2023 review / 2024 plans
Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2023 5:07 pm
Right shoulder fixed, left leg better but not fixed, kneecap all sorted, foot sorted but now my left elbow is giving me a lot of pain. It feels like the muscle is torn but it can’t be. Physio lady who fixed my shoulder is on the case in Jan.V8Granite wrote: ↑Mon Jan 02, 2023 12:45 pm No need to look back, I only have 2 plans….
Fix my body, I fractured my kneecap, broke a bit of bone in my foot, torn shoulder muscles and trapped nerves in my left thigh. I intend to fix them all.
Get nicely set for what I believe will be a harsh few years. Broaden my shares and start investing much more. Open more savings account and generally be ready to jump on a forever home by 2025.
Dave!
Well, job is still good - I'm now officially Head of IT. Although this year has been pretty stressful as a supplier fucked us over with massive price rises and threatening to shut down a service we were on, which forced us to move pretty quick in terms of migrating away from them. They backed down after all their customers told them to fuck off with that, but we maintained our plans and have now moved 60% of the services we had with them elsewhere - but it's not been easy. That's kinda affected the rest of the year really.Well, got a new job - which is pretty good. Comes with better pay, and better conditions - IE I've taken the time off between Xmas and New Year (after working every day of it last year thanks to rampant incompetence) and no-one has called me up to call me a usefull fat cunt. So that's nice.
The checkout lasses at Lidl still think I'm the bees knees, and now at least three of them will grin like mad when I approach, and two of them follow me around the shop chatting away if they see me. That's as close as I can be arsed with relationship stuff at the moment.
Plans for this year are to, well, not get in shape, but to lose a few inches off the waistline. I've been meaning to buy a rowing machine for weeks now and despite having the money for it, I've not quite got around to it. Maybe tomorrow.
Car plans involve generally tidying the car up and sorting a few minor mechanical bits, moving it on, and then looking for something that has more like 300-350hp, rather than 200-250bhp.
Otherwise, no other major life plans. Just trying to get away from being constantly on edge, and on a more even keel, which still hasn't quite happened yet - six years of hyper stress doesn't go away overnight it seems.
My wife said to me before Christmas how awful 2023 had been. That was after we had just lost Hazelnut but it’s interesting to see how people view the same things; I thought 2023 was fantastic despite losing a much loved cat.Jobbo wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 1:24 pm I don't think I've posted in one of these since the end of 2019 thread. Fuck. Bit of catching up to do then...
Work: the COVID traffic is definitely a distant historic memory now and I've been getting a bit annoyed commuting so far. So in the last quarter of 2022 we found a second office, which is up and running from today. Now I have a shorter commute (for the days I'm in the new office) and we have the space to expand. And that has been the story of the last year/18 months; trying to find decent employees and not being able to. I'm keen to be in a position to take on the decent people who are made redundant by big firms in response to the tales of recession; half our business is fairly counter-cyclical anyway but since we've been turning work away during 2022 we still have the business need.
House: still not started the extension yet. That's definitely on the cards this year, if I can get any time when I'm not thinking about work to get on with it. I'd already toned down the grand design a bit to something which will give us as much space in a less elaborate way, and therefore cost less to build. After thoroughly enjoying the cheap above-ground swimming pool in 2022 because I got a heat-pump for it, I would really like to create a slightly better space and access to it with some garden landscaping; realistically that can't happen until the extension is done so probably more a 2024 plan, but it's down here to make me get on with things in 2023.
Also house related, I stopped renting out my old house in late 2021 so it's been ours to use in 2022 while decorating etc to Airbnb. It's ideal for that purpose, the thatched roof has been mostly renewed in 2022, I've had a gardener coming regularly last year doing the outside and I've furnished it appropriately. Just want to replace the front door which has some rotten bits and it'll be ready to take paying guests.
Family: my stepdaughter (last child living at home) went to university in September 2022 so most of the time it's just my wife and me at home now. That suits us; my wife missed her for half the term and is now keen for her to go back next weekend, so she's definitely appreciating her leaving the nest. Her still living with us was part of the reason we haven't moved house; the others are that I like our house and we haven't even really started improving it yet; I've been looking for a couple of years and not seen anything I like even ramping up the price to over £1m, and I'm pleased we didn't commit to a mad mortgage to move anyway. Which in a circular way feeds back to the new office.
Holidays and animals: we now have 12 cats, 2 dogs and a tortoise living at home. We're not planning any more cats though we're keeping two of the fermale munchkin kittens born last March intact so we can potentially breed some more in future. They do get in the way of holidays, so we have found a nice lady who will come twice and day and sit with them, feed them, clean out the litter trays etc while we go away. Ignoring the cost of so many staying at a cattery, we probably wouldn't be able to get them all in the car to drop them off without multiple journeys. I would prefer the ability to just disappear off on holiday, or to a nice hotel for the weekend, but I do like the cats. The two rescue kittens we got have fitted in so well and seem so happy that I guess overall it's not too bad having to make arrangements well in advance for holidays. And my work is just as much of a hindrance now anyway.
Plans: get extension done, get Airbnbing, change my wife's car (a topic for the Cars forum later), take some holidays, get some extra employees and grow my business. Not much, really
ETA: forgot to mention that it was good to meet Gavster in person for the first time in 2022, and I want to do some slightly further afield cycling (Wiltshire and Wales) in 2023. Plus there are a few of us round Cheltenham and Gloucester so maybe arrange a forum drinks thing...?
I exceeded some 2023 targets and completely failed at othersGavster wrote: ↑Mon Jan 02, 2023 1:21 pm
This thread is fantastic for accountability! I made big progress in all of my goals, 2022 was an infinitely better year by all measures. I sacked off TWO companies that I was co-founder/director of, to focus on my own work.
Work2023: Work fewer hours at a higher rate. Land 3 decent new contracts and reach 100k followers in Q1.
- Won my biggest/most significant contract since changing careers back in 2015
- Started with 31k TikTok followers in Jan, ending the year with 84k
- Then found out how much I can charge for influencer marketing content
Home2023: Wrap up the neighbour disupte (largely up to the courts) and then move to a warm flat with floor-to-ceiling windows, a large balcony/terrace and a good view across London.
- Won the first hearing with my neighbours/lessees. They've applied for leave to appeal (despite being denied at the hearing) so hopefully their application fails again. Assuming they continue to deny access to a surveyor, we could be serving a section 146 notice to commence forfeiture proceedings in the first couple of months of 2023.
- Did some home improvement work
- Got rid of my lodger so have some privacy again
Love
Still with aforementioned ex, so should stop calling her that it’s going rather well too, because I found someone weird/weirder than me. In fact, I’d say it’s the first relationship which feels like it’s getting stronger with time.
2023: Same direction of travel
Health
Started the year as a gymnast with a broken foot. Lifted weights most of the year. Got bored. Now a runner who also lifts, seems to be a good combo.
2023: Treat running as a long term project (e.g. five years), starting by doing 3 or 4, 5k races this year.
Money2023: Double my income.
- Day rate increased massively during 2022
- Income also went up a lot, from a very low 2020/21 baseline.
- Paid off some debts, also accrued some new ones. Comme ci comme ça
Personal
Making changes to my friendship group due to some slightly peculiar dynamics which are a hangover from my mental state a few years ago.
Spent some time working with a cognitive hypnotherapist at the end of the year, which delivered notable impact in a time-bounded set of sessions. I was very impressed compared to other therapeutic modalities.
2023: Have a proper holiday, focus on my hobbies and getting more enjoyment from life outside of work
All of the goals for 2023 are achievable, because they're the next step in the direction of travel that I've been working on for the last few years. If I keep pushing, or push even harder, then they'll happen. There's nothing new to start anymore, thank god
Good excuse to review the year, look back, and vent.RobYob wrote: ↑Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:01 pm Well, have now ticked over a year back in Aus and have been thoroughly reminded just how craptacular Melbourne weather is. Funnily enough it's now this time of year everyone is missing being in the UK with the appropriate atmosphere for Christmas, had there been a white Christmas back in Norfolk the Mrs would have been on a plane back.
Fitness and interlinked Karate took a huge step backwards, was unable to find the equivalent club in both specific style and attitude to replace the UK one, spent three months looking and trying clubs then six months giving one a proper go before pretty much writing the whole thing off. Kids got demotivated too so they've found different sports to pursue. Very frustrating as we were all about six to nine months away from Black Belts had we remained in the UK.
Oh and due to spectacular idiocy on the part of our UK accountant, our UK bank and HMRC we've "lost" about £6k that while in theory should be recoverable seems a very long way away from being returned to us.
2023. Hang in there at work. Join a gym. Stop playing quite so much Fortnite, write a book, fix my workshop, make some art, renovate the toilet and drive to the desert.
Oh and maybe get to Unzippy's BBQ joint which is still only a 20min drive away.
You're right DJ, plenty to be grateful for, kids doing well in school, work kept me out of trouble and had some fun trips.DeskJockey wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 8:08 am That's a tough year, sorry to read that. Were there no positives? Might seem minor by comparison, bit they count.
I think the best thing that can be said about 2023 was that it was better than 2022, which really was a low point.Nefarious wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 9:44 amYeah. Interesting to look back at the optimism of January 2022.Nefarious wrote: ↑Sun Jan 02, 2022 9:04 amLooking back, 2021 lockdown took a bigger toll on my year that the 2020 one did - most of the first 5 months of the year could pretty accurately be described as the "holding pattern" I predicted at the end of 2020. Domestic stuff, various crafty projects, and physical training. All kinda fine, but looking back, I think the semi-isolation and lack of bigger-ticket achievement took a bit of a toll on me.Nefarious wrote: ↑Thu Dec 31, 2020 5:56 pm
All a bit predictable for 2020, given circumstances.
Work-wise, not much doing on the contract front, although a couple of minor kitchen/bathroom jobs paid for this years racing. On the letting front it's been a case of damage limitation - at the beginning of first lockdown, I mentally wrote off £15k, but am now very pleased to report that, thanks to my tenants mostly being decent human beings, it was nothing like that bad. One slight annoyance was the latest purchase falling through in March, and failure to find an alternative in a rising market. Still hoping for a softening of demand in Q1 2021 to bring prices back down within reach without the need for more financing. Still, I can't really complain about rising prices with a dozen properties already in the bag.
Racing was errr...emotional. The club cancelled our season, and I kinda ended up being the custodian of single-seater racing in Scotland. Learned a lot about the politics of the game, and at least got to go racing a bit, even if mechanical misfortune kept any decent results out of reach. And then, of course, there was Colin's accident. Still remains to be seen what impact that will have on my long term future in racing.
Climbing has been a bit of an unexpected high. I really expected that months out of the game would have busted me back a couple of grades at least, but I obviously did something right during lockdown, and I returned to find my upper body strength the best its ever been, and that elusive 7a realistically within reach.
Hovercraft and boats have seen a very poor showing this year, with absolutely zero progress on either front. I think we'll be moving to get the Red Bastard sold on ASAP, but the boat should hopefully see some action this year, even if just in support of the e-boat project.
As far as goals for 2021 are concerned, its a bit difficult to know what's realistically going to be possible.
I'd like to get another flat bought ASAP, then more of the same on the work front.
I'm already in fairly hardcore training for the next assault on the climbing wall, but that's all reliant on my motivation holding up long enough to see the climbing centres open again...we'll see.
Racing-wise, it'll be another tough year fighting to keep the championship alive. Been toying with the idea of doing a couple of arrive-and-drives just to have a go at a different flavour of motorsport in preparation for my eventual retirement. Again, will just play it by ear.
Basically, the aim overall is for a holding position across the board, and if I can snaffle a couple of little wins along the way, that'd be nice.
The other big feature of the year was the renovation of the house in London. Very different from the way I'm used to working in that I wasn't there in person and was managing the project between three different contractors remotely. It was a big mistake and really should have put my crew in a van and just committed to staying down there for a month. As it was, it felt like I worked harder, was more stressed, and the project took 3 months instead of 1 and costs spiraled to about double what they should have been. Lesson learned. If you want a job doing properly....
Elsewhere around work, I had a nice 6-week contract job that paid the year's racing budget, added two new properties to the portfolio (even though my predicted softening of the market never happened), and passed the threshold where some of the property stuff needs to move into a limited company. All fairly solid progress.
Racing-wise, it's been a funny old year. I had previously been running the Formula Ford show in Scotland, but after my friend Colin's accident in November 2020, I took the very conscious decision that I didn't want to be the man in charge. Enough work had been done in 2020 that I was able to hand the whole shooting match over to the racing club with a list of promises to ensure that we got a full season of racing in 2021. My own season was fairly poor - dogged by a mystery damper problem that it took all year to identify - but somehow managed to secure 2nd place in the championship for the second time.
The biggest event of the racing year was getting involved with the Minis (thanks Scott!). I was initially a bit reluctant, but it seemed like a good idea to have a plan-b in case the Formula ford situation deteriorated. As it turns out, it's been an enormously fun and satisfying new challenge, culminating in the Race of Remembrance, which was one of the most eye-opening, intense and rewarding things I've ever been involved in. The fact that we're now a 2-car team with plans for a full season of sprint races and multiple endurance events speaks volumes. Boat and hovercraft have both now gone to make room for more racecars!
Health and fitness has, on paper, been fantastic. Being stuck in the house for so long, general adherence to a good diet and re-discovering my push bike got me to the best physical shape of my life somewhere around August/September, which I'm really pleased about. However, the lack of climbing opportunities and the ongoing absence of a decent partner has meant that all that training hasn't actually translated into any measurable results - which was the original aim of the exercise!
So, plans for 2022.
Business-wise, I'm back in growth mode. Now my daughter has her heart set of 7 years at medical school, some fairly big demands on my income are on their way, so I'm going to get my head down now to add an extra £30ish-k to the rental revenue.
Racing-wise, it's going to be busy! Full season of FF, 2/3 of a season of Modsports in the Minis, and 3-ish endurance events.
Health and fitness-wise, same as previous years - head down now for the next couple of months with a view to really getting back on the climbing horse by March/April.
And, you know, just try and be a bit happier
All in all, the year has been pretty shit, and my efforts are really best described as "damage limitation".
Mrs. Nef's mental health took a bit of a nosedive early in the year, resulting, inevitably in a knock on effect on me. The depression has been pretty crushing at times, and for the first six months at least, I really struggled to muster the fucks to even do the bare minimum to keep the ship afloat. Somehow though, June/July marked a bit of a turning point, and I spent the second 6 months slowing dragging my sorry arse out of the hole.
The whole situation hasn't been helped by the destruction of my normal happy escape place - racing. I watched the Scottish Formula Ford championship get run into the ground and then abandoned, marking a sad and untimely end to something I really loved. All good things, and all that, and at least I got a decent price for the car. Mini racing went some way to filling the hole left by the FF, but it was a technically challenging first year for the white Mini and much hair was torn out in frustration in the workshop. Positively, Scott ran really well in the blue car (bringing home a class win for the championship) and we seemed to finally get to grips with the white one's issues just as the season drew to a close, and the car is now fairly well placed for a more successful 2023.
Work-wise, things have been fairly quiet, and I'm glad that I've built up enough fat in previous years that I've been able to take my eye off the ball for a bit without disastrous consequences. One new property was added to the portfolio, and a couple of smaller contract jobs just about kept everything ticking along.
With climbing, I finally found myself a strong partner - she's a german ex-pro football player, so really strong in the fitness department and really well motivated, and we've made some really good progress in the second half of the year. Really hoping to build on it through 2023 and hopefully get back to the level I was at in 2019.
The strongest and most positive events of the year have been delivered by my wonderful daughter, who has overcome her own challenges, smashed her highers, and managed to secure herself an interview at Cambridge (went well, awaiting results later this month). Seeing her mature into a highly capable, well-rounded and thoughtful adult is truly the proudest experience of my life.
So, plans for 2023:
Work-wise, it's going to be very much dependent on what happens with interest rates, but for the moment, I'm hitting the ground running with a big contract job (2 month bare-brick restoration, starting day after tomorrow!). Hoping to be able to add another flat to my tally, and buy somewhere in whatever university town the little one ends up in to get her started in the business as a side hustle.
Racing-wise, my big focus for the white Mini is to prep the best possible car for Race of Remembrance 2023, and I'll see what sprint opportunities come up along the way. I'm desperately missing the single-seater stuff, so I'll also be looking for some kind of opportunity to scratch something close to that itch through the year (maybe a couple of pay-to-play drives, maybe something completely mental - watch this space )
But, yeah, just more generally, like I said at the beginning of 2022, try and be a bit happier...
I'm not one for filling these in, as the above from last year illustrates nicelyAnother fifty candidate here, my plan is lots of events rather than one specific large one.
Agreed. That period was a ball, I was running around having all kinds of fun. I remember feeling on top of the world at the end of 2019. Covid and the years after really seem to have taken the wind out.