RMweb Premium Neil Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 24, 2017 Good morning all. It's bright and sunny here in Tywyn; the general consensus here is that Doris wasn't as destructive as the gales we experienced the previous week. Weird because we're exposed to the full force of anything coming from a westerly direction and Doris appeared to be pretty destructive to the north, south and east of us. There's good and bad news on the model railway front. The good is that my playroom is ready for the carpet fitters, the last phase of the rehabilitation works before I can properly move in. The bad news is that they won't be coming until the middle of March. However they do a cracking job at a sensible price so in the big scheme of things well worth waiting for. Other news; I found an interesting item from the BBC about the interpretation of statistics. It gives an insight into how fake news can be generated; either a wilful misinterpretation of statistics cynically deployed to bolster ones argument or poor research and a joining of cause and effect which just doesn't exist. 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lurker Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Greetings all. It's beautiful bright blue sky over London Bridge for now. Doris has blown all the clouds away. The worst effect of Doris for me was the irritating and loud noise of the wind between the two layers of glass on our office building. I wasn't delayed by trees on the line as the ones at Sidcup and New Eltham had been cleared by the time the train I was on got there. Apparently Mrs Lurker found a selection of bins in our front garden, none of which were ours. They had all been recovered by mid afternoon. Only a half day today as I have someone coming round to give a quote on replacing the double glazing. I hope that NHN starts to improve and that Rick has a safe journey. Best wishes to everyo9ne else too! 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Greetings all. It's beautiful bright blue sky over London Bridge for now. Doris has blown all the clouds away. The worst effect of Doris for me was the irritating and loud noise of the wind between the two layers of glass on our office building. I wasn't delayed by trees on the line as the ones at Sidcup and New Eltham had been cleared by the time the train I was on got there. Apparently Mrs Lurker found a selection of bins in our front garden, none of which were ours. They had all been recovered by mid afternoon. Only a half day today as I have someone coming round to give a quote on replacing the double glazing. I hope that NHN starts to improve and that Rick has a safe journey. Best wishes to everyo9ne else too! If my recollection of double glazing salesmen is correct then half a day may not be enough. Ed 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Morning all from the boringest of boroughs. Probably time I bored the crap out of you lot with a proper update. Insomniacs , feel free to print this for reading at bed time. Work has been going down hill and it looks like the company has painted itself into a corner as far as migrating all their service customers to a new platform. Each migration is getting progressively more ugly and unpleasant. Once again I start looking for new opportunities but for the over 50 in IT, it ain't easy. A few weeks in Canada as part of SWMBO's 50th has been booked for the end of May. Not impressed with WestJet at the moment. Booked all direct flights. A couple of weeks ago they decided to cancel the one from London to Winnipeg. We now have to go via Toronto and that basically wastes most of a day and turns our 8 hour flight into a 15h marathon. On top of that the arsebadgers had the nerve to want to charge us for the baggage and seat reservation between Toronto and Winnipeg. The icing on the cake is we lost the extra legroom seats we paid for on the flight from London. Nastygrams sent but I don't expect anything more than a voucher for a stale coffee. Speaking of SWMBO, her job is slowly evaporating. Every month she has less and less to do. We're sure the company want to get rid, but her manager is worried that it would leave her with the work of 1.5 people, so she is trying to invent make work stuff. Argh. SWMBO is currently taking an eLearning set of courses in ITIL and Service Management. Last weekend was spent at a family get together in Plymouth. A cousin's 90th. A bit of a bombshell happened when some of us got to talking for the first time in many many years. Rumours, inconsistencies in some dates, and other hints, finally led to the birthday girl sharing a secret that's been buried since 1945. It appears I have/had an older half-sister, who was put up for adoption. Her birth info has now been found but we're not sure how or whether to try and find out more. Sadly the only other person that would have known passed away 2 years ago, taking the secret with her. TFIF. No early for me. Looks like today will be a late one. The arsebadgers and sh*tgibbons are still demanding changes 2 weeks after the code freeze. That means muggins here having to deliver as the account manager has had is spine (and squishy bits) removed. At least the weekend belongs to me. My first bit of time in the shed since October. Have a good day all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheQ Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 24, 2017 (edited) Just had my line manager in to warn me of a presentation at the next section meeting.. I've been here ten years today, the longest I've every had in one job. It could have been 4 years longer, as I replaced the person who got the job, instead of me previously, that would have been much better for me as back then I'd have been graded a couple of levels higher in the first place!! Although I've worked longer for other companies, that was on several sites in various posts. RAF 12 years, 3 ranks, 6 sites. GEC, 13 years, 3 "ranks" 3 sites. (three other companies for only a year or two each) This company still the same job after ten years and with only 6 years till retirement, there is a possibility of a paper promotion without increase in pay or change of post in a year or so. There are few jobs to go looking for when 3/4 of the area surrounding your home is the North Sea... Edited February 24, 2017 by TheQ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Yesterday's local evening news mentioned the forthcoming running of the 1st direct, Okehampton to London service in 50 years. Rick, how do you get notification of your UK pension at 60? Have I missed a trick or just missed a notification? Good luck with the move next week and I hope your Dad improves. 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 24, 2017 If the person concerned is already of 'interest' to the police they may welcome the information. Otherwise they will probably not wish to take it on. Don If Horsetan was to show them the films, the partner would soon become a person of interest. in fact I can just imagine how many police officers would need to be drafted in to sift through the evidence. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 24, 2017 Time for work, more current shunts all the way from America... I almost read that as something that wasn't suitable to be discussed before the 9pm watershed.... Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 45156 Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 24, 2017 (edited) Yesterday's local evening news mentioned the forthcoming running of the 1st direct, Okehampton to London service in 50 years. Rick, how do you get notification of your UK pension at 60? Have I missed a trick or just missed a notification? Good luck with the move next week and I hope your Dad improves. State Pension Age was 65 for men, so I doubt you've missed anything. Morning All Quich visit for now, as lots of donestic jobs to do before picking 30747 up from work as she was called in to cover sickness. Of interest to guitarists. Noodling around on YouTube, I found this - a pair of young sisters who make you wish you'd never bought a guitar, and who also seem to like Taylors - my personal favourite of all the high end makers too. Try this through a decent pair of cans, as it will come through much better. The one on the left was 13 when this was recorded!!! Regards to All Stewart Edited February 24, 2017 by 45156 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 24, 2017 Morning all from Estuary-Land. Bright and sunny but still a bit breezy here this morning. Only a few scattered bins to mark the passing of Doris who is now apparently visiting St. Petersburg. Her strength is diminished by passing over land so she's nowhere near as fierce as she was. Tracing one's ancestry back beyond about 1800 can be very difficult. I was fortunate in that the line back to 1516 had been well researched, helped by the fact that it was a very unusual name 'created' by the person born in 1516. Why they changed their name I don't know but members of that line seem to be very close to the establishment, one was employed as a spy during the French revolution and a distant cousin is a current MP, who I will not talk about as he is at the opposite end of the political spectrum to me. Another line of reseach stopped dead at 1666, the records were lost in the great fire of London, so I am unable to confirm a person hung for piracy in 1594 was an ancestor or not. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Dread Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 The station is not on fire as some dink originally reported..... Never let the truth spoil a good story! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 (edited) State Pension Age was 65 for men, so I doubt you've missed anything. Unless I misunderstood Rick, that was why I asked, because he appears to be a year younger and I have not received any such communication. I didnt realise that they communicated that far in advance of official retirement age. Edited February 24, 2017 by lightengine 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 24, 2017 It has been quite windy here but it sounds as though we have missed the worst. I am a bit puzzled by the Pension forecasts some have obtained. According to the info I read with the new pension scheme you have to a paid contributions for a minimum of ten years which would make ID's forecast of £4 a week at bit odd. If he has the required 10 years it would surely mean a pension of more than £4 a week. Perhaps those who have moved abroad are exempt from the 10 year rule. If so it means the 10 year rule is likely to mostly catch women who paid the Married Women's rate for many years or became a housewife when married. It doesn't seem fair that if you paid in for some years you can end up getting nothing. Of course if you are unemployed and have claimed benefit all your life you will have been given pension credits. It is a strange system. Don The Married Women's NI rate won't have too much impact on those qualifying for the new state pension as the most it could count for is 8 years as the new state pension applies to women born after April 1953 and the Married Women's stamp was abolished in April 1977. The earliest a girl born after April 1953 could marry would be April 1969 so assuming she went straight onto the Married Woman's NI rate it would only have been available for 8 years. And I believe the same credits for 'child raising' (9 years) apply in the new system as applied previously - certainly in the old system those credits were a very good idea as a woman could leave work and have a child and then receive 9 years NI credit, if a second child was born within the 9 years then it simply started counting from zero again although any unused years for the first child were obviously lost. Assuming the woman then went back to work 9 years after the second birth she would maintain a full NI record of contributions. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Just about to go to teach a nine o'clock and it's bl99dy cold If they are going to reduce degrees from 3 years to 2 then presumably you'll be getting a 50% productivity rise. You will then be able to afford heating. Ed 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon G Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Eventful morning here so far. Results of the Copeland by-election are that the Tories ousted Labour after about 82 years, probably as a result of the "nuclear" effect, as Sellafield and many of its workers are in Copeland. Doris seems to have been just an average bit of wind and rain by Cumbrian standards, but far worse elsewhere by the sound of things. I have started painting the Utility Room, prior to fitting new outside door and new floor amongst other things. I don't mind painting walls, but I despise bl**dy ceilings and this one needs at least two coats. I am currently resting after applying the first one, so just as I sit down Mrs G opens the post, and gets all in a spin about a letter from the Post Office saying that her matured annual bond has been put into a normal account, as opposed to the new annual bond she thought it was in. A brief check online shows the letter to be wrong, and the cash is exactly where it should be. Panic over. It is nice and sunny here just now, which will help the paint dry, so I anticipate coat no 2 will be applied after lunch. Woodburner to be cleaned out and set in the meantime. A man's work is never done! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 24, 2017 Morning all. I haven't done much this morning apart from a bit of IT support for my neighbour. She had been sent travel documents from a travel agent and couldn't open them I said the agent was at fault as the links were to the c drive on the agent's computer. All sorted now. I hope AndyID's skiing was more peaceful than my neighbour's. Ted (aged 74 and a quarter) is quite an accomplished skier but had a tennis related leg injury before he went. He had lots of leg strapping. He found out he hard way that this restricted his ability to stop and shot through some trees and over a drop of a couple of metres into soft snow. Someone said to his wife that ted had just gone "off piste" into trees. She replied "he isn't that silly" but they went and looked. He was fine. I am impressed by the activities of my older neighbours. I think putting my socks on is enough strenuous exercise. tony 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 24, 2017 Unless I misunderstood Rick, that was why I asked, because he appears to be a year younger and I have not received any such communication. I didnt realise that they communicated that far in advance of official retirement age. Perhaps Rick's was an occupational pension rather than the state pension? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 If they are going to reduce degrees from 3 years to 2 then presumably you'll be getting a 50% productivity rise. You will then be able to afford heating. More likely a 33% pay cut (in real terms). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 (edited) http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/first-direct-train-from-okehampton-london-in-50-years-to-run-in-march/story-30155054-detail/story.html#p0pzajreMBsAabaw.01 Edited February 24, 2017 by lightengine 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 24, 2017 Perhaps Rick's was an occupational pension rather than the state pension? Thats how I read it as he mentioned a lump sum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 24, 2017 Unless I misunderstood Rick, that was why I asked, because he appears to be a year younger and I have not received any such communication. I didnt realise that they communicated that far in advance of official retirement age. I suspect that Rick is talking about some sort of occupational pension as he has options regarding the size of lump sum/commutation which don't arise with the state pension. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 24, 2017 (edited) Yesterday's local evening news mentioned the forthcoming running of the 1st direct, Okehampton to London service in 50 years. Rick, how do you get notification of your UK pension at 60? Have I missed a trick or just missed a notification? Good luck with the move next week and I hope your Dad improves. I suspect Rick is referring to a UK Company, Council or Civil Service pension which had 60 as the normal retiring age not the State Pension so far as I know you can defer your state pension but not take it early although the idea was raised during the discussions on the new pension scheme. The idea was if the pension age was to be raised to cope with increased life expectancy there could be an option to take a reduced pension earlier for those who whilst not medically unfit were too knackered to want to carry on. I believe nothing came of it. Don I see several others have made the point while I was typing Edited February 24, 2017 by Donw Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Bad news of the IOM. I hope NHN is ok. https://theulsterfry.com/world-news/storm-doris-blows-isle-of-man-north-to-form-land-bridge-to-scotland/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post Gwiwer Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted February 24, 2017 Rick, how do you get notification of your UK pension at 60? Have I missed a trick or just missed a notification? Good luck with the move next week and I hope your Dad improves. It just appeared in the mail and was a surprise. My DoB means my UK "preservation age" for private pension schemes is 60 but doesn't affect my "normal" retirement age which is still 67. All that is on offer is the former Company pension with no State element. And thank you - along with all other ERs who have offered their good wishes and support. 20 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted February 24, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 24, 2017 Has anyone tried to get on Facebook this morning, I did a few minutes ago and it seems to be down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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