We have an indication this morning of the amount by which our state pensions are likely to increase next April. The figures pertaining to September are used to calculate which of the ‘triple Lock’ figures are to be used in the final calculation which is published next month. The state pension will likely rise by 3.9% next year, according to provisional data published this morning by the Office for National Statistics. Weekly wages grew by 3.9% on average between May and July, the reporting period used in the government’s triple lock calculations. The rate looks all but certain to be higher than CPI inflation, which under triple lock rules would mean the state pension rises by that amount next April. The policy ensures it rises by either 2.5%, inflation, or average wage growth, whichever is highest, each year. The inflation rate considered is the average Consumer Price Index measured in the year to September, the results of which are published on 21 October. The Bank of England forecasts inflation will peak at 3.2% this year in October and November, meaning September’s figure would be lower still. Meanwhile, I have a little domestic trouble looming, centering upon the Toshiba TV I purchased about three years and has given excellent service since then in our Music Room. But the Toshiba system asked whether I would accept an ‘updating’ to which I reluctantly agreed with a degree of trepidation because when systems start to go wrong, it is often immediately following an upgrade. The software bundled with the Toshiba has always seemed to me to be outdated and certainly ‘behind the curve’ and so it proved to be on this occasion. Having updated itself, the software kept on asking me to upgrade even though on occasions decided to accept the ‘Later’ option and I must have done this about ten times in total. Then the night before last, I tried to tune into the ‘YouTube’ app which now refused to accept my credentials. I tried several times to tune in using the code given to me on the TV screen but without success. I then turned my attention to the BBC iPlayer which; likewise, refused to accept my credentials. With a heavy heart, I realised that if the Toshiba software was so outdated and not fit for purpose, then I would not be able to get the functionality of YouTube and the iPlayer which are very important to me. I knew when I bought the TV that it was an ‘out-of-date’ model but I know from John Lewis that they do not deal with Toshiba models anymore, presumably because of these unreliability problems. So I started to think very reluctantly that would have to ditch this TV and think about replacing it which I certainly had not planned or budgeted to do. I tried on about half a dozen occasions to load the YouTube app only to get the message ‘we have a problem’ (almost undoubtedly triggered by the abortive upgrades) I tried on one last occasion even though my bed was calling me. YouTube then responded with a different log in screen and eventually recognised my credentials but it itself seems to have been upgraded and has a somewhat different look and feel to it. Also, my historical preferences seem to have been lost, jumbled or overwritten so I might have to remind myself how to eliminate the history and start all over again. Later in the morning, though, I remembered how to do this so something approaching normality has been restored. But such was my relief to get things sort of working again, that I stayed up later than I should and consequently I am somewhat tired this morning having lost hours of precious sleep.
Later in the morning, both my weekly domestic help and my son called round and naturally, I always enjoy extensive chats with both of them. I outlined them some plans that I have for the forthcoming weekends now that autumn is upon us and we need to make the best of whatever good weather remains available to us. I consulted my National Trust handbook and have located a couple of places where I can spend the day out, even if alone, to make the weekends something to which I can actively look forward. There is a stately home nearby called Hanbury Hall and although I have visited it a couple of times in the past. I haven’t been recently so this has gone down on my list. It always amuses me that often the outbuildings that used to be the stables are now converted into cafes or eating places and it quite common for them to provide a good hearty homemade soup with some crusty bread which will be quite sufficient for me in the middle of the day. Also not a great distance away is Elgar’s birthplace and residence, now turned into a museum and this I have never visited before but is again on my list as it is is detailed in the National Trust handbook. So that takes care of a couple of weekends and when I discussed my plans with my son, we have decided to have a day out together no the Severn Valley railway which he knows like the back of his hand. In the past, we have had an arrangement which works pretty well where my son pays the relevant fares for an all-day ticket and I pay for all of the breakfasts, lunches and beer that we consume during the visit. Now that the summer holidays are well and truly over, I have written off to some of our oldest Leicestershire friends that Meg and I used to dine with whenever we could and typically meet in a little village with a good dining place between Bromsgrove and Leicester to try to minimise the distance that we both have to travel. In a similar vein, have also texted some of Meg’s cousins who live in Cheltenham and hope that we can arrange either a Sunday lunch here or a meal in Cheltenham, whichever suits us the most. So I am setting up various little weekend excursions that will probably take us into mid-October. To assist in my soup making activities which I intend to be a regular Saturday afternoon job from now on, I realise that could do with some good glass (rather than plastic) containers for when I make soup in quantity. After my Plates class, I went down to Asda to see if they had a supply of Kilner jars and, of course, when I perused the shelves all of this type of glassware was sold out. As September is the time of year when many might engage in fruit and preserve bottling, I am not particularly surprised and did find a couple of straight sided glass containers with wooden lids which think will do the job just as well. I particularly want to utilise only glassware for the soup storage, but the containers had just bought seemed to be of an incredibly light glass (which it is these days) so I was hoping that I not purchased polycarbonate items in error. I consulted the web and apparently polycarbonates does deform slightly under pressure and does not chip whereas it does shed micro-plastics. The label on the bottom of my recent purchases did refer to the instruction that, if chipped, the items should not be used and from this I infer that I actually bought glassware as I intended.