Managed to accelerate plans to move house which I didn't really expect to do last year, but really wanted to. The old place just needed too much work to be nice, and the area wasn't great anyway so I was loathe to spend any money on it. So the Seven went, the house got sold (nice little profit and a lot of stress), and with a bit of evonomics we bought a new place. We're totally made up with it, it's in a small new build development, and the houses seem put together well and the neighbours are really nice (a few socials have taken place since we moved in Sept). Location is perfect for us, being a village on the edge of a town, so we've got a few nice old local pubs and a good sized / nice town centre which is walkable or a cheap taxi.
Work was supposed to be a big focus of 2019, but it turned into a bit of a disaster really. Started ok, but after putting a lot of work in the part of the project I was working on was shut down for various political/commercial reasons, the decision created a huge divide in the Joint Venture, and the way in which the decision was made was pretty shambolic really. This left me scratching around for work for the second half of the year as my team was gradually stripped away from me by senior management (understandably so given the lack of work, but it's not nice when people don't know when/where they're going). The whole thing, and other things have left a lot of people frustrated and the atmosphere is pretty toxic now. So I've been looking for jobs, but the industry is pretty slow at the moment and I can't find anything that really floats my boat. I've been feeling pretty low about it, but not a lot I could do.
Last week before Christmas I got a little work thrown my way and the office restructured, so we will see how that works out, but I know there's no future where I am now. The money is ok, and the commute is good, so it's hard to know whether to tough it out and wait for the industry to pick up again, or make a move now. I've been talking to my old boss about going back there, but the only project he has at the moment would mean staying away. So I really don't know whether it's worth the hassle, although could be a good move in the long run.
Did fuck all on my Chartership stuff, which is an incredible effort in the procrastination stakes given how much time I have had on my hands at work. I guess there's no point in making any commitments, but I still want to do it.
Health wise, lost a good bit of weight at the beginning of the year, but as work went downhill so did my lifestyle. Too many nice lunches and too much booze (the devil makes work for idle hands), has seen be put on a fair few pounds by the end of the year.
Things are still good with the wife, although her commute is taking it out of her, so we need to figure something out there.
So, 2020. House is good now, and should be pretty low maintenance apart from needing to by a shed to free up the garage. I just need to try and do some saving, I want to have some cash in the bank to deal with changes in circumstances (now whether I tie it up in a car temporarily we'll have to see!
).
Need to lose all the weight I've gained so that will be an early priority for the start of the year.
Work wise, frankly I've got no idea what to do, I hate the feeling of not having my next promotion or move mapped out, but in these uncertain times and with a mortgage to pay it seems foolhardy to move without giving it a lot of thought. We'll have to see what happens there.