Here is a catch up on some of the questions:
And I have to ask what did you pay for the house 5 years ago and the present market value?
I don't want to get into any figures but we moved out of Leeds just under 12 years ago and I started commuting to work. In Leeds we were living in a 2 bedroom back-to-back in the leafy (not) suburb of Harehills. When we started having children we looked for a bigger house in a slightly leafier area. At that time a semi in one of these areas was about 2x the cost of a back-to-back and they were also 30+ mins drive from the factory at rush hour. We started looking further away and found that within a 45 min drive of the factory I could by part of a Georgian Hall with 4 bedrooms, a ballroom and ½ acre of garden for the same price as the semi. Of course we went for it. You could probably buy 3 semis with what mine is worth now.
The village where I live is only 1 mile from the M62 and within 45 minutes drive of my house I can get to Leeds, Bradford, York, Sheffield and Hull (etc) which gives you a lot greater choice when you're looking for a job.
Incidentally their father is called Neville - yes Neville Neville;
I was looking at a churchyard in the village of Walkington when I came across something similar. The first and surname were both Oliver but this chaps middle name was Cromwell! Oliver Cromwell Oliver! His parents must have had a sense of humour.
When you have a minute you could also tell us about your goals for the future both professionally and personally?
I am not a very ambitious person, I just happen to be better at what I do than the people around me. I don't really seek out promotion but usually get some recognition which has brought me up the greasy pole. My professional targets are therefore pretty low….I want to stay in work (unless I win the lottery and even then I would still need to do something), get paid well enough for it and not get into too many arguments with my more ambitious colleagues. The only problem I could find with this attitude may be in a job interview situation; Question: 'Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?', Answer: ' With any luck I be pushing trolleys in Tesco's car park.'
One thing that is very important to me is the work/life balance which is why I'm pretty lucky in my present job…. Mostly I start at 08:00 and finish at 17:00 ( plus 25 min drive each way ) Monday to Thursday and on Friday I finish at about 12:00 which gives me another half day at the weekend!
In my personal life my goals are pretty much the same. I want good health for me and my family, to earn enough money to support them and spend as much time as I can with them.
"Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything." Sydney Smith 1771 - 1845 www.newsinfoplus.co.uk