SNS

Couldn’t resist adding this Suppose that once a week, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this...The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.The fifth would pay £1.The sixth would pay £3.The seventh would pay £7.The eighth would pay £12.The ninth would pay £18.And the tenth man (the richest) would pay £59.　So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every week and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until, one day, the owner caused them a little problem. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your weekly beer by £20." Drinks for the ten men would now cost just £80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free but what about the other six men? The paying customers? How could they divide the £20windfall so that everyone would get his fair share? They realized that £20 divided by six is £3.33 but if they subtracted that from everybody's share then not only would the first four men still be drinking for free but the fifth and sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.　So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fairer to reduce each man's bill by a higher percentage. They decided to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.And so, the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (a100% saving).The sixth man now paid £2 instead of £3 (a 33% saving).The seventh man now paid £5 instead of £7 (a 28% saving).The eighth man now paid £9 instead of £12 (a 25% saving).The ninth man now paid £14 instead of £18 (a 22% saving).And the tenth man now paid £49 instead of £59 (a 16% saving).　Each of the last six was better off than before with the first four continuing to drink for free.　But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got £1 out of the £20 saving," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got £10!"　"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a £1 too. It's unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!"　"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get £10 back, when I only got £2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"　"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison, "we didn't get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.　The next week the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important - they didn't have enough money between all of them to pay for even half of the bill!　And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy and they just might not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.　 For those who understand, no explanation is needed.For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Ouch ! Take it easy. Ice on the leg. And in the drinks Mrs AVB will need to keep bringing you

Depends whether it's a pull or a tear. The Mrs is a physio if you want a chat with her ?

You're winning from my wife's perspective! Thank you - I would love to visit some of those places - may be using my holidays now to do so

I agree. Whilst a long holiday is attractive, and many of the trips are the sort of thing I actually would enjoy, for me this has to be about using the 6 weeks to do something I simply couldn't do within a 'normal' holiday. Which is why I posted seeking some inspiration. Which a number of you have provided, thank you. I am currently Googling the likely cost of a Scottish sporting estate with a castle, clearly, but am suspecting something else will usurp it. Learning to sail and spending 6 weeks sailing from interesting place to interesting place is appealing to me, but I fear less so to the Mrs. Great shout too about visas etc - I never plan anything really, so that was another reason for posting to really try and get the maximum value from this once / twice in a career opportunity. Keep the ideas flowing if you have any more please, and thank you to each and every one of you that has taken the time so far to share your thoughts or ideas - it is really appreciated

You chaps are clearly onto something...... but I do want to spend the time with him !

That's my favourite so far!

I best look at that too then, thanks both, as wasn't really fancying the US

I'd love that. As would the Mrs. Will have to Google what could be in it for a 7 year old though I guess he could be interested in Romans by then

Am with you on Warwick Castle - am trying to sort that during this years summer holidays. Providing I get to be a knight too ! Digger Land is opening only a few miles from us next year I think so will be there a lot am sure. Dangerous book for boys is a top shout - I bought that for a colleagues boy years ago so will go order one for mine now as had completely forgotten about it - thank you!

I have taken him on a day trip before- he liked the locks and I guess I could get him into fishing, just not sure currently he would want to sit on the boat for hours each day to get anywhere though

Thank you - I think you have the making of something there

I am quite fancying a tour of Britain - but not so sure about a camper van. My little boy is quite keen on a tent for the Defender roof. But my wife absolutely isn't!

Funnily enough I did briefly earlier (so I don't think you sound bad or nasty !). He quite fancies being a knight and living in a castle. Or going to the moon. Both of which seem tricky today but I guess things could change in two years. His main interests are tractors and diggers !

Dear All It looks like I'm going to be offered the chance to take 6 weeks off (as a bloc), paid, on top of my leave entitlement etc to do whatever I like (essentially). But in 18 months time. Despite the obvious attraction to shooting every day during that season, in reality I want to do something as a family. Which means I need to do something that my wife and little boy (who will be 7 by the time I can do this) can also take part in. My rough plan is to take the entire 6 week summer holiday that my little boy has from school that year and do something in this period. I can use some of my leave entitlement too but don't want my son to miss school so unlikely that is a viable option. Unless you come up with something amazing that needs 8 or 9 weeks. So my request, please, is for ideas as to what I / we could do ? I'm fortunate to have a healthy budget so money shouldn't be too much of an issue. But as this is likely to be a one off (unless i stay for another 7 years after) then I'm keen to do something memorable......