PhilJ W

I took out an equity release nearly 3 years ago. A lot wanted doing to the house, which still had a mortgage and the credit card repayments were getting a bit heavy. From a personal point of view it was one of my best moves ever, more than halved my outgoings, in fact I think I'll have to start spending some more money as I now have more money in my account than I had this time last year. Equity release is no more than a mortgage that is not repayable until you (and your partner or fellow mortgagee if you have one) have passed on. Mostly it depends on your personal circumstances and what the cash is needed for.

Arrived home this evening from the club, clear sky and full moon giving so much light you could read by it.

Whats next from GBL?

Morning all, pispersistently raining this morning, hopefully the forecast is correct and it will clear up by this evening.

Morning all, Tony, if you have time when your at Tilbury hop on the ferry over to Gravesend, theres plenty of good places to shop including two model shops, though as model shops go IMHO there not that great. There's a handy cafe in the Market Hall behind the old town hall as well as a stall selling excellent home made preserves and pickles. I as you may have gathered from previous posts had some difficulties with British Gas and I found Eon not to be much better, I am now with the Co-op and paying only two thirds of what I was paying to BG.

I'll have to get an avatar sorted out then, as I have a beard, only people might confuse me with Oldddudders.

It looks like a decimal point in the wrong place going by his other prices.

Moorhen.

I didn't get a PM from that 'lady' either. I presume that if I did the aforementioned lady has been removed together with any PM's

Was the pigeon well and truly plucked?

Actually Skodas were quite good cars when compared to what was on offer at the same time. The last rear engined models were in many respects superior to many of their competitors. What let them down was the low initial price which was a way for the Comecon countries to obtain western currencies. This resulted in a 'Its cheap so it must be nasty' attitude in countries where they were sold. This also caused second hand prices to plummet, there was an element of truth in the old joke about doubling the value of a Skoda by filling the tank.

Morning all, my health problems seem trivial to what some of you have gone through. Talking of health problems we still haven't heard from Don (or Tim for that matter), I hope its a case of no news is good news.

Andy, The magic word I use in such circumstances is 'solicitor' such as in 'If I do not receive the money owing to me by (date) I will place the matter in the hands of my solicitor.'. It worked wonders when I last used it, with British Gas.

My GP has a new receptionist, well I haven't seen her before. A very attractive and pleasant young lady, helps take your mind off needles etc.

I wonder what they would make of this going through a speed camera.

That reminds me of the time one night when in a 30 mph zone I came up behind a car doing about 17 mph containing an elderly couple. As soon as the road ahead was clear I changed down and floored the accelerator to pass them. As I did so I saw the flash of a speed camera and as my speed was something like 40 mph I fully expected a letter in the post. That letter never came, I've always wondered if the other driver got a letter instead.

Morning all, dull and dank morning hereabouts but forecast is for the rain to clear by late afternoon, but a lot colder.

No, apart from the coupe only the four door was available in the UK. The Consul was the base model with a lower trim level. It was however available with a highly tuned 3 litre V6 as the Consul GT, this was intended as a police patrol car.

You call that work?

Mine arrived yesterday, very happy with the decoration (Red Star).

Mk 1 Granada coupes are now extremely rare. They were all made in Germany but the'British' spec ones had engines made in the UK, that made them very expensive compared to the saloons and they just bombed. For the German market there was also a 2 door version.

More evidence your honour of the need for a groan button.

I prefer Chimay Blonde myself.

Thanks everybody for your good wishes, Smiffy, I fully intend to follow the doctors advice, I had a colleague who despite being 6 years younger than me who suffered a diabetic coma not long after I retired, if a friend of his wasn't present he would have died. It also turned out that he had a heart condition requiring bypass surgery, he is now partially blind due to the diabetes. His doctor had been telling him for years to cut down on his eating and drinking which he just ignored.

Back from the docs, not bad news. I am not diabetic as such but my blood glucose is a bit on the high side so I will have to cut out the cakes and biscuits . I am under strict orders to diet as I have a fatty liver, something that surprises me as I am virtually teetotal. What I thought was worsening arthritis turns out to be sciatica. It can't be all bad as the doctor has told me to come back in 6 months time.