There's a thing. Apparently inflation got well into double digits in the 70's and 80's, and the man on GB News says that's where it's heading now. So why am I not too bothered by this? I can't remember anything about it when it happened before because I was too busy living my life. The only thing I remember is that mortgage interest rates were very high, and took a big chunk of my wages.
In 1976 I passed my HGV test, which set me off on my career as a lorry driver. I put all my efforts into that, no time to worry about how I was going to pay for things. When everything seems to be going tits up, like it might be doing now, distraction is the best way to deal with it. Find something else to occupy your time. Distraction and resilience will see us all through.
A quick look through my diaries. A job on a chemical tanker for BRS Derby. A typical work pattern.
Monday. 2 runs, Birmingham and Bromsgrove. Parked at Burton Depot.
Tuesday. Deliver Fontburn. Night out at Boroughbridge. Stayed with Lady Trucker Alison.
Wednesday. Deliver Hazards green. Night out just outside Pembury on an Industrial Estate. Boring.
Thursday. Back to Derby. Load for Bewl bridge. Night out in layby at Eynesford.
Friday. Deliver Bewl Bridge this morning. return to derby and defect vehicle. Home tonight.
And the next week.
Monday. Deliver Vauxhall Ellesmere Port. Back to Derby, load for Wearhead. Night out at Wetherby.
Tuesday. Delivered Wearhead. pick up Sulphuric Acid from Grimsby. Night out at the Truckstop at Heath Chesterfield.
Wednesday. Unload the acid at Derby. Load up and go to Bedford and Luton. Home tonight.
Thursday. Load at Derby for Broxburn and go. Night out at Lanark, stayed in the cab.
Friday. Start at 6am. Back to Derby. load a tank for Neil. Then load and go to Stoke Ferry. Night out in Donnington.
Saturday. Unload early at Stoke Ferry. Back to Derby at 11.30 am and finish.
Work kept me busy, and now I am organising my retirement. Filling the hours, days, and weeks are my therapy. Each day is a bonus. Are you keeping busy?
Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip. ilona
Back in the 70s and 80s dad was still on the Parks potato lorries seven days a week in the season backwards and forwards over the the M62 then the loop from Lincolnshire to macclesfield . best memory was he got took in for questioning by the Yorkshire Ripper team 3 times because he was a lorry driver who looked just like the photofit picture...strange times
ReplyDeleteOh cor blimey. At least their meticulous investigations paid off.
DeleteI can remember mortgage rates being high as ours was 14.5%.
ReplyDeleteHouse prices dropped dramatically in the 80s and lots of people were left in negative equity with many homes being re-possessed. Sad times so hope we don't go back to that.
I remember the negative equity thing. People ended up trapped, they couldn't move because they couldn't sell. I remember a different type of mortgage was offered where part of the repayments went into a savings pot, and was then invested to bring a lump sum which enabled you to pay the mortgage off. Many people fell victim to that scam. I have only ever taken out ordinary repayment mortgages. Even though the interest rates were high I always paid it every month.
DeleteSo interesting to hear about your life on the road ilona.
ReplyDeleteRetirement is great. You can structure your day exactly as you want, and not how someone else dictates. The money just keeps rolling in. You could give the money various names, like unearned income, except you work all your life for a pension. You could call it investment income, a return for the effort put in during your working life. You could call it passive income. It keeps turning up regardless of whether you work, or not. I love that advice to David Copperfield by Mr. Micawber in Charles Dickens novel, "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery." Simple, but not always easy. As Bruce Forsyth used to say, "Good game, good game!" Many years ago, an older and wiser person advised me to make a game of life. Sound advice, even though I didn't always manage it.
I will be happy as long as it keeps appearing in my bank account. I don't expect big increases, and I refuse to earn extra money on the side, when I don't need it.
DeleteGood positive attitude, as always.
DeleteThat's a lot of miles and a lot of driving! Hazards Green is about 20 miles from me. After that you went to Derby and then south again to Bewl Bridge in Kent. You must have been driving for hours. Thank goodness for people like you who kept everything on the move.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, Sussex
It was normal to drive right up to the legal limit of nine hours a day, and increasing it to ten, twice a week. Then there is the loading and unloading, and breaks to add to that. Some jobs were Twelve hour days, most days. I was often panicking looking for somewhere to park up because I was getting close to the limit.
DeleteI delivered Ferric Sulphate in those tankers. The deliveries were to water treatment plants. So if it wasn't for me you wouldn't have had clean water coming out of your taps.
We had an interest only mortgage. It worked for us. Still living in the little house we bought 42 years ago. The only people who have lived in it. Can't imagine living anywhere else
ReplyDeleteI so love your attitude to just get on with life and not caught up in 'stuff'. I have hedgehogs too here in Ireland - in a fairly built up area! I do worry about them crossing the road. They're messy wee blighters, but worth the cleaning up. Thank goodness for tiles on the front step!
ReplyDelete