When I was a child, I used to really love being given books as a present for birthdays or Christmas. Come to think of it, I still do ! I have always been interested in books. I love the smell, the feel of them – they are very satisfyingly tactile things.I:0:J

These days, I suppose I could be called a bibliophile, though it always sounds to me as though it means someone a little too fond of his tipple ! Although I still love touching and holding books, I am even more fond of actually reading them !

My life with books really started in earnest some years ago, when the substantial business I owned and ran got into real trouble with the abrupt downturn in the IT world resulting from the Y2K scare (remember it ?). To cut a long and somewhat unedifying story short, I was left with no job, no business, and very little money. Anyway, a classified ad in a local paper caught my eye about a bookbinding business for sale – the owner was emigrating to Israel, so being interested in books I took a look. This first step resulted in my learning the trade from my four employees (a bit back to front, wouldn’t you say?). We did lots of stuff for a major local university, as well as firms of lawyers, private book collectors, and students. At the same time, I started buying secondhand books, renovating some, and putting some up for sale on the internet.

After a while, I had enough to open a bookshop, and with my new and very supportive wife moved to a super old building which had a double store front with workshops and offices at the back. It was perfect.

Nowadays, I have retired to a remote village in the Karoo, South Africa, where I still keep a small bookshop as a retirement job. This is wonderful for me – its like sitting all day surrounded by hundreds of friends. Customers are the only trouble – I hate parting with any of my books !

Related articles by Zemanta

* Bibliophile (cognitive-edge.com)

* Bookshelf of the Week: Bratislavan Bibliophile (robaroundbooks.com)

* Linking and Pageviews 1850 Style: The American Bookbinders Museum (treehugger.com)

* customizing a book, part one (newfry.typepad.com)

Enhanced by Zemanta

Want to find out more about retirement books and eBooks, then visit Peter Shaw’s site to read the most interesting articles and eBooks for your needs.

Insurance is meant to help us prepare for life\’s unexpected surprises. Unfortunately, many of us tend to put off buying important types of insurance because we either can\’t deal with the issues surrounding a specific type of policy, or we just don\’t want to face our own vulnerabilities and those of our aging parents. Long term care insurance, however, is something that does need to be considered by just about everyone or one of life\’s unexpected surprises can bring you to a crippling financial loss.

This type of insurance is rarely provided by employers unless you happen to be an executive. Otherwise, it is a private insurance that you select and pay for yourself.

Insurance premiums are always lower the younger you are when you buy the policy. This is no different, although too many people think that long term insurance is unnecessary until much later in life. Not true! It was originally aimed at the Baby Boomers who would be turning into senior citizens around the turn of this century, but not just for them personally \’ these Baby Boomers now have parents who would also be ideal candidates for these policies.

Don\’t think this coverage is mainly for nursing homes! Anyone at any age might be a candidate for long term care. Something like a severe car accident could put someone of any age in a rehab facility for an extended period of time and regular health insurance only covers a small portion of these stays.

This type of insurance typically fills in the gaps where health insurance puts limits. For instance, the rehab facility can easily cost over $300 a day once health insurance runs out. Without long term care insurance, a few months in rehab could run up bills you\’ll never manage to pay off.

You do need to plan, however. A policy needs to be in place before a medical event takes place. Most carriers do not have a waiting period, so it would behoove you to buy a policy at the first sign that it might be needed in the near future.

Premiums are very reasonable, and this happens to be one of the most affordable types of insurance when you consider the price vs. The benefits. A no frills policy can be had for less than $75 a month for someone of about 50 years of age in average health. Policies can usually be purchased till 79 years of age.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.