Well, I hope I'm right and you can't beat the habit. You'll probably find there's a slot you could book regularly at the library - the great thing with retirement is that you've got more flexibility in that kind of thing. In between the telly and the drink and the music. And the jobs.

As for at home - well, it depends where you live, but if you live in lots of places, NTL do a pretty good deal with a phone line and a permanent lowlevel broadband connection with the modem thrown in for about £15 a month. That means no internet connection charges at all.

Rememembr, if you don't have a computer and the internet, how are you going to be able to get advice on all these jobs that need to be done around the place, and up to date info on health issues and all that stuff? The fact that it would also give you the Mudcat is of course neither here nor there...