Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Chat about anything and everything
User avatar
merry
  
  
1500 Posts
1500 Posts
Posts: 1981
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:01 pm
Location: Cotswolds, UK
Contact:

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by merry »

Glad to read merry is better. It's so nice isn't it even being a bit better reminds you how nice breathing through noses and not coughing was.
Thank you, my SS! Your thoughts are as mine exactly - I was just thinking exactly that - and that last week I couldn't remember what feeling well felt like, and now I can't bring to mind what feeling ill did. :hugs
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
User avatar
OurCreature
 
 
1000 Posts
1000 Posts
Posts: 1363
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:15 pm
Location: Near The New Forest

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by OurCreature »

Furby wrote
There's a rumour that the dividend tax might be in the budget and reduce the allowance on that.
There is indeed. Some of my dividends are outside an ISA but they are less than £1,000 pa anyway. However, my policy is to move those shares into my Halifax ISA as and when the dividends retained in that ISA allow me to buy the share that I want to have in the ISA, and sell the same share that I already had outside the ISA. When I did that with Shell I decided to keep both sets of shares to catch the next dividend and then sell them - however the share price dived and I had to wait quite a long time to allow it to catch up before I sold those shares. Never again - I'll do both transactions on the same day.

Billiton is next on my list and when that has been moved my dividend income outside the ISA will be halved.
Like the late Chaircat Midge, I am not always right.
User avatar
Furby
 
 
500 Posts
500 Posts
Posts: 898
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 6:02 pm

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by Furby »

Mine are pieces of paper from the 80s and paper is so evil now no one except me wants to touch it. So I don't think I even can sell mine. I think they have to be converted to digital first and it's a lot of messing about just to save a bit of tax. But I don't want to be having to do self assessment at my age.

Dividends have been a better return than savings apart from the Halifax building society ones which weren't but they were given as a bonus anyway so suppose one can't complain. In lockdown when interest rates were reduced to almost nothing from the already almost nothing some of the dividends bravely kept paying me and I was glad of them. Covid and brexit and ukraine and trussononics are being blamed for today's interest rates but wasn't the almost nothing supposed to be temporary in 2008. Maybe they just wanted until enough other things to blame it on to stop whatever they did to keep interest rates almost zero.
User avatar
OurCreature
 
 
1000 Posts
1000 Posts
Posts: 1363
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:15 pm
Location: Near The New Forest

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by OurCreature »

wasn't the almost nothing supposed to be temporary in 2008
It was. Unfortunately the developed economies mostly got addicted to low/non-existent interest rates and now the chickens are coming home to roost. I chatted with the young lady who cuts what's left of my hair yesterday morning, and she and her boyfriend have put off trying for a house in the very near future; with interest rates going up they are going to see if house prices start coming down before they take the plunge. Some 'experts' are saying house prices could drop by as much as 30% next year, so I think they are being wise. That might be due to interest rates going up in 2 ways - one by making buying houses more expensive re the loan repayments, and another by making outstanding loans held by buy-to-let landlords much more expensive to service so that they have to offload some or all of their properties to avoid going bust. I've read that some of them are quitting the market anyway because of increasing restrictions on their freedom of action in running their properties though I have forgotten the details about that side of it.
Like the late Chaircat Midge, I am not always right.
User avatar
merry
  
  
1500 Posts
1500 Posts
Posts: 1981
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:01 pm
Location: Cotswolds, UK
Contact:

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by merry »

Thus begins a week for me of 'imprisonment' as Glos Highways are closing the road outside our house to ALL traffic, including people coming in and out of their drives, between the hours of 9.30-3.30. This is for a planned program of ash-tree felling, as many ash trees have died and we have had a couple of fatalities where one has crashed down on a car :( so it's necessary and won't affect me too much, except I can't get out to do the HHs so Jay will have to do without me this week, but will be tough on people who need to go in and out (there's quite a frightening list of their 'demands', eg: "what if I have a supermarket delivery booked' - 'inform the driver of the situation and tell him to park elsewhere and bring the goods on foot' :lol- plus 'will emergency services be allowed in' 'No, this will not be possible between 9.30 and 3.30.' :nono So we will have to die behind the barricades.
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
User avatar
OurCreature
 
 
1000 Posts
1000 Posts
Posts: 1363
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:15 pm
Location: Near The New Forest

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by OurCreature »

All you need is a sudden emergency power cut to really put you in a pre-Christmas festive mood, Merry! I hope you aren't horrendously inconvenienced by the tree felling.
Like the late Chaircat Midge, I am not always right.
User avatar
Furby
 
 
500 Posts
500 Posts
Posts: 898
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 6:02 pm

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by Furby »

The emergency services can park elsewhere and arrive on foot too. How far is it to the nearest open road anyway. Why is open at 3.30 anyway trees will still fall down then because they don't work to glos highway rules but it will be dark so people less likely to see them falling to get out the way.

Rented housing is going to be a big story next yearI think. There's such a shortage of council housing which everyone wants because it's always cheap enough to afford on benefits and including wages low enough to need top ups in that. And people won't leave council houses once working better jobs because private rents are not affordable even on quite good incomes. I would have been struggling to afford to rent my own house even while working and certainly couldn't afford it now and it's not exactly luxury housing. There's also the asylum seeker problem coming down the track at the moment they are all in hotels but once granted refugee status will need found council or cheaper rented properties which there alresdy aren't enough of. The government can't have people with mortgages joining the pool of people they are legally required to house (for UK citizens this is only people with children but there will be a lot of those) so they will have to find a way for most of them to keep mortgages.
User avatar
merry
  
  
1500 Posts
1500 Posts
Posts: 1981
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:01 pm
Location: Cotswolds, UK
Contact:

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by merry »

Terrible wind and rain here tonight. I had forgotten this is what winter is like, Le Sigh....

I ordered a calor gas heater from Amazon. I inherited one from my mother which we used to use a lot, but I began to think if was so old it might not be safe. Luckily it has a calor gas bottle of 7kg on it still, which we can swap for a new one for the new heater at the Spar shop. There are no new calor gas bottles to be had in the entire UK at present... if you don't have one to swap you won't get one.
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
User avatar
eccles
 
 
1000 Posts
1000 Posts
Posts: 1032
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 3:10 pm

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by eccles »

When I set out for my regular morning walk it was sunny. About halfway round I saw a rainbow. Astute weather watchers will know that a rainbow can often be a precursor to sunshine, however if this occurs in the morning hours that can often mean that a storm is approaching. Right on cue ten minutes later the heavens opened and I was drenched.
Having dried out a little I gave the garden pond a look. I thought it was full last week. It is now fuller-er. :D
Good luck with your purchase Merry.
In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.
(Terry Pratchett 1948-2015)
User avatar
merry
  
  
1500 Posts
1500 Posts
Posts: 1981
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:01 pm
Location: Cotswolds, UK
Contact:

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by merry »

How lovely to see a beautiful rainbow, and cheat the rain of a drenching, Eccs!

Have none of you even noticed your lovely Veterans' wings and beautiful post count ranks that Pani worked on for a week?!
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
User avatar
Furby
 
 
500 Posts
500 Posts
Posts: 898
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 6:02 pm

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by Furby »

I did notice the veteran badge but didn't know what it did so was waiting to find out before saying what's all this then. Does it actually do anything. Or is what it does too top secret to the told.

I like that block design it's so often a silly round clock thing these days isn't it.
User avatar
merry
  
  
1500 Posts
1500 Posts
Posts: 1981
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:01 pm
Location: Cotswolds, UK
Contact:

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by merry »

I did notice the veteran badge but didn't know what it did so was waiting to find out before saying what's all this then.
It's an honorary thing to recognise long and loyal service :)
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
User avatar
OurCreature
 
 
1000 Posts
1000 Posts
Posts: 1363
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:15 pm
Location: Near The New Forest

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by OurCreature »

Dematt day for the Lady Mina today; she will be weighed and have her claws clipped as well. It's probable that they will sedate her at the animal hospital in Hythe so she won't be able to make a fuss about it or get stressed. We shall set off at 09:30-ish and I shall receive the call to collect her sometime this afternoon.
Like the late Chaircat Midge, I am not always right.
User avatar
merry
  
  
1500 Posts
1500 Posts
Posts: 1981
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:01 pm
Location: Cotswolds, UK
Contact:

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by merry »

I wish they would sedate me for the dentist on Monday :rolleyes

Good luck to you and Lady Mina, OC! :kissy
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
User avatar
OurCreature
 
 
1000 Posts
1000 Posts
Posts: 1363
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:15 pm
Location: Near The New Forest

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by OurCreature »

We'll have to postpone the Good Luck Mina to next Friday, because I've just remembered that little point about her not eating solid food after midnight and not having anything to drink after 09:00 this morning. I've just phoned the animal hospital to grovel in an obsequious manner and postponed her Ladyship's visit.

I am very cross with myself. I have noticed that I am forgetting small things, like not taking my posh coffee home with me from Knightwood after my duty there, but this is the first big thing I have forgotten about for quite some time and I hope it isn't a harbinger of things to come. :mad
Like the late Chaircat Midge, I am not always right.
Wildrover
 
 
300 Posts
300 Posts
Posts: 340
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2022 12:52 pm

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by Wildrover »

I'm 58 and I have to put everything on the calendar on my phone with an alert as soon as I think of it. If I don't one of two things happens: I either forget it or I spend hours or days fretting that I'm going to forget it. When I was working I used to keep a pen and writing pad by my bed as I'd think of stuff in the night and if I didn't write it down I couldn't get back to sleep. My memory is definitely deteriorating - I notice it most when playing the piano as there are pieces I could play flawlessly from memory that I can't now. However if I have the sheet music I can play them. The conclusion I've reached is that I can't do anything about my declining memory so there's no point getting upset aboout it - just try and do things to compensate for it.
User avatar
merry
  
  
1500 Posts
1500 Posts
Posts: 1981
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:01 pm
Location: Cotswolds, UK
Contact:

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by merry »

Sensible attitude WR :)

OC if it makes you feel any better, Juliet and Sam went to Sheffield today, J has a three-day ticket for an ice-skating competition which is being held at IceSheffield. They turned up a day early for their booking.

Not only that, they turned up at the wrong hotel.

:huh :oops :devil :rofl

Chat tonight, folks! Pani has promised to try and drop in, but things do crop up to prevent him sometimes .
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
User avatar
Panikos
  
  
150 Posts
150 Posts
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 4:04 pm
Location: On the banks of the Thames
Contact:

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by Panikos »

I have never had a good memory and it may be a bit worse these days.

It shows in different ways. If someone points to someone and says "is that Fred?" then I remember him just fine. If someone says "who is that" I stand there with my mouth open trying to bring the name to the surface and getting nothing. Like a computer with a corrupted hard drive saying "file not found"

I can follow the plot in a movie, but if I try and talk about it 20 minutes later I can't remember any of the character names. Numbers are even worse. I can look at a 5 digit number, look away and it's gone. I'm really grateful for copy/paste :lol

The other thing is forgetting what I was just doing. Going to the kitchen to make lunch and finding half a meal prepared where I started it and thought "Oh i didn't send that email" and walked away.
User avatar
Patience
 
 
300 Posts
300 Posts
Posts: 304
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 10:23 pm

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by Patience »

My memory is substantially worse after my second bout of COVID. I’ve always had a decent memory, except for names and faces which I am shockingly bad at. Now, there can be big chunks of the day I can’t remember at all. I’ve run meetings and carried out Risk Assessments and don’t remember. A fortnight ago, I found a risk assessment that I had carried out with other people and written up, but forgot to send out. Even when I looked at it, it still didn’t jog my memory. 😱
I do hope this improves over time. 😭
User avatar
OurCreature
 
 
1000 Posts
1000 Posts
Posts: 1363
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:15 pm
Location: Near The New Forest

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot - November Chatty

Post by OurCreature »

So do I, Patience. In the meantime I think we all deserve a :grouphug for carrying on anyway despite the little grey cells misbehaving themselves.
Like the late Chaircat Midge, I am not always right.
Post Reply