"T'old man" is 64 years old and soon he will be 65, he recently received a letter from the pensions benefit office in Newcastle reminding him that in September he will be eligible to draw his state pension (as if he needed reminding). So...we duly phoned the office number supplied and ordered the claims pack which he has to fill in and return if he wants his pension to be paid on time. The nice young lady who took all his details informed us that the claims pack would be posted forthwith.
Two weeks has passed and nothing has arrived only to be told (on phoning up again) by another nice young lady that there is nothing on record about any claim forms been despatched or indeed any request for one.
Great... human error at work again, so after being reassured that it was not too late to make a claim in time to be paid on his birthday she would send one straight away that very day... watch this space... how complicated can it be...you pay your insurance stamp for nearly fifty years then you get your pension

Other notable "nearly pensioners" are Mohammed Ali, Ringo starr, Harrison Ford, Barbara Streisand and probably the most well known of all Paul McCartney.

When Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool, the average life expectancy of a British infant boy was 63 years old. Paul turns 64 tomorrow Sunday 18th June, Father's Day.
He was a teenager when he wrote the tune for "When i'm Sixty-Four," and only 24 when the Beatles recorded it in 1967 for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." To the youth of the 1960's the lyrics were an enduring if satirical definition of what their golden age might have be like "many years from now."
Today, many of those who embraced that quaint vision of enduring love, caring, knitting and pottering in retirement — "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?" — couldn't have been more wrong.
Judging by his personal life, Paul has missed the mark, too. The song's promise of retirement with a long term partner has proved bittersweet for him after announcing his separation from his second wife, Heather Mills, who is only 38.
"Will you still need me, Heather?" I think not!

If his first wife, Linda had survived it would have been a different story as they had been married for 29 years. "The bliss of being with a lifelong partner, as expressed in 'When I'm Sixty-Four,' was shattered by Linda's tragic death, "The little things expressed in the song, such as working in the garden and going for a Sunday morning drive, were part of his life with Linda."

Happy birthday anyway Paul and don't forget to apply early if you want your pension paying on time next year! lol lol