Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

OK, chief sparkie has been and gone and I shall have what's called an electrical upgrade, rather than a full-rewire. New fuse box, new light pendants, all single sockets made double, several more doubles - I shall have 4 sockets beside the pooter instead of just one, joyous thought. And a wired-in smoke detector. Shoebox Towers joins the 21st century, lol.

Gonna happen sometime in next 2-3 months, I've given them my availability so they'll book me in for one of those days. Will be leccy-less for about 5 hours, which will mean peace and quiet for you lucky peeps.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

jk0

GreyQueen wrote: »

OK, chief sparkie has been and gone and I shall have what's called an electrical upgrade, rather than a full-rewire. New fuse box, new light pendants, all single sockets made double, several more doubles - I shall have 4 sockets beside the pooter instead of just one, joyous thought. And a wired-in smoke detector. Shoebox Towers joins the 21st century, lol.

Gonna happen sometime in next 2-3 months, I've given them my availability so they'll book me in for one of those days. Will be leccy-less for about 5 hours, which will mean peace and quiet for you lucky peeps.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I'm pleased to hear it won't be too disruptive for you GQ.

Regarding your computer, I have plenty of sockets but choose to have all my computer items plugged into a power strip which plugs into a single socket. This makes it easy to switch the lot on & off, so really the extra sockets are wasted in my case.

Edit: (Ditto for TV items and hifi items.)

GreyQueen

The moment I have a powerstrip on the floor beside the pooter running off a socket 6 ft away on the other side of the room. This is so the router can be plugged into the solitary wall socket by the pooter which is where the landline comes into the flat. Powerstrip holds the tower, the monitor, the speaker set and the printer plugs. Right PITA. Be very glad to see the back of it.

Chief sparkie says even if a full rewire had been found to be necessary, they don't need to chase in or mini-trunk as the wiring is fitted through the walls in conduits so it gets fed through those. Some advantages to living in a 1970s concrete box, I guess. I have asked if I can have a socket moved, so they'll be running a 3 ft length of mini-trunking from behind my wall unit to a more accessible place and putting a double socket on that.

Totally made up at the prospect, feeling a bit :j Now must use the time wisely and get a charity shop donation bag outta here. And try not to bring anything back with me.

jk0

That's interesting about the conduit GQ.

I don't know how long you intend to stay in that flat, however, one thing I did when I moved in here was put the new sockets higher up the wall. They are about 3' off the floor, behind items so they don't look ugly.

Okay, I'm only fifty, the same as you, but none of us are getting any younger.

[Deleted User]

In Ikea today they have reduced the price of the SOLVINDEN SOLAR LANTERN from £13 down to £9.99 and they also have strings of 12 SOLAR PEAR SHAPED LIGHTS ON A STRING reduced to £1.99 if you're after a solar alternative to battery torches/lights it's a good time to buy.

mardatha

Scottish weather forums muttering about a bad winter to come. Anybody on here in Scotland will know that we've had a very poor cold year so far. Maybe best prep for a winter like 2010.

DawnW

Fuddle, I am a lot older than you, and trust me, things won't necessarily be the same by the time you retire. Once the children have grown, you will be able to put more away in your pension or wherever. We were permanently skint when our children were young, as they always needed something for school, or had grown out of something, lol. And you won't need so much space either when they leave home, so you can rent or buy a smaller, cheaper property. Try not to worry too much - enjoy being young and your lovely family.

We are more comfortable now, even though our income is small, as there is only us to provide for, and we already have everything we need. Not seven holidays a year or whatever though (or even one, most years :rotfl: ), and like GQ, I am not interested in shopping.

I am 61 and OH 62, and share Thriftwizard's thoughts on the universal availability of state pensions for all in the not too distant future, particularly for those of us who already have occupational pensions. I can see the pensioner 'extras' such as heating grants and bus passes being eroded away over the next few years as well. I actually don't have a problem with these things being means tested though, so long as those who don't have other options are adequately provided for - though given who are in power, this is unfortunately not a certainty

GreyQueen wrote: »

Have now ordered new glasses and am grounded awaiting the chief sparkie. I shall remove from easy view a few things like firelighting equipment but leave the knitting out. Cos middle-aged wimmin who knit are harmless, hey?

Never trust a woman with long thin bits of pointy metal. They could be me.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[Deleted User]

FUDDLE what you WILL still have when you retire my lovey is all the skills and knowledge you've learned during your life up till then. You already know so much more than most people your age, you've made it a quest to learn and made life so much better for you and your little family haven't you? You aren't living on ready meals and takeaways and spending all your money going out to expensive places or shopping. You do very well and I suspect because you have lots of common sense and are a savvy lass will fare much better than most of your peers as you grow older. The fact that you haven't yet managed to buy a property or put lots into a pension pot is outweighed by your whole outlook on life and your ability to make the very best use of what you DO have available. You'll never sink lass, you're a survivor!!!

mardatha

I'm going to start building up the stash in the next few weeks.

GreyQueen

What kind of stash, Mar? Food, coal, sweeties? All of them?