Breaking Through, Travelling On

Goldiegirl

I'm a bit sluggish myself this morning.

I'm finding lots of displacement activities before I start anything vaguely productive.

I know, I'll do something, and then reward myself with a cup of coffee.

*bracing myself to log off MSE*

Karmacat

:rotfl: its like that sometimes, isn't it - oh no, I have to shut down the computer and actually *do* something!

My paid work on Wednesdays takes a lot of energy to do properly, so I really don't do much else. My walk was literally to the local shop and back, it was freezing and getting dark, but at least I made it out there eventually

And you started me thinking again, Goldie - well, you and Tilly. About retirement, and about counting down: I can count down in weeks now, to when I retire! And my 2015 diary has a 2016 planner in, of course, so I've worked backwards from August Bank Holiday 2016, to this week: this is week 95, with my last working week being week 1 :j

I was going to do it at exactly the same time as my sister, who's a teacher, but August is almost like a holiday for *any* counsellor, and it feels good to define it in my own terms. September is booked anyway - me and sis are going for a caravan in Cornwall for a week :j

So, tonight, Bonfire Night, full moon, fireworks to admire, all of that. Its not really at all relevant to me, but I do like bonfires and lights at night. Enjoy it all :beer:

Karmacat

But first I went through Martin's newsletter today:
- entered a comp for a ski holiday - winning that would be *very* interesting!
- joined the free postcode lottery - why not? Peeps at mse towers have joined it, and as it doesn't cost anything, might as well. Wish I could join on behalf of family who won't bother to check, but its a no-no, apparently.
- will get the Asda Christmas card tomorrow, to get 4% savings added. Again, might as well - its valid for 2 years, and even tho its instore only, I can use it in a lot less than that!
- bookmarked another offer to use for Friday *if* it suits me - buy 4 items online from Body Shop, get two free, plus £3 delivery. Could be good ...

Goldiegirl

It's good to be able to count in weeks, rather than years.

I also think it's a good idea to stop work at the time of a natural break.

That's why we settled on 18th December. We were due to have the day off work on 19th December, and go away for a weeks holiday on 20th. It won't be until the new year when we'll truly realise we don't have to go back to work:rotfl:

Never thought of the postcode lottery before. We do a Thunderball line each Wednesday and Saturday. We've been quite lucky on Thunderball over the years, so I'm convinced one day I'm going to win the £500k!

I've just checked the postcode lottery, at least I haven't missed a win. I think I'd better enter, you've got to be in it to win it.

I love getting ideas on MSE

Karmacat

Goldiegirl wrote: »

It's good to be able to count in weeks, rather than years.

I've only just got into double figures with that, but its a great feeling :j

I also think it's a good idea to stop work at the time of a natural break.

It feels much healthier, actually - making it dependent on what my sister's doing always felt kind of woolly, wasn't quite right for me. This is great :beer:

That's why we settled on 18th December. We were due to have the day off work on 19th December, and go away for a weeks holiday on 20th. It won't be until the new year when we'll truly realise we don't have to go back to work:rotfl:

Thats brilliant! And its good to get away on the 20th, the crush as it gets nearer to Christmas is horrendous. Last year, I travelled very early on the 23rd, and by the time I finished my journey (6 hours door to door) there'd been a points breakdown or something, and people were stuck for 12 hours. So yours is going to be a *great* experience :j:j:j

Never thought of the postcode lottery before. We do a Thunderball line each Wednesday and Saturday. We've been quite lucky on Thunderball over the years, so I'm convinced one day I'm going to win the £500k!

I've just checked the postcode lottery, at least I haven't missed a win. I think I'd better enter, you've got to be in it to win it.

I love getting ideas on MSE

Me too I never realised the thing was free, and all it means is checking it - I'm on here anyway, so might as well :j I might start using the comping board, actually. Goldie that reminds me - when you go to Waitrose, pick up the free newspaper - there's a £100 prize for the online submission of a crossword solution. Might as well, hey? Though it does start to add up, I must say.

List is to come :money:

Karmacat

Here we go, updated from Monday. I've started on the first and the third, I'll do the revision in the kitchen in the warm this afternoon. I also need to pop into town to do some errands (including banking! V important!) and work out some details for a few pieces of work in the New Year.

Karmacat wrote: »

- set up the writing blog, and do the first post, which will be on phone communications.

- revise book, as per nearly all of my mate's suggestions.

- sort out paperwork thats sitting all over the house - designs, draft posts, background notes - for the cat website, and get my act together. Because its really not.

Very excited - its the middle of week 95 - end of Week 1, I retire :j

Karmacat

Hmmm, just been researching the Asda deal in Martin's newsletter this week: £6 extra if you buy the max, of £144. But online delivery costs £2.95, and I don't pass near an Asda to go get one on foot. Methinks I shan't be bothering with it after all. Shame, but I'm not tying up £144 and remembering to use it when I *do* go past an Asda for a net of £3, life's too short.

Karmacat

Yawn ... I went into my local town centre - found the restaurant name of the one I need to book for my birthday celebration, went to Santander to input the right pin on my shiny new debit card, did the banking, checked out Robert Dyas regular sale items (nothing today), and went to Iceland - everything was slightly reduced including a chocolate orange (for Xmas) for only £1, though its a lot less heavy than I remember

*Completely* forgot to go to Oxfam and take the M&S gubbins so I could get a £5 voucher ... quite peeved at first, but then I realised how knackered I was still, after a while, I did a bit of pruning in the garden - dear heavens, this garden is overgrown! Still, as long as I keep at it, it'll be fine. Eventually

Was really, really tired, though, so even though I had a play on Amazon with my swaggie vouchers (Kitchen Garden book, and Season 2 of Falling Skies :j) I did nothing whatsoever and especially not the editing I was planning

Today ...
- checking out Martin's energy club deal - I don't pay very much for my energy, so I still might pass on this one.
- check out the Body Shop deal, 4 for 2, something like that.
- editing!!!
- if I can find half an hour during the day when its not raining *and* I feel like doing it :rotfl: work in the garden.

Thats all, she wrote

Karmacat

Just used the Body Shop code, ha! Two white musk perfume oils (thats actually going to see me through to retirement, I think :rotfl: ) and two pressies - a chamomile cleansing thing, and a trio of mini body butters. Total shop price, £50, total price I paid, including delivery, £29. I tried for free delivery qualification with a cheaper product, but it went for the 4 for 2 offer then, so it cost me oodles :rotfl: I'm chuffed at that tho. £21 to add to my voucher swag in my sig :j

ETA at 11am Went through the energy saving deal, and joined the energy club at long last, then went for their cheapest rate, the one year fix with Eon. It so happens that Eon already supply me :rotfl: but I confess I'm still on the deal I inherited when I moved in ... 4 years and counting, and I've never switched :o:o still, I've done it now, and I've done it the right way too: I'll get the £30 cashback everyone else gets, existing Eon customers are specifically mentioned in the FAQs, plus my Tatco Clubcard is now joined up to the account.

I won't be putting the £30 to the savings amounts till I get it in my hot little hand, however - just in case

Right, there's bits of sunshine around, a walk around the block is called for :beer:

Goldiegirl

Karmacat wrote: »

Goldie that reminds me - when you go to Waitrose, pick up the free newspaper - there's a £100 prize for the online submission of a crossword solution. Might as well, hey? Though it does start to add up, I must say.

That's a good idea - I'll need things like crosswords to keep the old grey matter exercised.


I may be turning into my parents:eek: They did a crossword a day for about the first 20 years of their retirement!


A few years ago I went through a big Sudoku phase - I may have to start that up again too..... not to mention word searches.


There are so many ways to pass the time - I don't think I'll ever be bored