Where I Am Musically – 2022/23

Music is still a huge part of my life but I don’t really talk to people about it – people ask me what my favourite roast dinner is, not what my favourite track is. Plus I do like some weird music, anyway. But on the off-chance you are interested, here goes. Firstly, I’m way more organised than you might think. I have blogs. Yep, James has a blog about something. Every single track that I love, I list on House Minimal Techno Disco – which is basically a load of YouTube videos on a website. I wrote the website years … Continued

Flats: Choose From Four Or Wait For More?

You may have gathered that I’ve been busy looking for a flat to buy. So I thought I’d write about my options – maybe you are interested, and writing tends to help me. Before I go on. I do like Croydon. Seriously. No, I do not want to move to Reading, Hull, Spain (well I do but cannot leave family really), Crystal Palace, Brighton, Redhill, Woking, Kent and all the other places kindly suggested to me that are not London. And nor do I want to run a management company looking after 300 flats. Yep, service charges are a pain … Continued

James Went To Malta

Winter seems like it is going on forever – though by time I’ve finished writing this blog post about going to Malta, it will probably be September. Why Malta? I had two criteria for my holiday. I did at first consider going to the Caribbean or Mauritius, but decided spending that much money was daft when I am saving to buy a house. I also considered Dubai to visit a good friend of mine – but decided going when Ramadan was on wouldn’t be so conducive to fun. Which also then ruled out North Africa and the rest of the … Continued

Detox Over – Bring On The Fun Part

Well, I’ve had a stinking cold, I’ve lost £3k on the stock market, I’ve gone through yet another re-organisation at M&S, had several wake-up calls in the middle of the night on call, it’s a year since my best holiday in years – it feels like a good time to end the detox. Beer is back in my life! But first, a list of things that I’ve achieved. James Is Boom I’ve lost a fairly staggering 9kg of weight since Christmas. Whether I can keep it off for a month, let alone the rest of the year or the rest … Continued

2023 Goals

Ahh it has come to that time of year to write some goals for the year that is already one month in – my 2023 goals. Though I have been achieving already – 5kg lost, 3 cultural activities done, 2 good restaurants visited, 4 very good roast dinners and just one poor one, several friends caught up with, family visit, a job search initiated, my portfolio improved and the old one sacked off, another personal project light-released and actually getting my head back into working at M&S. I might even go into the office. Who knows what I will have … Continued

Review Of 2022 Goals

Well, I guess I should work out what I achieved and didn’t achieve in 2022. BIG LIFE-CHANGING STUFF Be paid like a senior engineer. Well, this was in the pipeline and was finally confirmed before I even starting turning this from draft comments to an actual post. Though at the time of writing, I still hadn’t actually been paid at the new rate. Maybe there will be a company-wide pay rise or a software engineering one too. Result: Achieved – though I knew it was happening before 2022 started, it just wasn’t confirmed. 100% success. Seriously look into buying a … Continued

18 Moments Of 2022

Well it’s that time of year for looking back – and 2022 has certainly been a fun year, even if I didn’t quite achieve as much as I like to demand of myself. As normal, most of these moments are positive, but a few are negative – this is “moments” as opposed to “highlights”, as I don’t want to forget the challenges and difficulties of the world. Not particularly in order, but definitely the best moments at the end. Let’s start with an achievement, shall we? 18. Promotion! Possibly a bit of a cheat including this as I knew in … Continued

Running Out Of Beans

It’s cold, I’m cold, I’ve got a cold and I’ve run out of beans. Just a week to Christmas and I should be out somewhere having festive fun, but I just feel run down and have no energy and little motivation. I’m even purposely planning on trying to find a disappointing roast dinner tomorrow. I’ve had fun this month – too much fun as fun comes with consequences in your 40’s. Alcohol-fuelled fun does, anyway, and I like a drink or 8. A World Cup, 4 Christmas parties, the usual roast dinners including a ridiculously expensive one, a trip to … Continued

Could It Be Croydon Next?

From Bracknell to Harrow and then Croydon? Why the hell am I even considering Croydon? Let’s back up a bit. I want my own place. Preferably I want to live in Marylebone. If not, then Hampstead. If not, then Hackney Wick. If not then Walthamstow. There’s a problem here. The average price for a flat in Marylebone is £1,551,010.The average price for a flat in Hampstead is £946,658.The average price for a flat in Hackney Wick is £489,164 (getting closer!).The average price for a flat in Walthamstow is £393,681. Oh yeah, and my budget is £250,000. This is worked out … Continued

James Went To Skopje

I was at Luton Airport wondering why on earth I was catching the 9:40pm flight to Skopje. I needed a break from work, but why was I going to Skopje? Why didn’t I just stay in London and chill? Well, I wanted some warm sunshine, and Skopje I knew would be cheap – despite the collapsing pound. Plus I wanted to go to a new country – and I’d never been to North Macedonia (or maybe call it Macedonia…depending on who you want to upset). One of my goals for 2022 was to visit three new countries – and this … Continued