Posted in August 2007

Thursday 30th August - Collectors World day

Source: knightrider45
Thursday 30th August 2007, 11:59pm

Now I'm back on holiday after my three overtime shifts, we're back to entertaining our Australian cousins as we have use of the car in the day again. Today my wife, her cousin, and my daughter went shopping in Kings Lynn.

I and the cousins husband, fed up of walking around shops, decided to drop the ladies off in Kings Lynn and we went onto Collectors World at Downham Market.

Not a bad visit for only £5.50 entrance fee. If you're heavily into history, as I am, I'd really recommend it, although I must admit with a few reservations.

Yes, we enjoyed it. The musuem is known for (and constantly advertises) it's walk down a Dickens/Victorian street. Okay for what it is, but the whole thing is really dark and spoilt my camcorder DVD as it is too dark to record properly - it really needs more lighting to really do it justice.

The whole Street was cold and damp and the displays covered in dust and cobwebs in parts. It really wasn't what I was expecting, but the display was good for what it was. If you're thinking of a wide street, you're wrong. The shop fronts are built into a widened corridor which winds its way through the main building.

Other than that, we liked the commercial history on show - there was early cookers, stoves, toys, advertisements, an old photographers shop, a computer section and so on, basically all household items had been collected, or donated, and put on show.

The displays take you from the early Victorian/Charles dickens era through to the 1940's, and as I said, its good if your'e into the social history side of life. Needs a good clean up though.

Would I go again? Yes I would, and I'm sure the Christmas display, along with adequate heating and lighting, blows people away during the Festive season, and that's when I'd go again.

Apart from the domestic collections, there's a good display of Armstrong Cars and a couple of small chapels.

So, having walked around the musuem, we left to pick the ladies up at 1pm from Morrisons car park, came back home and had a chill out afternoon.

Laurie gave me a nice suprise when I got home yesterday because he'd cut the grass, back and front, for me and cleared up the back garden as he'd got bored being at home all day as i had the car at work on my (unwanted) day shifts.

I've made plans now that on Sunday, the day before the cousins leave us to go back home, that they both plant a flowering bush or plant in the back garden. I shall always remember them then as the bush flowers every year.

We have never seen so much of Norfolk as we have done over the last three weeks or so. It's been brilliant to leave my debt ridden world for a while, and for that alone I shall be grateful for a long time to come.

The photo attached to this blog shows one of the Armstrong cars we saw today.

Permalink | 1 comment

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Monday 29th August – Australian Cousins Birthday.

Source: knightrider45
Monday 27th August 2007, 10:45pm

Ever surprised anyone? We did today, as a result of an eight person conspiracy including the mother-in-law.

Carol, our Australian cousin, was under the impression that I and her husband were going to the speedway in Kings Lynn, and she was spending a ladies day out with my wife and her cousins from Bury St Edmunds.

Wrong! As the ladies set off on their intrepid journey to Holkam Hall, I and the cousins husband, Lawrie, made good our escape to Morrisons at Fakenham, where he brought lots of party fodder and then we went straight back home.

Then began a three hour spell of furious kitchen type activity, doing 60 sandwiches, cooking sausages and sausage rolls, defrosting cakes, boiling eggs and lots more besides (Including 5 lots of washing & wiping up!).

The table was cleared and moved to the end of the dining room and heavily laden with lots of party fodder. One of my important jobs was to go into the loft and seek and recover our blue and white Christmas lights.

The front room was decorated with birthday banners and Christmas lights, then we waited for the ladies to come back…………..

We were almost rumbled because another set of cousins came over from Ipswich and pulled up outside the house at EXACTLY the same time as the ladies party returned – but, amazingly, the cousin suspected nothing. Well, what are the chances of that happening then, eh?

Then she walked into the house……..

She was bombarded with the banners, dazzled by the Christmas lights on the front room ceiling, and greeted by the table full of food. After a few minutes, I came into the house with Laurie from the back garden, where we had quickly hidden ourselves, and then the surprise party really began.

An excellent day all round, and one both cousins will remember forever.

Permalink | 2 comments

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Sunday 26th August - Norton Hill Light Railway

Source: knightrider45
Sunday 26th August 2007, 7:47pm

Shhhh - Don't tell anyone, but me and Eddie2Socks finally met up with each other this afternoon, behind the "Make Us An Offer" Stall. At last, we have met! Really good to meet you E2S - roll on next time!

Having picked up E2S's suggestion earlier this week, I took my wife and the Cousins to Norton Hill Railway, and a good time was had by all!

We walked around all the stalls, tried our hand at Toilet Basket ball (trying to get a football to land in a toilet pan - in the middle of the field!), brought a couple of books (Don't you just love books?), had a cup of tea, then had THE RIDE.

Brilliant Fun. All these grown people sitting on top of this model steam train as we chuff-chuffed our way around the track, over the viaduct and through 2 tunnels. The smell of the loco as we went through the tunnels was really authentic, reminded me of the poppy line we went on the other day.

And, we'll keep today alive for ever. I recorded the whole train journey on our recently repaired DVD Camcorder, burned it to disc for our Australian guests, and it played on the telly beautifully. How I wish we had the camcorder when we went on the Poppyline!

One of our Austrailian cousins lost his glasses as they flew out of his shirt pocket but they were rapidly recovered thanks to his emergency running around the track before the next train left the station!

And if you came to the railway today, and saw two men huddled in deep conversation behind a stall, you unknowingly, espied me and E2S putting the world to rights. Well, we were, until the wife came to get me to go into the gents loos to recover our cousin who had mysteriously disappeared for ages. I took this opportunity to introduce my wife to E2S before she managed to drag me away.

Turns out that there was only one toilet for the whole event. Not fair. Organisers - portaloos needed next year please - surely some Portaloo company out there in Norfolk land would lend a unit to charity for a weekend.

Permalink | 1 comment

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Friday 24th August - Swaffham, here we are!

Source: knightrider45
Saturday 25th August 2007, 12:27pm

Friday went to plan. Hooray! we collected the Camcorder from Kings Lynn (Needed a new DVD driver, a repair that would have cost us over £300) and we headed over to Castle Acre Priory.

The Cousins wanted to see a bit of our English history, and from a totally unplanned conversation the previous night, we decided to hit the Priory.

Complete with the repaired DVD Camcorder (which the Teenage One has been told she will never take out with her again) and had a look around Castle Acre Priory. Owing to the fact that there would have been a fairly large admittance bill for us all to go in, we elected to walk around the priory in the surrounding field.

It had stopped raining by the time we got there, but the field the priory use for walking around was flooded around the last corner, so we could only walk around three quarters and had to head back the way we came.

At dinnertime, we again had a pub dinner, this time each of us paying for our dinners in the Ostrich pub and resturant.

Then we met up with our cousins from Bury St Edmunds, who are staying over here with the Mother-In-Law, and walked around the big church & graveyard.

So many children and young people died in the 1800's and 1900's, we saw so many graves of babies, children under 10, and lots of people who had died in the 20's. There are a couple of war graves there too from the First World War.

To end the day, we spent an hour in Swaffham Castle, a magnificant ruin, with so much still remaining today that experts have drawn accurate impressions on how the castle actually looked like in the 1200's.

Many photos and films were taken on our day out. Now, today, our Austrailian cousins are out walking around Norwich with the Mother In Law and their Bury St Edmunds Cousins. I and the wife are staying in today for cleaning, and as I'm on a 12 hour night shift tonight, I don't really fancy walking around Norwich all day then going to work all night. Our lack of money also plays a part in our not going out today as well.

Eddie2Socks - if you're reading this, I'll see you at your stand tomorrow sometime (Sunday).

Permalink | 1 comment

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Thursday 24th August – Family Tree Collected

Source: knightrider45
Friday 24th August 2007, 12:10am

Today’s the day the mother-in-law, my wife, and her cousin, left me and the cousins husband at home as they went to see a man in Bury St Edmunds who has done years of research on the family tree.

This man, Ray, is another cousin (something) removed, so again, the Australian cousin met another (distant) member of her English family.

And the family tree they brought back with them is massive, two A3 pages of dates, births and deaths.

After the visit to Ray, the ladies trio converged on another cousins house who was present at the barbeque last Sunday. This time it was the wife's time to shed a few tears, as this cousin had some videos of our wedding, part of which included her dad giving the bride's father speech - he died in 1993 (ish). The video we made snapped some time ago, so this is the first time she has "seen" her dad in years.

As I and the cousins husband spent the day together, we have hatched a dastardly plan for Monday, which is the Australian cousins 59th Birthday.

We've arranged another family get together for her, but this time it's going to be at our house. Top Secret! The cousin will be taken out for a birthday drink by her husband at 3pm, bringing her back home at 4.15pm.

The house will look normal until she walks into the kitchen - where everyone will be waiting for her. I'm getting the Christmas lights down from the loft sometime over the next couple of days, ready (and hidden) for the big day.

This is the first birthday our cousin has spent away from home, and her children. I hope this goes just a little way to make her feel appreciated.

Tomorrow, we're off to Kings Lynn in the morning to collect the repaired DVD Camcorder, (Good News!!) then we're (probably) going to the priory ruins at Swaffham for a look around. After that, who knows?

Amazing fact - this 59 year old woman, and her 63 year old husband, have never been out of their country before - and they've NEVER seen snow!

Permalink | 5 comments

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Wednesday 22 August – Poppyline Visit Complete

Source: knightrider45
Wednesday 22nd August 2007, 11:46pm

I checked my blog about half six – seven O’clock this morning, and then when I checked it again later on this afternoon after getting back home, I found Eddy2Socks was going to the same place as us and I’d missed him!

Sorry E2S - I would have looked really hard for you if I'd known you were going! Our trains probably passed each other along the track!

Well, we left home this morning at 9.15, complete with our Australian guests, arriving at Sheringham in time for the 10.30 train trip to Holt.

Fantastic old steam train. Brilliant - my first time ever on one. The rain was virtually constant all the time we were there and the train, being the first run of the day, was cold and damp. We didn't mind.

From holt, we caught the Holt Hopper, and old Routemaster Red double decker bus (see photo attached to this blog) that took us from Holt station into Holt town centre, at which point it was absolutely teeming down, so we didn't do much walking around Holt as we'd planned to. Ended up having another pub dinner (Lunch in Norfolk) at the Feathers.

Then we caught the Hopper bus back to Holt station and caught the 1.30 steam train back to Sheringham after a long photo session.

The station staff - all volunteers I understand - were brilliant and helpful all along. The only gripe I've got about the day- besides the rain - and missing E2S and Sam - is that we had a noisy family in the same carriage as us, with a crying baby that wouldn't shut up for the whole journey.

Today was really poignant in one respect as it was the Mother In Laws birthday so we made it a special occasion all round. The train ride was a treat for us from our cousins, and we went halves on the dinner. A perfect day set in the fourties or fifties. Brilliant.

Tomorrow my wife, her mother and her cousin are seeing a chap in Bury St Edmunds who's made amazing progress with the wifes family tree. I've helped a little as well because my wife and her cousin - who are related through the same grandmother - have relatives who were in the workhouse. After staying up to almost 1am this morning, I found a company that sells all workhouse records - and I've brought a copy for them so they can try and fill in the gaps in the family tree. Amazing value for just £6 something for the Kensington Workhouse records covering 20 years!

I can't wait to get my life sorted out so I can start on mine.

Permalink | 1 comment

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Tuesday 22nd August – Starting to Look Better

Source: knightrider45
Tuesday 21st August 2007, 9:51pm

This is a copy (from memory) of a blog I did yesterday, but as I pressed the send button, IMM site crashed and lost the posting. Didn’t have time to redo it last night, so here we are!

Okay then. Now my goals are in black and white, I have a target to focus on and my number one objective now is to get debt free as soon as I can. I found out Friday that one of my colleagues has resigned in another area so there's overtime up for grabs, at least until they sort out a replacement anyway.

I've done myself a daily finance chart, so I can monitor the amount I raise on a daily basis. I believe the experts call this daily cash management. Although the overtime shifts will only give me £66.00 a shift, instead of the £99 I earn on my regular shift, its only £33.00 short, so I'll work as many of these shifts as I can.

When the company recruits new staff, I'll have to move onto agency work, but I've got a breather until then. I'm on holiday until Saturday night, so I'll "volunteer" for as many overtime shifts then for the next month or so.

And then take it from there.

Onto better things - we're getting on brilliantly with the wife's cousin from Australia and her husband. As I've been working quite often since they arrived, my wife has taken them around Sandringham last Friday.

Last Thursday, before starting my first night shift, I and the wife took the cousins around Fakenham Market. Believe it or not, the Australians don't have markets over there the way we do. They have the occasional "Swap Meet" on Sundays, but nothing like our markets and car boots.

I finished my two overtime night shifts at 7am Saturday, and instead of going to bed for a few hours, I took them and the wife to Swaffham Market and took a walk around the town centre as we have introduced them to ITV's King programme. And had a pub dinner (lunch) while we were there - my first one for years. Eventually got back home at about 4pm, when I had to have a couple of hours sleep, as I couldn't keep my eyes open by then!

Sunday was really special. We took the cousins for a barbeque at Middle Daughters house, where we'd gathered all their English family members together for them. This was the first time the cousins had seen all their English family. Emotions were running high and it was an excellent day all round. Thank you Genes Reunited.com!

Hard to believe that neither side of the family knew about the other 12 months ago isn't it?

Monday was a day off for all of us, spending time at home, a respite from rushing around everywhere. Today we took the cousins shopping around Kings Lynn, and tomorrow we're taking then on the Poppy Line Steam Railway, leaving here at 9am.

Tomorrows Wednesday, that gives me just 2 days holiday left then. Time is just going so fast, especially considering that this is going to be my last week off for ages to come!

Permalink | 2 comments

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Tuesday 14th August - Keeping On Keeping On, Metorite Storms & Austrailian Cousins

Source: knightrider45
Tuesday 14th August 2007, 7:31pm

I'm glad I listed everything down yesterday that I'm expected to pay out for my normal month. I still can't work out how other people manage with just one job .

I know I can't. I've just had a letter from the mortgage company over the last few days, giving me 7 days to clear all the arrears otherwise we'll be getting solicitors letters.

Well, the solicitors are just having to write to me. There's nothing I can do. The extra payments this month of £200 for the heating oil (which also heats all the hot water in the house) and the £250 poll tax money have all had to come out of this months mortgage payment.

So, now I can't pay the mortgage. Again. I've only got just over £300 against the £865 paymen they want from me.

Financial life just stinks at the moment, and I can't see the way forward.

I've just finished my shift of 8 nights, or 96 hours, I'm off tonight, and back at work at 7am in the morning for a 12 hour dayshift, one of four my company are forcing me to work every month.

Then, I'm on Thursday & Friday night shifts on overtime.Thats 132 hours I've worked over 2 weeks, not bad considering the average working week is now 37 hours is it?

And it's still not enough.

I overslept today simply because I'm so tired, getting up 2 and a half hours late, so todays gone bang as well.

Ah well, I'll just keep on keeping on.

Meteorite Storm

As I was working all night Monday night, I made sure I was outside from half past one to take in this great spectacle as the peak of the storm was supposed to be 2 O'clock. I worked out where the East side of my work place was, and ended up facing the River Ouse.

I saw the first one at quarter to two,a brilliant, strong, shooting star which started it's journey somewhere behind me, came into view as it passed over me, and was visible for about 2 minutes as it made it's way across the sky.

Then there were two little, weak shooting stars before 2am, and then, at the storms peak, absolutely nothing.

Not sure what happened, buy having read last nights EDP, the peak of the storm was 3am, not 2am as reported by the Express. So, "acting on Information Received" didn't work this time.

Australian Visitors

The visitors landed, slightly late, at Birmingham Airport on Sunday, and my wife's now happy as her cousins, who she's never met before, and only found through Genes Reunited, are staying with us.

There follows a brief period of family re-unitedness (?), the Australian couple meeting their English side of the family as the lady cousin's father was shipped out to Austrailia as a child from the workhouse in London, and not allowed to be repatriated here after reaching 21, eventually dying over there some years ago.

Its a new, exciting chapter in both my wife's and her cousins life, and I can genuinely feel my wifes excitement. It is certainly a once in a life time thing. I've got a week off starting from 7am Saturday morning, so I'll be joining in the excitement with them.

And getting a long overdue rest as well.

Permalink | 1 comment

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Monday 12th August - Time For Cards On The Table

Source: knightrider45
Monday 13th August 2007, 5:56pm

For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: “It might have been” - John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 - 1892.

I'm pleased, having read through the blogs, that Eddy2Socks is having a bit of good karma for a change, as its starting to give me a good slapping again. Thanks for all your replies on Friday gang - your advice and encouragement are both welcome and appreciated.

Hazel Eyes - thanks for the money saving blog link - I've spent close on 2 hours browsing that site over the weekend. Dewdrop - re-mortgage is not possible unfortunately. We had to remortgage just after moving down here to we could buy the Official Receiver's half of the equity of the house,having been made bankrupt (Thank you Inland Revenue & Customs), and then we remortgaged late last year to clear the debts then again as well.

RGP - thanks for your brilliant suggestions. But the freeview box is a no go at the moment. As my wife is now on her own for long periods of time, she uses Sky for the films and programmes that you can't get on Freeview. This Sky is the families only pleasure, and although it's cut off occasionally, things, somehow, aren't so bad when I can unite the family around the television at night whilst I'm out working. The Sky, silly as it sounds, brings the family together - not every night obviously - otherwise the kids go off and do their own thing, and the wife's on her own for ages. Nice, occasionally, admittedly, but lonliness can be horrendous once the novelty of nights of solitude wear off.

Okay, what I've done here is list my regular month. I've broken it down into two sections, the first is the essentials, and the second section is what else I'm expected to save for/pay out for over the year. We live on a day to day basis on the wifes wages, and I just chip in by £100 a month to fill the freezer up and stuff. See what you think?

Essentials

Mortgage £741.42

Secured Loan 142.49

Car insurance 18.00

Council Tax 94.00

Estate Fees 12.50

Telecom 73.74

TV Licence 10.00

Petrol 120.00

PowerGen 120.00

Medicines 21.00

Anglia Water 50.00

Heating Oil 66.67

Car MOT 25.00

Pocket Money 20.00

Grocery 100.00

CCard fee 20.00

Car Tax 16.50

So the total of my monthly essentials is £1651.11, which means I'm supposed to earn £2063.89 monthly before deductions. The daily cost, of essentials only, is £53.26 over 31 days.

I'm supposed to be paying £120 extra on the mortgage to clear arrears (Total £865 Monthly) and £66.51 extra on the Secured loan, again to clear arrears. So, at the moment, and for the forseeable future, my monthly essentials account is £1801.12, or £58.10 daily.#

Non Essentials:

Hughes Rentals (TV/DVD/Washing Machine) £40.00

Sky £42.00

Papers 31.00

Web sites 35.00

Printer ink 60.00

Mobile 15.00

Bank Charges 12.00

2nd Car Insurance 18.00

2nd Car MOT 25.00

2nd Car Tax 16.50

Birthdays etc 20.00

Christmas 100.00

School Uniform 12.50

Emergency Fund 25.00

Total £ 452.00 monthly, or £14.58 a day over a 31 day month. £107 of which is business costs, but as I'm not trading yet, I'm having to sub this out of my wages, but hopefully not for long.The business will, eventually, pay half the telecom bill as well.

So, putting the two sections together, I'm supposed to be banking £72.68 a day, or earning £90.85 a day, forever, taking into account the arrears payments.

When I work, I earn £96.00 per shift, but the problem here is that I have to have days off. This is where the whole plan starts to fall apart. I am only earning half the money I need to pay my way. And every month, the situation just builds on the last months poor performance, and why we have to remortgage every 18 months just to bale us out.

Since Christmas, I have fallen into arrears on essentials payments to the tune of £4007 - or £500.88 per month, which works out to be £16.16 per day.

But, taking into account the money I'm supposed to be putting into my savings account for the regular bills, the actual amount I'm behind is more like £5,816.50, which again works out to £830.93 per month since Christmas. Fantastic amount, isn't it?

So, in other words, I'm losing £26.81 a day, for life, for ever.

As an adult, I consider myself responsible. As a man, I'm supposed to shelter my family. Why can't I do just this one responsible, simple thing?

This is what I need to do:

Firstly, ensure that my income matches the outgoings/projected outgoings. As I can't cut down on the essentials, and I need to clear the arrears, I must earn more money - So I need to be looking at doubling my present wages, or as a daily basis, look at banking £26.81at least.

Secondly, I need to earn a minimum of £100 over the minimum amount monthly in order to start the Rapid Repayment to start getting rid of the debts, starting with the secured loan first of all. As each account is cleared, I will carry on paying the same amount onto the next bill to be cleared.

So, having said all that, can you see why I'm putting all my faith into the business and pulling itaround to profit as soon as I can. I'm not going to earn the amount of money I need working for someone else for £5.35 per hour am I?

Permalink | 3 comments

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Friday 10th August - Welcome to the Dark World of Debt

Source: knightrider45
Friday 10th August 2007, 8:37am

Isn't it sinister how debt, once it gets hold of you, seems to tighten it's grip on you really quickly, trapping you in a dark world, seemingly forever?

As part of my debt clearance, I'm considering working part time for an agency for a few days a month.

Not being qualified, I'd be eligible for the industrial contracts, which only pay £5.35 an hour (which I think is the minimum pay rate hourly now).

So, for an 8 hour day, I'd be paid for 7 hours at £5.35 (as they stop you an hour for your dinner break). That's a total of £37.45 per day, gross.

Tax & NI at 23% = £8.62 stoppages

Petrol to & from work every day = £5.00

So, after all deductions, I'll be picking up just £23.83 a day.

If I'm out of the house for 9 hours a day including travelling, that makes my "proper" hourly rate just £2.65.

Doesn't it just stink? Okay, the 5 days Agency work a month would give me an extra £119.15. And, in my present state, that £119.15 would really help me out.

But would YOU work for just £2.65 an hour? Do you see how debt gives me no choice in the matter? And how it really belittles me? Over a 31 day month, that Agency work equates to just £3.84 a day.

I am really struggling with this at the moment. Sure, the extra £1,429 a year would really help. It's just the fact that I have a mental problem working for someone for just £2.65 an hour. I believe I'm worth more than that. And no, I'm not vain.

I am supposed to be banking £65 a day, every day of the year. Surely there's got to be a better way of meeting this target, better than being out of the house for 9 hours on a rest day for just £23.83, and still being £41.17 short of the daily need after 9 hours work?

I've cleared enough overtime this month to keep my head above water - just, even though I'm still short even then. So I've got 3 weeks-ish to make a decision. Lets just hope I can get the business to take off again before the end of this month. If not, I'm joining an agency.

I'm reading this book at the moment called "Debt Free Life". I've only read the preface and I'm already in conflict with what it says as it tells me to concentrate on clearing the big bills first, then working down. if I did it this way, clearing the mortgage first, I'll struggle for years, then clear everything else off within the next 12 months. Can't be done - physical impossibility, so I'm doing my way - clearing the smallest bills then working up to the next one the following month.

Mind you, the plans already fell apart, just as I starting it. The heating oil ran out 6am yesterday, again,so I've got to have another (£200) load delivered today, again.

I'm keeping on keeping on.

Permalink | 7 comments

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Wednesday 8th August - Alone in the Crowd

Source: knightrider45
Wednesday 8th August 2007, 8:33am

That's my second night from 8 over and done with then. Really really long night last night for some reason. Incredibly tired, all my joints are aching. The Black Moods are definately on their way back again.

And the unmitigated anger whilst I was on shift was, well, really suprising. In the space of an hour or so my emotions hit rock bottom without reason. One Hundred Percent anger, rapid heart beats and everything. Really difficult to hide when you're on shift and dealing with people!

Stupid brain! Why can't it just be normal?

And why, when this complaint is so common, and I UNDERSTAND it, can't it be controlled? This is why WE feel so alone in the crowd of thousands, if not millions, who also have this brain problem (I can't bring myself to say Mental problem, somehow).

Missing last months mortgage installment hasn't helped things either.

I'm putting it down the fact that I'm really tired and the fact that I ran out of the old anti depressants last week, only having the one tablet since Friday morning. These tablets only come in packs of 28, I can only afford one prescription per month, and the doctors being unable to prescribe two months worth together always means I run out for about a week every time.

My wife picked up this month's prescription yesterday though for me, so I'm hoping for a marked improvement in the next day or so.

Onto better things. I've applied for another job, this ones full time, wth an increase in pay, and I'm hoping to get either a letter or application form today.

And the other plus thing about last night, other than it being quiet, and rain-less, is that I've picked up another shift, this one's another extra night shift on Saturday 25th of this month.

This blog has again been typed out at work on my dinner break and saved onto flash drive for cutting and pasting here, as I'm up at about 1-ish today to start painting the bedroom ceiling.

And I'll just keep on keeping on - my target date for starting the 7 year countdown is the first of next month.

I'm putting all my hope, my faith, and my future in this new plan. Because something, somewhere, has got to give. Soon.

Permalink | 2 comments

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Tuesday 7th August - Conifered & Pressured To Death

Source: knightrider45
Tuesday 7th August 2007, 8:23am

Now that my long term plans laid out in black and white, aiming to get debt free in 7 years (an absolute fantasy from where I stand today) I'm putting the final touches to The House, checking and revising my figures, then going all out for it.

I've already started behind the scene by "volunteering" for three extra shifts since I last blogged, so now I'm on a shift of 8 12 hour night shifts (1 extra), 24 hours off, then a 12 hour day shift, then 2 days off, followed by 2 extra 12 hour nightshifts. That's 36 hours overtime in a week, so I'm having to rearrange my holiday dates again so I now get paid holiday pay on rest days at the start of the month as I'm working my holiday (and you can't work and get paid holiday pay on the same day - thank you Europe!).

My son flew out to Spain on Saturday with my daughter as her 15th Brirthday (and Christmas) present from him, and they get back this Saturday afternoon at Stanstead, then my wife's cousin comes over from Austrailia on Sunday for the once in a lifetime, 6 week visit. So my wife's picking the kids up from Stanstead on Saturday, then driving to Birmingham on Sunday to pick her cousins up.

So, it's one hell of a mad rush to get everything ready. We've had about 12 months notice, but due to the old cashflow (lack of) problems, like everything else in my life, we've had to leave as much as we could until the last minute. AGAIN.

So, over the last weekend I laid a new carpet in the lounge on Saturday, only to take it up again on Sunday as the glue I was recommended to use to stick the carpet to the underlay solidified, lifting the carpet in rucks, then settled back down again through the night, leaving us with a terrible, mountainous, ruckled carpet. Emergency trip to the new ScrewfixDepot in Kings Lynn for a carpet stretcher, but ended up with a carpet puller as the woman I spoke to at their head office in the morning gave me the wrong catalogue number and I ended up with the wrong thing. Had to get a neighbour to help me in the end.

That wasted Sunday, the day I was to be in the garden. I managed to put in about three hours, but it wasn't enough. I'm still cutting (hacking) back the Conifer hedge and I worked on Sunday until I ran out of jigsaw blades, meaning I had to get up early Monday, go to Focus to get replacement blades (I don't have a chainsaw), tear-arse back home and worked in the garden until about 2pm. Then got cleaned up, and ready for work, a 12 hour night shift.

Complete with some wicked scratches and grazes all up my arms, cut shoulders, and a few scratches on my face from where the conifers rebounded back and smacked me square in the face as the jigsaw made it's slow progress through the trunks. And an unprecedented level of tiredness to boot. Lst night was a really long one.

And the DVD Camcorder I got my wife last Christmas specifically for the visit still isn't repaired after the daughter dropped it at her Birthday party.

The gardens having to be left now. The Confier hedge is trimmed back, and now the gardens full of bits of conifer trees which I can only get rid of, bit by bit, as the council empty our brown bin (Can't afford a skip). It's just not finished, so I'm going to have to inform the wife's cousins that the gardens "undergoing Renovation". And stuff it. There's only so much I can do. The need for money always takes precedence and I'm always left like this - millions of things to do and no time.

In between night shifts this week, I've got to paint the bedroom where the cousins are staying, or, at least, ceiling and woodwork. The ceilings going to need 2 coats I guess and that's going to hold me up again.The wife, complete with her bad back, is going to do the walls for me.

Soooo much pressure! That's why I'm writing my blogs in my dinner break at work and saving them to a pen stick for cutting and pasting here!

Permalink | 1 comment

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Success Requires No Explanations, Failure Permits No Alibis

Source: knightrider45
Friday 3rd August 2007, 12:08am

Its Done. Took so long to do it. No wonder my brain went into meltdown again - it must be one of my unconscious defensive mechanisms. This is the start of my new chapter. Sorting my life out.

It took me absolutely ages to both get my brain into gear and, secondly, to actually, physically, work out where I am on paper.

Now its done, I'm glad.

This is my New Start.

Here we go then:

My total debts, including the mortgage, are £112,681.00

Since Christmas, I have slipped into £2,387.34 arrears on regular payments, which means that, each month, I've accumulated £341.05 more arrears.

I have worked out that The House costs £68.24 a day to run, including all bills, Christmas, Birthdays, Medicines, web sites,Car Tax & Mots, a £500 emergency fund and so on. In fact everything has been included in the calculations.

If the house costs me, and I have to bank, £68.24 every day, I must earn at least £83.94 per day, not including extra petrol to work 7 shifts a week.

I must therefore bank £477.05 per week to meet the House bills, which means I must earn a minimum of £586.77 per week.

I am currently chasing new full time jobs, as well as part time ones to get my weekly earnings up.

I am going to use the Snowball method of debt clearance, which means I clear all bills over a period of time, starting with the smallest bill one month, then rolling this start money up every month as the next smallest bill is paid. Gradually, the money I save on installments increases every month, which then goes to clearing off the next smallest bill.

At the same time, working on reducing the bills. So, the rental stuff can go back as soon as I can get the cash to replace it.

The ultimate objective? Well, I want to start by getting in a position where all the regular bills are paid within 28 days. No missed installents. Money in the bank to pay all bills on time as I'm putting the weekly equivalent away ready for when the bill comes in.

Then,I want to build up the mortgage payments to £1,000 monthly so I can clear the mortgage in under 7 years once the increased payments start.

The business is ready to start trading now. Again.

So, the objective is to be clear of the Vultures within 9 years, go part time at work, assuming I'm still working then, as I want the business to take off and support us full time by then. then I can stop having to accept others silly rules and regulations.

Make my own life. Give my wife the security that, if anything does happen to me, that she won't be homeless as the mortgage company will be history. I will not die as my father did, penniless and in debt.

And this plan all starts NOW.

Permalink | 4 comments

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

Funny, But So Wrong!

Source: knightrider45
Thursday 2nd August 2007, 4:18pm

Had a text message from a long standing friend a couple of days ago, saying he was stuck in London, needed a favour, and could I ring him as soon as possible.

Bob, my friend of 9 years,works at my company's head office, is a fifty something divorced man, with a teenagers attitude.

So it was no suprise to read that he'd got stuck in London with a problem and needed help.

The text message also said his battery was flat (no suprise there then, either) and gave me a landline number to ring. The landline would be answered by a woman called Liz, who was waiting for my call, and would put me through to him.

So, I rang the number he gave me in the text, 0207 930 xxxx .

Turned out it was Buckingham palace.

I got connected to a recorded message saying something like "You are calling the Royal Household. If you have been told to call this number as a matter of urgency, it is because of a hoax message and you should hang up immediately. If, however, you do have a genuine reason for calling the Royal Household, stay on the line for an operator."

Needless to say, I hung up!

And Bobs been promised a severe leg smacking next time I see him!

Permalink | 1 comment

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above

The Best Tranquilliser Is A Clear Conscience

Source: knightrider45
Thursday 2nd August 2007, 3:55pm

I found out last night that one half of the Rostergate Scandal partnership, the one that has given me so much grief last month, has left the company.

A sudden departure, no explanation. Not that I'm interested, anyway.

And I've still had no reply to my letters, emails or resignation, which I'm leaving standing so I can leave as soon as I can. No-ones asked if I'm withdrawing it as I'm on the staff rota for August. And I'm saying nothing to anyone about my plans.

But we have all had a "general" email, from the other half of the partnership, which says:

"Good Morning,

Firstly I would like to thank you all in the way you have professionally addressed the situation, secondly many thanks for the letter and attached shift patterns, the contents of which have been noted"

The email goes on to say that the proposed shift pattern has been "accepted", and the writer "looks forward" to visting us all in the near future.

Common decency, and a phone call, would be all it took to have sorted the situation out, without the attempted dictatorship.

I still look forward to meeting this character "in the near future".

Permalink | 0 comments

To comment on, or report this post follow the permalink above