Closing The Year
Posted: Mon 31 December, 2018 Filed under: 2017/18, 2018/19, Bankruptcy, Domestic, Finances, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Health, Looking Back, Rebuilding, Reviews(ish), Single Life, Thoughts, Travel, Weight Loss Leave a comment »And so we’re at the end of 2018. And as such, it seems apt that the last post of the year should be a quick assessment and overview.
All told, it’s been a good – and busy – year.
There’s been more travel than usual, with that week in Toronto to add into the bargain.
There’s been more work, but also more fun times, trips out, meals, etc.
I’ve been doing a lot of work on weight-loss which has ultimately ended up not doing much – but I have more knowledge, more figures, and the steps I’ve taken have improved my health, strength, stamina, and resilience. They’ve just done sod-all to lose actual weight. But I’m OK with that, and it’s something I’ll continue to work on.
On the downside, I’m ending the year with a bit more debt than I’d like. It’s nothing earth-shattering, nor even major. A fair chunk of it is for tickets for things in 2019, of which another decent chunk is owed to me by others for their tickets. But all the same, it’s more than I’d like it to be.
However, in a fit of progress and being grown up, it’s also now all in one place, with zero-interest ’til 2022, and it’ll be done by the end of 2019. I could do it even quicker if I wanted – and I may do so – but it’s all under control, and I’m OK with it.
There are, as always, things I haven’t done – no matter the good intentions, they just haven’t happened. I’ll continue to work towards those things, and I’m going to write more about that tomorrow.
All told, it’s been a positive year, and I’m feeling pretty good at the end of it.
Unplanned
Posted: Sat 29 December, 2018 Filed under: Domestic, Getting Organised, Thoughts, Travel Leave a comment »In a distinctly rare occurrence, I’m ending the year with a weekend where I’ve currently got absolutely nothing planned. And it feels a bit odd, to be honest.
There’s stuff I’ll still be doing (getting rid of some of the extra stuff in the house, for example) so it’s not quite a “doing nothing” weekend, but there’s also nothing significant planned.
Normally I’d just go down to London or somewhere, but there’s not even anything grabbing me on that front.
So yeah, it’s all a bit odd. Not bad, and I’m sure I’ll find enough to do to keep me busy.
Easing Up, and Planning/Preparation
Posted: Wed 28 November, 2018 Filed under: 2018/19, Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Getting Out More, Single Life Leave a comment »From here on, the rest of this year is considerably calmer than the rest of it has been.
I’ve no more overnight stays away, and while I’m still doing stuff, it’s to a lesser degree than before. And about time too.
While it’s easing off, I’m also working out what I’m doing – and what I want to do – next year, which is entertaining.
As usual, I’m trying to not fill things up too much for the coming year – although there’ll be enough stuff to keep me going.
But for now, I’m going to just enjoy it being a bit quieter, a bit calmer, and hopefully just catch up on some downtime. Hopefully
Daft as a Brush
Posted: Mon 12 November, 2018 Filed under: Day Trips, Domestic, Driving, Food, Getting Organised, Introspective, London, Personality, Public Transport, Solo Dining, Thoughts, Travel Leave a comment »In an ongoing thread, there are times where I realise I really am a silly sod. This is another of those things.
A fair while back, the Cowboy Junkies (one of my all-time favourite bands) announced they were coming to the UK. It had been a fair while since they’d been here last, and even better, it was happening the weekend after my birthday. However, that was also the end of the week I was already booked up to spend in Northumberland, which was a Friday to Friday booking. And they were playing Manchester on the Saturday, and London on the Sunday.
So I figured what the hell, it’ll be a weekend, and booked tickets for both Manchester and London. Well I was up in the area anyway, and the London one was billed as being different to the Manchester one (although that has since changed). So why not? (Other than mileage, of course) I’d drive over from Northumberland to Manchester on the Friday, stay in a hotel overnight, do the gig on the Saturday night, and then drive home afterwards. Easy.
And then the plan changed a bit. When I saw the play Queen Margaret in Manchester, I realised how painless the journey was by train. So instead I figured I could drive home from Northumberland on the Friday – allowing me to get laundry and so on done in the evening and so on. Then on the Saturday I could get the train up, have lunch somewhere new and fancy that had grabbed my attention, then walk down to the hotel, check-in, drop off bag etc., go to the gig, stay overnight on Saturday, train home on Sunday morning, then down to London for Sunday night.
Yes, I’m an idiot, and an absolute loon. But I cut my mileage by taking the train, and improved my own safety by not driving home from Manchester late on a Saturday night. So that, at least, was sensible…
2018/19 – What’s the Plan?
Posted: Tue 6 November, 2018 Filed under: 2018/19, Business, Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Getting Out More, Health, Single Life, Thoughts Leave a comment »As has become traditional round here, it’s time for a list of what I’m aiming for and hoping to do in the coming year. Some will be familiar (because I keep starting and not finishing) but I’m also hoping to get rid of a couple that never really happen, and maybe add a couple to replace them.
- Keep on working on losing weight.
This one is a long-term thing, and one I’ve written about before. For me, it’s a struggle – I’ve worked with a number of resources this year so far, and feel better-informed than I was, but there’s still a long way to go. If nothing else, this year so far has eliminated a lot of options and bullshit. - Keep on improving fitness/health
Linked to losing weight, I’ve had more success with this one over the last 12 months, but there’s still stuff to do and improve. - Continue doing the stuff I enjoy
Various bits here – but basically, do stuff I want to. Not as a “fear of missing out” (“FOMO”) thing, but just as in “I really want to see/do [x]” and doing so. (This is, of course, in direct contrast to ‘doing less’ in the list below, so it’s a bit of a balancing act!) - Be more sociable
I’ve realised this year that I’ve been utterly crap with seeing friends – I’ve been doing a lot of stuff, but at the same time it hasn’t been overly sociable, hasn’t involved going to see friends at all. And that needs sorting.
I’m getting rid of some of the longer-running goals. They’re still things I want to work on – I’m not giving up on the plans, just on the having them as goals – but it affects me more when I see my ongoing failure to complete/do/start them year on year.
So I’ll note them here as reminders, but they’re not part of the main “What I’m aiming for” list. See if it works better for me as advisories, rather than as targets/goals. And those reminders are…
- Writing
I want to do more writing – I’ve got the ideas, but it’s finding the time, inclination and drive to get them actually going. I hope to schedule more in – I’ve also invested in some tools that should allow me to do so – but we’ll see. - Business plans
As with the writing, I’ve got the ideas, but need to allocate time and energy to getting them to work. In some cases I’m frustrated by time, in others by funding for getting them how I want them. We’ll just have to see how things go. - Doing Less
This is kind-of related to the above two – if I could sort my brain out so that ‘doing less’ was better, then I’d hopefully have more time to spend on the writing and business ideas. - Plan Better
And the final one, which controls all of the others – make better plans, notes, and be better organised.
2017/18 – What Happened ?
Posted: Sun 4 November, 2018 Filed under: 2017/18, Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, The Future, Thoughts Leave a comment »This time last year I wrote about my plans for the coming year, and the goals I was going to aim for.
Those things were
- Keep rebuilding the finances, adding to savings and so on.
By the end of this year, I’ll have completed the whole bankruptcy process, and it should be off my credit history. (As I understand it. Some people have said it only comes off at six years from the end of the bankruptcy period, which’d make it September 2019. We’ll see) - Exercise more, lose weight, improve health
Another ongoing process, carried over from 2016/17 - Complete September’s walking marathon
This imploded epically in 2017, so it’s another carry-over. And this year I’ll do some more training, and not destroy my feet four weeks before it… - Write more
Actually complete some stuff, and see what to do with it from there.
I’ve also got some tech answers to this, giving me more time and space for writing (I hope) - Do less
I’ve written about this before, but I am *really* bad at doing nothing. Lazy days do my head in, and I end up feeling stupidly guilty about “wasting” a day. But conversely, I’m acknowledging that I do need downtime for other things. So I need this as a reminder. - Business ideas
Look at completing some of the business ideas and plans, and see what I can do with them from there.
And how did I do ? Not too bad…
- Keep rebuilding the finances, adding to savings and so on.
Fairly successful – I’ve kept rebuilding, the bankruptcy is now off my credit score, and I’m keeping on rebuilding - Exercise more, lose weight, improve health
Still ongoing. I’ve been doing more, going to the gym more, and taking a lot of information in about my health, weight, fitness etc over the year, so I feel better prepared again - Complete September’s walking marathon
Again, a failure – although through lack of preparation, rather than health/foot issues - Write more
Didn’t happen. Ideas, and started a few bits, but nothing that’s been completed, let alone released into the world. - Do less
A gruesome, gruesome failure. - Business ideas
Ongoing. I’ve launched a couple of smaller things, and been working on a larger project (as well as some stuff I’m working on this week) so it could’ve been a lot worse. (But could’ve been a lot better, too)
Next… What’s the plan for 2018/19 ?
Already Booking
Posted: Fri 26 October, 2018 Filed under: 2017/18, 2018/19, Day Trips, Do More, Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Thoughts, Travel, Write More 3 Comments »Every year I say “I’ll do less next year“. “I need the downtime“, I say. “I can’t keep on living like this” (or, others say to me “You can’t keep on living like this”) Every damn year.
And then every year stuff starts happening from October where I go “Oooh, I’ll book that“. And suddenly I discover/realise that I’ve already got at least one thing booked in per month through to this time next year.
Plays, shows, activities, exhibitions, travel. It’s all in there already.
There really is just no hope for me.