|
Did I get it all wrong?
You may remember that just before Christmas last year, I went into
Brompton to get some
RF burns inside my heart. When I first saw the
consultant, he booked up the treatment for me, but I 'jumped the
queue' by going in as a private patient. During
the summer I had
had a recurrence of the original problem, so I went to see the
consultant again. We decided it was worthwhile trying the process
again, and set the wheels in motion. Then about three weeks ago I
received a letter from the hospital offering me a bed - it seemed
that I had got to the top of the NHS waiting list for the original
treatment! So I went in this time as an NHS patient.
The main difference between private and NHS treatment at Brompton
was that my bed was in a ward with five other patients. Since
Brompton is primarily a cardiac hospital, they all had heart
problems. Listening to their stories, I got a picture of what is
important in this life. There are a few risk factors that can lead
to heart disease,
and these people illustrated this. Most were in
for angiograms, which consists of placing a catheter (a thin tube)
through a vein in the groin and feeding it through to the heart.
This enables various measurements to be made inside the heart
chambers, narrowing in the cardiac blood vessels can be detected
and treated, 'holes' between chambers can be detected, etc.
Most of these patients had high blood cholesterol, were smokers,
etc. I think they gave me a good incentive to reduce my weight,
watch what I eat, etc. I took a bit more notice of what was going
on this time, when it came to my turn to 'go down'. Brompton has
four
catheter labs, each with high tech X-Ray equipment and large
screens displaying various images. As the catheters were pushed up
each side, the X-Ray heads moved up my body, and I could see the
probes moving inside my veins on the live X-Ray displays. These
displays were real-time. For final positioning and adjustment when
in my heart, the heads rotated in an arc so that the two heads were
positioned either side of my chest, about 90 degrees apart. Most
interesting, this technology. I was on the table for over two
hours, I hope I don't have to go back! My condition is not heart
disease (it's like a wiring error), and has probably been been
lying dormant since my birth. However unless you are keen on
experiencing modern cardiac treatment, I would advise you to check
that your blood pressure and cholesterol levels are OK, lose some
weight, do some exercise, watch what you eat, etc....
Losing my job was also unpleasant. Apart from the difficulty of
finding another one, with a salary which is enough to support
mortgage and children, and especially when you are my age, it's
amazing how much paperwork is generated.
Going from a situation where I had a good income, to one with no
income, meant that something had to go. Since I was paying into two
private pensions, I put these on hold. Luckily both are fairly
modern policies, so this can actually be done, without punitive
charges. But it meant a few phone calls, letters, forms and
statements. Being unemployed means you can claim some benefits,
especially if you have no money at all. This involves a great deal
of form filling, and documentary evidence needs to be collated. So
far, I have 'signed on', although I have already missed the first
regular appointment through being in hospital. Now I have to take
documentary evidence of my job search to the
Jobcentre each
fortnight. Having been employed in a specialist capacity for the
last twenty years doesn't help, as specialists are seen to be
people who can't do anything outside their field. One agency told
me that it was a waste of time applying for any type of job that I
hadn't done before. And after an interview for a job I have done
for about 30 years, I was told that I had 'insufficient
experience'. One thing I am learning is that I have done it all
wrong since 1962. The first mistake was to get a job in science. I
realised this in 1969, and moved to electronics. Although this
seemed a good move at the time, I should have guessed it would
backfire eventually.
I don't know what sort of career I should have chosen. Many of the
popular choices in 1962 have vanished without trace. And the jobs
for which there are now vacancies didn't exist back then. It would
be interesting to know what has happened to my old school mates. I
am in touch with only one, who also went into electronics. He has
had only two employers since 1962, what did he do right?
I have a few friends from the seventies. Most have a job, just. So
if I could go back to 1962 again, what would I do? Firstly I would
either buy a house earlier, or stay living with my parents, like my
sister did. My first house cost £22,500 in 1979. If I had
bought it a couple of years earlier, it would have been half that
price. In 1969 you could buy a new house for £4,500. My
current house cost £35,000 in 1984, the morgage will be paid
off in 2009.
I think that in 1962 I should have gone off around the world on my
motor-bike. Here I am now, and I've only briefly seen a few
countries. The most time has been spent in the USA, about seven
weeks, all on business. I was going to Iceland in 1970, and the
Soviet Union in 1972. But I didn't. Bah, will I ever get a chance
again?
Would I get married and have children? A tricky one, this is! Will
my wife find BeechLog!
Certainly a single man can live very much more cheaply than I can,
although whether I would look after my money wisely is a different
matter. Laverdas and Lotus Super Sevens were not cheap.
Looking around, I have a few relatives who have retired at fifty.
My cousin did this (actually at 48 or 49), and a year or two later
he got married! I think this may be related to the size of his
civil service pension (I turned down a job at the place where he
worked in 1967, silly me!).
However this is about getting some sort of financial security.
While I lived with my parents I didn't need to spend much money.
But I did. I could have saved about three quarters of my income,
which if invested, probably would have made it possible to retire
before now. Even after marriage, we could have lived a meagre life
and saved hard. But I'm not very bright, and never managed to earn
the kind of salary to live comfortably and save.
As I finish this off, I've now been unemployed for 5 weeks. I've
just received a batch of claim forms from
Slough Council. Basically
these seem to suggest that if I was paying rent, I could claim to
have some of this paid for me, and also get relief from council
tax. However since I have a mortgage, none of this is
possible.
However it looks like there is a job offer on the way to me, so
hopefully I should be working again in the new year.
There seems to be two ways of cushioning against all this aggro.
Either start work at 16, live with your mum for as long as
possible, and live a frugal life, saving everthing. Alternatively,
spend as fast as you can, live in a council house, and don't worry
about anything. Learn the system.
It doesn't help that we live in an expensive part of an expensive
country. There are many places nearby where the money goes a lot
further. The rural life in European countries is dying out. In
Britain, the villages get taken over as weekend retreats by wealthy
town folk, but on the continent this does not always happen. In
France the country folk are moving to the cities. I have a couple
of ex-workmates who have bought farmhouses in the south of France -
they tell me that as the French move out, the English move in! I
fancy rural Italy. Now if I can get these children to leave
home...
|
