Words About Things

A recent study by the financial services company Prudential has shown that only 18% of people nearing retirement age feel that they have saved enough money for a comfortable retirement. Of the 1,001 people interviewed for the study 57% said that they would be willing to work past their retirement age in order to receive more money once they did stop working. While most had money saved up in financial investments and current accounts they did not feel that it was enough to maintain the standard of living they had become accustomed to.

Around 25% of people due to retire within the next year said that they would be happy to work for another 5 years in order to save more money. 7% of participants had considered working for an extra 10 years in order to make their retirement years more comfortable. Only 1 in 5 felt that they were financially ready to retire. Vince Smith-Hughes of Prudential said that these figure represent an issue faced by many of retirement age:

“”Working beyond the normal retirement age is already a reality for many people who either have insufficient savings or simply want a greater income when they do come to retire. But for a lot of people planning to retire in the very near future the state retirement age is sacred and their expectation has always been to retire at 65. Once they reach that milestone, regardless of the amount of money they have, they simply do not want to work anymore.”

Around a third of people expect their standard of living to fall once they retire compared to only 12% who expect their retirement to account for a raise in their standard of living. Most of us look forward to our retirement but these figures show that we must focus on preparing financially in order to be relaxed about our futures. Without significant saving we may find that retirement is a struggle when it should be a pleasure.

British people are among the least attractive in the world according to BeautifulPeople.com. The site is described as ‘elite dating site for beautiful people only’ and those applying for an account must first be rated by members of the opposite sex. Apparently only 12% of British men who apply are accepted into the site. 15% of female applicants from the UK are considered attractive enough to use the site.

BeautifulPeople is the first community of its kind. To become a member, applicants are required to be voted in by existing members of the opposite sex. Members rate all new applicants over a 48 hour period based on whether or not they find the applicant ‘beautiful’. Should applicants secure enough positive votes from members, they will be granted a full membership to the BeautifulPeople Network.

Statistically speaking we can’t all be beautiful (I have a face for blogging) because beauty by its definition is outside of the norm. Strangely most people consider themselves to be of above average intelligence and looks particularly in comparison to other people (see Illusory superiority).

Georgia Jagger

The stats presented by BeautifulPeople.com clearly show that some people overestimate their attractiveness. Its also worth pointing out that the people who are accepted into the site are those who are considered attractive by the majority of those rating. When the majority vote we tend to end up with predictable and bland winners (see X-factor). If you look at the hottest rated people on Hot or Not most of the girls look like Barbie and most of the men look like Ken.

There are clearly lots of attractive British people but perhaps we aren’t as uniformly attractive as other countries. According to the site Swedish men and the most attractive (65% of applicants approved) and Norwegian women come out on top (76% approval).  Brazilian women have proved to be considered attractive by the majority of members.  1.8 million people have been rejected in the last 2 weeks since the site went world wide.

Cars in England tend to be a bit smaller than their American counterparts. I guess this is because we have different types of roads (lots of narrow, twisting country lanes compared to big highways) and probably a different sense of proportion. Everything about America is bigger and and brasher (and it’s probably best I end that sentence there). I consider myself quite English (reserved, up-tight and of the opinion that guns are a Bad Thing) but I really like American cars. No Hummers or SUVs but good old fashioned long square ones with go-faster-stripes and a sense of style.

Modern cars leave me cold, I don’t understand why aerodynamics are considered quite so important, I would rather have a car that is a clearly defined shape than one that looks like a squished diamond. Ideally I would have a Ford Mustang or a Dodge Charger:

Unfortunately I don’t have the necessary spare cash to blow on one of these cars so I’m destined to own sensible second hand cars that are dull but get you falrom A to B. I have found that there are several car rental companies who specialise in classic cars so my dreams of driving one aren’t too far fetched.

Unprecidented numbers of Portugese Man of War jellyfish have been spotted of the coasts of Devon and Cornwall over the last six weeks. There have been 60 reported sightings this summer acording to The Marine Conservation Society. The Man of War is known for its dangerous venom which can cause ‘whip-like, red welts on the skin’ which cause the victim a considerable amount of pain.

The Portuguese Man o’ War is not actually a jellyfish but rather a collony of seperate, individual zooids. Acording to Wikipedia

A Portuguese Man O’ War is not a single animal, but rather a siphonophore – a colony of four kinds of minute, highly modified individuals, which are specialized polyps and medusoids.^[1] Each such zooid in these pelagic colonial hydroids or hydrozoans has a high degree of specialization and, although structurally similar to other solitary animals, are all attached to each other and physiologically integrated rather than living independently.

Those encoutering a Man of War are advised not to touch the creature(s). If contact occurs victims may need to seek medical attention depending on their reaction.

The Marine Conservation Society are unsure of why we are seeing increased numbers of Portuguese Man of War although persistent south-westerly winds may be a factor.