Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 20 October 2019

Harelady: Nice to see you! Congratulations on the expected new grandchild and also on Seraphina's birthday. Seraphina is such a lovely name. I've attended some Pagan and Wiccan ceremonies, and the handfasting can be very moving. The cake is beautiful. I'm glad you had a nice time!

Evening all:   Met former colleague and her friend for lunch today. We managed to snag a table right by the beach and had a good natter.  

Lindybird: I saw that headline on the BBC web site. Can't image all those people on that tiny island!   Eeeek.

Harelady:  Is Sefafina finding that folks are already abbreviating her name?

Very hot today; one more day and then a cool down.

Daughter arriving tomorrow; leaving Saturday. We'll have lunch with grandson Friday.

Take care everyone.

Annette - yes my Granddaughter is Sephi to most people - although when I send her post I always address her in her full name - Seraphina Alice - which she likes.

As for my job - when I moved to Suffolk I took almost 2 years off as I had worked from age 15 with a few years off when the Children arrived. Ive always worked in sales, first media and then IT for more than 25 years and I am back in sales now but selling parts to the transport industry - very different indeed. I did only want part time but its mainly retail that offer this plus a I am one of the WASPI women I won't get my government pension for another 2 years - it was moved from 60 to 66 over a few years - so I need to work, especially with my expanding family!

Have a good day all - I need to get ready for said work!

Good Morning. A bit grey here, but supposed to be dry, so I can do my "Wednesday sheets" as I usually change the beds midweek.

Harelady, bad luck on being caught out on the retirement pension changes for women: my OH has at least two golfing buddies whose wives are still toiling away, cussing about being part of the new system.

Off to do battle with the insurance online: we look for a good deal every time we need any renewal, to fight the fact that far from rewarding us for our loyalty, insurance companies tend to put up their premiums year on year. The only way to beat them is to constantly change, or else threaten to.

Another WASPI here but I decided to leave work anyway as I have 2 tiny pensions and my savings to help. Three years to go till state pension. I didn't mind when it went from 60 to 63 but then 65 and finally 66 was very hard to take.

Morning all:

Harelady:  I like Seraphina Alice too.  My grandson is/was (who knows!) dating a young woman he introduced as Vicki.  Her full name is Victoria, which I told her was much more distinctive (and classier) than a Vicki who are a dime a dozen. His previous attachment was Priscilla.  Wonder who'll be next. Prudence? Arabelle?   Re Pensions, they changed ours here some years back with reduced pensions payable to folks who retired before the "full" benefit date.  Selling parts to the transport industry sounds pretty specialized.  Don't work too hard.

Lindybird: Good luck with the insurance shopping.  Didn't you just do that?  Wouldn't you get some kind of "loyalty" rebate for staying with the same company?

dibnlib: I was lucky enough to get full pension benefits at 65, so I took the money and ran!

The last - I hope - of the hot days here.  When the weather/wind is like this, the noise from the traffic on the 101 is so much louder; when we get our coastal winds, you can barely hear it!

Take care all.

Annette - Sadly, we get penalised rather than rewarded for loyalty. The only way, it seems, to beat the insurance premiums is to become a new customer with a different company at every renewal. It's hugely unfair - but sadly, it's the way it seems to be with most insurance companies.

Interesting about the handfasting ceremony. My niece and her 'man' are pagans and had a handfasting ceremony at Chalice Well, Glastonbury some years ago. They said they were going to have a 'proper' wedding service at some stage because things are so much easier legally once they are married - but they haven't quite got around to it yet! The lady leading the ceremony said there may be some things we (the assembled family and friends) didn't feel quite happy with, so we should just not participate at those points. As a Christian, there were lots of points where I chose not to participate ... I respect their views, but I can't quite go along with them. They are also vegans, so some of the food choices, when we get together as a family, are interesting ...

Had another busy day: before tackling the housework, we sat down at the desktop and together battled through finding another insurance quote, then filling in the long form to apply. It's done now and has cost us less than last year, which was with a different company, who we were already insured with but who had quoted us over 20% on top of our existing premium with them! Annette, we have to do it every time now, both house insurance, car insurance for both cars, etc.

There have been articles in the press about the unfairness of the system which penalizes those who stay with one company. On TV, I saw an item about it which included one man who had been quoted many pounds more than he had paid only three years before, for the same cover - they found him some similar cover for FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS less!!!!! Apparently, the companies cash in on the fact that most people are either unaware or too lazy to change.

PAT - I can quite understand why you chose not to participate in some parts of the ceremony but you were there, as a loving family member.
LINDY - I wonder if the plates have a backstamp. I say this because I bought a couple of mugs at TkMaxx a couple of years ago. I liked them so much but never saw any others there. I Googled the pottery and saw that I could buy a set of six. The price was actually lower than the ones I'd already bought!

Regarding pensions - I was lucky enough to get my state pension at 60 but have every sympathy for those who had looked forward to the day that never came.

I have been busy today, pruning the grape vine. Still lots to do as I do it in stages. It is above my head and I find stretching upwards just a little bit tiring, these days!