End of Pensioner "Perks"

[Cugel]

I can imagine the pub conversation, down to the last hackneyed cliche!

Cugel

You don't mean the three wise men sat round imperial pints of garlic and porridge ale discussing how to overcome the Franco German expansion?

That's them!

Perhaps the antidote is a long holiday in Bavaria, where they will see both the best and the worst of corresponding attitudes to their own through the Cherman lens. This may at last give them some perspective - perhaps even the ability to shift from their long-held and hoary old thoughts to some with less lichen and moss growing on them?

There is a mode in which a human installs the basic notion that "having my principals" is all about having the same seven beliefs about something from birth to death, never mind what experience suggests may be otherwise. This mental intransigence is regarded as some kind of virue. Of course, it is a terrible, pernicious and highly damaging vice, put there by the divvil, dressed up in a paper-virtue frock.

Cugel

[Vorpal]

Curbing pensioner benefits could help the young, says report

Not building nuclear submarines could help the young, too. And not make it harder for pensioners to get around.

Our forthcoming move is only our 5th in our lifetime and I have never found any house to be a hindrance.

Good luck with it! I hope that you & the other half are happy with it.

[Oldjohnw]

Best wishes, Al, and I hope you and your good lady enjoy many happy years in your new location on this further chapter in life's adventure.

[al_yrpal]

Thanks MM, Mick, Oldjohnw and Vorpal for your kind words. It will be quite traumatic for my wife not least the challenge of adapting stairs bathrooms and toilets. Deciding to move has been a dilemma. She has Osteoporosis, some fractured vertebrae and something wierd going on up top which we are not sure about. But, we are all determined to make her life as full as possible. We can no longer go off to many places but we are right in a town centre and its flat so short gentle slow walks or wheelchair expeditions are on the cards. We are sharing the kitchen and dining room and both have our own sitting room. Theres a nice garden too which my wife loves. With our daughter happy to look after her Mum I will be able to get out on the bike for more than an hour at a time and shift some of the blubber thats accumulated over the last 12 months. Looking forward to that pint with Mick. We love Devon and Cornwall.

Al

[al_yrpal]

Perhaps the antidote is a long holiday in Bavaria, where they will see both the best and the worst of corresponding attitudes to their own through the Cherman lens. This may at last give them some perspective - perhaps even the ability to shift from their long-held and hoary old thoughts to some with less lichen and moss growing on them?
.
Cugel

Well, I have worked in Bavaria and my best German friends are in Bavaria, I talk to them regularly and have holidayed there with them on many occasions. My daughter did a school exchange with a school at Holfeldt and via that we stayed on her exchange students farm in Wonsees for a week and got pissed with them ever night. My friend Brian was i/c the engines on the Typhoon and another was Chief Electrical Engineer on the Tornado, we stayed with both of them in Munich many times. Apart from that our main competitors all over the world were German Companies in two businesses I worked for for a total of 12 years.
So dont try to tell me anything about Bavaria or Germany. I know all about the Ossies and Prussies too,...

Make no mistake the Germans are the biggest funders of the EU and believe they are in charge, France holds the position of Barney Rubble "yes Fred!".

Al

[Cugel]

Perhaps the antidote is a long holiday in Bavaria, where they will see both the best and the worst of corresponding attitudes to their own through the Cherman lens. This may at last give them some perspective - perhaps even the ability to shift from their long-held and hoary old thoughts to some with less lichen and moss growing on them?
.
Cugel

Well, I have worked in Bavaria and my best German friends are in Bavaria, I talk to them regularly and have holidayed there with them on many occasions. My daughter did a school exchange with a school at Holfeldt and via that we stayed on her exchange students farm in Wonsees for a week and got pissed with them ever night. My friend Brian was i/c the engines on the Typhoon and another was Chief Electrical Engineer on the Tornado, we stayed with both of them in Munich many times. Apart from that our main competitors all over the world were German Companies in two businesses I worked for for a total of 12 years.
So dont try to tell me anything about Bavaria or Germany. I know all about the Ossies and Prussies too,...

Make no mistake the Germans are the biggest funders of the EU and believe they are in charge, France holds the position of Barney Rubble "yes Fred!".

Al

I haf a great great grandad that was Cherman. Can I claim citizenship there? I have a fancy to be a member of the new master race you seem to feel is imminent. On the other hand, I am probably far too diluted now with melting pot stuff.

Now, after your stints in Chermanland, did you find a-one of your hoary old ideas rather too brittle and so swap it for another? For example, did Oktoberfest move you from a taste for flat warm beer (known to all as "wet dog") to the delights of a fine lager?

I myself have a preference for the engineered products of that fine nation, for use in my woodworking. They seem to work properly, unlike many a British item I have felt disappointment in. I will be annoyed if I find myself in need of a spindle moulder that costs far more post-Breixit than when we were all good friends! I will blame you, amongst others.

Cugel

[al_yrpal]

For example, did Oktoberfest move you from a taste for flat warm beer (known to all as "wet dog") to the delights of a fine lager?

Yes, I have been to Octoberfest and the Christmas Market in Munich and Dachau where my friends company used to be. Fasching too. Their beer is ok, Kulmbacher Pils is the stuff I liked but you cannot beat a pint of English Gold Old Boy! I like Bavarians but not too keen on the Prussies. Most Continental beers are called Lager but they are not lagered.

Al

[Mick F]

Looking forward to that pint (or two or three) with Mick.

I hope you're buying them!

[Cyril Haearn]

The solution to dwelling problem already exists: almshouses, little groups of bungalows in terraces

[francovendee]

Well, in two weeks, at 76, I shall be flying in the face of all this. Moving from our home of 40 years to buy and share a new (very old) big house with our daughter and her husband more than 100 miles away. We dont want to move and leave this lovely place and all our local friends but my wifes illnesses make it the only sensible thing to do. Since early March I have been rationalising our possessions, taking some things to Sue Ryder, others to the dump, a massive task on my own without my wifes assistance but doable if tackled bit by bit day by day. I see the move as a challenge and an interesting new opportunity. Our close friends here will remain old friends there and I am sure there will be lots of new friends too. My big regret will be to leave the quiet lanes, downs, bridleways, beechwoods and footpaths of South Oxfordshire. It has been cyclists heaven here and I dont believe Mid Devon will be as nice but then theres nearby seaside places to enjoy. My son in laws parents are buying an attached cottage so we will be a little community to look after each other and enjoy each others company. My daughter will get a free TV licence and we will share their Netflix and broadband!
I guess the daunting prospect of the move is still to come and my daughter has a work schedule for me lasting to about 2030! Guess it will help keep me fit active and young at heart.

Al

Sorry to hear of your forced move and the reason for it. It's tough when you leave an area you like, even when you've a lot too gain in the new place. It was similar for me 15 years ago when moving over here. I'd lived in Romsey for many years and was happy there. I now feel the same about my life here.
I suspect you'll have to fit some lower gears, I'm guessing mid Devon may be a bit steeper.
Good luck with your move and hope it works well for all the extended family.

[al_yrpal]

Thanks for your kind thoughts Franco, I'm usually riding my tourer so the gearing wont be a problem but fitness might at first. I have spent some time in the Vendee, two types of frogs! No really, love our gaulic pals, their food and their beautiful country. Hoping I can get Val over to Bretagne to a friends nice bolthole later in the summer.

Al

[belgiangoth]

Curbing pensioner benefits could help the young, says report

Not building nuclear submarines could help the young, too. And not make it harder for pensioners to get around.

Amen to that.
Not of pensionable age, but I object strongly to removing free senior bus passes; it increases isolation, forces more elderly drivers on the road in cars and has a pretty direct increase on nhs costs. Means test the fuel allowance and free tv licence by all means, but if you do this reinvest that money into senior coffee mornings, which are a means to reduce healthcare costs (also the morally right thing to do, but then that’s not an important argument these days)

[merseymouth]

Plus 1 Belgiangoth! Loneliness is as big a killer as cancer, so social interaction can be a life saver.
In Australia the "Man Shed" movement is saving many folk from abject misery.
Remember one thing, more of the elderly actually cook rather than just re-heat. No Golden Arches for me & SWMBO. IGICB MM

[djnotts]

Curbing pensioner benefits could help the young, says report

Not building nuclear submarines could help the young, too. And not make it harder for pensioners to get around.

Amen to that.
Not of pensionable age, but I object strongly to removing free senior bus passes; it increases isolation, forces more elderly drivers on the road in cars and has a pretty direct increase on nhs costs. Means test the fuel allowance and free tv licence by all means, but if you do this reinvest that money into senior coffee mornings, which are a means to reduce healthcare costs (also the morally right thing to do, but then that’s not an important argument these days)

All precisely so.

[Oldjohnw]

Curbing pensioner benefits could help the young, says report

Not building nuclear submarines could help the young, too. And not make it harder for pensioners to get around.

Amen to that.
Not of pensionable age, but I object strongly to removing free senior bus passes; it increases isolation, forces more elderly drivers on the road in cars and has a pretty direct increase on nhs costs. Means test the fuel allowance and free tv licence by all means, but if you do this reinvest that money into senior coffee mornings, which are a means to reduce healthcare costs (also the morally right thing to do, but then that’s not an important argument these days)

Well said indeed! Although I I'll pass on a coffee morning of seniors!

From a senior.