rain rain go away

in the 4 days up to 6pm yesterday 96mm of rain descended upon us almost 4" mind you that was at a spot near Bath. I am guessing here at my qth Whitchurch Stockwood area it was more … I have a plastic "trug" [ washing basket thingy" ] about 2 foot or so across with 7+" [ 195mm ] in it since last Monday. The collecting of rainfall though is not done in a bucket. more to come my last visit to chew lake 2 weeks ago had water level about a foot or less above the old bridge [ egrets looked as if they were standing on water ]. Interesting to see if the levels have come up much …..

 

Rain is the main reason I’m looking to retire to Spain.
To escape from it!!!

 

R&W - can't blame you - the sunshine and warmth in southern Spain during winter months is something to behold.
Grandad duties stops me thinking of doing similar but saying that I'm not really sure I could leave 'old England'.
Good luck mate.

 

Cheers RP
Our original plans were to buy a flat in Brighton to be near our youngest daughter and her bloke, just in case grandkids happened, and have a place in southern Spain too, dividing our time between the 2 places (Gatwick is an easy train ride from Brighton and Newhaven is too, for the ferries to the continent).
Now, sadly it looks like the daughter's relationship is breaking up - she is back home with us at the moment, so grandkids are unlikely any time soon, and when she DOES go back to work in an office after COVID, it'll be either in London or New York, not Brighton, so we've shelved the Brighton idea. Brexit has put our Spanish plans 'on hold' for now too for the time being - until it becomes clearer what the residency rules entail for ex-pats - currently the rules for non-EU residents state that you can only spend 90 days there at a time, so it's hardly worth buying. Hopefully a residency deal will be negotiated, but in the meantime the wife and I are currently in the process of buying a flat in Gibraltar which is very exciting.
The wife retired this year, but I have a few years left to go, so we will rent out the Gibraltar flat (rents are VERY high over there) until I retire - or get made redundant - whichever comes first!
What we are HOPING for is that the Spanish residency for Brits gets sorted and we can buy a place there too and not be restricted - I love Gibraltar, but land is expensive because there isn't much of it! You get a lot more for your money in Spain and we want a garden, barbecue area and swimming pool.
I will NEVER sell up completely in Blighty though - or take Spanish citizenship. I'm lucky enough to have a couple of buy-to-lets here in Swindon which we will keep.
For the first time EVER in my working life I'm not afraid of redundancy - and the future looks bright!!

 

Isn't it a shame though that it takes so long to get to that point in your life!! Not just yours BW, but many peoples!!!

 

My wife and escaped to France for 16 years, initially for 'life saving' reasons.

What I will say is for us the novelty wore off halfway through, we are now back in the UK.

We had a fabulous place in a fabulous location (it was just what was needed at the time) be careful about your choice of location, for instance if you find lockdown difficult to come to terms with then don't look at the rural idyll, one of the reasons that we have coped with lockdown so easily is because living where we lived was like 16 years of lockdown.

There are other considerations post Brexit, there will almost certainly be a tax implication and paying for health care, I don't know if the offer still exists but a couple of years ago Portugal was offering tax free status for people settling there for a period of 20 years.

 

True - but I think things are going to change dramatically from now on. Unless you are a factory/manual worker, one is no longer restricted to living within commuting distance to the office. At the moment my company does NOT allow people to work from home from outside the UK borders (including Gibraltar) - but many big corporations do. In theory there is no TECHNICAL reason why you can't work from your villa in the Costa Del Sol, with the same productivity as from a flat in Bedminster. My company gives the weak excuse that the taxation is different, but in reality they could just apply UK taxation and let the individuals do the rest.
I do feel very sorry for the youngsters though - one of my young line-reports has just mortgaged himself to the hilt to buy a house - he has 30+ more working years ahead of him and would be mightily screwed if he lost his job - there are many others like him. I'm one of the lucky ones this time around...

 

I hear you loud and clear Jiffie - You're absolutely correct - and we are choosing VERY carefully. Another reason we are buying in Gibraltar is that as a pensioner you pay no tax - and you have the NHS over there.
Out of interest - where were you in France and can you speak French?

 

I have a friend who is half Gibraltarian and has relatives there, he spends a lot of time and loves it there. I suppose the problem might come if Spain does more than sabre rattling over possession of the rock.

 

I personally think it's unlikely. Spain will ALWAYS try and claim it - it's in their national identity, it's part of their geography, and is a constant reminder of military failure, but it's unlikely that they will create anything other than 'noise' about it today.
Gibraltar voted overwhelmingly against Brexit in the referendum, so Brexit came as a huge blow for them, but (unlike the Scots) they would still much rather align with Brexit Britain than EU Spain.
Only last year in 2019, a group of Spanish unfurled the Spanish flag in Casemates Square. They were immediately set upon by furious locals and their flag was taken from them and burned. There is very little appetite to join politically with Spain - although it's in the interest of BOTH parties that the relationship remains healthy and friendly.
The Spanish, whilst annoyed about Gibraltar, strangely seem to see their 2 enclaves in Morocco (Melilla and Ceuta) as being perfectly legitimate!!!
Also, another interesting fact: Gibraltar was part of the Moorish empire and didn't become annexed by Spain until 1462 (I say Spain, but Spain as we know it today only existed as a group of smaller kingdoms). It was captured from the Spanish in 1704 and, following years of sieges and wars, was officially recognised as British under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. That means, if you date British rule as starting from 1713 when it was officially recognised by the international community, it was under Spanish rule for 251 years. It has been British, without interruption now for 307 years - 56 years longer than it was ever Spanish!!!!

 

Feel sorry for the young ???

I don't.
If it were possible I'd give up everything to do it all again.
So the young have problems, we did but different ones, but f+ck me to have the health, verve, vitality etc etc I'd give it all.

'Youth is wasted on the young'.

Also a shout out for those 'old uns' as opposed to being young, like our A Dicks, who are struggling with their health.
Sure R&W you'd agree, OK the young have issues but our thoughts are for those who really do have 'problems'.

 

I meant - If I get made redundant it allows me to retire early. I'm actually PRAYING for it. If my Line Report gets made redundant he could lose his house and everything he's built to-date.

 

Our plan was to live in Spain, my Mum and Step Father have two apartments in mine and step brothers names. So the plan was to take over one of them full time. With my Wife an insurance director and me working for a company with roles over there it was all planned that once she hits 50 we go.
But once the Grandaughters came onto the scene that plan went out the window. We are currently moving 7 miles away and the wife is worried about Grandaughter number one who spends every weekend with us and her shadow won’t like her new room. So I can safely say Spain won’t be back on the cards anytime in the future.

 

Rod, it's mad the effect grandchildren have on us.
The only we'd definitely decamp anywhere is if my daughter and son in law emigrate.
In the 80's I told my parents I'd been offered a job in Australia. Mum said, without consulting Dad, 'we're coming'. I laughed back then but understand now.

 

never a truer word spoken... when you are a bit of an adventurer covers all sorts physical as a married person with kids .. then grand kids then gt grand kids you can never really spread your wings and you also accumulate the wealth to do it … but along comes Covid and sets you back!!!!
I have a good number of friends that are not in relationships and never really have been … single lifer's! and a number that have no kids ..didn't want them! and have explored all corners of the world! that's not as holiday makers sat on a beach or cruising it ..
I have almost made my main goal in life been the first to places no human has ever been... first to wonders no human has ever seen, but only small bits … but is only the precursor of the opportunity that lies before me ...stopped by covid…. a life's dream ………

 

Would the real Johngalleyfan please stand up....

 

wish I could, cant resolve my password... I have had /have a bug in my computer … a friend gave me some advice .. but beyond me ..worked it out to one problem …. … city edge and micro soft keep hi jacking my logins info and requesting to store stuff … when I get it "sorted" next time my password is an old one or different number of characters. He will have a look on weekend. Wiz and BRB have helped a bit ….will just have to wait and see ….
suddenly without warning it blasts out an adverts music for 5 secs !! … and keep getting blank emails!
anyones guess what happens next! lol city get promoted!

 

Best stop using your PC if it’s doing weird stuff with passwords mate - disconnect the internet before trying any fix.
People could get access to your Amazon, eBay or bank account details from anything you have bought over the internet.
Hope you get it sorted soon!

 

My IT friend says at some point I must have agreed to let edge or Microsoft "fill in / ???? " which is used by millions … and needs switching off or cleaning up. With all the problems I have with wife etc .. concentrating on applying myself at the moment is not happening … tnx