Dear Peter 5

Dear Peter,

Yes, the article you sent to me really confirms what I was thinking about the government pension, namely that you must make sure that you have paid all of the National Insurance contributions, in order to get the fullest possible amount back. And yes, the article made the point that whatever you pay, you should get it back in three years or less. The article also underlines your point that the state pension is linked to inflation, so it is bound to go up each year. In fact, it is supposed to be going up by more than eight per cent in April! Well, I have written to the pensions people, using your address, so there ought to be a letter back from them in a week or two.

One of the things that I asked in my letter was what I should do if I am unable to access the pensions online thing through the government gateway. Yes, I have my passport and my NI number, but that still is not enough.

Talking of passports, Irena's passport will need to be renewed next year and mine the following year. As the passport has to be sent there and back by DHL, just the cost of the courier will be horrendous.

While we are on the subject of horrendous things, I am not looking forward to our next electricity bill for the apartment in VT. It is going to be expensive.

Another horrendous thing is the dreadful meat grinder that is the war in Ukraine. It will be the second anniversary of the start of the war in February. So how much longer will the war carry on? Another two years? There is no real possibility of Irena going home to the Crimea until the war is well and truly over. She has done some research and she says that there are no flights from Sofia to Moscow and no flights from Moscow to Simferopol, her hometown. Even more importantly, the Russian government are not issuing tourist visas, especially if you have a British passport.

Yes, my dear sweet wife had a bath today and we tested the AMME method (the Adams Method for Moisture Expulsion). This involved opening TWO windows for about ten minutes, before turning on the dehumidifier. It seemed to work really well.

Any other news? Not much really. I am looking forward to my walk with the VT Walkers tomorrow.

This morning was mostly spent at the hospital in VT, as I went to see Dr Ivanov. No, I did not make an appointment: I just turned up. This is not the UK, so I did not have to wait for a month or two. In fact, I only had to wait for about an hour, but eventually I got to see the doctor. He told me not to worry about the small lump on my back and that the spots on my backside were caused by "inflammation of the sweat glands". He gave me a prescription for a small bottle of alcohol and some cream for the spots on my derriere, which together cost me six leva (about two pounds). When was the last time you paid two quid for TWO medications in a pharmacy in the UK? 

Once I have my UK government pension, I can then apply for free medical treatment in Bulgaria, as Bulgaria has a reciprocal agreement with Bulgaria, so retired Brits in BG do not have to pay! As you probably know only too well, poor Brits have to pay a fortune for any sort of medical help, including paying to park your car in the hospital car park.

Best wishes from VT,

Simon