Childhood Heroes

In a very short time period, we've lost Wallace from Wallace & Grommit, my favourite James Bond as a child, and for my money, the man who was, is, and always will be Batman, Adam West.

I still remember when the Michael Keaton Batman '89 film came out and it was so different to the '60s television show. I used to rent it on tape from the M&W in Hythe Marina. Now there's something you can't do nowadays.

Remortgage

In America, you get a mortgage when you buy your house, and that's it.

But here in England, you have to keep renewing it, as the fixed interest rate is only for a certain number of years. And it's almost as much hassle as it was the first time. Especially since they need to send someone round to take photos in order to assess the value of the property, and in my case, they need to see all of my business accounts. Not to mention all the fees.

And then there's the rigmarole of renewing a property lease. Since most apartment owners in England don't own the land on which their home sits, they need to pay several thousand pounds every so often to renew the ground lease. But since I am lucky enough to own a share of the land, I don't have to pay. But I do have to pay a lawyer a few grand to renew it anyway. A few thousand pounds, to declare that yes, I still own my flat, and I still own the land, just as I did before. Nothing will change. I hope my lawyer spends the money on a better fitting suit.