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Retirement

Joe P said:
Then a fart of epic sound and fury emanated, which resulted in my being sent to the principal's office and, subsequently, my being given a detention.
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I hope the detention wasn't far to go.

This thread has taken on a breezy nature, methinks. May the force 5 be with you.
 
Joe P said:
Things were rough in my day, too. I was sent to the principal's office, after which I was summarily held for a week's detention, for accidentally farting during Grade 5 French class.

Seriously, who hasn't accidentally farted during Grade 5 French class? He that is without farts among you, let him pass the first gas in Grade 5 French class.

Joe
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My favourite recollection was a very loud one emitted into the otherwise silent class of a strict Head of English. The chalk paused on the board, he took a theatrical pause before turning round, then did and said “that’s the most intelligent noise I’ve heard from this class all afternoon” .

I have to add a Joe, there’s no such thing as an accidental one in a high school class. There’s invariably considerable forethought and precision timing with careful anatomical adjustment in relation to the plywood seat, for maximum volume. You know what you did.
 
Tony One said:
That is of course the Governments plan... no? Imagine if you actually did a manual job!!
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I left school with no qualifications bar a couple of CSE's. I worked on building sites for years as a brickies labourer, a hod carrier and pipe layer's labourer digging trenches and moving holes a few feet one way or another because the first one I dug wasn't in quite the right place. I've worked in factories as a warehouse assistant unloading lorry loads of paving slabs by hand day in day out, as a welder, a waiter, a chef, a painter and decorator, a farm hand, a garage forecourt assistant, plus a few more that I've forgotten right now. In my mid 30's I did a 2 year access course in North Wales and then did a degree at Sheffield University. I've been teaching for the last 20 years and it's the most demanding job I've done by far.

I'm retiring at the end of this year.

I feel I've earned it.
 
ks.234 said:
I left school with no qualifications bar a couple of CSE's. I worked on building sites for years as a brickies labourer, a hod carrier and pipe layer's labourer digging trenches and moving holes a few feet one way or another because the first one I dug wasn't in quite the right place. I've worked in factories as a warehouse assistant unloading lorry loads of paving slabs by hand day in day out, as a welder, a waiter, a chef, a painter and decorator, a farm hand, a garage forecourt assistant, plus a few more that I've forgotten right now. In my mid 30's I did a 2 year access course in North Wales and then did a degree at Sheffield University. I've been teaching for the last 20 years and it's the most demanding job I've done by far.
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Pff. Lightweight! :D
 
Upthread I mentioned the possibility of me actually geting out of this country next year and going to Mexico. Well it's happening. I'm really looking forward to it. Mrs Mull isn't over pleased, but I lost patience waiting so booked for ME!! I know that Cancun is sort of the Benidorm of the Yucatan.. but it beats the shit out of Blackpool...

Downside.
Being retired and having time I went round to a mate's for half an hour and on the way back some numpty rammed into the back of my lovely and quite rare Honda Civic 2L 'S'. To be fair it could happen to anyone, but I'm just praying they don't write it off, because whatever cash I get will not buy me a similar car 13 years old all leather interior with only 60k on the clock. I was planning on keeping that until I chucked my license in...
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So.. I got home and called the insurance and then heard a text 'ping' in. When I looked.. a former colleague and friend has passed away suddenly today after a massive heart attack.. well under 60 as I recall. I have no words for that.

I'm not sure what the moral to this mixed bag is.. but I'm pretty sure it isn't KEEP WORKING!!
 
Re the Honda. They will write it off. See if you can buy it off the insurance company. Then get it fixed.
Getting back to school experiences. In the 60s the standard school boy haircut was a short back and sides. I had a biology teacher whose method of punishment was to get hold of the short hairs behind your ear and twist, total agony. He also ran the school rugger team, no surprise their, sadistic bastard.
 
Apologies if this has been mentioned before, but at a seminar held by the Wesleyan (highly recommended by the way) we were shown a graph comparing life expectancy for different retirement ages. According to Wesleyan, someone retiring at 55 is going to live a lot longer than someone who retires at 65.

I can't help feeling that this figures in the govt thinking in upping the retirement age....bump off the oldies a bit sooner to save money
 
In some instances we're starting to see life expectancy drop which is what I've expected for while. So much artificial (eg plastic etc) stuff in the environment. In the 50s and 60s we had bad stuff such as DDT but the scale & volume of the cr@p we pump into the environment now can't be good for us.

As for retirement age - I've seen people work until late 60s because all they have is work - when they retire often they are gone within a couple of years. Got to be more to life than work...find some interests and way to retire by around 60.
 
Mullardman said:
Upthread I mentioned the possibility of me actually geting out of this country next year and going to Mexico. Well it's happening. I'm really looking forward to it. Mrs Mull isn't over pleased, but I lost patience waiting so booked for ME!! I know that Cancun is sort of the Benidorm of the Yucatan.. but it beats the shit out of Blackpool...
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Loads of interesting places on the Yucutan peninsula, we hired a car and went down to Tulum (village more than coast, Tulum Parrilada was great) then set off across to Valladolid and onward to the Gulf side. Holbox at the north is a peaceful break if you want a bit of sun and sea. You'll probably feel you have to do a few ruins but be prepared for crowds unless you can be there before the coaches. Chichen Itza was mainly a place to be sold dinner services and dream catchers, also we weren't allowed to go to the top. Some of the Mexican wine is actually quite good now.
 
ks.234 said:
This may well be true, but the figures we were shown looked just at teachers, so all from similar economic backgrounds
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As I came from this background, I could argue that the more experienced you are, the easier teaching gets. However, I gather that it's not the job of educating others nowadays, but the oppressive increase in red tape and being so constrained in one's interaction with pupils. I can therefore understand the extended life claims for those at the chalk-face who either cut down or stop in their mid fifties.

An awful lot of teachers I worked with, excellent as they were at their jobs, had little if any financial or investment nous, leaving them in somewhat parlous economic situations when facing or contemplating retirement. However, this probably applies to both professional and artisan careers. 'It's not what you earn; it's what you spend' was advice proffered at an early stage in my career.
 
If you go back and look at the introduction of the state pension, it was set at 65 because that was the average life expectancy for a manual worker at the time. The issue for me is about the type of work you are doing and what effect it has one you from psychological and physical point of view.

I'm in my mid 50's and I'm not planning to stop working until I keel over. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is financial. The DWP have calculated that you live comfortably in your retirement you need an income of £22k a year. How many people who are coming up to retirement are near to that figure?

The other is because I enjoy my job. I work in the charity sector and while I don't earn a lot, it's flexible, not that stressful and it's interesting. I'm not doing too bad financially, but to maintain my current standard of living, I don't have much choice but to continue to work in some capacity.

My moto is good work is good for you!
 
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