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Saturday, 7 February 2015

Happy birthday to me!

Today is my birthday ... and I have reached the ripe old age of sixty five!

The hospital where I was born on Tuesday 7th February, 1950 ... the General Lying-In Hospital, Lambeth.
This means that I am now an Old Age Pensioner although I understand that I should really call myself a 'Recipient of State Retirement Pension' and not an OAP. This opens all sorts of doors for me – or so I am led to believe – including:
  • Cheap haircuts on slacks days at the barbers
  • Cheap seats to watch films during the afternoon
  • Free prescriptions and eye-tests
  • Free bus travel anywhere in England
  • Access to cheap train and coach travel
Not a bad deal just for being a year older than I was yesterday.

I am not sure what I am going to do today, although I do know that Sue and I are going out for a meal in a local restaurant this evening. I will certainly think about staging a wargame at some point during the day ... but I might just spend the day chilling out watching the DVD of a favourite film ... or two.
And here for the historically mined amongst my regular blog readers are some 'interesting' facts:

Some of the famous events that took place on 7th February include:
  • Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) became the first English Prince of Wales in 1301.
  • The French and Spanish forces lifted the Great Siege of Gibraltar in 1793.
  • The Battle of Eylau was fought in 1807
  • In 1898 Émile Zola was brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse.
  • The board game Monopoly was published in 1935.
Some of the famous people who share the 7th February as a birthday are:
  • 1478: Sir Thomas More. lawyer, politician, and writer
  • 1812: Charles Dickens, novelist
  • 1873: Thomas Andrews, designer of RMS Titanic
  • 1962: Eddie Izzard, comedian, actor, and producer
at

36 comments:

  1. Andy McMasterSaturday, February 07, 2015 12:43:00 am

    Happy Birthday Bob! Have a most excellent day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. El GregoSaturday, February 07, 2015 1:27:00 am

    Happy birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comSaturday, February 07, 2015 2:11:00 am

    Happy birthday Bob, may there be many more to come.

    Ross

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fitz-BadgerSaturday, February 07, 2015 3:14:00 am

    Happy birthday, Bob! I hope you get/got some gaming goodness of some sort. Just because you're now an OAP doesn't mean you have to put away the toys and games, eh?

    So I guess you know the answer to "When I'm 64" by now. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Conrad KinchSaturday, February 07, 2015 3:29:00 am

    Hip hip hooray!

    ReplyDelete
  6. TomoSaturday, February 07, 2015 6:00:00 am

    Happy Birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Capt BillSaturday, February 07, 2015 6:54:00 am

    All of Beerstein wishes you many happy returns on the 35th anniversary of your 30th birthday...Bill

    ReplyDelete
  8. tradgardmastareSaturday, February 07, 2015 7:28:00 am

    Happy birthday Bob from all at the Duchy of Tradgardland,have a great day !
    Alan

    ReplyDelete
  9. myincublissSaturday, February 07, 2015 8:09:00 am

    Happy Birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Bluebear JeffSaturday, February 07, 2015 8:33:00 am

    Have a wonderful joy-filled birthday, sir. And enjoy your new privileges for getting old(er).


    -- Jeff

    ReplyDelete
  11. nobbySaturday, February 07, 2015 9:12:00 am

    Happy Birthday but you are only a day older than you were yesterday! No need to add to it - it passes quick enough as it is :0)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Rob YoungSaturday, February 07, 2015 9:52:00 am

    Happy Birthday and hope you enjoy your new found wealth.


    (PS free prescriptions and bus passes you should already have... likewise, I'm getting my winter fuel allowance in February and I'm still only 62...)

    ReplyDelete
  13. SoA Shows NorthSaturday, February 07, 2015 11:57:00 am

    Happy Birthday, Bob ..

    ReplyDelete
  14. irishhighlanderSaturday, February 07, 2015 12:47:00 pm

    Have a good one, bubble and squeak, bangers and mash or some other pub grub today?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jim Duncan WargamerSaturday, February 07, 2015 1:26:00 pm

    Congratulations Bob, I'm not far behind you.

    I've have had my free bus pass for a few years now as well as cheaper haircuts.

    Free prescriptions and free eye tests too!

    Can't wait for my 'old age pension' as well.

    Jim

    ReplyDelete
  16. David CrookSaturday, February 07, 2015 1:35:00 pm

    Hi Bob,

    Many happy returns and enjoy the day - especially if you do decide to squeeze a game in!

    All the best,

    DC

    ReplyDelete
  17. legatus hedliusSaturday, February 07, 2015 2:01:00 pm

    Happy birthday! I walked past that hospital on Friday on my way back from a meeting!

    ReplyDelete
  18. PeteSaturday, February 07, 2015 3:25:00 pm

    Many happy returns!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Steven PageSaturday, February 07, 2015 3:34:00 pm

    Happy Birthday, Bob. Enjoy whatever you do.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Peter BallSaturday, February 07, 2015 4:05:00 pm

    Happy Birthday, Bob!

    ReplyDelete
  21. William StewartSaturday, February 07, 2015 6:25:00 pm

    Happy 65th Birthday!

    I'm right behind you! However I will get cheap hair cuts if I cut it myself, Cheap seats to watch films in my living room, Free perscriptions if someone drops them and my eyesight is good enough to see them and free travel if I hitch hike.

    Again, many happy returns,

    Bill (64 and three quarters).

    ReplyDelete
  22. arthur1815Saturday, February 07, 2015 10:10:00 pm

    Happy Birthday, Bob.
    I hope you have had an enjoyable and relaxing day.
    Best wishes,
    Arthur

    ReplyDelete
  23. josta59Saturday, February 07, 2015 10:11:00 pm

    Happy birthday, Bob! Hi again. I thought you'd be interested to hear that I playtested a modified version of Portable Wargames I came up with today that reduces combat to just one die roll. And I find it really fun.

    I did this by increasing the number of strength points overall (20 for an average squad) and having 1d6 give the number of the target's SPs reduced, modified according to a table I made that includes commander influence, accuracy when not moving, close combat (built into the table, with heavy incentive to push in close), and elite targets. This method does allow for misses, of course.

    It sped things up for me and made it that much more fun.

    My table also has a modifier for less damaging return fire in close combat. This increases incentive to engage in close combat even more, since the attacker may not be so damaged.

    In addition, units at half strength cause much less damage, and that's also built into the table.

    I made a lot of other changes too, but it's still mostly your game, LOL! Looking forward to playing it more.

    Scott

    ReplyDelete
  24. Archduke PiccoloSaturday, February 07, 2015 10:19:00 pm

    It's 8 February here, but I think there's still some 7 Feb left where you are. Si I can wish you many happy returns for the remaining 45 minutes of the day - or is it 1 hour and 45 minutes - we're on daylight saving. And for the year, and all.

    I am wanting a year and 3 weeks before I hit the big 6-5. Not sure how I feel about that... :-)

    ReplyDelete
  25. PatGSaturday, February 07, 2015 10:34:00 pm

    Happy Birthday Bob!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Pete.Sunday, February 08, 2015 1:44:00 am

    Happy Birthday Bob, hope you had a good day.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

    ReplyDelete
  27. The Dancing Cake TinSunday, February 08, 2015 2:42:00 am

    All the best, Bob!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Robert (Bob) CorderySunday, February 08, 2015 8:16:00 am

    Andy McMaster, El Grego, Ross Mac, Fitz-Badger, Conrad Kinch, Tomo, Capt Bill, Tradgardmastare (Alan), Myincubliss, Bluebear Jeff (Jeff), Nobby, Xaltotun of Python, SoA Shows North, Irishhighlander, Jim Duncan (Jim), David Crook, Legatus Hedlius, Pete, Steven Page, Peter Ball, William Stewart, Arthur1815 (Arthur), Scott Salsman (Scott), Archduke Piccolo, Pat G, Pete, and The Dancing Cake Tin,

    Thanks very much for your birthday best wishes. They have helped to make it a memorable day for me … even though I feel thoroughly wrecked this morning!

    I hope to begin fighting a celebratory mini-campaign later today … once I am fully conscious and functioning relatively normally.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  29. DannocSunday, February 08, 2015 12:05:00 pm

    happy Birthday for yesterday. Does any of our hobby supliers offer a discount?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Robert (Bob) CorderySunday, February 08, 2015 2:06:00 pm

    Dannoc,

    Thanks for your good wishes.

    As to your question regarding whether any wargame suppliers give an OAP/65+ discount, all I can say is there are none who do so ... as far as I know!

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  31. joppySunday, February 08, 2015 2:52:00 pm

    Many Happy Returns, welcome to the 'oldies' club. Apologies for the delay, but I've been away at the sister-in-laws.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Robert (Bob) CorderySunday, February 08, 2015 5:33:00 pm

    Joppy,

    Many thanks for your best wishes.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  33. Mad PadreSunday, February 08, 2015 5:44:00 pm

    Many happy returns, Bob. Don't forget to drive slowly while wearing a cloth cap, and to take extra time pretending that you don't understand how the ATM works. :)

    ReplyDelete
  34. JiaqiSunday, February 08, 2015 6:14:00 pm

    Happy Belated Birthday to you Bob!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Robert (Bob) CorderySunday, February 08, 2015 7:46:00 pm

    Michael Petersen,

    Thanks for your best wishes.

    With the exception of wearing the flat cap, I do all those things already!

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  36. Robert (Bob) CorderySunday, February 08, 2015 7:46:00 pm

    Jiaqi Lim,

    Many thanks for your best wishes.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete

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