Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite.
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Funny I thought it was important to throw the alarm clock out the window.
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In my experience I have gained sleep at about 10 minutes per year. After starting my day at 5.20 for years I now naturally wake at about 6. Progress!
I never needed an alarm clock. Definitely a lark not an owl.
Bruce
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I’m the same I’m able to wake up around a given time without the use of an alarm clock. I used to just set the alarm as a safety device.
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Yebbut, since retirement, my (unalarmed) wake up time has been compared (by my wife) to that of a teenager…….as in “Good afternoon!”
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As you age things do start to go backwards, next our evening meals will be blended. 
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It goes back earlier
"The true origins of the tombstone phrase trace back to the late Walter and Sara Bell of Richmond, Virginia. By all accounts, the epitaph captured an ongoing dynamic between the loving couple. Friends and family described Sara as a hypochondriac who imagined various health scares throughout her life. Walter endured his wife’s medical eccentricities with gentle humor.
When Sara Bell died in June 1930, Walter requested her tombstone read “I told you I was sick.” He succeeded in having the rather unorthodox phrase engraved in stone, prominently marking her grave at Greenwood Cemetery in Hamilton, Ohio. Walter passed away in 1932 and was buried beside his wife. The message on Sara’s tombstone has intrigued cemetery goers ever since.
Copycat Tombstones
The Bells’ epitaph turned out to be so clever that it spawned numerous copycat tombstones across the country. Here are a few examples:
- In Columbus, Ohio, the grave of Ellen Shannon, who died in 1934, bears the phrase “Told You I Was Sick.”
- In Key West, Florida, a tombstone in the city’s Old Cemetery reads, “I Told You I Was Sick – B.P. Roberts.”
- The grave of Alberta Bentley in Goodlettsville, Tennessee asked, “Didn’t I Tell You I Was Sick?”
- In the Oak Hill Cemetery of Kirksville, Missouri, you’ll find a tombstone for Jason Meadows marked “Jason Meadows I Told You I Was Sick.” "
‘That’s all folks’
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“ Hypochondria “
The only thing I’ve never had
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You probably have mitochondria though
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My wife is due to retire at the end of March this year, she is freaking out a bit as she has always had work as her main “thing”. As a Canadian living in the UK she can retire at 65 and access her Canadian pension. Good job we started the ball rolling last August. She has confirmation of her Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) and now she is having to supply additional information to Service Canada regarding residence. The interesting thing is she also has a private pension (RRSP) which is currently with HSBC Canada and she applied to get that converted to a Retirement Income Fund (RIF) which is supposed to be a straight-forward process. However, on contacting the bank representative she has been told she needs to present herself at the local branch in Edmonton, Alberta. In this day and age I thought stuff could be done digitally, I know one would need to provide certified copies of important documents but to need to do this at the local branch seems absurd. To complicate matters HSBC Canada has been bought out by Royal Bank of Canada and the transition is ongoing so an extra layer of complexity.
Tim
Retirement do, I declined their offer.
My last years left a sour taste , as an insurer they self insured their PHI scheme and wanted to access my medical records, I shared a hot desk with their claims administrator.
That was just a taste , a few years later after both she and I were gone, I discovered she was equally appalled.
Other issues besides, just glad to be gone
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[quote="Pete_the_painter, post:170, topic:33113, full:true”]
Funny I thought it was important to throw the alarm clock out the window.
[/quote]
I feel like throwing Mrs AC’s phone out of the window frequently. She’s normally up before me as I’m a night owl and go to bed late.
Of the dozens of alarm tones she has to choose from she has the most horrendous noisy clangy one set twice a week which makes me jump and cuss as though someone had thrown a bucket of water over me.
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I’m in trouble cause I turned off Mrs Pete’s notifications, she’s been getting spam texts at all hours.
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Well expressed. So try. My experience confirms this. I went the Extra Mile - multiple times. Never recognised or rewarded.
My esteemed major aerospace employer found an excuse to dismiss me, without any redundancy pay, in 2015. Nice. It was a ‘co-incidence’ that they were trying to reduce numbers at that time.
Not good at all
Thanks. I was actually pleased when the UK PLC sold their final Salary pension scheme on top Legal & General. I much prefer seeing L&G on my Bank Statement. And Not… R-R.
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Retirement at 59
Did 41 years in the same job ,
which I’ll admit i enjoyed for most of the time
Always planned to finnish at 60 everything was set for that
Had a very close freind die 6 months after his Retirement , puts things into perspective so jumped early
Best decision i ever made
Wish you well 
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Tim,
I’m in BC and 6 months ago converted (Ontario registered) Lira funds to a Lif without going into a bank. Keep asking the question until you hear the answer you want. Suggesting you’ll switch banks might also be helpful.
ps. At the time of conversion only, you can move up to half of the Lira monies to a RRSP which is more flexible in terms of withdrawals ( no mins and maxs)
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May have been worth it though, tho …
I’m a GP in New Zealand and will be turning 65 in July. At that stage I’ll be able to get NZ universal superannuation payment as well as having access to my “ KiwiSaver” account which I have been contributing to the last seventeen years. It will give me a comfortable retirement and the ability to travel overseas annually although not enough for a new car every year. I think that the way it is going with healthcare in my country that it will be a good time to bow out. I have been a Gp in my town since 1987 and I have always found it to be an inherently unreasonable job with a large and consuming workload. Funding for general practice has always been minimal here and it is getting worse. Added to this the population is aging and my oldies all want to see me ( I’m one of 7 doctors in my practice). They stick with me like sh:t to a blanket! I look after them very well but it is difficult to attend to their various ailments in a 15 minute consultation. No youngsters with quick sore throats or ear infections for me! I became burnt out last October and had to have a week off after dealing with a string of very complex elderly cases. One of whom was a receptionists mother, which added to the strain.
I have recovered now thanks to the time out and a great summer with fishing and family time.
In the last 18 months I have been diagnosed with CIDP, an auto immune condition that attacks the peripheral nerves. After 15 years of getting gradually worsening weakness in my hands and feet that by 2021 I had increasing clumsiness in my hands with difficulty typing, writing, performing surgery and using chopsticks! I had to get Dragon dictation software to work the computer. Once it was finally diagnosed after years of neurologist head scratching, I commenced on monthly intravenous IvG infusions at $8000 a pop. Thank goodness for “ socialised medicine”. Now I can type again and clumsiness is better but persistent leg and hand weakness and numbness are permanent. This has had a major effect on my retirement horizon thinking.
As long as I have worked I have never had an existential angst about my career. It has always had meaning and satisfaction. I have been very fortunate in that way. I have now come to realise that life is short and to have quality experiences and relationships is the most important thing.
My needs and wants apart from an expensive hifi system are relatively simple. I absolutely luxuriate in my music room. It’s a time when no one else can interrupt me. I get great pleasure out of exercise such as walking and cycling. Also reading and seeing films, eating out and gradually filtering my wine cellar through my kidneys.
I am also very conscious of the fact due my years of constant low grade fatigue I have been pretty useless to Mrs IDAK who has green thumbs. I hope to be more helpful to her in the large garden we have and hopefully more tuned into her needs and wants.
I have not had more than one 4 week break in 39 years so hopefully I will feel more energetic once I get off the treadmill. One thing I won’t miss is a question frequently posed to me after a prolonged consultations with men over the age of 50. As they grab the handle to walk out of the consultation room they ask “Hey Doc, do you have any of those free Viagra samples?”
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