Today I wanted to let you know about a free course I have taken myself and highly recommend. It’s running again in July, so there’s plenty of time to sign up.
The course is called Strategies for Successful Ageing. It’s run by Trinity College, Dublin, under the auspices of Futurelearn, a UK-based platform for short online courses from British and international universities. All Futurelearn courses are free (although for optional upgrades a fee is payable) and open to anyone in the world.
Strategies for Successful Ageing will run for five weeks, two hours per week, starting 2 July 2018. If those dates aren’t suitable for you, you can sign up to be notified when it’s running again.
This course is intended for anyone who wants to learn strategies and tips for successful ageing. On the website, it says:
The knowledge that you gain from this free online course will inspire you to choose activities and behaviours that improve your quality of life. Through this course, we hope you will think differently about ageing and recognise the many contributions that older adults make every day.
As a community of learners, we will discuss what you’re doing to maintain your health, increase your wellbeing, maintain friendships and navigate life’s challenges.
Together, we will discover the many opportunities for personal growth and community-building by exploring the skills, talents and dreams of older adults.
As I mentioned earlier, I took this course myself last year and highly recommend it. The course materials (and tutors) are first rate, and include information on the latest research into ageing that challenges the conventional stereotypes.
As well as the teaching, another big attraction of all Futurelearn courses is the opportunity they provide to interact with other students from all over the world. There can be almost as much to learn from them as the course itself! When I took Strategies for Successful Ageing most of my fellow students were in the 50-70 age group, but there were plenty who were older.
I recently took a short break in the English Lake District. It was the first time I’d been there in over 20 years (and the previous time was for work so I didn’t see much of the area). So I thought I’d share my impressions here.
I stayed at Waterhead, just south of the town of Ambleside, at the north end of Lake Windermere. I’ve embedded a map below (courtesy of Booking.com) showing the area and available accommodation. Booking.com
I booked a room at the Waterhead Hotel (pictured below), which is located just a few yards from the lake.
I thought the hotel was excellent. My room was large and comfortable and furnished with all mod cons, including a large flat-screen TV and CD/DVD player. I had a view of the lake, admittedly across a car park!
On my first day the weather was so-so. I began by driving to Hill Top (pictured), the farmhouse where children’s author Beatrix Potter lived and in which she wrote some of her best-loved books. It’s quite small and admission is by timed ticket. I only had to wait about 20 minutes, though, which gave me a chance to look round the garden and take a few photos.
You get a real sense of what the house must have been like when Potter lived there. As well as her furniture and ornaments, there are several writing desks with copies of letters to and from her publishers and a page of her Peter Rabbit story with hand-drawn illustrations. There is a little shop, where I bought a jar of National Trust jam, but no restaurant. There wouldn’t be anywhere to put one, although there is a pub next door if you need refreshment.
After that I drove on to Wray Castle (pictured below), where I spent most of the rest of the day. Wray Castle has only been opened to the public by the National Trust for a few years. It is not as old as it first appears, having been built in the Gothic revival style by a Victorian couple as their retirement home. It has had a varied history since then, including a twenty-year stint as a Merchant Navy training school.
I went to a free 20-minute talk about the history of the house and then immediately joined a tour of the gardens. The latter took about an hour, and included information about the latest discoveries the Trust have made there, including what they believe are the remains of a Victorian pineapple house. It was interesting and informative, and the guide shared photos from the archives as we went round.
The latter included a picture of Beatrix Potter and her family at Wray Castle. They stayed there for three months one summer when Beatrix was 16. The visit gave Beatrix her first taste of the Lake District, which later of course became her home and an area she loved. With the proceeds from her book sales she bought large amounts of farmland around the lakes, which she ultimately donated to the National Trust.
The next day was sunnier, and I decided to take a lake cruise to the other end of Windermere. I bought a ‘Freedom of the Lake’ ticket, which got me 24 hours’ unlimited travel on any launch or steamer cruise on Windermere. I combined this with a return ticket on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway. The total cost of this on the Windermere Lake Cruises website was £23.80, which struck me as very good value. There are also timetables and cruise routes here, which I must admit took a bit of getting my head around.
Apart from the first leg of the journey (from Ambleside to Bowness), I travelled on the MV Teal, one of the two lake steamers built in the 1930s. These are large, spacious vessels which can transport up to 533 people, so there was plenty of room on board (it’s also fully wheelchair-accessible). You could either go on the top deck to get the fresh air and the best views, the main saloon below that (with a coffee/gift shop) or downstairs in the bar, which served alcoholic drinks. As it was still quite nippy, I spent most of the time in the main saloon.
At Lakeside, which is at the other end of Windermere, I took my return trip on the vintage steam railway to Haverthwaite. The route is only about four miles but it’s very scenic (see photo).
On my return to Lakeside I paid a visit to the Lakes Aquarium, where among other things I got to admire the piranha fish below. Both the train and the aquarium are easily accessible from Lakeside and would be good choices for trips with children or grandchildren.
Finally I travelled back on the steamer from Lakeside to Ambleside, enjoying the views and the commentary. I had a pot of tea and a piece of Kendal mint cake on the boat – although the latter turned out to be a mistake as (in my opinion anyway) it was just a slab of mint-flavoured sugar.
On the morning of my final day I took the opportunity to walk the half-mile into Ambleside itself. I particularly wanted to see The Bridge House, yet another National Trust property. (As a side comment, if you want to get value for money from your National Trust membership, the Lake District is definitely the place to come.)
The Bridge House is a tiny 17th century building above a river. It was originally built as an apple store, but over its long life it has served many purposes, including a tea room, a weaving shop, and home to a family of eight. The later is particularly hard to imagine – they must have been packed in like sardines! In any event it’s a charming property, and many thanks to the nice National Trust lady who took the time to chat to me about it (and the area generally).
After that, there was just time for a coffee and some gift shopping, then it was back in the car for the long drive home down the M6. The least said about that, the better!
So that was my short break holiday in the Lake District. I enjoyed it very much and hope to return before too long. As ever, if you have any comments or questions, please do post them below.
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At this time of year flat batteries are a common problem for motorists. Batteries have to work harder in the winter, to power the lights, wipers, heating fans, and so on, and it’s easy for them to get run down.
This is even more likely to happen if – like many older people – you don’t use your car regularly or use it only for short journeys. It’s always best not to leave it too long between trips and try to fit in the occasional longer run that will power up the battery again.
But what if, despite all this, you find yourself with a flat battery? Don’t despair – as long as you have a set of jump leads (jumper cables as they are also called) and another car that is working normally, you can be up and running again in a few minutes. If you don’t have jump leads already, you can pick up a set cheaply at any local motoring store or Amazon.
Jump leads or jumper cables
Here’s what you need to do.
1. Park the cars nose to nose, so that there is easy access from one engine compartment to the other. Switch off both cars’ engines. Ensure that the brakes are on and the cars are in neutral (or Park in the case of automatics).
2. Open the hoods of both cars. Attach the red jump lead to the positive (+) terminal of the car with the flat battery. Attach the other end of this cable to the working car’s positive (+) terminal.
3. Attach the black cable to the working battery’s negative (–) terminal and the other end to an exposed metal section on your car, e.g. a bracket, bolt or strut. This must be at least a foot away from the battery.
4. Now start the working car and let it run for a few minutes, revving the engine slightly.
5. Then attempt to start your car. Nine times out of ten this will work. If it does, remove the cables in the reverse order you connected them, i.e. starting with the black cable attached to exposed metal on your car. Close the hood, but don’t switch off your engine yet! Drive around for at least 15 minutes to charge up your battery.
If your car still won’t start, leave it connected to the other car for another five minutes and try again. If you still have no success, it may be that your battery is too drained and needs replacing. Or there may be another fault in your car’s electrical system. Either way, it’s probably time to call in the professionals. The same applies if the problem occurs again the next time you try to start your car.
Good luck, and I really hope you don’t need to use the advice in this post too often!
For much more advice about buying, selling and maintaining cars, check out Cars.com.
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I do hope 2018 is a good year for you, and the year you achieve (or at least start to achieve) some of your financial and other ambitions.
Thank you also for visiting my blog. If you haven’t already, I do hope you will sign up to receive notifications when it is updated using the box in the right-hand column.
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There is also a daily Paper.li newsletter for Pounds and Sense. This is semi-automated and curates links from a wide range of personal-finance blogs and other resources. I guarantee you will find something of interest in every issue!
Finally, if your interests also extend to writing, you might also like to check out my Entrepreneur Writer blog. I regularly share tips, advice and market information for writers and aspiring writers here. It would be great to see you there as well 🙂
Once again, I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.
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As is customary for bloggers at this time of year, here are the top posts on Pounds and Sense in 2017, based on comments, page-views and social media shares. They are in no particular order. Obviously, I have excluded any posts that are no longer relevant.
I hope you will enjoy revisiting these posts, or seeing them for the first time if you are new to PAS. Don’t forget, you can always subscribe using the box on the right to be notified of new posts as soon as they appear.
A quick mention too for my other blog Entrepreneur Writer. If you are interested in writing I hope you will check this out if you haven’t already. I look forward to publishing plenty more posts on both blogs in 2018.
If you have any comments or questions, of course, please do feel free to leave them below.
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Just wanted to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a happy and peaceful Christmas, and a fulfilling and prosperous new year.
Pounds and Sense was launched in December 2016, so it has been going for a year now. Thank you to everyone who has visited the blog during this time, and especially to all those people who have commented on my posts and/or signed up to be notified of new ones. You can do that by entering your name and email address in the ‘Subscribe’ box on the right (hint, hint!).
I hope you have found at least some of my posts of value, and they have helped you to save money and make money in these financially uncertain times. If you have any comments or suggestions for topics I ought to cover in the coming months, please do leave a comment below or contact me directly. The same applies if you would like to guest post on the blog or work with me on sponsored posts or promotions.
I’ll be back with more advice, tips and information soon, but for now I hope you have a wonderful festive season. I’ll leave you with this charming ‘Christmas Eve’ video featuring the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Enjoy!
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Today I wanted to tell you about a smartphone app called DreamLab. You can download this free to your smartphone or tablet, to add its computing power to a massive cancer research project. Versions are available for both Android and Apple iOS.
DreamLab was developed by Vodafone Australia and the Garvan Insitute of Medical Research. While your smartphone is charging (typically overnight; hence the name), the app automatically downloads genetic sequencing profiles provided by the Garvan Institute. This information is then processed using your smartphone’s CPU and sent back to the Institute to be used in cancer research.
There are currently two projects you can support. The first one, Project Decode, aims to decode breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancers. The second, which launched recently, is Project Genetic Profile. This aims to decode brain, lung, melanoma and sarcoma cancers.
As well as the project you wish to support, you can select how much mobile data (if any) the app uses every month. Personally I only use DreamLab with my wifi, so I have the monthly data allowance set to zero. You might, though, like to know that if VodaFone is your service provider, any data used for DreamLab processing is free of charge.
The app keeps track of how many hours of computing time you have donated to the project and the number of sequencing problems your device has solved. You can also see what proportion of the overall project has been completed. In the case of Project Decode – which I am supporting – the figure is currently 69 percent. So while the project is well past the half-way mark, there is still a fair way to go.
DreamLab is a distributed computing project, which relies on volunteers donating spare processing capacity on their computers and mobile devices to a specific cause. One of the best-known such projects is SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence), which uses this method to search for extra-terrestrial life by analyzing radio waves emanating from space. You can read more about this and other distributed computing projects (including DreamLab) on this Wikipedia page.
Today I’m bringing you an infographic created by I Will, a firm of solicitors who specialize in will writing.
I thought this summed up very well the importance of making a will and having it done properly, so I wanted to share it with readers of this blog. It’s quite a long graphic, so please take a little time to scroll down it, and I’ll see you at the other end!
Thanks again to I Will Solicitors (not an affiliate link) for permission to use their graphic. There are some valuable tips in it, not least the advice to use a properly qualified solicitor. In the last few years I have had a couple of experiences when failing to do this has caused problems..
One actually concerned the will of my late partner. We had created mirror wills some years before, using a well-known postal will-writing service. At their suggestion we named the will-writing company as joint executors, as their representative said this meant they would be able to step in and help if required.
Sadly my partner passed away and I then discovered that having the company as a named executor meant I couldn’t have the local solicitor I wanted handle the estate on my behalf. It took several months (and a lot of hassle I could really have done without) to get them to renounce their interest in the will so that my preferred legal firm could take over.
Another instance concerned a family member who passed away earlier this year. I don’t want to go into detail about this, for obvious reasons, but he had used a family friend who ran a will-writing service to create his will. The will was poorly drafted and did not make clear exactly how the estate should be divided up. The result was a bitter dispute between two of the main beneficiaries, which ended with an outcome that was probably far from what he had intended.
So my top tips with wills would be (a) make sure you have one, (b) have it drawn up by a qualified solicitor, and (c) give careful thought to whom you name as executor. For other advice, please refer to the infographic above!
If you have any comments or questions, as ever, please do post them below.
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According to a recent story in The Telegraph, Britain is in the middle of a laziness epidemic. This applies especially to over-40s, with four in ten failing to manage even one 10 minute brisk walk a month.
The effect of all this inactivity can be devastating. It is estimated that physical inactivity directly contributes to one in six deaths in the UK. On the other hand, Public Health England (PHE) say that one brisk walk a day is enough to cut the risk of early death by as much as 15 per cent. It can also prevent or delay the onset of disability, and further reduce the risk of serious health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia and some cancers.
To encourage middle-aged and older people to get more active, PHE has launched a free smartphone app called Active 10. As the name suggests, this aims to encourage adults to do at least 10 minutes’ brisk walk every day.
The app is available for both Apple and Android phones, and is quick and easy to install. Using sensors in your phone, the app measures when you’ve reached a target speed (about 3 miles an hour) and when you keep that going for 10 minutes.
The app allows for the fact that you might have to stop at traffic lights or for some other reason, so you can slow down for up to 2 minutes of any 10 minute period and this will still count as an Active 10.
You can set your own targets, maybe starting with just one Active 10 a day and going up to two or more as you build your fitness. You can also do longer walks – Active 20, say – for even greater health benefits.
Active 10 is aimed at those in the 40 to 60 age group, but in my view many people over 60 could benefit equally (or even more) by using it. I like the fact that 10 minutes a day isn’t too daunting to start off with, even for couch potatoes like me, but can still bring you considerable health benefits.
I am already enjoying using the app and there is a surprising amount of satisfaction in achieving your daily goals and seeing them recorded on the app.
In this post a few weeks ago I revealed that Pounds and Sense had been nominated in the ‘Best Money Making Blog’ category of the 2017 SHOMO awards.
The SHOMO awards (it stands for Show Me the Money Bloggers) are given out every year to UK-based independent money bloggers. The main sponsor is the cashback site Quidco.
There are various categories, from Best Frugal Food Blog to Best Personal Finance Blog. Pounds and Sense has been nominated in the Best Money Making Blog category.
Pounds & Sense is also eligible for the People’s Choice Award, which any blog reader can vote for. If you enjoy reading Pounds and Sense, therefore, I warmly invite you to vote for it for this award.
Voting is open from now until the end of August 2017. All you have to do is visit this page of the UK Money Bloggers website and vote for Pounds and Sense from the drop-down list of blogs provided.
The winners of the SHOMO awards will be announced at the Show Me the Money Bloggers 3 Conference in London on 23 September 2017. For more information about the conference, and booking information (for UK finance bloggers only), please click here.
Finally, I should like to express my gratitude to the unknown person or persons who nominated Pounds and Sense for an award..
As ever, if you have any comments or queries about this post, please do leave them below.
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