2020++ - smiling and waving and looking so fine

f0xh0les

mark55man said:

Am going to take some unpaid holiday for a bit April and May so I can recharge and have a trial run at sitting around all day while the weather is improving and test what I will need to do and how I will feel without a pay cheque and only savings.

Someone play the Countdown music!   Not long now.

mark55man

Yes lots to chew over there alt80 and FH.  As it happens the first day of my break is now tomorrow (Friday), but I may be needed for a day either side of Easter just because and I'm cool with that.  I often juggled paid leave but unpaid leave is a no no.

mark55man

So BIG NEWS - today was my last full working day before my unpaid leave (apart from a day around Easter for HR things). 

BIGGER NEWS - Having had a chat with my OH she has decided that her Pension Lump sum (which had been otherwise allocated) would be better used extending the duration of my unpaid leave especially as she is busy until July, and we can then enjoy a full summer off together.  Then I will use my pot for her when we have stopped delaying.  (I can't use all my Pension Pot now as it would trigger a restriction in what I can pay in when I go back to work).

This weekend I will break my duck at the Gym for my first trip in about six months - so thats £200 stupid tax - but ho hum!!.

Health and Weight targets
-----------------------------------
Weight : I am 252 having started the year at 257.  So generally flat but OK.
Health: Blood Pressure - a but high but OK
Gym: Will try and do 2x30 minutes walking/running and 2x10 minutes rowing  
Flexibility: Touch my toes

Decluttering Targets
---------------------------
Trips to tip  (which will be greater than ...)
Rooms decluttered (which will be slow going)

savingholmes

What a fab milestone.

How lovely of your OH re her pension pot. Sounds like a great use of the money and an opportunity to spend time together.

Good luck with the gym.

mark55man

Thank you SH - I hope your recovery journey is going well - you have had a nightmare, but feels like things are heading in the right direction 

savingholmes

Thanks Mark. It feels very slow from here but I've halved the strongest pain meds over the last week so that's progress. I've lost almost 17lb in 21 days which is the both a silver lining and a sign of how ill I've been - and to a degree still am.

What have you got planned for your initial time off?

mark55man

Wow SH that weight loss is a big silver lining but don't be depressed if some comes back as you get better.  you will still be net down though I am sure.

Basically]- March/April - Helping OH and youngest juggle their rooms + District Election support to my friends. Then May seeing my bro in a different timezone with OH youngest&+1.  Then June July gardening and decorating and chilling - maybe some seaside time.  August / early September will be chilling (and some gentle decluttering) at home while everyone else has holidays.  Then TBD depends on Rishi but assuming September October will be campaigning and back to work (if I still feel like it) mid November.  Will probably have a europe break or two in there - possibly a longer one after the GE

mark55man

Yesterday was working Day 1 of my break from work - 3 hours at GPs with OH whose appointment turned into a nightmare of waiting and then waiting for further tests (long Covid symptoms - so not serious but not nice either).  Glad I could be there for her, but not glad to be there really - bit of a shot across the bows TBH about the future but not getting morbid.

Also lots of to-do list making and helped youngest tidy her room (which was somewhat interrupted by above, but made a good start to it. 

alt80

Hope the break from work gets better mate. 

Three hours, I assume waiting, at the GP is ridiculous. I find my NHS GP and the insurance video GP are watching the clock, not very empathetic and have very little time for a proper consultation. At my local private GP practice the appointment is 30 minutes as standard but you can have 45 minutes or an hour too. I tend to book 45 minutes when I go there but they always have time for you. Works a lot better, mine is a lot more empathetic and kind than NHS / Video, not saying they all are or that all NHS / Video are unkind and without empathy but it’s nice to feel they do want to look after you which is not something I’ve experienced with either the NHS or the Video ones before. Tbf there’s no rapport built in the time frame they work to, definitely not over a screen and they see a lot of people so possibly become blind to it to an extent.

Might !!!!!! laugh at this but my local private GP and I exchange Christmas cards, we’ve had chance to get to know each other over the years I’ve been going there and in turn he's passed some business to me.

savingholmes

Thanks Mark, I will be sad if it goes back on. Still struggling to eat. Need to lose around 2.5 stone more before I'm safer to operate on if that's the route they choose after the MRI.

Hope they get to the bottom of OH's symptoms and develop a treatment plan that works. 

Your plans over the next 6 months sound a great mix of fun and relaxation plus the mental and social stimulation of the campaigning side of things.