Quote from: Slim on April 18, 2024, 03:24:25 PMOur mortgage deal is due to expire in May, so I phoned Santander to arrange a new one. But the best deal they could offer me was going to cost me an extra £200 a month, because it's a very short term (due to end in December). The only other option was to pay the whole thing off now.

So they sent me a redemption statement, I did the sums taking into account interest I'd lose and I've just paid off our mortgage. I made a payment of nearly £49,000 using a smartphone app (we were due to pay them £43,600 in December).

I'll never forget that sense of relief and satisfaction on the day I paid off the mortgage. I paid it in person at my local RBS branch. I visited a couple of local hostelries afterwards and as I turned the corner of my road seeing the house that I then owned for the first time, I took a photo with tears in my eyes. The decision to pay it off early came at the cost of losing quite a bit of my social life and driving a pretty ordinary (but great) little car for years longer than intended. This was due to it being an endowment type mortgage with the associated shortfall, so some serious saving was necessary. I was petrified at the time of cashing in the endowment as memories of the banking crisis were fresh in my mind and my fear was something similar might have happened just as I was about to do the deed. I hope you enjoy a glass or two of something expensive tonight, James.

Wordle 1,034 4/6

🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛🟨🟨🟨⬛
⬛🟩🟨🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Three minutes. Was in a bit of brain fog when I worked out the last two letters, but it cleared quite quickly after a run through.

Thinking about it now, my proper introduction to The Who was Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy. Released 1971. Quite early for a compilation.

Wordle 1,033 3/6

🟩⬛🟨⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Good start today. One minute.

I always loved The Who. Only managed to see them once, at Celtic Park in the mid-seventies, although many would say that The Sensational Alex Harvey Band stole the show that day. I was on my way to see them at the Hydro a while back but took ill before I got there and had to go home. I've never understood why they didn't receive the same accolades as the Stones. I believe they were (are) the better band.

Wordle 1,032 4/6

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛🟨⬛🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Grim start. Three minutes.

Wordle 1,031 4/6

⬛⬛🟨🟨🟨
🟨🟨🟨⬛⬛
🟨⬛🟨🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A bit of a struggle. About four minutes.

Wordle 1,030 4/6

⬛⬛🟩🟨⬛
⬛🟨🟩⬛⬛
🟨⬛🟩⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Two minutes.

Good for you, Nop. Pond life some folk. Hope the police find some CCTV footage and catch the scum.

Wordle 1,029 3/6

🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛⬛🟨🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

One minute.

In the late seventies my parents finally gave me the go ahead to buy my dream bass, a Fender Precision. My preference was a black finish, but as I scoured the stores, adverts and phoned every music shop accessible to me there was nothing to be had. The only Precision I could lay my hands on was in MacCormacks, Glasgow, but it was in Antigua Burst and I absolutely hated the finish and wouldn't buy it. Due to this I switched my focus to a new kid on the block. The Peavey T-40. It weighed a ton but was a magnificent guitar and I loved owning it. Stupidly, a few years later I traded it in for a synth and have always regretted it. I've recently started to look for another but it has to be in near perfect condition and nothing as yet has persuaded me to part with my cash. It seems ironic timing for Squier to release a range of Antigua Burst guitars just now, including a Precision. I'm still not keen on the finish but the older me doesn't hate it quite as much. Strangely it looks better on the back of a guitar rather than the front. Back in the day I could have picked up a Jazz bass in a couple of nice colours but I really disliked the offset shape. Now, I absolutely love and own Jazzes and would be ok if they were the only ones I could own. It makes me quite emotional now though to think of my poor young sister being asked to collect the T-40 for my Christmas present. I don't know how a fourteen year old girl managed to carry that brute in its case all the way home.

What's happened to this place?😂

My knee did the massive "clunk" thing again. Move very slightly in a certain direction when something on the right side of my right knee seems to dislocate and the whole joint ceases with a great deal of discomfort until it dramatically returns to its correct position. I'm guessing it's cartilage slipping in and out of place but it feels like the entire joint is distorting. X-ray only showed up expected wear and tear for my age. A small price perhaps for the memories of tying Davie Moyes in knots in my youth. Becoming a multimillionaire was his revenge.😂

Wordle 1,028 4/6

⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛
⬛🟩🟩🟩⬛
⬛🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Ninety seconds. Good symmetrical pattern.

I was out of the habit of wearing a watch for many years and on the rare occasions I forgot my phone I would keep tabs on the time of day with bus tickets, supermarket receipts etc. I began wearing watches again and now don't know how I survived by my desperate means. I have a couple of Pulsars. Good looking devices for not much money. One fairly plain with a black leather strap for everyday wear, and the other a fairly chunky chronograph type in stainless steel. Yesterday I found a 1970s red faced Rotary LED with a gold coloured bracelet. I remember it being a gift I'd pleaded for but bizarrely I never had the strap adjusted to fit and it was never used. I honestly can't even remember if I ever managed to set it up properly for use and so it just remained tucked away in a drawer. I think they sell quite well to collectors of such things but I don't have the inclination even though I don't have any real sentimental attachment to it. I have two friends who are always buzzing about their latest purchase, Rolex or whatever, but I don't even look at watches that others are wearing so I obviously don't get it. Except for one boss a few years ago who had this massive Breitling saucer-sized thing on his wrist which he won in a sailing race. It was rather impressive but if he falls overboard whilst wearing it I reckon he'll drown.