A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

mardatha

Very true Eliza - can you imagine a 65 yr old brickie trying to climb a ladder with a hod full of bricks? Noway- it's just stupid. Of course stupid people are in charge though so what would you expect!
At least we've all got this forum - sharing and learning and laughing and just generally yakking
Yesterday was the coldest I've been in a long time - Windy Wilson the weather man on FB said temp up here was "feels like" -7 last night. We went to shops mid afternoon and the car said it was 3C then. It's like living in bluddy Siberia and I WANT SOME SUN
Want to hit the planting, not even got my seed tatties yet or any onions.

westcoastscot

Morning,
We have the sun but its flipping freezing - alternating sun and hail showers. Have ordered my seed potatoes and onions for delivery end May - no point in doing anything earlier, although its really tempting in the sunny spells.
WCS

katieowl_2

GreyQueen wrote: »

Evening all.

katieowl, your poor Mum sounds in a very invidious position...

What you've described (refuse one and go to the bottom of the pile) sounds like the old points-based system which we abandoned years ago. It was that way back when when I was offered my home. We were one of the last LAs to go over to a "bidding" system.

Has you Mum checked that the situation in her area is still as it was when she last enquired? Also, she is of the age to be eligible for sheltered housing and I know I'd prefer a nice little bungalow with a bit of garden to being on the 6th floor of a tower. Wouldn't fancy that now. I'm aslo a claustrophobe who cannot stand lifts, but I'd be struggling with that amount of stairs and I'm a generation younger than she is.

People can also mutually-exchange council and housing association properties.............

You may well have hit the nail RIGHT ON the head there GQ. She may well be quoting a long defunct policy! I shall make subtle enquiries...mind you DD and I have a masterplan to kidnap her and make her come to Wales...we keep sending her property details for local stuff that comes up (to rent) as I know they are cheaper than what she's paying ATM, If she lived 'in town' she'd have no probs accessing anything, and lovelyness would be a short hop skip and jump out of the door, or a short bus ride. My kids are all here too, and we are the 'entire' family. Mum is a keen wildlife photographer...she's only working a couple of half days a week as a classroom assistant in a school (yes she's in her mid seventies!!!) and I'm certain we could find her something similar here if she wanted.

Kate

GreyQueen

He he, katieowl, treasuring the image of you and DD abducting your Mum and taking her to the beauties of Wales. You wouldn't like to abduct me whilst you're at it? Only joking; I need to be on the drier, less-pretty side of the UK for family reasons. Plus I'm allergic to being rained upon........

A few minutes' worth of poking around on the website of her LA should be able to get an answer as to how they manage their waiting lists/ transfers, but if you need to talk to them, just don't ring on a Monday unless you like long waits.......trust me on this one, never ever call an LA on a Monday unless it's utterly unavoidable.

I'm feeling very chilled as have next week off (annual leave) and so can pootle around and get a few things done and catch up on my rest. Am hoping for dry weather so that I can do a little gardening each day. Even if I have the whole day to play with, I can only do 2-3 hours physical labour, max - with frequent rests - before I get the shakes and start to stumble around. It's a pain because I'd really prefer an outdoorsy job to working in an office but I'm just not well enough to handle one.

Re working on past the current retirement ages, I think this is pure madness. Will a 65 y.o care assistant be expected to lift a 70 y.o? Or a labourer compete with men young enough to be his grandsons? I used to work on a production line where the work was so fast and so heavy that the women couldn't hack it much past 40. Just couldn't keep up with the line and if you can't keep up, there are no "light duties" to be switched to, and it'll be here's your cards, love. :mad:

One thing that I have seen with everyone I've known, is that in the years leading up to retirement, even leading up to 60, people are getting very very weary. And the miracle of seeing these same people a few months into their retirement, when they are properly-rested and suddenly look and feel years younger........My parents are pensioners and Dad finished his work on the day of his 65th birthday, which fell midweek. He'd started work a couple of weeks after he'd turned 15 and figured he'd done enough, and I agree with him.

SuperGran took early retirement from the NHS, she had to fight tooth-and-nail to get it, and was very poor and lived off her savings until the state pension kicked in, but she doesn't regret it for a minute. Also, and I think this is something the Powers-that-Be haven't fully comprehended, retiring whilst you are young enough to have an active life, allows you to contribute to society in other ways. SG is very active in any number of service organisations and in her church, so much so that you almost need to make an appointment to see the woman.

If they work us until we nearly drop, who the heck is going to be doing all this voluntary stuff? I used to be a volunteer in an organisation which experienced a crisis every time school was out (half terms, Xmas, Easter, summer hols). Why? Because it's volunteers were mostly retired people in their sixties who had to step up to the plate and look after their school-age grandchildren whenever school was out, as both parents were in full-time employment. Tell ya, it was a nightmare to try to arrange cover and there seems to be far more than 3 half-terms in a school year................ Grrrr!!!!!!!!

OK, suppose I ought to go and do something other than play on the interweb...............:rotfl:

Hardup_Hester

My hubby got out of the building trade during the last downturn & I'm so glad he did, he used to really push himself to keep up with the 20 year olds & it nearly killed him. He is still the oldest in his team, but way more active than the younger ones because of his previous work whereas they all had office jobs before becoming caretakers & they find it exhausting.
In theory I can retire next year, but I hope to work on as we have a mortgage to pay & hubby's wages alone won't cover the outgoings.
Hester

VJsmum

My OH is hoping to retire in a couple of years - at 55. We have been steadily putting plans in place over the last few years to enable this and with 2 kids still in school - DS will only be 15 / 16 and DD 18 and either in or getting ready for Uni - there will have to be some sacrifices. I think it will be worth it though as I can tell that OH is tiring - even at 53 - as there is immense pressure to work stupid, long hours. And his is a desk based job - goodness knows how manual workers fare.

In other news - the great cleaning mission continues. I have mopped the floors, cleaned the dishwasher (eurghh) and cleared out the "plastic containers cupboard" so there won't be an avalanche every time it is opened In a mo I am cleaning a lounge and the conservatory which is drowning under packets of seeds and gardening equipment. Hoping to spend an hour or two on the veg patch later.

Hobsons_Choice

AND...how the heck are the youngsters supposed to get a job with all these folk working beyond their pension years?

GreyQueen

Hobsons_Choice wrote: »

AND...how the heck are the youngsters supposed to get a job with all these folk working beyond their pension years?

They'll have to find an oldster in the job they want and murder 'em.

Joking aside, I have to work 20+ more years and based on how I feel now, I'm dreading it. I can easily see a situation arising that the pension age might be abolished and that we'd all have to work until we were medically-certified as unfit. I'd encourage anyone who can to get out whilst the getting's good.

On a happier note, I have decided that as the folks are due tomorrow to help me on the lottie, I will skive-off gardening today and do some much-needed sorting out at the flat and in my "bike shed" ;the little hell-hole in the block which harbours my pushbike and a miscellany of paint tins and gawdknowswhat. Mebbe there's some stuff in there which needs to be rehomed via Freecycle.

I tend to move at a certain frequency of years, due to random factors largely beyond my control, and that frequency is approaching fast, so I superstitiously want to be dejunked and ready to roll................

VJsMum I have a plastic containers cupboard, too, filled with base-jumping, daredevil tubs which leap out and throw themselves onto my head at the slightest opportunity. You wouldn't like to pop over and give mine a sort whilst you're at it? I have cakes..............

ETA By gum it's chucking down HAIL from a sunny sky and it's absolutely perishing...............So glad I'm not on the lottie............

Dorastar

My children are currently tidying the lounge while I'm on here - they were both born on Saturdays so in the words of the poem "Saturday's child works hard for a living" they are getting used to it nice and early :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:(especially if they have to stay here till they're 25!)

silvasava

Hi All. Sunny down here but a flippin freezing cold wind & my mini cucumbers in the greenhouse have died on me It must have been too cold, thought I was a bit optimistic - still DH bought me some more today & they're bigger & stronger so here goes again.

katieowl - perfectly understand where your mum is coming from DMIL gave up a 4 bedroomed house for a 1 bed flat in a lovely position in a 3 floor block. She absolutely loved it & wondered why she hadn't taken the plunge earlier but I must admit I don't know what the council's policy was at the time. Good Luck!

Thought it was my 'pooter but I've noticed there's another thread with people having problems with the pages taking ages to load since the update.........?

Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday before the battle starts again