chrishansenhome

I haven't been updating as frequently. I am wondering why this is, and have to conclude that reading other people's blogs and interacting on Facebook are more interesting than blogging and Twitter (which I have also neglected). So let's recap.

First and foremost, I am now officially retired. I have stopped even receiving emails about job openings. After the age of 55, the law here allows one to start receiving the private pension money one has accrued during working life. I have three such pensions, from my last three employers, and the total in the pot is in the low six-figures in pounds sterling. The law here also allows one to take 1/4 of that money as a lump sum, and then put 3/4 into an annuity. So that's what I did.

I will be 60 years old in November, and with the state of my health not markedly improving (although not rapidly declining) I felt that taking my occupational pension now was the best move I could make. I have secured a guaranteed income for at least ten years of around £430 (around US $700) per month.

In two years, I will become eligible for my US Social Security payment. It will be around US $990 (£615) per month. This will be a large addition to our household income. (Edited the amounts as I got them wrong the first time.)

Thus, what to do with the lump sum that has or will hit my account soon?

A friend from Manchester dropped down here to spend a weekend with us, and we decided to go to the relatively new Westfield Stratford to shop. After a lovely lunch at Balans, marred only by the absence of a WiFi signal in the restaurant, resulting in a bit of a problem with the card payment, we strolled to the Apple Store, where I bought a new iPad, 64GB, with WiFi only, in white.



I am enjoying setting it up (mostly). When iOS6 became available, I was alerted by my Singaporean friends on Facebook (thanks, guys!) and downloaded it to both my iPhone and my iPad. I have noted the silliness around the new iMaps, but I rarely use it. I will connect to Google Maps through Opera if I need to navigate. It is always fun playing with new toys. I have now succumbed to iPods (I have a Nano 8GB and a full 80 GB version), iPhones, and iPads. I still resist Mac computers.

As we left the Apple Store and headed around the corner, we passed a stall out in the centre of the shopping centre. They are well-placed to intercept customers coming out of the Apple Store, and one (very cute) salesman intercepted me and sold me a cover and a film protector for the screen. He wanted to sell me Bluetooth headphones, but I wisely refrained.

Over the weekend we ate at C&R Café in Chinatown twice, and Nicky (our Mancunian friend) ate there once on his own. I had to demur the second time and only had roti canai (excessively oily, I fear) and gado-gado (which was quite good). I feared the effects of too much white rice on my blood sugar.

On Wednesday I used a bit more of my money to engage a guy to extend the patio in the back garden. Here's what it looked like Wednesday morning before he began work:



As you can see, the grass was rather sparse for a couple of reasons. Our picnic table was placed over the patch, but more important, the sun rarely shines fully on that patch because of the position of the building and the fence. It got muddy and it was unpleasant to sit at the table.

He worked very hard, and by 1 pm the area looked like this:



I put the chairs and table on it, and this afternoon enjoyed a coffee sitting out there, on a dry level surface. It's wonderful!

Yesterday I travelled to the O2 shopping centre on Finchley Road to visit the Sainsbury there. It competes in my affections with the Waitrose at Westfield Shepherds Bush. The Tesco at the Elephant is OK for staples like milk and bread, but if you want something tastier or more out-of-the-ordinary, you have to go elsewhere.

And today, I voted in the US Federal elections. US citizens resident in other countries are allowed to vote for Federal offices only (both in primaries and general elections). In previous elections the City and County of San Francisco, where I last voted in the US when I lived there, sent a paper ballot with lots of envelopes. One had to fill out an interior envelope, placing the voting paper inside it and sealing it, then place it in an outer envelope. The difficulty is that my return address here was printed on the outer envelope in such a way that the Royal Mail always returned it to me. To avoid this I would have to draw a square around the election department's address with a big black "TO:" and one around my return address with a big black "FROM:".

This time I got an email with a link to my ballot in .pdf format. I downloaded it, printed it out, voted (Obama, Feinstein, and Pelosi), and sent the ballot back in plenty of time in my own envelopes.

My feet seem to be OK. I keep my fingers continuously crossed. I can walk around for three or four hours without any discomfort when I wear my new orthopedic shoes. On Thursday I return to the orthotist to have everything evaluated. I will be bringing my old pair of shoes to be resoled and insoled so that I will have two pairs of usable shoes. I have one small ulcer on my left foot, but have not had antibiotics for three weeks.

Finally, what else will I be doing with my lump sum? I have decided that, before I get too old and sick to travel I will take a trip (as I premised in a previous entry) next March and April to Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia. I have never been south of the Equator, and have friends in Australia who I would love to see. I think I will spend a week in Singapore getting used to the time zone, then travel to New Zealand for a week, then Sydney for a week, Melbourne for a week, and then mooch around for a week before returning to Singapore for another week, then back to London.

I will be going to Trailfinders next week to discuss this trip. I would like to spend around £4,000, but would be willing to spend more if necessary. Any ideas about what to see in Australia and New Zealand would be welcome. Bali has also been mentioned as somewhere to go. My friends in Singapore should look out for me in March and April; I hope to see lots of you then.

This is really fast work. Thanks to Ron's Log for the original cite.