October was my best month ever, if only by a few quid. Quite remarkable really, as I've been taking my foot off the pedal since the evening racing ended. Two back-to-back £400+ Saturdays helped; the £500+ day continues to elude me.
I've had to dig myself out of an
emotional black hole last week as it suddenly dawned on me how solitary I've become. After many stressful years working in IT, I was glad to get out of the "rat race" and away from the politics and egos. The trouble is, I've gone a bit too far the other way now though, and it caught up with me a bit last Monday.
I've been away from
facebook for a few years, as I firmly believe that a private life should remain just that. But since most of my friends live their lives through that medium now,
if I'm not on it, I'm not part of it! Also, I chose to workout alone in my garage this year instead of going to the gym and mixing with
actual physical people. There's been a bit of unrest in the family too which spurred me to cut down on visiting so as not to get caught up in it. With the little one at school full-time now and the wife at work, it pretty much means I don't see anyone from one day to the next. The trading has been boring me silly lately too, and I've had little interest in looking at other blogs or visiting The Toy forum, and updating this blog hasn't even crossed my mind lately.
The question of "what do you actually do again?" comes up time and time again, and I'm getting sick of explaining. As one of the few Dads that delivers their child to school in the morning, I often wonder if the Mums think I'm a dole-grabber. All the money I paid into the system over the years has presumably gone to line someone else's pockets, because the buggers won't give any to me. I
got a mouthful from was even challenged by my step-daughter the other day about how her Mum goes out to work and supports me while I sit at home all day (one quick flash of October's profit sheet on the iPad soon put her straight). She right about one thing though: I do hang around the house all day. But what am I gonna do? Give it all up and get a proper job just so I can become
part of the system again, never have any free time AND take a pay cut......hmmm no....not yet at least.
Anyway, I'm attempting to rectify my mood a bit: I enrolled as a helper at my daughter's school which will get me out of the house one morning a week. I've also signed up to be a "Reading Buddy" so I can mentor some kids and give a bit back to society (I even signed up the aforementioned step-daughter!). I've also been out for a few brisk walks in the last couple of days, albeit one was to the chip shop! ;-)
mmmmm....
Just by making a few changes, I'm already feeling better and am looking forward to "spreading myself around a bit" so to speak.
X-Factor
In other news, I continue to be shocked and amazed by the way markets can twist and turn as certain events unfold. Now the hairy Cocoza (I'm not wasting my time checking the spelling) has been booted out for sniffing the white stuff in some slappers bog, the market has been sent into a tailspin by the news that one of the rejects will be brought back in. Jeez, I wish I'd camped outside the X-Factor studios to get the scoop on that one, as just look at Amelia's price now
Bloody 7s in from 1000!! I thought it was a bit suspect that she didn't trade at 1000 immediately after she was booted - her price loitered at around 400 - although she obviously went onto do so as the competition unfurled.
Now she's back in with a chance to rejoin the show pending a public vote, and could very well go on to win the thing as she was IMO way better than the others, with the exception of Marcus and Little Minxes (or whatever name they go by these days).
The whole show has been a sham this year for the following reasons:
- the drug-addled, bed-hopping Cocoza being allowed to prey on vulnerable housemates and fans
- Cowell leaving Louis on the panel even after he kicked himself off
- Louis being forced to bring back a "judges house" reject because that crazy Chinese woman didn't want to go to the live shows
- the whole mixing-and-matching of the boy bands at boot-camp, the judges houses AND even on the live show - who are these faceless bands? At least JLS came to the competition complete, prepared and oozing class
- and finally, the public being encouraged to vote some idiot back into the show that they've already spent money removing
Bah - I'm going for a lie down......
