Retirement

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Sorry - I misread your post. It was train travel we were discussing - but I thought you'd travelled further than you actually did. Nice to Genova is about 120 miles, so you paid about 11p per mile. The East Coast journeys to and from Scotland I mentioned using a Rail Card would be cheaper than that in 2nd class and comparable in 1st Class, but with the strong incentive and benefit of "free" food and drinks (including beer, wine, spirits on weekdays) and also WiFi and sometimes a newspaper. Still compared with our trips from home to London (South West Trains commuter services) your Nice to Genova journey was cheap. Was that a regular fare, or somehow discounted?

First class travel may be overrated. Frau A and I travelled to Birmingham first class (with railcards) to and from Rattle's VPO Dream of GongGong. On the return journey, we were joined at Derby by a hen party, whose voices got louder as the journey progressed. We should have known there'd be trouble when the first class tramps announced that they were going to get "tiddled". The train manager did nothing to help.

[teamsaint]

There are some amazing and bonkers fares out there if you know where to look.

EG,off peak day return from Clifton Downs ( bristol) to London, via Warminster is about £33, less any railcard discount. You dont have to get on at Clifton, so it is cheaper to buy the ticket from Clifton than pay the £50 ( less railcard)ticket if you book Salisbury to Waterloo, ( for example)and travel on the self same train.

[subcontrabass]

There are some amazing and bonkers fares out there if you know where to look.

EG,off peak day return from Clifton Downs ( bristol) to London, via Warminster is about £33, less any railcard discount. You dont have to get on at Clifton, so it is cheaper to buy the ticket from Clifton than pay the £50 ( less railcard)ticket if you book Salisbury to Waterloo, ( for example)and travel on the self same train.

That one really is bonkers. It is even £7 less on the return fare to travel to Waterloo (via Salisbury) from Clifton Down instead of from Bristol Temple Meads.

[Dave2002]

First class travel may be overrated. Frau A and I travelled to Birmingham first class (with railcards) to and from Rattle's VPO Dream of GongGong. On the return journey, we were joined at Derby by a hen party, whose voices got louder as the journey progressed. We should have known there'd be trouble when the first class tramps announced that they were going to get "tiddled". The train manager did nothing to help.

Indeed. We don't make a habit of using first class unless we thinik there are clear benefits. Further, re the East Coast journeys I mentioned, the advantages are significant for advance booking - but the "regular" fares are very much higher. Note also that food and drink service on East Coast are less interesting at the weekends. We think that for those long journeys there are advantages in first class if by advance booking we can get a good price on a ticket, but we probably wouldn't bother to Birmingham, or indeed most places within 250 miles of London.

First class on Eurostar was worth having, again - if the price was right.

You mention hen parties in first class - another possible hazard is parents taking young children for "special occasions". I'll leave it at that.

[Dave2002]

That one really is bonkers. It is even £7 less on the return fare to travel to Waterloo (via Salisbury) from Clifton Down instead of from Bristol Temple Meads.

There were some bonkers prices on GWR trains going west a few years ago. One ticket I bought was cheaper because the train went via Slough. To do that I had to travel into London, get to Paddington, then get the train. An alternative route which I might have used on occasion was to get on the train at Reading, but probably would have cost more when the Slough deal was available.

When I mentioned that the train "went via Slough" I should have mentioned that really it went "through Slough". It hurtled through Slough station at high speed.

[subcontrabass]

That one really is bonkers. It is even £7 less on the return fare to travel to Waterloo (via Salisbury) from Clifton Down instead of from Bristol Temple Meads.

And after 9 a.m. it is £14.50 cheaper (off-peak return) from Clifton Down to Paddington than from Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington.

(I should point out that Clifton Down is my nearest station. Normally for travel to London I take a bus to Temple Meads (no cost after 9 a.m. using my bus pass).)

[jean]

When I mentioned that the train "went via Slough" I should have mentioned that really it went "through Slough". It hurtled through Slough station at high speed.

But not fast enough to escape the friendly bombs had they fallen.

That's probably the explanation.

[Nick Armstrong]

I am delighted to report that at the end of April, having turned 55 later this month, I shall be retiring

Ironically, I'm childishly excited about it - increasingly so since last summer when it became clear that it was economically a distinctly attractive option. I'm only too aware I'm astonishingly fortunate to be able to do so (although it's not just good luck - there's been a certain amount of prudence and planning involved over the years).

Various trips (not least to spend more time with family in France), a couple of major redecoration projects at home, the prospect of actually trying to play properly the dozen or so piano pieces I've stumbled through intermittently for years (and other pieces besides), the ability to increase the amount of time I can spend as a flâneur in London, daytime cinema visits, freebies at the music colleges, &c. &c.... All these things I find enticing in the extreme.

Also doing something properly I've not been able to do for years: reading. Proust (see soon-to-be dedicated thread) will be one project: Book 1 already purchased and waiting. But above all, I mean to read Zola's 20-book Rougon-Macquart series of novels. I read 2 or 3 when living in France in the early '80s and loved them. Last year, my interest was rekindled by the first third of Radio 4's terrific "Zola - Love, Sex and Money" series (with Glenda Jackson et al.).

I've made it a task over the last couple of months to add to the 1977-80 Livre de Poche edition of the series, of which I bought a few back in the day, the design of which I love and the format and typeface of which make them ideal for reading whenever, wherever (I often find it easiest to read anywhere but at home, not least when travelling). The internet has proved perfect for this task, and this week I completed my collection from various French secondhand sites

Let me at it !!!!

I confidently expect not to miss the increasingly irritating aspects of work at all (a lot of them have already evaporated, and I already seem to be out and about much more late morning and mid-late afternoon )... and indeed, in the words of the cliché, to wonder how I ever actually had time for work. (There is actually one aspect of what I do, the most enjoyable, that I shall be able to continue on an occasional basis - once I've had the rest of this year off - to keep the brain/hand in and boost the pocket money)

I recalled this thread from a while back and have enjoyed reading the various reactions and experiences above. Any others gratefully received!

[ahinton]

I am delighted to report that at the end of April, having turned 55 later this month, I shall be retiring

But not from these 'ere boards, I fondly hope!

[Nick Armstrong]

But not from these 'ere boards, I fondly hope!

A sweet thing to say, ah! No, indeed, no plans in that regard!

[teamsaint]

Excellent news, Cals.

Very pleased for you indeed.



Don't think you'll have too much trouble filling your days.
I know I wouldn't.

The Proms queues beckon.?.........

[ahinton]

A sweet thing to say, ah! No, indeed, no plans in that regard!

Ah, well that's all right then! The last thing that any of us would want here is superCalifragilisticexeuntretirous...

[Nick Armstrong]

Thanks, teams!

.

no more Sunday night blues would be great.

That is a great point. Sundays have never seemed so relaxed and enjoyable.

and Mondays are brilliant!

Oh yes indeed - but I'm used to that, I've been doing four days a week (excluding Mondays) for a number of years. One of the best decisions I've made to date!

[teamsaint]

Activities that working life doesnt seem to allow time for:

Proper coffee.
Pipe Smoking.
Wagner. ( or all other music).
Burning the entire Avant Garde Project to CD.
Cricket.
Visiting the Orkneys.
Keeping up to date with technology.
Visiting the mobile library van.
And so on.

[ahinton]

Activities that working life doesnt seem to allow time for:

Proper coffee

I don't see why that should be...

Pipe Smoking

Best avoided if a nice long retirement is sought!

Wagner. ( or all other music).

It's never stopped me!...

Burning the entire Avant Garde Project to CD

Never tried that.

Cricket.

Oh, no, PLEASE not that; you might get this thread to disappear by mere mention thereof!

Visiting the Orkneys.

It's never stopped PMD.

Keeping up to date with technology.

Can one ever really do that?

Visiting the mobile library van.

In the unliklely event that you have one within a respectable distance...