The Beginning

The 'About Me' page gives you some idea of who and what I'm about. The time scale there is from childhood to the autumn of 1989.
All previous family decisions had been made for the good of the family as a whole, with regard to future earnings, job security, children's education, housing, etc, etc. You all know what I mean.
I was working in the power industry at the time, winter 1989, at one of the big coal fired power stations, when we became a political subject as Margaret Thatcher decided that our industry was to be privatised.

It had long been our intention to consider Spain as a retirement place when we reached the age of 65. I was now 55 and there was talk of redundancies in the air.
By this time we had done our bit for the family. Kids had finished with university and were making their own way. House wasn't paid for, but whose was? That magical age of 65 for retirement suddenly seemed a lifetime away. Was this opportunity staring us in the face, or a disaster just waiting to happen?

By the spring of 1990 it was put up or shut up time, as the book for voluntary redundancy began to close. Looking back it seems inevitable that we made the decision we did, although what was to decide really. Ten more years at work, or the freedom to have those same ten years doing what we wanted to do.