Pensioners Party

I am now officially a state pensioner. I never thought I'd live to see the day. I feel very grown up.
I have several 'thank you notes' to write. In particular one to an old school friend who sent me a watercolour of 3 fancy goldfish. It was a real surprise. I have admired many of her works since I discovered her website.

We first met age 7 years in infant school. We had just moved into the area. She thought I looked 'strange' or 'interesting' (I'm not sure which) and followed me home from school. Apparently I took the long way round. She lived towards the bottom of my road and I at the top end. We were inseparable until we had to leave school and join the world of work. Marriage and various moves around the country mean we see each other rarely. But this year to celebrate our becoming pensioners we hope to meet up in Worthing to party together.

Thank you Marion. It was a lovely surprise gift.

Pensions Service

I spoke with a very nice young man in Swansea Pensions Service a couple of days ago. No wonder I'd had no reply. Gareth said they had received no letter from me. He was very helpful though and has forwarded a request to the NI Contributions section so that I can be sent details on how I can improve my pension.


I was hoping to organise a small party by arranging for friends to join me at one of the local pubs for a 'pensioner's lunch'. But as my spouse has been unwell I am reluctant to commit to festivities. Failing that I will take a short trip on the local bus - for free.

Pensioner's Perks

I'm gearing up towards becoming an official OAP. I've applied for my pension to start immediately after my 60th birthday. I've had my forecast (not bad but I wont be rich enough to buy you all a drink). Needless to say there are a few errors in my NI contributions and credits. But I've been far too busy at home over the last couple of weeks to get it sorted out. Well I asked them to re assess it a few weeks before Christmas and I've yet to receive a reply.

I'm about to complete a form and get photo ID for my bus pass. Whee . . . free bus travel. I'll be able to stand in the cold wind and rain while I wait half an hour for a bus that may have come and gone already( the hourly bus has an irregular idea of keeping to a schedule).

warning: For readers of this blog outside the UK I looked up OAP on Google and foundthe link at the end which is only for readers who want to broaden their minds, are already broad minded and definitely is not for animal lovers ... well it depends ... animal lovers