{"id":162121,"date":"2025-03-28T17:31:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T17:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/recipes\/category-a-b\/beer\/a-significant-birthday-draws-close\/"},"modified":"2025-03-28T17:31:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T17:31:04","slug":"a-significant-birthday-draws-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=162121","title":{"rendered":"A significant birthday draws close"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a><\/div>\n

Right, it’s a week away from work now, my work e-mail has been
\nset to \u201cout of office\u201d,<\/i><\/b> and on the way home last night I filled the car up with
\npetrol. Most of the clothes that I’m taking on this short cruise have been
\npacked, leaving a minimal amount to do on Thursday<\/b> morning. I intend then to
\nspend a relaxing day, before making the drive down to Southampton<\/b> mid-morning
\non Friday. <\/b>In case you\u2019ve been asleep, the Bailey<\/b> family are heading off on a
\nshort, four-night cruise, across the North Sea,<\/b> to Hamburg<\/b> and back. I must
\nadmit I am looking forward to the trip, even though I\u2019ve just discovered that
\nSunday<\/b> is not the ideal day for visiting Germany\u2019s <\/b>second largest city. <\/p>\n

I say this, because all the stores are closed on the
\nSabbath, <\/b>an experience we haven\u2019t come across before, despite having made
\nnumerous visits to Germany. <\/b>Most of these trips have been to Bavaria,<\/b> in the Catholic
\nSouth<\/b> of the country, where Sunday<\/b> closing does not seem to be strictly
\nenforced. However, in the Protestant North,<\/b> it appears that the Lord’s Day<\/b> is rigorously
\nobserved. Thirteen years ago, the lad and I spent a long weekend in Berlin,
\n<\/b>where we noticed that shops had limited hours on Sunday, with major stores
\nopening around 1pm and closing by early evening. This seemed a good compromise,
\nperhaps in keeping with Berlin\u2019s<\/b> capital city status. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Fortunately, most bars and restaurants will be open, so Matthew<\/b>
\nand I will almost certainly be doing a moderate amount of drinking. This
\narrangement also suits Mrs PBT\u2019s,<\/b> who is quite content to remain on the boat,
\nand enjoy a little rest and relaxation. She\u2019s advised us boys though; to
\nrefrain from excessive drinking and to ensure we don\u2019t miss the last bus back
\nto the cruise ship. With the weather forecast predicting rain, we may need to
\nfind an indoor venue to stay dry, at least on the outside.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

I probably mentioned I have a significant birthday coming up
\nin just over a fortnight’s time. By significant I mean it\u2019s a birthday with a nought
\non the end, and in case you haven’t guessed it’s the biblical three-score years and ten. This brings me on nicely to the topic of retirement. I\u2019m already passed State
\nRetirement <\/b>age, and am currently claiming my state pension, on top of the
\npro-rata salary that I receive from my employer. It\u2019s a nice position to be in,
\nfinancially, and it\u2019s also good from a mental health, point of view, as I feel,
\nand know that I am still making a positive contribution to society, as a whole.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

The time may come though, when my body tells me that it\u2019s
\ntime to slow down, and take a back seat, but that time hasn\u2019t arrived, yet. The
\njob I\u2019m carrying out at present involves just me, although as company Safety Advisor<\/b>,
\nit obviously involves the whole company. The main attraction is I have no staff
\nreporting to me, so I can forget about annual leave, days off, sickness,
\ntraining (although I do carry out specific H&S training <\/b>for the company, as
\na whole). I\u2019ve also been heavily involved with our ongoing expansion project,
\nwhich means dealing with outside contractors, procurement of goods and
\nservices, along with a whole host of related tasks. Think how better that is
\nthan sitting at home, watching daytime TV<\/b>, that is irritating at best, and
\nmind-numbingly boring at worst. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Having said that, I haven\u2019t completely taken my eye off the ball
\nwhen it comes to pensions, although I have advised my employer that I intend to
\ncarry on working for a few more years. At least. The additional money will come
\nin handy, I\u2019m sure, and I don\u2019t just mean heading off on another cruise – even
\nthough we\u2019ve just booked one for late October! <\/b>There are also a number of long
\noverdue, home-improvement projects to arrange and finance, not least of which will
\nbe the new kitchen that I talked about, in a previous post. We\u2019re going for a
\nfull blown, new installation rather than attempting to revamp the current one,
\nas I talked about earlier. OK, these are material things but if they help make
\neasier and more comfortable, then why not, especially as we both grow older. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

I haven\u2019t been completely idle on the pension front though,
\nas I have booked a one-hour consultation with Pension Wise,<\/b> the organisation which
\nis the UK government’s <\/b>sponsored service that helps people with the various pensions
\noptions that are available. The whole multi-million-pound pension is something of
\na nightmare, so it pays to make an informed choice, and not to jump in, feet first,
\nand with all guns blazing.<\/p>\n

That’s enough of growing old, morbidity and the like, apart
\nfrom saying that Mrs PBT\u2019s<\/b> will also be celebrating reaching the same significant,
\nbiblical age as me, come September.<\/b> Initially, we decided to have a fairly low-key
\njoint celebration, although I am slowly coming round to the idea of perhaps
\nhaving a party for friends and family. The weather is normally pretty good in
\nSeptember,<\/b> so a house party that spills out into the garden, might not be such
\na bad plan, after all. Food for thought?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right, it’s a week away from work now, my work e-mail has been set to \u201cout of office\u201d, and on the way home last night I filled the car up with petrol. Most of the clothes that I’m taking on this short cruise have been packed, leaving a minimal amount to do on Thursday morning. 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