mikel

And propping up the £ on a daily basis.

Don't ever apologise for early retirement. If you flogged yourself for 40 years at the expense of everything else, then enjoy it. I only ever worked to pay for the things I like, never more than a job, and I could leave it behind every night. Swings and roundabouts I suppose. I have, and am still having, a great and varied life, but without a big pension.

As for weight and fret spacing. Plenty of lighter basses out there, and semi or hollow body models. And short scale for smaller hands. I only mention as I am a bloke but vertically challenged, and I have small hands so I can empathise.

That's why I put successful in italics.

Agreed. I also realised the secret of contentment. Its not being wealthy or having lots of shiny new stuff, or being "Successful". It's small pleasures, like a good coffee and a pastry, learning a tricky song, Mortimer and Whitehouse, walking the dog on a frosty morning, the latest photo of my grand daughter. Its about realising that however little I have, it's enough for for me.

Yep. Lack of new build over decades. Selling off council houses at knockdown prices and not replacing them, so the private rental market booms and rents go sky high. Also, in Cities with Universities, lots of older property bought up and renovated solely for the student market. You can make a killing renting a 3 or 4 bed out to 3 or 4 students rather than one family.

We all know who to blame for the current financial woes, and its not the ordinary person, working or retired.

I got "Richer" because I was always careful with the little money I earned. Never owned a new car, very few foreign holidays. At one point out mortgage interest rate hit 16%. Paid off the mortgage 7 years ago, and since then interest on my hard earned savings is laughable. Don't tell me we had it easy, or are now reaping the rewards. Swings and roundabouts.

Don't get me started. A few pence on income tax and NI 50 years ago and we could now have a half decent state pension. It's not rocket science, if you have a baby boom, you will have a retirement boom 65 years later. Led by donkeys.

Nah, it's just a big violin.

OK, but I keep hearing people saying its all the fault of the baby boomers, they had it easy, cheap housing, full employment blah blah. That was then, things have changed, not better or worse, just different. Yes, I got my first mortgage in 1977, but it swallowed both of our salaries and we had no carpets, curtains or furniture. Couldn't afford a foreign holiday till 1988 and could not afford to have children. You make life choices and what to spend your money on. Whining about the past is futile, and mostly sepia tinted.

Now I like that. The body is upside down, but it works. Not too quirky but different.

Well possibly, but that is the way it was back then, can't blame the students. You could blame the government of the day for removing the funding though. Education used to be free, my wife did a librarianship degree back in the day, you need one to be a librarian, and it was free, and you got a grant. Without the grant she would not have been able to study. Apparently now we can't afford higher education, so it's become an industry. I believe employers should be training their staff, as they will benefit from it.

Go for it. If you can pass on your love for an instrument and inspire someone to play and improve, it's a gift in itself.

Don't get me wrong, I learn stuff, but more by ozmosis. I read lots of books because I enjoy them, not to learn, but you pick up stuff by default. I simply never saw the appeal of quiping in Latin or quoting Shakespeare.

Agreed. I personally never felt the need to learn or study something unless I could put it to almost immediate and practical use. Hated school and acedemia.

Respect to you. My brother did an OU degree, and masters, while working full time in quite a demanding job. He did it for "Fun" as he has always loved History. Traveling on the train to a meeting or in a hotel he would get his study stuff out and work at it, and every weekend. I was well impressed. I asked how he could work full time and study and he said "I can focus". I think he is on the autistic spectrum somewhere.

It's Duct tape.

I hate basses with ridiculously long horns. Just aesthetically wrong to my eyes.

Think It's a new chat up line "Nice amp". Fnar Fnar.

About time. Companies trying to tie people in by using their specific charger is just wrong.

Pilot has to be able to trust the functioning of his aircraft, completely. Trust the mechanics or technicians.

A friend of mine has a daughter who wanted to be a vet, really wanted to be a vet, from the age of 10. She did a work experience at 16 in the local vets practice, and hated it. Boy was he relieved, saved him 3 or 4 years of extra University bills. How we laughed.

Try D'Addario short scale. I only use them after much trial and error. Very consistent.

Good on him. I was an athletics coach for 10 years, all voluntary, and loved it. Quite a few times I had to put people right when I questioned their motivation and they countered with "Well you get paid to be here". Nah, athletics is based on the club system, and apart from National coaches and admin it's all volunteers.