ALONE AGAIN

Well here it is, New Years Eve and I'm alone again.

Not really alone, rather I chose to be at home with my dog.
There is always fireworks on New Years Eve and dogs just dont like them.

But I have this strange dog who will sit on my feet and quiver during thunder or fireworks but if I take her outside where she can see the lightening or the sky lit by fireworks, she is quite content.

So we have a bottle of champagne, one glass and a dogs lead at the ready and we will be off to the beach to see the new year in.

Maybe it will be a lucky night
A couple of years ago half my champagne was consumed by teenage skinny dipping girls, running from the water to drink.
My dog didnt mind---she went swimming with them---and of course, I didn't object to the sight of naked young girls.

I doubt that will ever happen again, but I can dream.

Happy New Year to you all----I wish you all well and hope that this next year will bring you health, joy, contentment, and love.
If you wanted wealth, good luck with that---somehow, I think we have to work for it.

If you have love, you are wealthy beyond all dreams

See you on the other side

Party like there is no tomorrow---it will get here---see you on the other side

BELIEFS

Yes, it is me and my older brother and I did believe in Santa Claus

I'm not sure when I stopped believing or why I stopped.
Was it that I already knew but it was easier to get things from my parents if I asked Santa.
I do remember getting into trouble with a neighbour when I told one of their younger children that there was no Santa.

Are our beliefs only there to comfort us and when they dont work to our advantage, then we change.

I went to Presbyterian Sunday School and had a belief in a God and maybe a Jesus---I really dont recall.

I'm not sure if I had a second comming of belief in my teen years when I went to church youth meetings or if it was just that I just liked a few of the girls there---ok, one girl---hello Julie Pender

A Monsignor of the Catholic Church told me one day, that he thought that a lot of people who went to a "House of God" every sunday, only went to be seen by others and a lot who stayed at home had God in their heart and their house..
Do those who go, think that they are in the fast lane to something good ?

I had some sort of belief in a God until my brother died.
If there was a God, why would he let such a good man suffer and why would he let him die so early.
Why would such a God let bad things happen to children.

So I say that I dont believe---but every now and again, I yell at him on the beach and want answers to some questions----but he never answers.

Dont get me wrong. If you have a belief and that belief gives you some joy, I am happy for you.

It's funny that Chistians and Muslims believe in the same God, but they take their teachings from two diferent books written by men---and because those men had opposing views, then there is two opposing religions----and funny, it is a belief in the writings of men that make two groups have an opposing view on the same piece of history---
Hey guys, I might be right but I respect your right to believe.

If you believe in Santa, may he bring you everything you may wish for.
If you believe in God, may he answer your prayers

But no matter what you believe, may we all have peace, may you all have happiness, but most of all, may you be tolerant of the needs and beliefs of others

PLANNED TO BE LUCKY

I really dont know why things clicked early in my life, but I had this idea that I needed long term plans and goals.
They all seemed easier and cheaper to achieve if there was plenty of time allowed.

At the age of 17, I chose to invest in superanuation for my retirement and I made a decision to invest in a pension scheme, rather than a lump sum payout scheme. Somehow I worked out that the large lump sum at 17 wouldn't look that large when I reached 60, but if I was paid a fortnightly sum based on a percentage of my retiring salary, then I might be getting value at current day levels.

When my marriage ended, my ex-wife made sure that there was not a lot left for me in divorce property settlement. There was just enough for a deposit on a new house, but I chose to invest that in blue chip shares with dividend reinvest options and took to working four nights a week and weekends, beside my five day a week job.
Two years later I bought a house with a lot bigger deposit and still had my investment

My brother died young and I got a sum of money from his estate. I could have paid it off my house mortgage but chose to invest in another blue chip, reinvest dividend scheme that I was warned against by a financial planner.

Nine years ago, I built a new house. For me, it could have been a lot smaller, but I couldn't help but look at resale value and the off chance of a partner with a family.

Two years ago, I paid my house off and at the age of 60, my superanuation scheme matured and having saved my long service leave entitlements, I could retire from work with a substantial payout for that leave and claim my superanuation pension.

I laughed when I found out that my fortnightly pension with a retirement taxation bracket and no longer contributing to my superanuation scheme, wopuld actually be more than my final working day salary.

I am lucky. Not having to cash my investments actually means that because of the world wide financial crisis, I am accumulating more shares at a lesser price from my dividends and I have no doubt that they will regain their value.

I wanted to be in Scotland by now, to visit my mothers birth place and there is a couple of people there who I would like to meet---and of course, Ireland---there is a guy there I want to meet.
But if I wait two and a half years, I will be at official retiring age and get a government pension and a few worthwhile perks.---And I can cash one of those investments and make it a big trip.

So looking ahead and planning a few things, can make you lucky

And comming here occasionally, I am lucky to meet some very nice people

MY JOB ATE MY LIFE

All through my life I have never been one to have a big circle of friends.

At school it was always one or two friends, but a lot of school friendships.
From the age of 7, I was always friends with one guy
We went through different sporting careers, ran with different groups but we always came back together as that friend that you can always depend on.

He joined the airforce and was posted to interstate and overseas bases, but we always kept in touch
I went on with life with friends from sport and from work and I had another life with my horses and made friends there, but in the end, they seemed to move on when things changed.
I still see a lot of them but they are more acquaintances than friends.

I got married and moved to another area---all of our friends seemed to be my wifes's family or friends of their family.
For six years I did not see my school mate because of an argument between wives.
I worked two jobs to buy a house and make things more comfortable in my married life.

My marriage ended and so did all of the friendships from that time but luckily my old school friend was there for me----
I lost my house and most of my money in a fairly bitter divorce---bitter I suppose because she wanted everything including my dog and didn't care what she did or said to get it
The only thing that was never mentioned was my retirement insurance (superanuation)----so I never mentioned it and gave her the rest.

My life was turned on it's head so I turned to work to try to re-establish myself and unfortunately got lost in working.
I worked all of the overtime that I could get and worked nights and weekends to get myself back on top.

I made it---I bought a house, I bought a new car and had my finances back in very good order.
The only thing I forgot to do was to socialiize with people from work or make time to find and establish friendships.
Yes, I made a lot of work friends, but they were work friends---friends at work and the occasional work function

My school friend was still there and once out of the airforce, ended up working with me----we drove home every night together.
A strange, lonely married girl came into my life and we became very good friends---she lived close to me and our regular friday night involved a few hours at a local bar with her and my best mate.

My school friend, my best mate, always wanted to move to one of our warmer northern states, but for years we talked about retiring together, playing very bad golf and travelling together---his wife was happy with that because Europe did not interest her and she was happy to get him out of the house occasionally.
But two years before retirement, he bought a block of land in one of those warmer states and ended up retiring a year before me and moving to his new home.
The friday night drinks stopped when the strange girl left her husband and moved away.

I didn't really notice til I retired that working those long hours had left me with no social life and only work mates---and of course, my work mates are still at work.

Yes, I holiday in the northern state with my friend and I often talk to the strange girl, but I realise now that they are my only real friends in life.

Yes, it is a good feeling to own your own home and to have enough money to live on, but it would be a lot more enjoyable with friends.

Dont forget every aspect of your life---money isn't everything

USEFUL INFORMATION

Q:�Where can men over the age
of 60 find younger, sexy
women who are interested
in them?
A:�Try a bookstore under fiction.

Q:�What can a man do while his
wife is going through
menopause?
A:�Keep busy. If you're handy with
tools, you can finish the basement.
When you're done you'll have a
place to live.

Q:�Someone has told me that
menopause is mentioned in the bible. Is that true?


A:�Yes. Matthew 14:92:
"And Mary rode Joseph's ass
all the way to Egypt."

Q:�How can you increase the
heart rate of your 60-plus
year old husband?
A:�Tell him you're pregnant..

Q:�How can you avoid that
terrible curse of the elderly
wrinkles?
A:�Take off your glasses.

Q:�Seriously! What can I do for these Crow's feet and all those wrinkles on my face?
A:�Go braless. It will usually pull them out.

Q:�Why should 60-plus year old people use valet parking?
A:�Valets don't forget where they park your car.

Q:�Is it common for 60-plus year olds to have problems with short term memory storage?
A:�Storing memory is not a problem, Retrieving it is the problem.

Q:�As people age, do they sleep more soundly?
A:�Yes, but usually in the afternoon.

Q:�Where should 60-plus year olds look for eye glasses?
A:�On their foreheads.

BE PREPARED

There are so many things in our lives that we have to prepare for.

We start preparing from very early in life----that big preparation to leave your mothers side and go to school----the preparation (study) for exams at school---that preparation of taking the right courses at school to be ready for that chosen profession.

There is nothing more certain in life than death and taxes.
No matter what we do, we will pay some Government levy---hey, they find some way of getting it out of you.

But do we prepare well enough for the biggest certainty in live.

Ok, you're going to tell be that you have a will, but is it up to date and is it good enough to ensure that your intended beneficiaries actually get the desired benefit with the least fuss and cost.
Does your will have a flow on clause on the off chance that a beneficiary actually dies before you.

The fact is in most of the western world, if you die without a will, your estate will go to your nearest living relative.
My brother died without a will, so his estate should have gone to my parents. The problem with that was that they were on means tested government pensions which would have been reduced by a percentage because of their new found funds.
Luckily I could get them to sign away their entitlement to my favour and I could siphon the funds to them as they required anything. But that took some time and me engaging the services of an estate paralegal---luckily I was friends with the Registrar of Probates for my State and did not need a solicitor for my advice.
Because of the experience, I queried that my parents had good binding will and discovered that like a lot of people from their era, they had will made with a trustee company. I other words, these companies administer the estate of deceased and take a percentage fee for doing so---
In my parents case they had what is called reciprocal wills---each left their estate to the other except if their partner predeceased them, then it went equally divided to their surviving children.
That's fine and simple except my mother would have incurred a debt when my father died to pay the trustees percentage fees and I would have a similar debt when my mother died.
It is cheap to do a will with a trustee company but not so cheap on the beneficiaries----and unfortunately they are black and white---so if you have 5 benificiaries to receive equal value and you have not stipulated any other divisions, then all of your estate must be sold and divided equally----so no one gets granny's ring or the piano from the parlor unless they buy it back from the estate public auction.

The first thing I did after my divorce was finalised was to make a will----because it doesn't matter that you are divorced, you ex spouse can claim to be your nearest living relative and claim your estate.

Look, I'm not going to tell you that will kits are dangerous---hell, they are better than nothing and most of us have someone who we can trust to administer the terms of the will and not try to rip everyone off.
But if you dont want the fights to happen and the whys to be asked and debated, get an estate lawyer to draw up your will and for a fairly modest fee, get them to administer it for you----and for god sake, tell your spouse/family/friends where they will find your will.

Oh, and funeral insurance is not worth having---the premiums will increase as you get older to a point where it becomes unaffordable and it is not a savings bond---dont pay a weekly/monthly premium and it is void---
If you want to purchase a prepaid funeral, do it through a reputable funeral director and it will be a dividend earning bond there for a fully paid funeral.
If you have your will in the hands of an efficient solicitor, your family wont have to worry about funeral costs because your solicitor can negotiate that the costs are an equal division for your estate.

Hey, morbid, maybe, but a guarantee that one day your beneficiaries will collect.

Mine---well ok, I'm single and have no children---so the 1st beneficiary is my dog with her own money and I already have someone who will take her with or without her inheritance, then the rest has percentage divisions between friends and a friend's children.

So make sure that you are ready----it doesn't take too much planning

Oh, one of you is in my will

765

765

Amazing, I could not believe it, but there they were, 765 of them

I have been trying to get my account to operate properly for some time now.
I have been unable to comment on some of my favourite blogs and at times, even reply to comments on my own blog, so I have been tinkering around trying to come up with a solution.

Maybe close down and restart, but why should I-----so yesterday I thought that I would go through by blog from the very start
Hey, I even enjoyed reading a few comments til I came to one post that had 277 comments-----277, never had more than 50 comments ever, so I checked them.
There over a period of time in foreign languages, mainly Asian and Arabic were inane remarks with links to other sites.
I started to delete them singularly at the post comment site but it would have taken forever, so I resorted to the comment section of my dashboard and found 765 of these comment posts littered through three years of posts.

I dont know if any of this will help my situation but I cant help but wonder why people take the time to come to a public forum and litter it with absolute rubbish----and maybe infect the forum

I have removed all 765 posts and please dont worry that I might infect you---I have disinfected my keyboard and I am wearing rubber gloves to type