Year One

Posted: Fri 9 August, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2012/13, Bankruptcy, Domestic, Finances, Thoughts | 1 Comment »

As of today, I’m no longer technically in bankruptcy. (Which is a weird word to type, but that’s something else entirely)

I declared myself bankrupt a year ago today, and that discharges automatically after one year, other than in exceptional circumstances. Basically, if the court decides you’ve been obstructive, or untruthful – or you’ve continued to build debt while in bankruptcy, or done anything else seriously stupid – they can extend the period of bankruptcy, but I’ve not done any of that, so it expires today.

There’s still a long way to go before it’s completely expunged from the record – another five years, in fact – but regardless, this is a milestone. (Rather than the millstone that the debts themselves were)

I’m still paying what I can afford for the next two years too. Once that’s done, it’s about rebuilding properly – for one thing, the amount I’m currently paying through the court system can go into a savings account. I haven’t missed the money, so I might as well keep paying it, but for my benefit rather than anyone else’s.

Bankruptcy isn’t an easy process, it’s not one I’d wish on anyone else. But it’s also not the great stigma on one’s character that it used to be, and while it’s not The Answer, it most certainly is An Answer.

For my own life, I’m glad I made the decision to go down this route – not that there were many other options, to be honest – because it’s allowing me to start again, to build up from those solid foundations that the last year has let me build.

11

Posted: Fri 9 August, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2012/13, 2013/14, Change, D4D™, Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Old(er), Getting Organised, Thoughts | Leave a comment »

Somehow, D4D™ has now made it to its eleventh birthday. I never expected it to do so, but I can’t deny, I’m actually fairly proud that it has.

Events over the last eighteen months have meant that the writing here has slowed down, and lost its frequency (and in some ways I feel it’s also lost its way a bit) but I’m going to see how we do over the next year, and wait ’til this time next year to see what happens.  I might close it down, I might just keep it with irregular updates. Right now, I just don’t know.

The last couple of years have been – interesting, I think it’s fair to say.  D4D’s been through that time with me (well, obviously) and will continue to do so, I think. There’s still a long way on this old journey, and I think/hope the next year (or two) is going to be instrumental in whatever comes next.

Organisational

Posted: Mon 5 August, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2012/13, Bankruptcy, Change, Domestic, Finances, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Thoughts, Work-related, Writing | 1 Comment »

This last week has involved getting quite a lot of stuff organised, and it’s felt pretty successful, to be honest.

Among other things, this week I’ve

  • Sorted out the Car Tax for the next 12 months
  • Paid a power bill that nPower had totally screwed up (and that’s the subject of an ongoing fight/complaint)
  • Halved the cost of my car insurance from the start of September (and raised a complaint regarding the amount I’ve been paying for the last six months)
  • Sent out CVs and organised interviews for the coming week
  • Organised myself (and a fair amount of my life) for the coming month
  • Started a couple of new projects, both techie ones and writing ones
  • Generally sorted out a whole load of things, most of which aren’t overly relevant to D4D™ or worth writing about, but are worthwhile for me to sort out
  • Even made time for lunch with the parents!

So all told, it’s been a pretty good week. In some ways the last twelve months has felt like being in Limbo, waiting for things to pass/happen, and that’s been OK. But with the changes of the last couple of weeks, as well as things that’ll be coming to pass at the end of this week, it’s now time to get my ass back in gear, and start figuring out what’s next.

August

Posted: Thu 1 August, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Bankruptcy, Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Thoughts, Work-related | Leave a comment »

Welcome to August – which should be a good month.

D4D will be 11 – eleven, for fuck’s sake! – and on the same day my bankruptcy will be discharged. Apparently that’s an automatic process, so I don’t even need to do anything, it’ll just happen.

Along the way, I’ve also got to change/renew car insurance (it’s going to be a change, unless a *very* good deal is offered for staying), which should be entertaining.

Along with that little lot, it’s also a month for getting a new job – well, that’s the plan – and generally sorting out other stuff.

There’s a lot going on, but it’s generally feeling pretty positive right now.

Week One

Posted: Sat 27 July, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2012/13, Domestic, Getting Organised, Introspective, Work-related | Leave a comment »

For the first time in ages, I’ve had a proper week off, following on from the changes with my employment status. While I was there, my email never really turned off (partly through my choice, partly through knowing there was no-one else to support the things I’d written) so in some ways it never felt like ‘holiday’ or ‘leave’. Work always intruded, emails to answer, and even phone calls for assistance on a few occasions.

This week though has allowed me to properly slow down, relax a bit, and get on with non-work stuff.

Yes, I’ve been sending out CVs and so on – and also paid a final visit to the Devon office to say “bye” properly to people, rather than just disappearing into the ether – but it’s still been a very pleasant piece of time, and helped by it being some of the best weather we’ve seen in a year or more.

The search for work will kick up again on Monday, plus there’s quite a few I’m waiting to hear back from, and I’ve already got a couple of interviews lined up, so we’ll see how things go.

For the moment I feel pretty optimistic about the entire thing. That might change over the next few weeks if nothing serious comes up, but for now I’m quite chilled and optimistic. It’s all a bit ‘wait and see’, which usually does my head in, but for now I’m OK.

We’ll just have to see how things work out.

Ongoing Reductions

Posted: Mon 24 June, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2012/13, Diet Coke, Domestic, Getting Organised, Health | Leave a comment »

Since last November I’ve been cutting down on my intake of Diet Coke, and doing OK on it. I’ve written about before, and will no doubt write about it again in the future.

We’re now six full months into 2013, and I’ve kept the intake down. It’s not zero – I don’t want it to be – but in general it’s about a quarter to a third of what it used to be, if not less. I’m still quite proud of that reduction, and of keeping the reduction going. My water intake has increased significantly as a result too, which is also supposedly a good thing – it’s certainly doing its thing to keep my kidneys in working order!

I still have good days and bad days – but less bad days than I used to – but overall I think it’s fair to say that the reduction might just be here to stay. Time will tell of course, but I think this is the longest sustained cut-down I’ve had in years.

One Year

Posted: Sun 5 May, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2011/12, 2012/13, Change, Domestic, Getting Old(er), Getting Organised | Leave a comment »

Exactly one year ago today – date-wise, rather than weekday-wise – I moved to the new place.

It’s been one hell of a year, and eventful in many ways.  Looking back, in some ways it’s raced past and feels like only a few weeks. Indeed it’s only when I look back and list the amount of stuff I’ve actually done in that time, check out all the changes and occurences in that time, that I realise how much has been done, and then it seems amazing how I’ve fitted it all into such a short span.

There’s still a lot to do, many changes to be made, many things to be tried and worked on. Some I’ll do, some I won’t. But this last year has been a good building block, and it’s laid the foundations for a lot of the upcoming stuff that should be really quite interesting.

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