A Mr. Alec Holden from Surrey picked up his winnings from bookmaker William Hill, which gave him odds of 250/1 that he would live to 100 years. Alec placed a £100 bet on himself reaching that milestone 10 years ago.
So I got to thinking should I place a similar bet on myself? But to understand my chances I have to look at the reasons Alec has reached the milestone of 100 years. He put it down to eating porridge every morning and remembering to keep breathing. He said it was also important not to worry about anything, do as little work as possible, and go on lots of holidays.
Having gathered all this information I applied Alec's principles to my lifestyle to analyse my chances of living another 60 or so years. Porridge - that's OK. Now I know why my mother used to feed us porridge every morning when we were young. I have not taken it as much in recent years, but I could easily make that change again - we are off to a good start.
Breathing - Alec's left us a handy tip there, but a little unnecessary. I think I've got the breathing down to a fine art - maybe a little meditation to get those good deep breaths would increase my chances.
So far its all going well and I feel a trip to the bookies coming on.
But........the not worry bit. Now I don't know circumstances of Alec's life, but holding down a challenging job in the private sector is not worry (or stress) free. Add to that the Building Society who demand their mortgage payment every month, the rates, the electric, running a car (have you seen price of fuel) and of course a wife and I fail miserably on Alec's "don't worry" lifestyle. While I try to do as little work as possible it not always easy to bluff the boss and I am only getting the minimum holidays from work so I fail that test also.
So I have decided that taking a punt on my reaching 100 might be a bad bet and I will not be backing myself - but I will keep it under review. But I looked at who might be a good candidate to reach 100 and came up with the perfect profile.
On Alec's basis of no worry, little work and plenty of holidays I am looking at anyone who was elected to the Stormont Assembly in the 2003 election. After all they did no work, got paid a huge salary (which I am sure left them worry free) and the holidays were never ending.
All I need to find out now is how many of them take porridge for breakfast and I am off the the bookie shop with my slip.
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