2013 — 10 April: Wednesday
What's left of this somewhat moist and cool-looking morning is not now quite long enough to fit in all three of breakfast, a packed lunch (for the walk) and the stuffing of the next crockpot1 so the last of these will be deferred until tomorrow. Now, where's that start-em-up cuppa?
It has tickled me to observe how much space my preferred "Arts & Letters" portal has so far devoted to web links to the death of the ex-Leaderene: precisely none. Much the best for such a wholly divisive person.
7.8 miles and...
... one further blister, in an entirely different part of the other foot, and I'm back in time for a shower, a welcome cuppa, and Schubert's nice little popular number in C major. And Brian has lent me a double DVD of "Citizen Kane" with some documentary material that's new to me.
Meanwhile...
... pension light dawns, with a certain feeling of relief (if I read it all correctly). I've just been browsing another of the booklets I always tended to ignore.
If you were employed by IBM ... at any time between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 1997, you would have been contracted out of the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS). As a result, both you and IBM
paid a lower rate of National Insurance and your pension plan is responsible for providing the benefit that you would have received from the State ... This is called the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP).
Until you reach age 65, your GMP is included in the IBM pension that you receive. Once you reach 65, your GMP will be split out from your pension and shown separately on your payslip.
Any Basic State Pension that you may be entitled to will be paid in addition to your IBM pension.
Any increases to pre-1988 GMP and post-1988 GMP are handled differently. And only relate to the earnings-related bit in any case. The Basic State Pension still comes along at age 65. All I can say is I like the sound of that word "increases".
And the worst of today's mud has now been scraped off the walking boots. There were not, by the way, yet many signs of Spring springing. [Pause] Next up? An April shower.