You know you’re getting older when……

[Peter Sarf]

When three channels was more than we have today!

Oh yes. I remember getting cable TV in the early 90s. One late bored evening I cast about for something to watch. Ias going through the channels one by one and eventually found nothing interesting. I was shocked when I realised that had taken over an hour !. I used to listen to LBS adio a lot - was nice to have it on in the background while doing things.

In that sense the phrase meant a pupil who was learning slowly rather than a "learner" who was slow.

Now it occurs to me that nowadays we identify these children as having learning difficulties (like Autism etc etc). We have come a long way from the days of expelled Delinquents through slow learners.

 

[Dai Corner]

Now it occurs to me that nowadays we identify these children as having learning difficulties (like Autism etc etc). We have come a long way from the days of expelled Delinquents through slow learners.

They were often put in the Remedial Class. Now we have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Units. Ten years ago when I last worked in a school it was called the Inclusion Department. There was a Pupil Referral Unit for those no mainstream school would take.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Assuming both paragraphs are part of the same statement; that sounds like the song Horny by Mousse T from 1998. It's not the girls name. If you're not otherwise familiar with usage of the phrase "I'm horny", I'm not sure whether I should advise you to Google it, or not... (Discretion would perhaps be advised)

Being of a ripe old age but still with a type of humour, I see that my grandson is following my footsteps and suggesting that this song could feature as a backing track in a cartoon showing young female rhinos dancing at a disco..

 

[Peter Sarf]

Being of a ripe old age but still with a type of humour, I see that my grandson is following my footsteps and suggesting that this song could feature as a backing track in a cartoon showing young female rhinos dancing at a disco..

Ah "disco" I remember them....

 

[martin butler]

Ah "disco" I remember them....

Disco, AH Friday nights at the local club, trying, and failing to nab the coolest looking girl, then getting home just as the milkman was delivering, sleeping till early afternoon, then thinking was it worth it?
Now a days, my dancing days are over, my joints hurt just getting out the chair,

 

[Peter Sarf]

Disco, AH Friday nights at the local club, trying, and failing to nab the coolest looking girl, then getting home just as the milkman was delivering, sleeping till early afternoon, then thinking was it worth it?
Now a days, my dancing days are over, my joints hurt just getting out the chair,

Chair, nice comfy chair.....

 

[martin butler]

Chair, nice comfy chair.....

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, bring out the Comfy chair, Monty python at its best, now that does make me feel old, today it would never get past the sensors.

 

[Dai Corner]

Yesterday I had a letter from the DWP inviting me to apply for my State Pension. The last related one was from the DHSS 50 years ago, informing me of my National Insurance number.

 

[Gloster]

Yesterday I had a letter from the DWP inviting me to apply for my State Pension. The last related one was from the DHSS 50 years ago, informing me of my National Insurance number.

I had mine a few weeks ago, but haven’t dealt with it yet as I am not sure if I actually qualify due to my chaotic life. It may be opening a can of worms and demands for all sorts of backpayments. I still have my original NI card somewhere.

I got my bus pass a week ago. It says in the accompanying letter that I can use it immediately, but elsewhere it says that you must have reached pension age to use it. I am not going to use it until tomorrow as I don’t want to be the first person to have their card withdrawn for misuse before reaching sixty-six.

 

[simonw]

I had mine a few weeks ago, but haven’t dealt with it yet as I am not sure if I actually qualify due to my chaotic life. It may be opening a can of worms and demands for all sorts of backpayments. I still have my original NI card somewhere.

I got my bus pass a week ago. It says in the accompanying letter that I can use it immediately, but elsewhere it says that you must have reached pension age to use it. I am not going to use it until tomorrow as I don’t want to be the first person to have their card withdrawn for misuse before reaching sixty-six.

They won't ask you for back payments but you can sometimes boost it by making back payments. Worth checking on line to see.

 

[jfollows]

I had mine a few weeks ago, but haven’t dealt with it yet as I am not sure if I actually qualify due to my chaotic life. It may be opening a can of worms and demands for all sorts of backpayments. I still have my original NI card somewhere.

Don’t take my advice as gospel, of course, but I think you simply get the pension they think you’re entitled to, reduced by fewer qualifying years and other rules. The time for extra payments is passed.
I’m 64 so I’ve got to wait until 67 for mine; I have 35 years of payment history but was “contracted out” from SERPS in the past so I will get a reduced state pension accordingly, the idea being that my defined benefit pension from IBM was greater than it would otherwise have been.

 

[Dai Corner]

Don’t take my advice as gospel, of course, but I think you simply get the pension they think you’re entitled to, reduced by fewer qualifying years and other rules. The time for extra payments is passed.
I’m 64 so I’ve got to wait until 67 for mine; I have 35 years of payment history but was “contracted out” from SERPS in the past so I will get a reduced state pension accordingly, the idea being that my defined benefit pension from IBM was greater than it would otherwise have been.

You can look up your NI record online, and see if it's worthwhile paying any voluntary contributions to boost your pension up to the maximum. I did so, and will make that money back if I live until about 70.

Check your State Pension forecast

Find out how much State Pension you could get (your forecast), when you could get it and how you could increase it

www.gov.uk

 

[Harpo]

I got my bus pass a week ago. It says in the accompanying letter that I can use it immediately, but elsewhere it says that you must have reached pension age to use it. I am not going to use it until tomorrow as …

You have buses on a Sunday? Luxury.

I don’t want to be the first person to have their card withdrawn for misuse before reaching sixty-six.

Advanced birthday wishes for tomorrow!

 

[martin butler]

You have buses on a Sunday? Luxury.

Advanced birthday wishes for tomorrow!

Did you also get the letter about planning your funeral ? On the day i got my pension letter,I also got junk mail from direct cremations,

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Just wondering if cremations are one way of ensuring that existing cemeteries with graves do not run out of available space for new graves. When my wife died in 2021, we had a new family grave as part of the ceremony but although I wished to have one established at the time of my retirement, quite some years earlier, I was told at that point of time this was not now possible and that new graves could only be opened as part of an interment..

 

[Gloster]

You have buses on a Sunday? Luxury.

Advanced birthday wishes for tomorrow!

A bus every fifteen minutes in each direction on Sundays. I don’t think that many villages get a service anything like that.

Thank you foe the good wishes. I wonder if I will feel much older tomorrow or just one day older. I don’t think it is going to be quite the milestone that hitting sixteen, seventeen or eighteen was. (I can just remember that far back.)

 

[cb a1]

Fully appreciate this is not for everyone, but I've gone for body donation.
The added benefit for my family is that there are no costs for burial, cremation, etc.

 

[Peter Sarf]

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, bring out the Comfy chair, Monty python at its best, now that does make me feel old, today it would never get past the sensors.

Good old Monty Python. I was told recently that it is still considered funny even after all these years.

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore radio shows - now they could be politically incorrect.
Every time I go beyond Sutton past Cheam I am reminded of "East Cheam" - not even sure how relevant it was/is.

I ought to re-discover this stuff on the inter web thingy.

Yesterday I had a letter from the DWP inviting me to apply for my State Pension. The last related one was from the DHSS 50 years ago, informing me of my National Insurance number.

Gosh, you have reminded me, somewhere I have the original notification of my NI number - wonder where that is.

You can look up your NI record online, and see if it's worthwhile paying any voluntary contributions to boost your pension up to the maximum. I did so, and will make that money back if I live until about 70.

Check your State Pension forecast

Find out how much State Pension you could get (your forecast), when you could get it and how you could increase it

www.gov.uk

To add. If you do not have 35 years contributions it can be very cost effective to pay to complete part years (as they do not count unless a full year is paid). I have seen some very cheap to buy years for people who had not worked or got NI contributions for the full year but only missed a bit.

I think to buy one year costs about £1,500 nowadays. About five years back I was told that if you buy one year the cost is effectively paid back after five years receiving the pension.

Of course buying years can be unnecessary if you are already heading for 35 years worth anyway. Except of course the government could move the goalposts and increase it to 40. Most of us work for more than 50 years !. I did see someone who completed a year buy paying about £10, probably did not need it BUt not worth risking it for the sake of £10.

A bus every fifteen minutes in each direction on Sundays. I don’t think that many villages get a service anything like that.

Thank you foe the good wishes. I wonder if I will feel much older tomorrow or just one day older. I don’t think it is going to be quite the milestone that hitting sixteen, seventeen or eighteen was. (I can just remember that far back.)

Getting older means KNOWING you will feel older tomorrow if the weather says so.

Many happy returns btw.

 

[Silent]

When new trends or styles actually don’t seem new and make the older styles they are inspired by seem modern and outdates something that is quite modern. I think I have seen this with music. Lofi music in the late 10’s made dubstep sound outdated to me at the time. The use of more analogue sounding sounds and instruments now, and production techniques, more approach to music I think, makes 2010s music sound dated. Whilst late 10s music actually made some 90s and 00s music sound modern again. I think some 2020s music has made old 00s boom bap still sound modern to me.

Seeing old Stagecoach livery on the first alx400s reminded me of this. As I remember around the 00s, anything blocky and boxy seemed to look outdated and stuff looked more curvy or round but nowadays I don’t think boxy would stand out as too outdated.

 

[swt_passenger]

Don’t take my advice as gospel, of course, but I think you simply get the pension they think you’re entitled to, reduced by fewer qualifying years and other rules. The time for extra payments is passed.
I’m 64 so I’ve got to wait until 67 for mine; I have 35 years of payment history but was “contracted out” from SERPS in the past so I will get a reduced state pension accordingly, the idea being that my defined benefit pension from IBM was greater than it would otherwise have been.

I have drawn my state pension for almost 5 years now, nearly all my employment was in a ‘contracted out‘ scheme. My ‘new state pension’ is therefore reduced, although I never did see the exact calculation rules for the reduction, it doesn’t seem to be publicised.

To give you an idea of the effect, I‘ll get about £10,500 in the next financial year, about 84% of the headline figure you see in the media, which is typically given as about £12,500. You should do better than me though, because the ability for schemes to be ‘contracted out’ finished in 2016. (IIRC)

 

[Howardh]

...my search engine now includes the phrase "round Britain cruises for seniors".

 

[Gloster]

I haven’t used my laptop for so long that I had great difficulty in remembering how to do the simplest tasks: open a file, do a copy and then close it after making some amendments. For good measure, the file was the information sheet to accompany my will.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Being very annoyed that the hospital appointments department of a certain NHS Trust who have it in my database that I am now 81 years of age and the last time that I drove was in 2012, two years after my retiremenr, give a Friday 0945 appointment to see a consultant which sees me needing to take no less than four buses and a cross city-centre tram to attend. Their so-called deliberations say I am underqualified to use the services of their elderly patient transport requirements.

 

[D6130]

Being very annoyed that the hospital appointments department of a certain NHS Trust who have it in my database that I am now 81 years of age and the last time that I drove was in 2012, two years after my retiremenr, give a Friday 0945 appointment to see a consultant which sees me needing to take no less than four buses and a cross city-centre tram to attend. Their so-called deliberations say I am underqualified to use the services of their elderly patient transport requirements.

I usually find that, when I am in that situation, a direct phone call to the department concerned, with an explanation of my transport difficulties, will result in a later appointment being made....or even sometimes an appointment at a more convenient location. Unfortunately the computer algorithms do not take such things into account.

 

[Dai Corner]

Being very annoyed that the hospital appointments department of a certain NHS Trust who have it in my database that I am now 81 years of age and the last time that I drove was in 2012, two years after my retiremenr, give a Friday 0945 appointment to see a consultant which sees me needing to take no less than four buses and a cross city-centre tram to attend. Their so-called deliberations say I am underqualified to use the services of their elderly patient transport requirements.

I was going to say "using free or cheap public transport to avoid fuel and parking costs even though it might take several times as long as driving"! I'd get a taxi on the way to something important and time critical like a hospital appointment though, and enjoy an inexpensive, meandering, but hopefully interesting journey home.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I usually find that, when I am in that situation, a direct phone call to the department concerned, with an explanation of my transport difficulties, will result in a later appointment being made....or even sometimes an appointment at a more convenient location. Unfortunately the computer algorithms do not take such things into account.

I did ring them but was told that the consultant based in a certain hospital to whom I was allocated was only seeing myself and another person on Friday morning and was then on holiday leave for three weeks and there was a need for me to be seen urgently.

One happy matter to relate is that in the Greater Manchester area, a recent decree was made by TfGM that the need for elderly people holding a TfGM-issued ENCTS pass to pay bus fares prior to 0930 on Monday to Friday, has now been rescinded after two separate monthly trials and I have no problem in arising early to use "early-bird" bus services.

 

[Peter Sarf]

I did ring them but was told that the consultant based in a certain hospital to whom I was allocated was only seeing myself and another person on Friday morning and was then on holiday leave for three weeks and there was a need for me to be seen urgently.

One happy matter to relate is that in the Greater Manchester area, a recent decree was made by TfGM that the need for elderly people holding a TfGM-issued ENCTS pass to pay bus fares prior to 0930 on Monday to Friday, has now been rescinded after two separate monthly trials and I have no problem in arising early to use "early-bird" bus services.

Ah, so Manchester has gone the opposite way to London where free peak travel is now no longer for those of us too old to work.

 

[AM9]

Ah, so Manchester has gone the opposite way to London where free peak travel is now no longer for those of us too old to work.

Which is the same for most of England, - Herts ENCTS is 24/7 thankfully, although I rarely use the extended hours.

 

[Cambus731]

I’ve been used to working with people younger than me for some time. But had a bombshell a few weeks ago when a newish colleague mentioned that his dad was born in 1976. Therefore his dad is 7 years younger than me.

 

[styles]

I’ve been used to working with people younger than me for some time. But had a bombshell a few weeks ago when a newish colleague mentioned that his dad was born in 1976. Therefore his dad is 7 years younger than me.

It's the 2000s which get me. You were born in 2010 what