Contemplating the life of a nomad
I live in exciting times.
In a couple of weeks time I will be celebrating a significant birthday.
No, I'm not 21 or 40 or 50 or any of those insignificant ones. I'll be celebrating my 66th.
So what is so fucking great about 66 you ask? Surely the idiot mean 65, you mutter? The old twat is cracking say the rest?
You see 66 is a significant age in this country. It is the age when I get my FREE TRAVEL PASS!! Actually I get a few things, not least a state pension on top of the old pension I hav been getting from my old employer.
The Free Travel thing is the big deal though. From what I can gather I get free travel on all busses, trains, Luas, Dart and just about anything else that moves. I have visions of myself doing the week's shopping in Cork one week and Donegal the next.
I can't remember the last time I was on a bus. I think it was around 1980 when I was going into work knowing I was going to get pissed at a do and had the offer of a lift home after. Do they still have bus conductors? I am more familiar with the Dart as on those extremely rare occasions when I absolutely have to do into Dublin, that's how I get there. Inter-city trains are a foreign land as I haven't been on one since the Sixties. I have never been on the Luas. So there is a whole wide world out there waiting to be explored, the only snag being that I have been in every potential destination already so that knocks a bit of the fun out of it.
I have already sorted the pension. It only involved sending of several multi-question forms several times and God knows how many phone calls, several threats and some arse-licking, but that should be sorted. Yesterday I rang the people involved in issuing the Travel Pass things and can call in any time to sign up for it.
I will probably do it today seeing as I have to go out for the fucking car test anyway.
I think there is a nice little drop of irony there?
66 clickety-click, as they say in Bingo.
and:
71 Bang on the Drum
72 Danny La Rue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_bingo_nicknames
There is always 69? 😉
There's a couple other things fairly famous over here that have to do with 66 (besides you I mean). Let's see now:
Phillips66 is one of the older names in gasoline (1927) and, of course, good old Route 66 which is not only a famous historic route through 8 states but also a song and a TV series. There's a bunch of other things having to with 66 but I'm too lazy to look them up.
Travel free thingy? Are you sure they don't just stick on top of the bus or the train instead of letting you actually sit inside? I distrust these "free" things you know. Either way, good deal.
And i can't wait for your post about making all those telephone calls and filling out forms and such. I'm sure some of those forms you can conveniently fill out online? I recall your last post(s) about filling out forms online you see.
If I had to write about my application process I would have to resort to profanities. Mind you, I had to apply on behalf of Herself earlier and that was ten times worse.
Her one.
My one
If you can make head or tale of those you're a better man than I!!