Getting used to Life back in the UK

[KWA]

On 7/29/2021 at 9:43 AM, Jambo said:

I am told that I will need to have a full eye test before they can supply such lenses and the first available appointment is in October thanks to the back log caused by covid.

I walk out and go 50 yards further into the Shopping center to the next opticians. I explain what happened at the previous opticians only to be told that they were in exactly the same position EXCEPT they are pissed off at "customers" not bothering to turn up for their appointment due to registering at multiple different opticians. I throw myself at their mercy and low and behold they find me an appointment for 2.15pm TODAY.

I got an opticians appointment without any issue for next week, but my dentist was fully booked until December.  I managed to get one with another dentist in the same practice for 1 months time.

If you're going to be travelling to the EU (and maybe some non EU countries) you might want to get a GHIC card, which has replaced the EHIC.  They claim long lead times but I received mine this morning after applying exactly one week ago.

Another tale of woe came from the DVLA from whom I requested a replacement for the cheque they'd issued for road tax refund when I informed them I put my car off the road last year.  10 weeks delay quoted but cheque received yesterday, about 2 weeks after applying.

 

Edited July 30, 2021 by KWA

[Pumpuynarak]

13 hours ago, nampla69 said:

Bless MickJn

Gone but never forgotten RIP MickJn.

[nampla69]

On 7/30/2021 at 8:06 AM, Jambo said:

How long is a piece of string?

 

I had my eye test yesterday which to say was thorough and extensive is an understatement.

Now before I comment on the result I would mention that less than 6 months ago I had what was supposed to be a full eye test in Thailand. Nothing abnormal was discovered.

Yesterday they found I had the start of cataracts in both eyes but that was deemed to be almost normal in somebody of my age and does not cause concern. Of more concern was what they described as a large "freckle" in my right eye. The lady described the size by using the nail end of her little finger.

She hoped that this "freckle" would not prove to be serious as it had obviously been in my eye "for some considerable time". Nevertheless, serious enough to refer me to St. John's Hospital for a scan. She warned me that as it was not life threatening the waiting period at the hospital likely to be 4 months or so for an appointment.

I am beginning to feel like I am becoming a medical tourist as that makes two hospital appointments I am waiting to receive. Given I paid NI contributions for 40 years and UK tax for longer than that I do not feel I am not entitled to such treatment on the NHS.

Your all time NHS dream come true this weekend ....

Gunner Get Jabbed, 7-10 August at Emirates Stadium 

If you haven’t made time to get vaccinated yet – or if your first Pfizer dose was eight weeks ago – get yourself down to Emirates Stadium between Saturday 7 and Tuesday 10 August!  

We’ve teamed up with Arsenal and University College Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to again transform the home of Arsenal into a mass vaccine site for four days. 

You can turn up without an appointment between 9.30am and 6.30pm (10am-6.30pm on the Saturday). Or you can book on Eventbrite or by calling the We are Islington helpline on 020 7527 8222.  

 

 

[Derek Dangleberries]

9 hours ago, nampla69 said:

Your all time NHS dream come true this weekend ....

Gunner Get Jabbed, 7-10 August at Emirates Stadium 

If you haven’t made time to get vaccinated yet – or if your first Pfizer dose was eight weeks ago – get yourself down to Emirates Stadium between Saturday 7 and Tuesday 10 August!  

We’ve teamed up with Arsenal and University College Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to again transform the home of Arsenal into a mass vaccine site for four days. 

You can turn up without an appointment between 9.30am and 6.30pm (10am-6.30pm on the Saturday). Or you can book on Eventbrite or by calling the We are Islington helpline on 020 7527 8222.  

 

 

That is a really good idea. Well done Arsenal !

Although, if the shots are like Aubameyang's shots, then you'll get it in your eye, an ear, or in your willy! Anywhere but on target!

[Jambo]

I made a nostalgic visit to Edinburgh yesterday, my first since I returned to the UK.

My first stop was to my original old local being being "The Abbotsford" which is situated at the start of Rose Street which runs parallel with Princes Street but one block back.

   

I worked for many years for The Life Association of Scotland whose head office was immediately behind The Abbotsford with its front entrance in George Street another famous Edinburgh Street. So the rear of the building was behind The Abbotsford but the entrance/exit to the underground car park was immediately adjacent to The pub. So a very large insurance company head office, with all its administrative staff, had a very handy access to the pub which ensured the pub was very busy every lunchtime and every evening from about 2 minutes after 5pm.🤣

Now I am going back about 20 years and the insurance company is long gone but my nostalgia for when I spent many a happy evening enjoying a choice of real Scottish beer and nippy sweetie chasers still remained.

Superficially It looked the same and the famous bar and listed ceiling were unchanged.

Unfortunately, everything else had in the interim.

I had to walk round the bar to find a draft Scottish beer I recognized. In my day lager drinkers in the Abbotsford were deemed to be either iron hoofs or tourists. The menu then was either Scotch eggs of a peculiar pink colour to be avoided at all costs or pre-cooked sausages left warming in a tray all day and therefore never touched in the evening.

What did I find on my walk round the bar?

Look at the effing price! Who the hell pays 6 pounds 10 pence for a glass of malt?

I had to be escorted to my table and asked whether I wanted any food ...... No!

Did I want to pay my bill now ( card only - no cash accepted)........ No!

Would I like another pint ( 4 pounds 30 pence )...........No!

I spent 20 minutes remembering all my mates from those days and a number of lasses from Head office I would have liked to have mated with but Edinburgh is ( or was) a surprisingly small village when it came to extra curricular activities. 🤣

So I left with my memories intact and made a vow never to go back to a pub I once loved which has now become just another tourist trap.

Never mind, Edinburgh is still a wonderful City and given covid surprisingly busy with tourists. No doubt mostly visiting from down south..................English Sassenach's. 😝

                                               Look who  I came across in Princes Street gardens

.

He told me not to worry as it was his daughter (with wife) who came to see him whilst he was on duty keeping a watch on the tourists and keeping them safe. I did ask him if I could take their photo and he was happy to oblige.

Nowhere near as busy as a normal summer's day in Princes Street but plenty of visitors given the restrictions on foreign tourists.

[Lemondropkid]

Thanks for posting the photos, beautiful City Edinburgh.

[Krapow]

Things are more 'eased' here in Engerland.

As we know, wee Krankie has to do things a bit different from Westminster. 

[gs joe]

Off to Edinburgh on Sunday for the Fringe 

[tingtong2k]

I’m just catching up on the forum as I’ve not been on in a very long time mostly to try and detox. Edinburgh is a lovely city been there many times. Some parts of it does feel very small for a city but nonetheless a beautiful place to be. Reading through the posts on contactless etc it’s easy to forget I’ve not really carried any cash on me for about 5 years or so. These days I don’t even take a wallet with me as I pay contactless off my mobile phone. There are days I leave my phone at home for a few hours just to go for a walk and use my Apple Watch to pay for any groceries or drinks on the way back home. I can even order an Uber off it (though not tried that in a while). The only time I carry paper money is when I’m in Thailand which has always felt weird in recent years with my 2k baht folded for each LT LOL 😝 

I’ve not caught up on the back stop Jambo and had no idea you where heading back to the UK.

[Jambo]

On 8/6/2021 at 8:48 PM, gs joe said:

Off to Edinburgh on Sunday for the Fringe 

I am off to Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh on Sunday armed with my brand new Hearts "old farts" highly reduced rate season ticket. I am only two rows and almost directly behind my seat I gave up in 2006 when I moved to Thailand. I used to go with two former workmates and invariably said "Hi" to a good few others who had seats in the Wheatfield stand.

They probably think I am brown bread! 🤣

It will be a 20K full house against the sheep shaggers from Aberdeen. The noise is deafening as the stands are very close to the pitch.

[Krapow]

8 hours ago, Jambo said:

I am off to Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh on Sunday armed with my brand new Hearts "old farts" highly reduced rate season ticket. I am only two rows and almost directly behind my seat I gave up in 2006 when I moved to Thailand. I used to go with two former workmates and invariably said "Hi" to a good few others who had seats in the Wheatfield stand.

They probably think I am brown bread! 🤣

It will be a 20K full house against the sheep shaggers from Aberdeen. The noise is deafening as the stands are very close to the pitch.

Yes, it reminds me of QPR's ground, in that it's also close to the pitch.

Enjoy!

[Jambo]

Further observations about getting used to life back in the UK ( well Scotland still is until Indy2....3...23....32...?)

There are waiting lists for absolutely everything from Doctor/dentist/opticians appointments down to just getting a haircut.

I asked my daughter to phone her local hairdresser where I had my haircut a couple of months ago. First appointment for me is 11.30am, a week on Friday. It will cost me 12 UK beer vouchers for the "stylist" waving a hedge trimmer at me for 8 minutes like the last time although I do admit I liked the end result.

That prompted my daughter to decide she wanted her haircut as well but the local one is not trusted for her so Karen phones her usual hairdresser in the Livingston Shopping Center and gets the first available appointment in three weeks time. I overhear Karen request a cut and highlights renewed.

I asked how much that would cost to be told.....................80 pounds!

"HOW MUCH?"

"That is cheap these days." says Karen.

Her husband Brian, my son-in-law" recently paid 800 pounds to have the flat roof of their garage repaired. That sum paid for the "REPAIR" of the leaky garage roof at one corner NOT the replacement of the whole roof. To me that seemed outrageously expensive but Brian just shrugged his shoulders.

Supermarkets are running short of certain items.

Fast food outlets are reducing availability on their menu's.

Why?

Apparently, there is a great shortage of delivery (HGV) drivers in Scotland.

Lothian Bus Co has a huge sign outside a local depot "Drivers Required" followed by the words "Signing on bonus 1,900 pounds."

Looking forward to the first Hearts/Hibs derby match at Tynecastle on Sunday. It is a complete sell out which after allowing for a small amount of anti-covid distancing means 19,000 very noisy spectators. I was going to get the train into town except they go on strike on Sundays. 🤣

 

[Krapow]

2 hours ago, Jambo said:

Supermarkets are running short of certain items.

Fast food outlets are reducing availability on their menu's.

Why?

Apparently, there is a great shortage of delivery (HGV) drivers in Scotland.

Lothian Bus Co has a huge sign outside a local depot "Drivers Required" followed by the words "Signing on bonus 1,900 pounds."

There's absolutely loads of jobs in the UK at the moment, and yea, loads of places are offering 4 figure sums to those take up a position. 

[Freee!!]

2 hours ago, Jambo said:

[...]

Apparently, there is a great shortage of delivery (HGV) drivers in Scotland.

Read an article about that on the Register a couple of weeks ago, apparently a lot of that was done by international drivers taking on cargo instead of doing an empty stretch across the UK. And it is made worse by underpaying.

[Pumpuynarak]

19 hours ago, Jambo said:

Further observations about getting used to life back in the UK ( well Scotland still is until Indy2....3...23....32...?)

There are waiting lists for absolutely everything from Doctor/dentist/opticians appointments down to just getting a haircut.

I asked my daughter to phone her local hairdresser where I had my haircut a couple of months ago. First appointment for me is 11.30am, a week on Friday. It will cost me 12 UK beer vouchers for the "stylist" waving a hedge trimmer at me for 8 minutes like the last time although I do admit I liked the end result.

That prompted my daughter to decide she wanted her haircut as well but the local one is not trusted for her so Karen phones her usual hairdresser in the Livingston Shopping Center and gets the first available appointment in three weeks time. I overhear Karen request a cut and highlights renewed.

I asked how much that would cost to be told.....................80 pounds!

"HOW MUCH?"

"That is cheap these days." says Karen.

Her husband Brian, my son-in-law" recently paid 800 pounds to have the flat roof of their garage repaired. That sum paid for the "REPAIR" of the leaky garage roof at one corner NOT the replacement of the whole roof. To me that seemed outrageously expensive but Brian just shrugged his shoulders.

Supermarkets are running short of certain items.

Fast food outlets are reducing availability on their menu's.

Why?

Apparently, there is a great shortage of delivery (HGV) drivers in Scotland.

Lothian Bus Co has a huge sign outside a local depot "Drivers Required" followed by the words "Signing on bonus 1,900 pounds."

Looking forward to the first Hearts/Hibs derby match at Tynecastle on Sunday. It is a complete sell out which after allowing for a small amount of anti-covid distancing means 19,000 very noisy spectators. I was going to get the train into town except they go on strike on Sundays. 🤣

 

But its great to be back ehh D ? lol

[Sangsom]

20 hours ago, Krapow said:

There's absolutely loads of jobs in the UK at the moment, and yea, loads of places are offering 4 figure sums to those take up a position. 

HGV drivers aside, most are min wage jobs though so nothing to get too excited about.

[Bazle]

There is a very large pool of unemployed people. They need to be trained and "motivated" to fill the vacancies.

[Nightcrawler]

It's going to be a scorcher today in UK, 30 plus. But only for a couple of days. Make the most of it, I say

[Pinoydave]

On 9/7/2021 at 8:07 AM, Sangsom said:

HGV drivers aside, most are min wage jobs though so nothing to get too excited about.

Very few minimum wage jobs being advertised in Bedfordshire, dead end, mind numbing jobs seem to start at £13 per hour now!

Amazon locally is begging employees to sign permanent contracts and guaranteeing decent training courses if you stay 9 months

[Krapow]

8% wage growth in the UK this year. 

[fifelad55]

On 7/21/2021 at 9:51 PM, Butch said:

It is a shocker and you have my sympathy, some aspects of life in the UK can be relatively reasonable (healthcare) but others not so much. Don't go to a Fish and Chip shop, the price of cod will knock you sideways!.

One question though Jambo, if, for example some one has been living in Thailand since, say 2005, and getting their state pension paid but not the yearly increments (fixed at the amount it was at 05), when they return to the UK do you know if it then gets re assessed so when they return to Thailand the pension is then at the current rate?.

I would be interested to know that too as I've only just qualified for my state pension. What really makes me mad is that I pay more every MONTH for my meds than the annual increase would be !!! Rip off Britain!!!!

Alan

[john luke]

38 minutes ago, fifelad55 said:

I would be interested to know that too as I've only just qualified for my state pension. What really makes me mad is that I pay more every MONTH for my meds than the annual increase would be !!! Rip off Britain!!!!

Alan

Free UK NHS Prescriptions.

 

 

Who qualifies for free prescriptions?

 

 

Who can get free prescriptions

• are 60 or over.
• are under 16.
• are 16 to 18 and in full-time education.
• are pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months and have a valid maternity exemption certificate (MatEx)
• have a specified medical condition and have a valid medical exemption certificate (MedEx)

[fifelad55]

23 hours ago, john luke said:

Free UK NHS Prescriptions.

 

 

Who qualifies for free prescriptions?

 

 

Who can get free prescriptions

• are 60 or over.
• are under 16.
• are 16 to 18 and in full-time education.
• are pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months and have a valid maternity exemption certificate (MatEx)
• have a specified medical condition and have a valid medical exemption certificate (MedEx)

Living in Thailand, somehow I doubt that the NHS would pay for my prescriptions?

 

Alan

[fifelad55]

On 7/30/2021 at 10:45 PM, KWA said:

I got an opticians appointment without any issue for next week, but my dentist was fully booked until December.  I managed to get one with another dentist in the same practice for 1 months time.

If you're going to be travelling to the EU (and maybe some non EU countries) you might want to get a GHIC card, which has replaced the EHIC.  They claim long lead times but I received mine this morning after applying exactly one week ago.

Another tale of woe came from the DVLA from whom I requested a replacement for the cheque they'd issued for road tax refund when I informed them I put my car off the road last year.  10 weeks delay quoted but cheque received yesterday, about 2 weeks after applying.

 

In the last few years, I have had a cataract operation and laser treatment to both eyes in Rayong. The laser treatment was done more or less on the spot. Had to wait half an hour after being given some eye drops. It took only 6 minutes to do both eyes. Now, my eyesight is better than it has been for more than 50 years - no ,longer need glasses for anything.

 

Alan

 

 

[john luke]

14 minutes ago, fifelad55 said:

Living in Thailand, somehow I doubt that the NHS would pay for my prescriptions?

 

Alan

A good point, sir.  😊