2020++ - smiling and waving and looking so fine

mark55man

so nice weather this weekend.  Managed a couple of long walks so 50000 steps for the week, a bit below target (now its march I'm aiming at 9000 a day, but this coming weekend is reckoned to be even nicer, so will try and catch that up.  I have a bit of a buffer from my Feb total so not sweating it.

been pretty cheap weekend - small top up shop and a few things for Monday - round to a friends for a Sunday tea and cake soon, then chill for another busy week

ohdearhowdidthathappen

That's a really good step count and sounds like a lovely chilled weekend 

mark55man

so eating frogs today - got DS' PIP renewal form completed and posted.  That had taken a lot of blood sweat and tears (well nearly).  So hopefully that will get renewed as his situation is the same - but who knows.  So more of a giant toad than a frog 

in unrelated frog news I finally decided to pull the trigger on buying 3 years of NI credits for OH from when she had a self employed gig (but not enough income to have to pay).  In April the first of these would have started being "too late to pay/buy".  so for £400 paid now or so she will get £15pw from her State Pension Age (still a decade off) and although the money is lost if she doesn't make it, it's a punt I'm happy to take, especially as it leaves her only one NI year short of full state pension.  Coincidentally I made my final year of contributions this year so that's a nice safety net for us both to help panning, and inflation protection should we live super long.  unless there are any more government tricks to reduce or cap the link with inflation

savingholmes

Well done on the NI credits. Sounds a good punt to me. 

Exceedingly well done on getting the PIP form off - I now know from personal experience how hard and draining that can be. Both my kids are also considering applying so I can see it returning in my future too...

Sounds a good call on getting the builder in to help more - I'm with the others - done is better than thinking about it - and while he's on a roll... Did chuckle at the new way of finding trades but it made a lot of sense...

mark55man

lovely sunny morning so going for a walk to get my steps up and then do some shopping and have a trip to our nearby bigger town for some multicultural festival - which sounds like a perfect way to enjoy even more steps 

another busy week at work, its just relentless at this time of the year - more travel than usual - its all covered by work, but it used to be that there was something left over from the cost of the petrol to cover wear and tear but now its barely covering the fuel  (I don't have a gas guzzler and I am driving typically economically, but also I don't get 45p  mile).  I know I am lucky not to have along commute which I have to fund as that would be a killer at the moment

mark55man

another lovely sunny morning. I was wide awake at 7:00 and had been for a while already, so I got up and went for an even longer walk than yesterday so am now at 19000 steps for the day.  quite a spendy day, as we have been buying kitchen and garden stuff for our ongoing project.  New worksurfaces, and refreshed (ie painted) cupboard doors, plus an additional area round the back for bikes and bins and maybe if the quote comes in cheap enough a small trellis or fence to obscure the mess from the new garden sitting area

EssexHebridean

Hmmm...you got me thinking about the increasing cost of fuel & commuting costs - I've now realised that at current diesel prices ours is over £5 a day now. It used to be that fairly often, pre-covid, we would take both cars into London for whatever reason - that happened maybe once a week. I'd be thinking twice about it and definitely viewing it as an occasional thing now though. 

doingitanyway

That is an excellent return for additional NI contributions.
Great step count. Do you go the trainers or walking shoes route?

mark55man

yes EH we have to think at the weekends to minimise trips

DIA - I just have a pair of NIKE running shoes that I got for £30 at an outlet store - the conversation with the salesman went something like -
me: "I want to jog on the treadmill and do some walking, but probably not more than 5km at a time"
him: "are you ever going to get more serious"
me:  "NO!"
him: "Take these - they'll do great"
me (2 years on): "Running shoes - LoL who believed that for a minute"

doingitanyway

Considering your step count you can treat yourself to a new pair now...