The Retirement Manifesto: Trade-ins, Pensions, and the Long Game

The rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

It has been eight years since I last sat down to write a post. Eight years! To put that in perspective, the last time I blogged, I still had a "job," a "schedule," and a "motorbike." Now, I have a pension, a calendar full of naps, and a garage that feels a little emptier but a lot safer.

The Hillbilly Status Report

A lot of folks ask: “If you sell your bike at 65, are you still the Hillbilly Blogger?”

Let’s get one thing straight—being a Hillbilly isn't about the machine between your legs; it's about the grit in your gears. Selling the bike wasn't an admission of defeat; it was a strategic withdrawal. I’ve traded the wind in my face for the peace of my back garden.

My "New" Rules for Retirement

Now that I’m officially a man of leisure (and government subsidies), I’m laying down a few ground rules for this next chapter:

1. Time is Currency: I no longer spend it on things that require a suit or a "synergy meeting."

2. Frequency is Relative: I promised my next post for 2033, but don't hold me to it. I might get wild and post in 2027 if the mood strikes.

3. The Pensioner’s Perch: Expect more observations on the world from someone who finally has the time to watch it spin.

The Road Ahead

I might be "retired," but I’m not tired. I’ve traded the high-speed turns for high-quality storytelling. I may not be riding into the sunset at 100mph anymore, but I’m still here, I’m still opinionated, and I’m still a Hillbilly.

Stay tuned. Or don't. I'll be here regardless, probably drinking tea and wondering where I put my glasses and hearing aids.

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Back on an iPad

I last had an iPad in 2016, an iPad Air 2. When it broke, I never replaced it, I just used the MacBook Air and my iPhone. This year for Father’s Day, my kids bought me an IPad Pro 10.5” and the Smart Keyboard. I had forgotten how much of a utility device the iPad was. I got the iPad 2, then replaced that with the iPad Air 2 and used to carry these with me everywhere. I made do with the iPhone 6S Plus but now, being back with an iPad, I realise that this is the portable device to have and how much I have missed using it. Watching video’s is so much better, using the office suite to do work is so much better, replying to emails is so much easier. Updating my blog will be so much ........ but wait ........ what is this .... my favourite blogging app Blogsy is no more. Say it ain’t so 😕 Blogsy was such a great app for blogging on the iPad and now I am having to write my blogs using the Blogger website. It seems that Blogsy went away about the same time I stopped using an iPad. Coincidence ....... I think not! The experience of using Blogger is just not the same. No more offline writing of posts, no more simple embedding of links, no more ..... well no more really user friendly experience. I have searched the inter webs and have not found a Blogsy replacement. If anyone reads this, what do you use on the iPad for blogging?  

Back to Blogging

I have just noticed that it has been almost two years since I last posted to my blog.

Best I stop being so slack and get on to it!

Having a lump on my arm removed

For those that love a bit of blood and gore, here is a video I took of me having a lump removed from my arm.

Motorcycle Trip through back country New Zealand

My wife and I went for a sunny Saturday ride through back country New Zealand. I love the back country roads. No traffic, good twisties and some straight bits too.No traffic so you can just ride and enjoy.

Bose SoundTrue In-Ear Headphones

My old faithful Apple earpods finally bit the dust. Time to get some new in-ear headphones for use with my iPhone and iPad.

My requirements were that they had to give good sound, be comfortable, have a mic to use with phone, skype etc and be under NZ$100.

I spent about 3 days researching (I am a bit OCD like that) and found that the Bose SoundTrue seemed to fit the bill, except for price. They had really good feedback on comfort and mic quality, mixed reviews on sound (mainly from people who listened to rap music who complained about the lack of bass) but failed on the price, RRP for these is NZ$219.

I decided to go back to my old faithful and get a new pair of Apple earpods. I then set about seeing if I could get them cheaper than on the Apple NZ shop where the price was NZ$45. I went to dick smiths online and saw that they had these $5 cheaper. Right underneath them was the Bose SoundTrue which Dick Smith had for NZ$159, a good NZ$60 cheaper than the Bose RRP. Hello, I thought to myself, maybe I can get them cheaper if I look really hard. After about 30 minutes of searching, I found a shop in Cromwell, a small town in the South Island of NZ, that were selling them for NZ$109.

I immediately moved my price requirement to $110 and "voila" the Bose SoundTrue in ear headphones now fitted my requirements perfectly. I don't listen to rap music so the lack of a really deep bass didn't bother me. I went online to Gary Anderson's in Cromwell and purchased the Bose SoundTrue in-ear headphones for IOS.

I was very surprised to get an email 45 minutes later saying my order had shipped. Sent them back a complimentary email thanking them for thier excellent service and recieved a return email thanking me. The staff apparently get a coffee and chocolate if they get positive customer feedback.

The headphones arrived via courier overnight and are just as good as I hoped they would be. If you are in market for a good set of in-ear headphones with mic, I can highly recommend these BOSE Soundtrue in-ear headphones. I also suggest that if you are in New Zealand, you jump online to Gary Anderson's in Cromwell and buy them from them. If you are not in New Zealand, feel free to jump on my Amazon Store and buy them there.

Redirecting your custom domain name to Blogger

My Blogger URL was backwardsit.blogspot.com. I had my custom domain name www.backwardsit.com, and when I entered this url, I wanted my blog to display. Looked at the Blogger settings and there were instructions as to exactly what I had to do to make this happen.

I believed I had followed the instructions correctly but "it no go Mr Fawlty" (Manuel from Fawlty Towers in case you are wondering). The verification step in Blogger kept failing with a domain verification error 5.

I sent the instructions to my domain service provider. They checked and informed me that I had indeed set everything up correctly according to Google's instructions, but "Still no go Mr Fawlty".

I emailed Google, no reply ....... not really a surprise, what do they care.

After much searching, 99.9% of what I found confirmed that I had set it up correctly. There was one document however that proved to be the HOLY GRAIL.

There are two name entries that needed to be set up. One for WWW and one for XCVxxxxxx. This document explained that these were actually shortcuts for WWW.backwardsit.com and XCVxxxxx.backwardsit.com. Thought to myself, let me put the full name in and see if that makes a difference. I started with the WWW entry, that made no difference. I then went to the XCVxxxxxx entry, put in the full name ...... et voila ..... when I went back to Blogger settings and tried to verify, it now worked.

I then typed in www.backwardsit.com and my blog showed up. 

Problem solved.