RE: Open All Hours - 75

Good morning everyone, yes very chilly this morning.

evening all, sorry to hear the weather is not so good, when i look back ( well a long way back in fact) to the my early 20s, I could put up with cold, even a bit of snow ( I got stuck for a week on a mountain in wales) at dunlop semitex I think, i hate those dark mornings and it being dark at 4pm, but what I hated the most was the long constant drizzle. and being a lorry driver , in and out of the truck getting wet several times a day, winter time had a cold almost every week. I often look back and what if I had stayed, well the car industry finished in Oxford which is where our companies work came from. I never forget my last week at work everyone saying I would be back within a year, there are things i miss the family I have no family here other than children and grandchildren. but on the upside I do as I like- apart from the first few years - i have always worked on a commission only basis, no wages, it has been a roller coaster at times, and Im told my mood swings track my sales performance very closely, LOL, I have always thought when I retire that I will spend 3 months in the UK summer, OZ summer and autumn here and the rest on a cruise ship, Im still working on that plan, The thing I dislike most about australia is the distance it takes ages to get anywhere, 3 hrs north your in Darwin, 3+ hrs west your in Perth and 3 hrs south west your in New Zealand, so really its a five hour flight to the nearest country, I have a son in Brisbane thats 2 hrs by plane by the time youve done airport security and to and fro thats the day gone, another son in Minneapolis, USA, two daughters close by, one daughter within an hour, another about 3hrs away and last son an hour away, think thats right 3 boys 4 girls, 13 grandchildren. so I don't miss the weather I do miss family, pubs and access to europe.

I envy you in some ways tca, especially the cruise bits. But I must say I would miss mother England. for one thing I am lucky enough to know so many people here. I often annoy some people because no matter where we go I usually bump into someone I know. But even when I use shops regularly I get to know the staff by name, when you are serving the public there is nothing worse than to be treated as a faceless moron and seeing a face that you recognize and you know each other by name it makes all the difference to your day.
I can understand that you miss your family, I would miss mine and so many other people.

evening all...