Whatcha Doin?

I had planned on having a day to myself today........planned it last week.

I was going to go back to bed after the grandchildren were at school.

I am not a good sleeper and sometimes I get too tired and just need a day to do nothing.

Well...............it didn't go according to plan.

Our eldest daughter had a work accident last night and has hurt her back.............and as she has 4 children and if off her feet for about a week I will be rescheduling my day of doing nothing.

Enjoy you lunch out Joono.

Deb............I don't have a dishwasher......................I don't mind washing up the dishes in the sink.

Sorry to hear about your daughter, Flashie., and I hope that it isn't anything too serious. Back pain is horrible. You're a good mum.

Deb............I don't have a dishwasher......................I don't mind washing up the dishes in the sink


Flashie, I said that once.... many years ago

and I very quickly changed my mind after we got one

hope your daughter's back is OK

Wow! Makes me realise all the things we take for granted.

Edited to say: That was in response to Sin - I missed a page.

Yay!!!!!

That's no good Flashie, I hope she takes the medical advice on board and heals quickly. Maybe you can get to bed earlier tonight?

Sin, I have seen disabled people say they would not want their hearing/sight/voice back as their life was their life and they don't want change so I understand your perspective on it.

I like our dishwasher because I think everything comes out pristine and I hate damp tea towels.

Joono, I can't think of anything better than to have a lunch date with my sisters on a regular basis. Unfortunately I only have 2 left and they are both in Queensland.

Life is different now Dawn. Our parents lived in an era after much financial strife so probably learned to be very careful. These days most seem to want everything, now.

As I get older I have more thoughts of how to enjoy life than how much money I have in the bank.

Prim, we have been extraordinarily fortunate (if I was a believer I'd say blessed) Mr Penny was a government employee (TAFE lecturer) and paid into a government employees super scheme all his working life. The deal was you retired on a pension that was a % of your retiring salary (the % calculated on length of employment and age at retirement) and indexed to any future rise in wages.

A few years before Mr Penny reached retirement age the Government woke up to how much this was costing and scrapped the pension aspect for all future employees - making the payout simply a lump sum on retirement instead. They couldn't make it retrospective of course, but they did their darndest to persuade all those still covered by the 'grandfather' clause to opt, at least partly, for a lump sum.. They dangled all sorts of sweeteners and held special 'retirement' seminars to point out all the goodies a lump sum could buy and as the interest rate at that time was around 15% it looked - on paper - very attractive.

Quite a few people fell for it, but Mr Penny, being the wily old bird he is, figured if it looked to good to be true it probably was, and if the Government was pushing it, it was probably a much better deal for them than for him, and said, no thank you, he'd stick with his pension. The result is that 20 years down the track (he retired at 60) we are on an assured income for life and, while not wealthy, will never have to worry about not having enough for our needs.

Has it been available in Tasmania recently flashie?

Cadbury have been producing it in New Zealand as a limited edition. From what I have read some of that has ended up on Australian eBay... kiwis in oz bringing it back after a visit to NZ...because of the demand.

We had a Cadbury's Favorites Kiwi Edition (snack size)box at Christmas (that was brought back from NZ) and it had some Caramilk in it. I have never heard of it before.. it was quite tasty..

Edit to add - after looking on the net it does appear Coles & WW are selling it now, but it's flying off the shelves. If I see any, I'll grab one.

Flashie if supermarkets near you are stocking it, but have none left on the shelf you can do a raincheck and you will get it when new stock comes in.

Penny, I missed that super scheme by 6 months. I didn't realise it at the time but now know just how unlucky I was.

I announced my retirement at work this week (not until July). I am not sure how I feel. My brain is still going ten to the dozen but my body is protesting.

I will miss it in so many ways but there are other aspects that I can't wait to get away from.

Retirement is the best thing prim! I used to wonder what I would do with myself. Now I’m very busy, doing things I want to do, not things I have to do.

Another thing I have never heard of, I must have been living in a cave LOL.

It sounds refreshing. I am interested to know more. My DD rarely drinks alcohol and usually has a lemon, lime and bitters when out but I know she also likes lemony type drinks so it might give her an alternative.

I don’t care. I’m happy with the way we live and don’t mind who knows about it.

I must tell you what happened to me yesterday which restored my faith in today's youth, not that I'd totally lost it because my sons are the salt of the earth.  After a really fun day yesterday in Perth, my sister and I got on the train to get home.  The other sister goes in the other direction.

I was juggling a bit because my window shopping turned into a bit more than that, and when I put one of my bags down I kicked it over and my coffee packs fell out, so I was scrambling to pick them up because the train was filling up quickly with people.  All good.  We got off the train at my station and someone called out to us.

A young guy had jumped off the train and was holding my purse and he wanted to know if it was one of ours.  I was so surprised and pleased and did try to thank him properly but he quickly jumped back on the train and continued to wherever he was going.

My purse must have fallen out of my bag when I was picking up the other stuff.  I'm so grateful to him and I hope my shocked look and a thank you was enough.  There is nothing worse than having to go through sorting out all your cards and drivers licence etc., not to mention the cash that was in there too.