Friday 6th December 2024

And we made it to Friday.

Again.

As punishment, I have another four hour audit to carry out, though this is the last one of the year.

Which is nice.

So, once Jools leave for Yoga, I rush round doing chores; bins, washing up, fill the feeders.

Make a tea and set the office up.

There were about 30 people in the audit, and several were not happy and quite negative.

But we push on and start.

And with just a ten minute break, we finished the audit at one minute to midday (Danish time), and we are done.

But I have lots to do, another meeting following up on a previous audit, arrange yet more meetings, call my friend and colleague Henrik to wish him happy birthday.

I finish at one, have a shower so to look and feel better.

Good news is my back pain eased overnight, so freshly showered and clothed, I felt like a million dollars, but look like a buck and a quarter.

So it goes.

We have an appointment with our financial advisor, so we leave as soon as Jools gets here, drive up the A2, though past Dover to the junction with the M2 at Faversham, then turn up Thanet Way and down through Blean to the University. All this to avoid the inner ring road, which is jammed all day, every day.

We arrive half an hour early, so have a brew and share some crisps before the meeting starts.

We want to retire at the end of March; is it possible.

Yes, you could retire now, if you wanted.

We just have to decide how we want our income paid, and whether we want to take all the pension out, or continue to invest as the pot shrinks, so the money goes further and we get older.

So, that's all sorted.

We leave, drive back up through Blean to to Thanet Way, then along to Monkton before turning back towards Canterbury again to Upstreet before turning off, and dropping down the hill to the level crossing and the bridge over the Stour, and beyond is the pub all lit up.

The pub is the Grove Ferry Inn, they do food all day, and would be quiet this time of day, so we park and go in, and indeed there is just one other table occupied.

We order drinks, and then food. I have a huge burger, while Jools has a Kofte fajita, which she says was spicy, but good.

We pay and drive back home, across the marshes to Preston, then back to Sandwich and on more familiar roads back to Dover.

We get back at ten past six, sadly too late for the music quiz, so I crack open a Christmas beer and relax.

We can retire.

In three months.

And will.