zap99

19 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Andy, unless I have missed it no one referred to youngsters as snow flakes. The only reference was to “boomers“  by Harry.

Im sure your daughters will do just fine. We all face the challenges of our particular generation.

 

Funny how the meaning of slang changed over the years. When I was a lad in South London "Snowflake " had different meaning which if used today would get you locked up. Quite rightly so.

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

As its Gala night, I will have Marco's beef Wellington please. 

Any sundae, even on a Tuesday.. 

I find many of the starters a bit pretentious, so may just go straight to soup please... 

Washed down by a pint of Peroni, unless we are killing a bottle of Zinfandel.. 

Andy 

DW likes that chocolate bomb thing in epecurian that you pour hot sauce over and the bomb melts and you end up with this runny, gooiee stuff that tastes great but makes you feel sick..........cheese is ok too.

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

As its Gala night, I will have Marco's beef Wellington please. 

Any sundae, even on a Tuesday.. 

I find many of the starters a bit pretentious, so may just go straight to soup please... 

Washed down by a pint of Peroni, unless we are killing a bottle of Zinfandel.. 

Andy 

Crepe Suzette in epecurian please.

15 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Quite how you read a post about younger people paying for the pensions and healthcare costs of older people as in any way suggesting it's anybody's fault escape me!

 

Why be so negative about any group of people? Try not to create intergenerational disharmony  - it achieves nothing for anybody,  and that's been the thrust of every post I've made on this.

Post #253 gives s clue.😁

3 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Given that chimney climbing stopped in 1834 then no 😀

 

I did have to provide my own uniform when I started part time weekend work at age 14 when still at school.

Shortly before I retired one of the "kids" came up to me and said "the laces in my safety boots broke". Replace them then. "Can I have an order number for the menders". I thought, I need to get out of here.

11 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

We still pay tax, a lot of tax, even after retirement.

 

Only 5% of people of my age got “free” university education, (now it is its more than half of school leavers). Most others of my age  started to work and started to pay tax from a very, very early age.

 

And now

 

Free baby baby boxes

Free child benefits

Free nursery places 

Free school meals to P 3 for all

Free clothing vouchers 

Free laptops for school children

Extended maternity pay (as opposed to being summarily dismissed)

Paternity leave

Flexible working regulations 

Family friendly policies 

etc etc etc

 

I could go on and on with all the modern benefits. I for one am delighted that life is so easier and offers so many more opportunities for those younger than I am (particularly young women). In return I don’t expect them to begrudge me the very little I get by comparison when compared to what I have paid into the system over many, many years.

 

Did you have to provide your own PPE. I bet climbing up those chimney's took it's toll on your street clothes.😷

1 hour ago, Eglesbrech said:

Has anyone else received a refund yet? Anyone?

The refund from Gatwick parking took 2 days and the one from Marriot 5 days. Nothing from Celebrity yet,but only about 3 weeks so far😁. It shows a minus balance on my card. My DW said we had to use it up at the Michael Kors shop. Sorry my angle that's closed. Minus Avios points as well.😪

55 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Sorted indeed. Except that Covid is many times more likely to kill the average 70 year old than the average 30 year old.  They’ll be fine, but we won’t, statistically. 

I see today’s Times is mooting the prospect of a lockdown until the autumn of 2021 - that would provoke uproar, and would probably be untenable.

If they are locked down for 18 months we can travel around with out picking up their germs.

2 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Years ago it was a couple of babycham for me,, a pint for Frank then into the pictures. Afterwards walking me home eating fish & chips out of newspaper. The perfect evening. 55 years later pre- dinner drinks in Andersons five course waiter served dinner and on to the theatre. How times change. 

Avril 

 

Avril.

That's a bit posh now, but no Bailey's after the show??

1 hour ago, Adawn47 said:

But Cherry B's are really nice and tasty, but without a head of course. 😊.

Avril 

Not as nice as a babycham, with a cherry in it.

31 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I’m still paying tax, and so’s the wife. Both baby boomers.  But I know enough about the economics of this to understand that all our contributions won’t cover the cost of our pensions and healthcare. Far too many of us and too few current taxpayers.

 

There’s a current expression (OK Boomer) which concerns me and should concern anyone in our position dependent on younger people to pay their pensions etc.  Baby boomers have had the voting power for a long time to make politicians listen, hence the big pensions increases. That’s starting to change, and younger people, if they feel unfairly treated, may choose to vote for different policies.

So, if the younger people change their voting habits and vote for a change, the other lot want to increase benefits. If unemployment increases, us oldies with private pensions end up paying more tax. So lock them in and let us spend our ill-gotten cash on travel/restaurants. The extra vat will pay for their trainers etc. Sorted.

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

It doesn’t work that way, I’m afraid, Avril.  Current state pensions and healthcare costs are paid out of current taxes and always have been.

 

Think about the taxes we paid in the past, compare that with current costs, and you’ll see why.  What we paid in almost always comes to far less than we’re costing now, and it’s current taxpayers who are footing the bill.  There are fewer of them, more of us, and it’s one of the main reasons the question of care home fees still hasn’t been sorted out.

I bet most of the baby boomers are still paying income tax. In some cases ( mine ) more than when I was working. So I guess in this debate, I'm paying my own pension. I think I'll ask myself for a raise😁

46 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Could that have something to do with Brexit?

Brexit?. That's a term we don't hear much recently. If ,say, Britannia does 2 Weeks from Southampton and stops at 6 ports,will they stop somewhere else instead of Gib, or cut to 5 ports. If they can find 5 ports.

On 4/18/2020 at 6:03 PM, Eglesbrech said:

We enjoy Ceuta as well. There is a really nice Parador not far from the port which is great for a nice cool sherry and olives in a civilised setting. There is also the biggest Lidl I have ever seen and it has a massive range of stock that is not available in the U.K.

But in Gibraltar you can sit in a shady garden of a bodega with a nice glass of red and then pop in to Morrisons on the way back to the ship.

26 minutes ago, pete14 said:

I don’t want to spoil your reminiscences but ‘They’re coming to take me away ha ha’ was not recorded by Screaming Lord Such. It was written and performed by Jerry Samuels under the name of Napoleon XIV. It reached number 4 in UK chart.

Of course you are correct , but he did.     " walk the streets of London late at night".

👿

7 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Wow. Screaming Lord Such.  That's a blast from the past. Didn't he go into politics? Figures!!

Avril 

I saw screaming lord sutch and the savages at Wimbledon palais in about 1964. Not very good, but thank goodness not elected.

2 minutes ago, daiB said:

In that case cruising totally finished. Never been on any cruise when the majority of cruisers have not been over 70.

 

The flaw in the argument is that at the moment over 70’s have no extra restrictions on top of under 70’s. Unless they have underlying issues. They were mentioned at the very start but never again. They are not on the list of 1.5 million who have health issues who have to completely self isolate. They can shop and exercise etc.

 

Just another example of flawed journalism. Lazy and sensationalist.

I think that they should lock up the young people so we can get on and enjoy our retirement without catching their germs😷.

1 minute ago, AndyMichelle said:

Yeah, he soon got out... 😊

Andy 

I think he went to live in California ( Hollywood?). I bet he regretted that move.😂

4 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

I was only kidding... 

I wondered what was good to come out of Stoke apart from the road to Cannock... 😊

Oh, and did you not deny being a' Stokie'... 

I can't keep up with you... 😊

Andy 

Slash came out of Stoke. He's quite good😁

10 minutes ago, Calton said:

We have booked celebrity for next February. Same price as Marella but I've got an infinite veranda on the edge 😁

I looked at Marella for the Caribbean at the end of the year. They must be having a laugh.  Good ships are cheaper.

9 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Appealing? Bay of Biscay twice within a week, a dump of a place when you get there and the potential to contract a life threatening illness whilst on board. I can think of far more appealing things 😉

Anywhere sounds appealing right now, but what had Gibraltar done to upset you?.Good weather, lots of nice coffee shops, steeped in history, nice friendly locals. Alternative....stuck at home for another 18 months.😷

35 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

ABTA have always made a very big thing of the much vaunted 'ABTA Protection'  -  looks now to be about as useful as a chocolate teapot (Andy - do you have one in your collection? 🙂)!

And TUI put U in the middle. Who pays ABTA ( clue, association of British travel agents) staff wages. NOT a consumer organisation.

2 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

Probably mean Travel Insurance might not be valid if you are over 70 or have underlying health problems and you decide to travel. 

Not a problem if you are not allowed out of the house till next September.

21 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I agree. Gibraltar is a complete dump and the only positive about it is that you are almost 100% certain to see Dolphins 20-30 mins after you leave there. Last year we went to Ceuta on Aurora, which is a Spanish enclave cut out of Morocco. It’s directly opposite Gibraltar (the Rock is visible from it) and is an absolute delight. Shame we can’t swap it for Gibraltar with the Spanish. 

A 7 day cruise to Gibraltar and back sounds quite appealing right now.

1 hour ago, Vitalsign said:

TUI have been given €1.6billion to help them by the German government according info online so that should keep them afloat - excuse the pun

1.6 billion should pay the directors salaries for a while.