It´s better than a book, a year ago I would have agreed with you our house is lined with full bookshelves but the kindle is easy to use, one hand, smells good; leather case, and is much, much easier to read. You need to try one for a week I have not touched a book since buying mine much to Rosemary´s annoyance as she had just bought me a load of books from amazon.
Of course the other real beauty of ebooks is not having to pay for any.


Graham

The Kindle is very handy and easy reading but depending on download costs I still buy some books.
If the Kindle download is less than a couple of quid then I use it, otherwise I often settle for the books which often just cover postage costs and can then be passed on to friends or charity.
On the other hand I downloaded one last week for less than a quid and it was only available in book-form at prices ranging from 16 to 50 quid.
I believe there are some sites where thousands of books can be downloaded entirely free, but haven't got round to trying them yet.

There are, hundreds of thousands.

Graham

It is good to hear that everyone on this forum who is retired is doing rather nicely thank you. I did hope that this was the case. I think that anyone who likes to keep themselves occupied and stimulated whilst working for a living will probably do the same when retired. I just had a nagging doubt that with no set structure to the day one might lapse into apathy.
I have heard that writers often set themselves a timetable for their writing lest they put off actually putting pen to paper and just have another coffee instead. I have often thought that I had at least one good novel inside me, perhaps that is something else for my retirement.
Anyway not long to go before our next recce, south of Alicante this time I hope that you have kept a little bit of good weather for us, I know you have been rejoicing in the cooler temperatures and enjoying a drop of rain. Unfortunately our summer has been dire. The central heating came on with the thermostat 4 times this August, hardly any long sunny days and only a couple of balmy evenings.
Can't wait until we have to put up with scorching Julys and Augusts:thumbsup

Plus you have to put up with people telling you what wonderful weather they are having in the UK, even tho you have seen the weather reports!

One of the thing I like best here is that the sun will shine all day for so many days. None of that feeling that a day's worth of sun was being rationed out over a couple of weeks.

Hopefully you will find your happy place here.

I retired aged 30. I am now 42.

Retirement is easy, if you do the following:

1. Learn to like/love yourself. Surprising the number of people that can't spend time alone!!

2. Stop trying to compete with everyone else. Money has no relevance in life. We all end up dead.

3. The most important things in life are FREE. Enjoy it. A walk in the park is free. Watching the sun rise is free. Naked sex on a mountain top in the middle of the night is free. Smell the flowers. Listen to the birds. Watch a shooting star, etc.

4. Be one with nature. Cycle a bike and dumpt the car.

Never does if you've got it! I doubt too many are able to retire that young.

I knew one who retired to marbella in his thirties...rumour had it that he assisted in melting down the Brinks Matt "proceeds"

How much would you need to retire in your 30's or 40's do you think. 4 or 5 million?

A lot of this has relevance. However.....

Almost nothing is free. To get to the park and the mountain top takes money, even if it's just for good shoes and warm clothing. Bicycles cost money and aren't practical to use to go shopping for the vast majority of people. ESPECIALLY in the rain.

Money does have relevance. Most people don't understand this, but money is pure, crystalline freedom.

However the call to stop competing, yeah, did that ages ago. Geat thing to do, and it's true that if you can't love yourself, who will?

Oh yeah, finally. The numbers of people who can afford to retire when you did are very few and far between,. You are a very lucky little person.

Maybe he didn't mean free at all bil ,and simply forgot the forgot the ....zing on the end of the sentence.

Gotta be a bit nippy up there in the middle of the night with nowt on.

Then there's the cost of the condoms.... heated ones?

Money has no relevance in life - until you have none

The important things in life are FREE - but getting to the park, the sunrise, the mountain top etc etc costs. Its only the visual\audible sensations generated by such activities that are free.

to take from another thread - 'Labour cost per hour' - how much do you pay your chauffeur ?

Money will buy you health, happiness and love.

health = either you have it or you don't, anything you buy will only be prop to whatever you have or don't have already. being terminally ill with cancer or crippled by arthritis you cannot buy health.

happiness = depends on the individuals definition, sleeping under the stars whilst living off the land or $80m mansion with servants. the former can cost nothing, the latter a fortune, but are you happy ?

love = bought love is transitory, for the time the people are together be it for 30mins or longer. recent divorce cases show that

the best test is to go from money to no money and see how many people around you are left.

the same test applies to "friends" at work, great chums, always out sociallising. then you are made redundant, see how many keep that promise to stay in touch - the switchoff starts when you have bought the last round at your leaving do

and I have kept the tee-shirts that cover the scars

kr

Doesn't the reverse also apply, i.e. going from no money to money as in the case of lottery winners can also bring lots of problems. Causes rifts in families and between old friends, and you can never be sure that new ones aren't only interested in the money.

Not that I speak from experience, you understand, chance would be a fine thing!