Stent plus 4: more of the same

After the disruption of Covid and the freedom, albeit with continuing rules of some sort, the last year has seen us back to normal. People still get Covid and some still wear masks in public spaces but otherwise life goes on pretty much as it did before and today I’m celebrating the fourth anniversary of my stent.

I’ve enjoyed a good year with vacations in Norfolk, where we shared a house with the Bradburies, Jordan and Piemonte, and a photo weekend in the Elan Valley in mid-Wales. All pretty good and indicative of me enjoyed life as normal but there was a blip.

At the end of January I went on holiday on my own, Juni had gone to Indonesia for a month. It was a bucket list trip to Jordan to see Petra but just before departure my blood pressure started to climb. It was all in the mind of course but it did result in me spending a morning in the Arab Medical Centre before being told that there was nothing wrong with me and that I should enjoy my holiday. Click here for a full account of my experience. The photo is my view back of the climb up to the Monastery at Petra. It’s 900 steps and I completed it without difficulty.

It was a blip and in fact it wasn’t even the biggest blip over the last four years although the chart shows a steady worsening trend over the five days before my departure. It was quickly back to normal on my return and the latest monthly average is blood pressure 116/61 and heart rate 51. Noticeably the most recent heart rate numbers are below 50. My weight is steady at 65kg.

However when you look at what’s going on in the world there’s lots of reasons for worry and stress. After the fiasco of Liz Truss we now have a Prime Minister in Rishi Sunak who seems determined to trash the country’s standing, becoming increasingly right wing as a means of getting re-elected, we have the continuing war in Ukraine, inflation may not be rampant but it’s still high enough that prices are still visibly rising and climate change is making itself visible through more dreadful fires and other bad weather events.

I’ve been doing my bit to reduce my own personal stress generators with limited success. I am no longer a councillor of any description and I’ve stepped down from the Eastern Learning Alliance although I remain a trustee at Histon & Impington Green Spaces. This gives me much grief because the Board does not perform well. By contrast its Fundraising & Communications Committee, which I chair, is a model of harmony and effectiveness.

In terms of more positive stress after some years now of not chasing new business I’ve picked up two clients with a third possible. Not big money but enough to pay a few more bills and with Sensotec continuing I continue to flirt with the higher rate tax threshold.

New business notwithstanding I have decided that I need to do a little more pension planning and have started a conversation with IFA Steve Buttercase to that end. It looks like I am in good shape and my investments alone will see me through until I’m 90 without touching my pension pot. I’ve just got to be smart and draw down what I need and make sure that the taxman doesn’t take too much of what’s left.