windsong

Hello, Don It's nice to see you again!

I wonder why it is possible to work only 16 hours a week when earning minimum wage?

When you say you had to sign that you will not claim any state benefits, do you mean you had to sign that you would claim no unemployment or pension benefits? I didn't know that UK citizens with foreign-born spouses had to do this. It certainly takes away from the benefits the UK offers to you personally if you had to do this IF I am understanding correctly.

I also should state that in my comments about "immigration" I really refer to those who enter the UK in droves, take advantage of what the UK has to offer, etc - I am sure you understand. I am not referring to UK-born citizens with foreign spouses. To me, that's completely different and they have a right to be in the UK, just as my mother married an American and had a right to be in the USA because of her husband. I know immigration in the UK is a sensitive issue, so I thought I would make this clear. However, if these marriages had been arranged purely to enter the UK, then consider those in the group "those who enter the UK in droves".

I have also been thinking about the immigration issue in general. I wonder if it would make sense to have "tiered immigration", so that those UK citizens with foreign-born spouses both get the full range of UK advantages/benefits (Tier 1); then those who enter privately and of their own free will to become UK citizens, get another set of advantages/benefits (Tier 2); those who seek to enter with criminal backgrounds in their own or immediate family's history, either get yet another set of benefits (Tier 3 - very little) or do not get to enter at all. Then, after 10 years of residency in the UK with no problems, both Tier 2 and Tier 3 can change to full Tier 1 advantages/benefits. Something along these lines . . . I haven't really thought this out but it is a notion that occurred to me the other day. Maybe having a tiered system would reduce the desire to be resident in the UK. I think it might also be a huge relief for the taxpayers.

cheers

Hang on.....

Those last two posts are doing my 'ead in.

Keep things simple for the likes of me

windsong

I hear you

windsong

Wow! This seems to be Beedubya's most recent post - November 2012. I wonder where she is!! She hasn't posted in a while. Hope everything is ok.

windsong

How grateful I am for BritishExpats.com! Even though I can't go home to the UK yet, all of you wonderful people - those who have already gone home and those that are planning to do so - help to bring "home" quite a bit closer because you share all your experiences. It's also terrific to be able to bounce ideas and thoughts off each other because, often, in our adopted countries, we feel so isolated. It's almost as if we are the wind beneath each other's wings

cheers

You probably know this from her posts that she doesn't feel she fits in because she has been back home for so long. She has a friend she meets with on her day off and I think she may also monitor our forum posts. It would be nice to hear from her.

windsong

Ohh, I didn't realize this. Beedubya will ALWAYS fit in here. Those who are back home are really needed here - and wanted, too Perhaps she feels that way because she feels settled in England and feels at home, which is also wonderful - but she is part of our family here, too.

I am glad she has a friend there now but I would LOVE to hear from her

Footnote: It is only in this "over 50s and 60s" thread that I feel there is an ongoing sense of community - much more than in the other threads. All the other threads have useful information, of course, but there is something different about being here. That "community" includes all those who are back home - and always will.

between two worlds

I really agree about the sense of community on this thread. And the community can't survive if it doesn't grow, because once people have gone back to the UK and settled in, they often become so busy and happy and whatever that they post much less frequently----absolutely understandable, though a shame because of course we still love to hear from them!

So, you newbies out there who recently joined or said hello after long lurking, keep your posts coming!

cheers

Hey windsong this is the pot calling the kettle black! You take off and don't tell anyone, right?

cheers

You wont believe this (so why am I telling you if you wont believe it?)

Sally got burgled today!!!

Yep, you read this correctly!

Cheers

windsong

Cheers, you are absolutely right!!!

To be honest, I left for a while because it hurt to come here, knowing I couldn't keep to my plan of going back home this year but after a while of being away, it hurt to NOT be here. Catch 22!

windsong

Ohh no!!! I wonder if that's why she hasn't blogged for three days!!!

PS - It's on her blog!!

UNBELIEVABLE!!

J.JsOH

That's very perceptive. I have been grumpy lately, maybe that's what inspired me to change to the rather serious and duty bound Inspector Javert.

My mother also is of concern. With advanced Parkinson's she has been in a nursing home since Dec and last weekend took a fall and fractured her hip. The NHS was fantastic - called for ambulance at 6:30 a.m. Saturday and at 2 pm she went into surgery for hip replacement !! Mother is looking poorly and we don't know if she will pull through but we have seen this coming so are not unprepared. The £741/week board and lodging at the nursing home made me go pale.

Maybe the weather gets me down (but I can't complain compared to what I see falling on western Scotland).
Seems like I have had a lot of drudgery chores lately and not much fun. I feel a lot of weight from all around despite making effort to cheer up. But I know my cycle of happy-unhappy is long waves rather then blowing hot/cold daily, so I'll pull through eventually.
I did break off from decorating today and took a walk in the sunshine with a local group including some of my bus-stop-chat ladies so I caught up with all the local gossip.

And the horse jokes on here have helped!!

windsong

You've had a lot of changes - and work - in the last couple of years. Sometimes it catches up with you and have you take a breather to rejuvenate. Also, the problems with your mother, don't help. This probably also prevents you taking a holiday somewhere but it sounds as if you could do with one. Is it possible to take some weekends away or, if not, to at least make some pleasurable drives into the countryside at weekends just to get out?

Sometimes, too, we begin to grieve - in advance - and if things with your mum aren't good, that may be happening as well.

That nursing home figure is incredible!! What do people who can't afford that do over there, I wonder. Is any of it picked up by the NHS?

mikelincs

Thankfully no-one was hurt and they only got their computers, lucky for them someone was in what the burglers thought was an empty house, and as Sally says, there were no guns or other weapons involved.