I know I haven't blogged lately and have just dropped in to catch up with Friends activities. I can't claim that my time has been otherwise well filled but I'm still in limbo: it's odd not having to find time to take mum to doctors and hospitals.

I've been dealing with the aftermath of losing mum, am keeping the household essentials ticking over and started making inroads on my paper-and-filing mountain that ran amok over the last two years. I have to get order into it partly to reduce the space occupied and partly so I can complete some tax forms. Most of my admin capacity was expended on solicitors, clearances, distributions and so on.

I should retire in mid-Sep but have negotiated to continue work on about three-quarters of the hours (and salary!) I need the income but wonder if I'll have to work until I die. More paperwork grew because I need an IR certificate exempting me from NI. Given that the Inland Revenue know full well how old we all are you'd think they'd send these out direct when appropriate. Indeed, one of the tax forms relates directly to my age. I suppose they hope we won't know we are exempt so they can keep grabbing. I'm in the private sector after all: that famous milk cow for all things governmental.

Some paperwork is about deferring my private pension in the hope that it will have time to grow a bit even though common sense may suggest that, if it wasn't big enough after all these decades, a few more years won't help. Thanks, Gordy; appreciate it! Yes, I did try to look after myself by arranging a private pension into which I alone paid - and to the tune of a damn sight more than a paltry 8%. Much good that was, I shouldn't have bothered.

Anyway, must get off the embittering contemplation of pensions and privelege.

I mean to take advantage of other age-based benefits so the form and photos are ready for my bus pass application. I also mean to get a railcard. Brilliantly, this year's qualifying date for the heating subsidy lets me in by one day so I'll get it: I can almost imagine them spitting tacks which is even better than the cash itself. My reduced working hours are carefully designed to let me travel late so that I can use my passes and save nearly £173 per month. All in all, I hope that, in net terms, I shan't be much worse off even though, physically, I felt the need to ease off.

I have noted you all going off on hols and hope thay have been enjoyable. It's terrible about Jenray's bank problems! Aren't these people worms, preying upon the rest of us?

One important thing I have pursued is getting in touch with one of my blog Friends who had not logged in the site for months. Because of the circumstances I was very worried and could find no way to make contact having tried Directory Enquiries and all sorts until I felt like a stalker. Then I remembered an email she sent me last year so was able to harvest her email-id. To reassure her other blog friends, Sian is with her parents to get better and will blog again when she has more internet access and feels up to it.

Chelsea just dropped two points. Bum. Maybe I'll have a gin.