.
Perhaps most people won't realise that shirts came with detachable collars. They were fitted with a stud. thank goodness they were just about out of fashion by the time I was old enough to wear men's shirts. This would be at the age of 14 or so. Enough rubbish for today. More soon.
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Boilersuit?
As I mentioned it in my last blog, my best Pal called to see me. He noticed I was wearing my overalls. That is bib and brace and jacket. Supplied might I add by British Railways in around 1960. Yes they are still going strong but unfortunately I am on my last set. That is 2 overalls and 2 jackets. Anyway he said to me that when he last rung me up his wife asked if I was wearing my boiler suit. He told her that I was. She then enquired if I had mentioned it to him. All he told her was he knew would be wearing them.
This made me think hard. My late Mother wore an apron. Well some call it a pinafore but my Mother called it a pinny. She was not dressed at all unless she had her pinny on. It would only be taken off just before I took her out shopping and immediately we returned home on again would be her pinny. I used to pull her leg be saying to her that she was not dressed unless she had her pinny on.
To be honest, now I feel very much like my late other. I started to wear my overalls some 15 month ago. I found them on the top shelf of me wardrobe. They had gone a little mouldy but after I washed them they looked good. Anyway at first I would only wear them if I was going to do some work where Hawthorn trees were as they had thorns but I soon got into the habit of wearing my bib and brace bit every day. As the weather got colder I found that I was getting dressed and putting my overalls on before I had breakfast.
I know what my late Mother would have said to me. "You don't think you are going out with me dressed like that." To be honest I am so used to wearing them that I go out to get my State Pension. go to the shops and even go to my Mate's place which I will be going to tomorrow. I do not wear them if I go to the dental Surgery of the Doctors surgery. I also would not wear them to go to see my Sisters in Grantham either. To be honest though I feel so comfortable in them and I do feel a little undressed in them so I now understand how my late Mother felt when she took off her pinny.
Today, like every week day this week has been dull and cold. However a weak sun did appear around 4.00pm for an hour before the fog descended again. I hope of better things soon. It will help warm the ground up and then I will think of sowing vegetable seeds. More soon.
This made me think hard. My late Mother wore an apron. Well some call it a pinafore but my Mother called it a pinny. She was not dressed at all unless she had her pinny on. It would only be taken off just before I took her out shopping and immediately we returned home on again would be her pinny. I used to pull her leg be saying to her that she was not dressed unless she had her pinny on.
To be honest, now I feel very much like my late other. I started to wear my overalls some 15 month ago. I found them on the top shelf of me wardrobe. They had gone a little mouldy but after I washed them they looked good. Anyway at first I would only wear them if I was going to do some work where Hawthorn trees were as they had thorns but I soon got into the habit of wearing my bib and brace bit every day. As the weather got colder I found that I was getting dressed and putting my overalls on before I had breakfast.
I know what my late Mother would have said to me. "You don't think you are going out with me dressed like that." To be honest I am so used to wearing them that I go out to get my State Pension. go to the shops and even go to my Mate's place which I will be going to tomorrow. I do not wear them if I go to the dental Surgery of the Doctors surgery. I also would not wear them to go to see my Sisters in Grantham either. To be honest though I feel so comfortable in them and I do feel a little undressed in them so I now understand how my late Mother felt when she took off her pinny.
Today, like every week day this week has been dull and cold. However a weak sun did appear around 4.00pm for an hour before the fog descended again. I hope of better things soon. It will help warm the ground up and then I will think of sowing vegetable seeds. More soon.
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Fickle weather
It is hard to believe that on Sunday we had unbroken sunshine from sunrise to sunset. Since then it has been 100% cloud, not a sign of the sun at all and where on Sunday it was very spring like, yesterday was cool but today has been cold.
Mind you, yesterday I had a nice surprise, the phone rang around lunch time, most unusual for me but it was my best Pal ringing saying he would be round later in the afternoon.
It was great to see him, he told me that this year was 5 years since his cancer operation of the bowel and that he had been informed by the Hospital that he was due for another colonoscopy, the final one just to give him the all clear. However as he was over 75, he could opt out of this procedure as it contains a risk. They pump air into you colon, then insert a camera to inspect the colon. The risk is that as you get older, there is a greater risk of your colon splitting. My Pal decided to opt out and I fully agreed with him.
We discussed many things and as men do, sex did creep into it. I must tell you this as it is true. My Pal worked down the coalmines, I was on the Railway so both jobs could be hard work. He told me that this day, they were sitting underground having their sandwiches. One of the guys told this (old man). My best pal guessed he would be about 50. Anyway he told him that the young man sitting next to him was getting married on Saturday. The old man, head bowed just said to him. "You're getting married on Saturday then, well go and buy a big bag of dried peas and a large glass jar. When you get married, each time you get your leg over the first year, put a dried pea from out of the bag into the glass jar. At the end of the first year, then do the reverse. Each time you have your leg over, take a pea out of the glass jar and put it back into the bag. If your sex life follows my experience, you will NEVER empty the glass jar in your lifetime. I've only just got my jar a fraction over half empty." we both had a great laugh but this was a true story and he told me the old coal face workers attitude never changed at all. It was. to him a matter of fact.
This morning I had to get my blood tested as well as my B.P. This was down compared to last time but still a little high for me with my conditions so I had to go out into the waiting room again and wait to see a more senior Nurse. Eventually I was summoned and she asked me if I was satisfied and I told her I was, she readily agreed with me and told me she was happy to leave me as it was for the time being. Mind you, I did inform her that I had further tests and will be surprised if they are satisfactory. I now wait for news of my tests. More soon.
Mind you, yesterday I had a nice surprise, the phone rang around lunch time, most unusual for me but it was my best Pal ringing saying he would be round later in the afternoon.
It was great to see him, he told me that this year was 5 years since his cancer operation of the bowel and that he had been informed by the Hospital that he was due for another colonoscopy, the final one just to give him the all clear. However as he was over 75, he could opt out of this procedure as it contains a risk. They pump air into you colon, then insert a camera to inspect the colon. The risk is that as you get older, there is a greater risk of your colon splitting. My Pal decided to opt out and I fully agreed with him.
We discussed many things and as men do, sex did creep into it. I must tell you this as it is true. My Pal worked down the coalmines, I was on the Railway so both jobs could be hard work. He told me that this day, they were sitting underground having their sandwiches. One of the guys told this (old man). My best pal guessed he would be about 50. Anyway he told him that the young man sitting next to him was getting married on Saturday. The old man, head bowed just said to him. "You're getting married on Saturday then, well go and buy a big bag of dried peas and a large glass jar. When you get married, each time you get your leg over the first year, put a dried pea from out of the bag into the glass jar. At the end of the first year, then do the reverse. Each time you have your leg over, take a pea out of the glass jar and put it back into the bag. If your sex life follows my experience, you will NEVER empty the glass jar in your lifetime. I've only just got my jar a fraction over half empty." we both had a great laugh but this was a true story and he told me the old coal face workers attitude never changed at all. It was. to him a matter of fact.
This morning I had to get my blood tested as well as my B.P. This was down compared to last time but still a little high for me with my conditions so I had to go out into the waiting room again and wait to see a more senior Nurse. Eventually I was summoned and she asked me if I was satisfied and I told her I was, she readily agreed with me and told me she was happy to leave me as it was for the time being. Mind you, I did inform her that I had further tests and will be surprised if they are satisfactory. I now wait for news of my tests. More soon.
Friday, 9 March 2012
Medication
I went to my surgery on Tuesday morning to book a time for B.P and Blood Test. The receptionist I know well so I mentioned to her that I had written a note on my prescription asking for a substitute medication for the one which is not available and will not be until May at the earliest. She suggested I go to the dispensary. There I was told that the lady who helps me a lot is not being made redundant as the Dispensing will no longer be done there but it would be able to pick up the medications also able to take repeat prescriptions in. She told me that I would be able to pick up my medication there if I wished. I informed her that I had arranged for Lloyds Chemist to deliver my medications to me.
Well Thursday came and went with no delivery. The Pharmacist had informed me that if I put my repeat order in the surgery, they would send it to Lloyds and two days after putting my repeat prescriptions in I would receive them.
Off I went into Town, I was going in for some milk anyway so it was not inconvenient. I walked into Lloyds and asked if there was a prescription there for me. When the Pharmacist heard my voice she came to see me, explaining that she had ordered a suitable alternative but she was waiting for it to arrive and it should be in later that morning.
Sure enough mid afternoon there was a delivery and it did contain the substitute medication. Let us hope that it does the trick.
The last couple of days have been more suitable to me for creating solar power. Although not wall to wall sunshine but certainly better than last week end. More soon.
Well Thursday came and went with no delivery. The Pharmacist had informed me that if I put my repeat order in the surgery, they would send it to Lloyds and two days after putting my repeat prescriptions in I would receive them.
Off I went into Town, I was going in for some milk anyway so it was not inconvenient. I walked into Lloyds and asked if there was a prescription there for me. When the Pharmacist heard my voice she came to see me, explaining that she had ordered a suitable alternative but she was waiting for it to arrive and it should be in later that morning.
Sure enough mid afternoon there was a delivery and it did contain the substitute medication. Let us hope that it does the trick.
The last couple of days have been more suitable to me for creating solar power. Although not wall to wall sunshine but certainly better than last week end. More soon.
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
National Insurance
This occurred in the late 80s.
My window cleaner colleague used to go to the Post Office every Monday morning and get 2 self employed stamps. I had suggested this to him several years before because he had got a little behind with his weekly stamps.
As seklf employed people we paid a flat fee of around £4.00 each week. At the end of the financial year we were sent another card and also sent an envelope to return the full card to the local Employment Exchange. In our case this was Grimsby. Each week one was supposed to stick the stamp on the place provided and cancel it with the date written on the stamp. This I did every week.
Well I guess it would be late spring I received a buff envelope. Nobody liked that colour envelope as it generally was bad news. This was no different. It was an offical letter informing me that as I had not returned my N.I card for the year ending April I was summoned to appear at their Grimsby Office to explain why I had not sent my card in.
There was a telephone number so I decided to call their office. As expected I had a young female office girl who just told me I had to appear. In that moment, I was so angry I told her that in no circumstances would I appear in person as I had done nothing wrong and if they wished to see me they would have to send somone out to see me. With that I hung up.
A couple of days later I had another letter informing me that a Mr. I forget his name would be coming to interview me on a date and time that was written.
I told my colleague what had happened and he immediately went to the Post Office and asked if they would write a letter confirming that each Monday he went and bought 2 self employed stamps. As the person at the counter remembered him she asked the Owner who wrote and stamped the confirmation that 2 self employed stamps were purchased each Monday.
I had been informed in that letter to have all relevant documents at hand also have my latest National Insurancs e card too.
Came the day the gentleman arrived on time and looked very officious with his brief case. He introduced himself and showed me his I.D. He was very abrupt and got down to business straight away.
He first asked me to produce my current N.I card. This I did and showed him that it was up to date with my stamps. He was surprised but before he could say anything else I produced the letter from the Post Office. His attitude immediately changed. First of all he told me that he could see that my card had the stamps attached each week as they were individually attached. He was also very pleased with the note from the Post Office. He then informed me that this was what he had been waiting for. This he told me was proof that Newcastle were at fault, although they would never admit it. He then opened his brief Case and took out my details. He showed me them and told me that each year everything had been normal and payments were 100% correct. He told me he understood why I had not gone to their office and he would probably have done the same. He then told me that there were 10 people in the area who had according to Newcastle had not sent their cards in. One farmer in a local village was one where he had to go to next.
Well he asked me to give him all the relevant details and gave me a receipt for my N.I card. He then told me that all that would happen is that Newcastle would eventually send me confirmation that I had paid my N.I stamps for that year. He would send out a replacement N I card that would start from the week following this weeks payment.
Sure enough I did get another card within days but it took about 5 weeks before Newcastle acknowledged that I had been credited with my last years N.I. stamps.
I did, however ask him that I wished to retire at 60. He told me what to do. He first said that officially you should have 49 years completed NI stamps, but as always with everyone there was a bit of a leeway. This was 10% so all I had to have credited was 49 years minus 4.9 years . As I left school at 15 this made it easy for me. He gave me the address of where I should write when I was getting near to my 60th Birthday. He said just ask for a forward projection to see if I would have sufficient credit. This I did and was told that at age 60 I would have sufficient number of years credit to qualify for a full State Pension. I retired soon after my 60th Birthday. More soon.
My window cleaner colleague used to go to the Post Office every Monday morning and get 2 self employed stamps. I had suggested this to him several years before because he had got a little behind with his weekly stamps.
As seklf employed people we paid a flat fee of around £4.00 each week. At the end of the financial year we were sent another card and also sent an envelope to return the full card to the local Employment Exchange. In our case this was Grimsby. Each week one was supposed to stick the stamp on the place provided and cancel it with the date written on the stamp. This I did every week.
Well I guess it would be late spring I received a buff envelope. Nobody liked that colour envelope as it generally was bad news. This was no different. It was an offical letter informing me that as I had not returned my N.I card for the year ending April I was summoned to appear at their Grimsby Office to explain why I had not sent my card in.
There was a telephone number so I decided to call their office. As expected I had a young female office girl who just told me I had to appear. In that moment, I was so angry I told her that in no circumstances would I appear in person as I had done nothing wrong and if they wished to see me they would have to send somone out to see me. With that I hung up.
A couple of days later I had another letter informing me that a Mr. I forget his name would be coming to interview me on a date and time that was written.
I told my colleague what had happened and he immediately went to the Post Office and asked if they would write a letter confirming that each Monday he went and bought 2 self employed stamps. As the person at the counter remembered him she asked the Owner who wrote and stamped the confirmation that 2 self employed stamps were purchased each Monday.
I had been informed in that letter to have all relevant documents at hand also have my latest National Insurancs e card too.
Came the day the gentleman arrived on time and looked very officious with his brief case. He introduced himself and showed me his I.D. He was very abrupt and got down to business straight away.
He first asked me to produce my current N.I card. This I did and showed him that it was up to date with my stamps. He was surprised but before he could say anything else I produced the letter from the Post Office. His attitude immediately changed. First of all he told me that he could see that my card had the stamps attached each week as they were individually attached. He was also very pleased with the note from the Post Office. He then informed me that this was what he had been waiting for. This he told me was proof that Newcastle were at fault, although they would never admit it. He then opened his brief Case and took out my details. He showed me them and told me that each year everything had been normal and payments were 100% correct. He told me he understood why I had not gone to their office and he would probably have done the same. He then told me that there were 10 people in the area who had according to Newcastle had not sent their cards in. One farmer in a local village was one where he had to go to next.
Well he asked me to give him all the relevant details and gave me a receipt for my N.I card. He then told me that all that would happen is that Newcastle would eventually send me confirmation that I had paid my N.I stamps for that year. He would send out a replacement N I card that would start from the week following this weeks payment.
Sure enough I did get another card within days but it took about 5 weeks before Newcastle acknowledged that I had been credited with my last years N.I. stamps.
I did, however ask him that I wished to retire at 60. He told me what to do. He first said that officially you should have 49 years completed NI stamps, but as always with everyone there was a bit of a leeway. This was 10% so all I had to have credited was 49 years minus 4.9 years . As I left school at 15 this made it easy for me. He gave me the address of where I should write when I was getting near to my 60th Birthday. He said just ask for a forward projection to see if I would have sufficient credit. This I did and was told that at age 60 I would have sufficient number of years credit to qualify for a full State Pension. I retired soon after my 60th Birthday. More soon.
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
T.V. Licence
The other day I had my reminder to pay my T.V. Licence for the coming year. As I am 75 this year I had to contact them. Not an easy project. Following their system it gave a telephone number. I rang the said number and after going through several options I finally got through to their department only to be informed that all their operatives were busy and that I should try again later. The phone then went dead.
I went online and eventually found a different number. Once again through all of the options but this time when I was finally put through to the relevant department I was put on hold. After a few minutes managed to find an assistant who finally got me sorted.
It did remind me of something that happened to my late Mother. My Father had died 15 months earlier and when the Licence was due, although it was in his name she paid the amount due. Several months later. I guess this was in November, all I know it was late Autumn or early Winter. Anyway there was a knock on my Mother's door. She asked who was there. The reply was that he was a man from the T.V. Licencing Department and told her that she was using a television without a current Licence. Immediately she told him she didn't believe him. He, of course confirmed her who it was and told her he would put his identity card through the letter box and there was a telephone number on it to confirm who it was. Well she eventually let him in and he asked to see her current T.V Licence. She went to get her file of bills informing him that under no circumstances would she let him take it off the file.
She came back into the room with the file and soon found the Licence with the Post Office Stamp and dated. The man was taken aback. He was full of apology and told her that in all his years of doing this job this was the first time anything had happened like this to him. My Mother then told him that the Licence was in her Husband's name but had died around a year ago so she would like the Licence in her name. His words were."Oh! please don't do that, we are in enough trouble already. Heads will roll for this you know?" He told her that if ever her name appeared again he would ignore it totally. He profusely apologised again and left.
By the way, several years ago they sent my reminder with my Christian name initial different to what it should be. I mentioned it to the assistant. He told me that this would be rectified and I then paid by debit card. He just told me that if I received another bill ignore it Tomorrow I will tell about the time when I was accused of not paying my N.I stamps for the self employed. More soon.
I went online and eventually found a different number. Once again through all of the options but this time when I was finally put through to the relevant department I was put on hold. After a few minutes managed to find an assistant who finally got me sorted.
It did remind me of something that happened to my late Mother. My Father had died 15 months earlier and when the Licence was due, although it was in his name she paid the amount due. Several months later. I guess this was in November, all I know it was late Autumn or early Winter. Anyway there was a knock on my Mother's door. She asked who was there. The reply was that he was a man from the T.V. Licencing Department and told her that she was using a television without a current Licence. Immediately she told him she didn't believe him. He, of course confirmed her who it was and told her he would put his identity card through the letter box and there was a telephone number on it to confirm who it was. Well she eventually let him in and he asked to see her current T.V Licence. She went to get her file of bills informing him that under no circumstances would she let him take it off the file.
She came back into the room with the file and soon found the Licence with the Post Office Stamp and dated. The man was taken aback. He was full of apology and told her that in all his years of doing this job this was the first time anything had happened like this to him. My Mother then told him that the Licence was in her Husband's name but had died around a year ago so she would like the Licence in her name. His words were."Oh! please don't do that, we are in enough trouble already. Heads will roll for this you know?" He told her that if ever her name appeared again he would ignore it totally. He profusely apologised again and left.
By the way, several years ago they sent my reminder with my Christian name initial different to what it should be. I mentioned it to the assistant. He told me that this would be rectified and I then paid by debit card. He just told me that if I received another bill ignore it Tomorrow I will tell about the time when I was accused of not paying my N.I stamps for the self employed. More soon.
Monday, 5 March 2012
Welcome rain?
I put a question mark regarding the welcome rain because it is a double edged sword for me.
As I am a producer of solar electricity rainy days are not productive for me but to be honest, we desperately needed the wet stuff.
It started Sunday morning around 8.30am. It was light for quite some time, in fact I rung my Sister up in Grantham, not to see if it was raining but to ask how her Daughter had got on having her 2nd, child. In the process she told me that it was raining heavily there. Here some areas of my back yard were not wet. Mind you a couple of hours later they certainly were. It seemed to get heavier with each passing hour and darker too.
Around 3.30pm I was in my kitchen and looked out, I was sure there was some flakes of snow in the rain and the wind was blowing quite strongly. Within a few minutes it was snowing hard and within an hour most of the ground was covered. It continued snowing but as it turned dark around 5.45pm the snowflakes got smaller. I looked out of my front and noticed that my driveway was getting covered. The neighbours car was white all over. However when I next looked out the snow had once again turned to rain.
This morning when I got up, it was cold with gale force northerly winds and occasional rain. It continued like that for almost all of today with the ground finally beginning to dry soon after 4.00pm. Mind you we didn't see the sun at all today. The good thing though is that we have had the most rain we have had in many weeks and all of my water butts are once again full. Yes I lost out with the lack of sun but I will not complain at all. On Wednesday I have to contact my FIT team with my first reading. I will not get much but I will be grateful for what I receive. I have, hopefully several months of longer sunny days ahead. More soon.
As I am a producer of solar electricity rainy days are not productive for me but to be honest, we desperately needed the wet stuff.
It started Sunday morning around 8.30am. It was light for quite some time, in fact I rung my Sister up in Grantham, not to see if it was raining but to ask how her Daughter had got on having her 2nd, child. In the process she told me that it was raining heavily there. Here some areas of my back yard were not wet. Mind you a couple of hours later they certainly were. It seemed to get heavier with each passing hour and darker too.
Around 3.30pm I was in my kitchen and looked out, I was sure there was some flakes of snow in the rain and the wind was blowing quite strongly. Within a few minutes it was snowing hard and within an hour most of the ground was covered. It continued snowing but as it turned dark around 5.45pm the snowflakes got smaller. I looked out of my front and noticed that my driveway was getting covered. The neighbours car was white all over. However when I next looked out the snow had once again turned to rain.
This morning when I got up, it was cold with gale force northerly winds and occasional rain. It continued like that for almost all of today with the ground finally beginning to dry soon after 4.00pm. Mind you we didn't see the sun at all today. The good thing though is that we have had the most rain we have had in many weeks and all of my water butts are once again full. Yes I lost out with the lack of sun but I will not complain at all. On Wednesday I have to contact my FIT team with my first reading. I will not get much but I will be grateful for what I receive. I have, hopefully several months of longer sunny days ahead. More soon.
Friday, 2 March 2012
Radio days
Yesterday I didn't go online at all because i was too tired so today I will tell about my early days of radio.
As I have mentioned before I was born in a house that had no electricity. Yes we had a radio or a wireless as it was known. It was battery operated and each week my eldest Sister had to walk into town and have our accumulator charged. We had 2 as did everyone else who had a battery operated radio. It cost 6d a week, nothing in todays world but enough when we were poor. The battery cost something like 12/11d just about 65p. The battery only lasted for about 3 months so we did not have the radio on much. It was not until 1947 that we moved house and had electricity. Then the radio was on a lot. Mind you as there were only 3 channels. Light Programme Home Service and the Third Programme. This was generally for the high intellect and those who liked classical music. The Light Programme was for the masses. Although there was only two programmes that had record music. Housewife's Choice each weekday from 9.00am until 10.00am. The other one was two way Family Favourites. This was on a Sunday afternoon for I think one hour. The only other music was studio music. That is it was broadcast live.
In the early 50s I bought a radiogramme so that I could play my LPs. As I was on the Railway and shiftwork. When I was on afternoos I would get home around 10.20pm. My parent's would soon after me arriving home would go to bed. This suited me because I would lay in darkness searching the medium wavebands to find some decent music.
One day I found AFN. (American Forces Network) It was brilliant. In the winter there was a programme called Night Train, well summer too but in the winter it was from 10.00pm until midnight and in the summer 11.00pm until 01.00am. There were 3 stations and it was stationed in Germany. Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich. These all came together for this evenings music. IT was always records and it affected me with music for the rest of my life. I must admit that the music on AFN was brilliant and the Artists that were being played were mostly unknown over here. The only other place where record music was played was Radio Luxembourg. The reception was however very poor and it was all Pop music, which didn't really fit what I wished to hear.
Modern youngsters would find it hard to believe what I have written but I can assure you that this was true. I think we have gone from one extreme to another.Far to many choices and so many that it is almost impossible to listen to them all. Oh well. More soon.
As I have mentioned before I was born in a house that had no electricity. Yes we had a radio or a wireless as it was known. It was battery operated and each week my eldest Sister had to walk into town and have our accumulator charged. We had 2 as did everyone else who had a battery operated radio. It cost 6d a week, nothing in todays world but enough when we were poor. The battery cost something like 12/11d just about 65p. The battery only lasted for about 3 months so we did not have the radio on much. It was not until 1947 that we moved house and had electricity. Then the radio was on a lot. Mind you as there were only 3 channels. Light Programme Home Service and the Third Programme. This was generally for the high intellect and those who liked classical music. The Light Programme was for the masses. Although there was only two programmes that had record music. Housewife's Choice each weekday from 9.00am until 10.00am. The other one was two way Family Favourites. This was on a Sunday afternoon for I think one hour. The only other music was studio music. That is it was broadcast live.
In the early 50s I bought a radiogramme so that I could play my LPs. As I was on the Railway and shiftwork. When I was on afternoos I would get home around 10.20pm. My parent's would soon after me arriving home would go to bed. This suited me because I would lay in darkness searching the medium wavebands to find some decent music.
One day I found AFN. (American Forces Network) It was brilliant. In the winter there was a programme called Night Train, well summer too but in the winter it was from 10.00pm until midnight and in the summer 11.00pm until 01.00am. There were 3 stations and it was stationed in Germany. Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich. These all came together for this evenings music. IT was always records and it affected me with music for the rest of my life. I must admit that the music on AFN was brilliant and the Artists that were being played were mostly unknown over here. The only other place where record music was played was Radio Luxembourg. The reception was however very poor and it was all Pop music, which didn't really fit what I wished to hear.
Modern youngsters would find it hard to believe what I have written but I can assure you that this was true. I think we have gone from one extreme to another.Far to many choices and so many that it is almost impossible to listen to them all. Oh well. More soon.
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