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Goals for February & March 2020

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Tortoise1000
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Goals for February & March 2020

#283278

Postby Tortoise1000 » February 9th, 2020, 2:45 pm

I started writing February goals and then was struck down by illness. I have popped up again however, so I will post them quick before the next thing gets me. Chinese ‘flu I expect. My friend’s son-in-law is off to Chamonix soon, visiting his brother who has a ski hire shop. When he gets back we are doomed.

One of my goals for 2020 is to travel, to England in the summer. If I ever reach that promised land, then the priority is to sort out the back garden. It needs levelling and landscaping. There were various preparatory jobs that I had to do last year, fencing, shifting piles of leftover building materials and moving plants and frogs to safety. The goal for this month is to find someone who can help with the design.

Also chase up balustrade man again if he doesn’t reappear. He is not hard to find btw; his mother-in-law lives 2 doors away. He has simply got a lot on and the weather is adverse.

Declutter the bathroom cabinet. A dismal goal for a dismal day :-)

Lose half a stone, preferably not because of Chinese ‘flu.

Get some exercise 4 times a week. That would be 17 times altogether. I am a bit behind with this, but hoping to catch up.

T

Stonge
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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#285060

Postby Stonge » February 17th, 2020, 11:16 pm

February already...

Phoned up First Direct today. Been a while since I last phoned them. Heard that some young tw@t had been appointed head a couple of years ago. Full of the usual gob.

So. It used to be good. Answer within a few seconds. Today, hung on for seven minutes enduring the usual hectoring to sign up for online banking or a smartphone app.

Eventually spoke to someone, who spoke understandable English and still had the power to deal with my problem. Won't be long before that all changes. Cost cutting before service, always.

There isn't much hope really.

Tortoise1000
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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#285402

Postby Tortoise1000 » February 19th, 2020, 2:05 pm

I didnt used to mind holding on with first direct, because they played Mozart to me. In fact I positively liked it. But now they have changed it to some pop music. I complained but it seems they are aiming to appeal to a younger audience or something. Because Mozart is like, out of date. An old fogey with no appeal to the generation coming up after him :-(

On the goals front, I have lost half a pound and de-cluttered the bathroom cabinet. Also have an appointment booked with a garden designer next week.

Not that the bathroom cabinet was particularly crammed, but I find it is necessary to keep going round and re-de-cluttering. Surprising how much rubbish and out of date stuff there is is in a place you haven't examined for a while. There are people who do the whole job in one fell swoop, but I have not been brave enough for that. I read about a Mimimalist the other day who packed up his whole flat then simply unpacked what he needed over the following month. A clever idea. But would a month be long enough? What about the Christmas decorations? He was young bachelor so I suppose in that particular case he didn't have any.

Have you got rid of a lot during your removal, Stonge? Have you bought a new house yet?

T

Tortoise1000
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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#288283

Postby Tortoise1000 » March 3rd, 2020, 5:47 pm

What a strange month. Continuous rain, and at the end of it the threat of a pandemic and the stock market collapsing around our ears. I am much worse off than I was at the end of January. However it will either blow over or get worse, and if it gets worse it will be chance to buy at lower prices, so I won't complain.

Progress on February goals:

1. Find someone who can help with the design of the garden.

Done! Found an excellent outfit recommended by the balustrade man. Two talented garden designers with a portfolio of beautiful local gardens. I shall engage them, and look forward to seeing what they come up with.

2. Chase up balustrade man again if he doesn’t reappear.

Probably, I cant remember now. He needs three dry days to finish it and we haven’t had that many.

3. Declutter the bathroom cabinet.

Yes! Simple but rewarding. Surprising what you find in these places, that you thought were quite tidy and recently dealt with. Anyway its even tidier now and pleasingly empty.

4. Lose half a stone, preferably not because of Chinese ‘flu.

Amazingly bad. Rejoined SW, lost half a pound the first week, gained 2.5 pounds the second week and lost 1 pound the third. A net gain of 1 pound :-(

5. Get some exercise 4 times a week. That would be 17 times altogether.

Did 14.

I wonder where Stonge has gone? I hope he hasn't drowned.

T

Stonge
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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#288440

Postby Stonge » March 4th, 2020, 12:27 pm

Hi T

Been rather busy here trying to deal with tradesmen. Why do they all basically want to stitch you up. Or are they all as stupid as they make out? I don't think so, their mistakes always add to the price!

Way of the world nowadays, no-one wants to do a fair job for a fair price.

I hate them all.

Talking of which. Why is Boris's cabinet full of goblins?

Stonge
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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#288524

Postby Stonge » March 4th, 2020, 5:36 pm

And another thing...

What lunacy do we have to look forward to in the Budget?

gnawsome
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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#288912

Postby gnawsome » March 6th, 2020, 3:41 pm

Stonge wrote: ...Why do they all basically want to stitch you up. Or are they all as stupid as they make out? I don't think so, their mistakes always add to the price!

Way of the world nowadays, no-one wants to do a fair job for a fair price.
I hate them all.


You have my full support -- if you include the all the professionals, the medics, financials, law and order,retailers et al. They all seem to be adopting the scammers ethos if you've got something - I want it
The bottom line is you/we are their means of earning their living

Tortoise1000
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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#289060

Postby Tortoise1000 » March 7th, 2020, 3:15 pm

Because they are thick, Stonge. At school they thought it was a good idea not to do what the teacher advised in order to get good qualifications, and now they think it is a good idea to rip off customers in order to build a good business. But also because you are new to the area. I think it takes a while to find good tradesmen. I have excellent ones now, really competent and interested in their work. It is a pleasure to deal with them. It has taken a while, though.

I suppose another problem with tradesmen is the work is so cyclical. Every time there is a recession a whole lot of construction work vanishes, tradesmen have to find other things to do and there are no apprenticeships. Then we get a building boom and poorly skilled people are suddenly drafted in from all over. To have a good steady lifetime career in the building trade you have to be quite resourceful to handle the ups and downs.

Anyway we’ll all be dead soon, all us oldies on the Lemon Fool, so we needn’t worry. I told my son to appreciate me while I am here, before the coronavirus gets me, and do you know what he said? He said he will console himself with the fact that I have had a good innings. A good innings! I am 62.

So Job 1 for March is to alter my will to put someone more deserving in. After that, coronavirus preparations I suppose. Except that I have found an unexpected bonus from my non-shopping project in January. I realised how well I could manage on the stocks I had already. I lived a month out of the pantry, did not starve and discovered some interesting new food combinations. Also ate up a few boring things so they aren’t lurking any more. I was planning to run my stores down even further, but now I just won’t. They will last for ages if necessary.

Carry on with the decluttering. Ive already done the medicine cabinet and a drawer in my bedroom this month. I think I’ll sort out another drawer, and also thin out some of my old paperwork. Letters and diaries and things. I don’t want anyone reading it when I have gone, and am I ever going to read it myself? It seems unlikely. I want to enjoy my declining years, not spend them reminiscing.

Progress the garden project, if it ever stops raining.

Persist with the exercise and SW. A friend of mine passed away the other day, not much older than me, a very loveable lady but sedentary. A Queen Bee type, in a nice way; artistic and did crafts, but characteristically sat on the sofa while her husband ran round making cups of tea and doing odd jobs. Its often the way with couples I have noticed, they seem to get into a habit of one waiting on the other. I am all in favour of sitting around, in fact it is one of my top favourite occupations, but it doesn’t do, does it? I have got to keep moving.

Watch the carnage on financial markets with interest. Its fascinating, isn’t it? Though the drop in interest rates is irksome. The return on my savings will go from little to nothing, very irritating, and just when equities have gone down as well. I shall console myself like John D. Rockefeller, by counting my dividends.

T

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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#289113

Postby Stonge » March 8th, 2020, 12:31 am

Tortoise1000 wrote: It seems unlikely. I want to enjoy my declining years, not spend them reminiscing.
T


Exactly my view. The older you are the more important it is to live in the present. Sounds like you are doing really well.

I won't bore you with all the details but I've been following the path to minimalism for nearly twenty years now. I'm down to five computers, four printers, five cameras, and more gadgets. So a way to go but I rarely buy anything nowadays.

But no superfluous sentimental stuff, that's all gone. What I have got is valuable, mainly photos.

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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#298673

Postby Tortoise1000 » April 7th, 2020, 3:56 pm

March report:

Alter my will to put someone more deserving in.


Changed my mind. Tortoise Junior has so much spare time on his hands due to no social life that he has actually written me a letter! Extraordinary. A hand written one, in a proper envelope with a stamp and everything. I will give him another chance.

Corona virus preparations, I suppose. Except that I have found an unexpected bonus from my non-shopping project in January. I realised how well I could manage on the stocks I had already. I was planning to run my stores down even further, but now I just won’t. They will last for ages if necessary.


Couldn’t resist a certain amount of topping up, so all January’s good work is undone. Oh dear! Just when I had nearly got to the end of all the golden syrup I inherited from Dad in 2013.

Carry on with the decluttering.


Yes, been thinning out the paperwork. I came across a poem, in heroic couplets in the style of Alexander Pope, that I wrote in 1974 about the oil crisis and the Three Day Week. All the same; no toilet paper, etc.

Progress the garden project, if it ever stops raining
.

Yes! And it has stopped raining . :-) The garden designers have been to measure up and gone away to draw sketches. The balustrade man has got cracking at last.

Persist with the exercise and SW.
.

Well, that’s on the back burner. I am going out for a short walk every other day but otherwise pretty sedentary. Slimming World meetings have stopped. I am still being good though. Not much chance to be otherwise, with restaurants shuts and shopping limited to essentials. I am weighing myself each week and writing it in my SW book. According to my records, over the month I lost 4lbs

Watch the carnage on financial markets with interest. Its fascinating, isn’t it? Though the drop in interest rates is irksome. The return on my savings will go from little to nothing, very irritating, and just when equities have gone down as well. I shall console myself like John D. Rockefeller, by counting my dividends.

Aargh! What dividends? This is painful, isn’t it? And such a short time time ago, in January I suppose, I was feeling so nice and rich. Now an old age of catfood looms. Or an old age of eating up the contents of the pantry. How are we going to pay for the magic money tree that has suddenly appeared? The usual method, historically, is to wipe out people’s savings :-(

T

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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#298749

Postby felixcanis » April 7th, 2020, 8:57 pm

What dividends - here at FC towers we have our hope placed in Investment Trusts - those who have declared divis so far indicate they're going to try to keep paying - we'll see as the year goes on...

Mr FC had a nasty accident in Jan and had an 8 hour op to repair the damage, he came home in early Feb to recuperate. We've been sort of self isolating ever since. Mr FC cant' do much - his left hand is not working well & his pelvis was smashed up & has been wired together as was his left wrist. He has been lucky to get a couple of outpatient appointments at the hospital, but a CT scan he needs on his hand is not likely to happen.

Our goals at the moment are to keep buggering on and hope that the nation gets through this virus without too much damage to all of us - physically, emotionally and lastly, and possibly less importantly, financially - can't believe I just wrote that on a site like this.

Keep well T, best wishes to you & yours.

FelixC

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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#298776

Postby Stonge » April 7th, 2020, 10:58 pm

Since my last post on March 8th a lot seems to have changed.

We managed to squeak in our house move, just by a virus's whisker.

So now we're in our new home, shell shocked and bewildered but we seem to have made it.

Probably a good idea to convert any spare cash into dollars or euros in some form.

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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#298966

Postby Stonge » April 8th, 2020, 1:06 pm

Just got an email from Waitrose. Advice for shopping at Easter. said there'll be reduced shopping hours.

Said to look on waitrose.com

Looked on there. 100's of pages of Blumenthal crap. Nowhere can I find shopping hours for Easter.

Waitrose strikes again. Just don't get it do they.

All this high priced garbage from celebrity chefs, humbug.

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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#298991

Postby Watis » April 8th, 2020, 2:07 pm

Stonge wrote:Just got an email from Waitrose. Advice for shopping at Easter. said there'll be reduced shopping hours.

Said to look on waitrose.com

Looked on there. 100's of pages of Blumenthal crap. Nowhere can I find shopping hours for Easter.

Waitrose strikes again. Just don't get it do they.

All this high priced garbage from celebrity chefs, humbug.



Use the branch finder here: https://www.waitrose.com/content/waitro ... me/bf.html

Find your local branch, click the 'Seasonal opening times' tab and you're golden.

Watis

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Re: Goals for February & March 2020

#299005

Postby Stonge » April 8th, 2020, 2:33 pm

Thanks Watis. I found what I wanted.


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