Looking back at 2017, I did try to achieve my goal of posting more. I definitely tried to post more than those meager years and so hopefully that did come through a bit more.
What I probably did not do so well with was trying to post more photos - which would definitely make this more interesting and something which I think would add a bit more colour to the posts. Especially after I bought my drone!
On reflection, 2017 was an interesting year and looking forward, it would be interesting if I were able to be more balanced in 2018. I want to be able to spend the time learning new skills to improve myself, and read more books. Now that I have a tablet, I hope I will be able to get out there and read more and welcome myself into the age of technology.
Last year, I mentioned - learning a new language (incl a programming language), so I think I need to definitely put some more time into it to keep up my language skills.
Over the Christmas period, my family mentioned that I am not really a planner - so that needs to change and I need to be able to plan more to do more from here on in. I also want to have a cleaner place, so the plan is to be more discerning in terms of what I keep vs what I want to discard.
More goals to come and so many improvements but hope that 2018 is a better year!
Monday, 1 January 2018
Sunday, 10 December 2017
Spot purchases
The last 6 weeks have been about traveling and certainly it has been hectic. One disadvantage is that my gym time has suffered and certainly impacted my lifestyle and fitness which is a shame.
I really need to get back into this, and my recent trip to the gym yielded less than stellar results as I was definitely not fitter than I was just a few months ago, so feel like the hard work has been literally worked off!
The last little while - work has also been tough and likely set up for some tough discussions, so that's definitely not so great. In reflecting, I felt that I did do a lot and made some sacrifices, but in the end, results were not where I would have liked, which is disappointing.
But over the last few months, I have made some small purchases. Largely because I hadn't bought so much for myself and also because they were related to the trip I took.
Firstly, I bought my first drone. Yes, I bought the DJI Mavic Pro. This was for my trip to Scandinavia, and was done as I thought there would be some good awesome footage off the back of it. Unfortunately, it was mostly raining when we went and so there was not such great opportunity for footage and literally we didn't have time to just go flying! I bought it because I thought it would be a great opportunity to see if there would be different angles of photography I could do - but seriously need some flying lesson! I definitely like the idea of flying and always had a bit of interest in that area, so here is the opportunity to do more in that regard!
The second item was a bit of a whim. I recently bought a Seiko watch - the SBDC053. I always liked Seiko watches and I distinctly recalled that my father had one. He had it in his drawer and it was a watch he asked a friend to carry over for him back in the day. As a child I thought it would be fun to wear around the house, and one day I was wearing it and scrapped it against the wall leaving some heavy scratch marks. I recall having to tell my dad I was sorry about it, but he didn't scold me about it. He left it in his drawer, but didn't really wear it until recently when he got the glass polished again, though I am glad he did and continues to wear it. I bought a watch that was released this year. When I went to the shop, they had three left - including the same one I just tried on. As I was contemplating, there was only two left as someone just bought the other one. Good sales tactic as I snapped it up! The issue was that I had checked a few websites and they were either more expensive or not in stock, so decided to grab this one! Also, changed the strap to a NATO strap, so definitely has a different feel!
I really need to get back into this, and my recent trip to the gym yielded less than stellar results as I was definitely not fitter than I was just a few months ago, so feel like the hard work has been literally worked off!
The last little while - work has also been tough and likely set up for some tough discussions, so that's definitely not so great. In reflecting, I felt that I did do a lot and made some sacrifices, but in the end, results were not where I would have liked, which is disappointing.
But over the last few months, I have made some small purchases. Largely because I hadn't bought so much for myself and also because they were related to the trip I took.
Firstly, I bought my first drone. Yes, I bought the DJI Mavic Pro. This was for my trip to Scandinavia, and was done as I thought there would be some good awesome footage off the back of it. Unfortunately, it was mostly raining when we went and so there was not such great opportunity for footage and literally we didn't have time to just go flying! I bought it because I thought it would be a great opportunity to see if there would be different angles of photography I could do - but seriously need some flying lesson! I definitely like the idea of flying and always had a bit of interest in that area, so here is the opportunity to do more in that regard!
The second item was a bit of a whim. I recently bought a Seiko watch - the SBDC053. I always liked Seiko watches and I distinctly recalled that my father had one. He had it in his drawer and it was a watch he asked a friend to carry over for him back in the day. As a child I thought it would be fun to wear around the house, and one day I was wearing it and scrapped it against the wall leaving some heavy scratch marks. I recall having to tell my dad I was sorry about it, but he didn't scold me about it. He left it in his drawer, but didn't really wear it until recently when he got the glass polished again, though I am glad he did and continues to wear it. I bought a watch that was released this year. When I went to the shop, they had three left - including the same one I just tried on. As I was contemplating, there was only two left as someone just bought the other one. Good sales tactic as I snapped it up! The issue was that I had checked a few websites and they were either more expensive or not in stock, so decided to grab this one! Also, changed the strap to a NATO strap, so definitely has a different feel!
Saturday, 7 October 2017
Receipt of memories
A few days ago, I had the day off. Of course one normally associates a day off with sleeping in or lazing about to watch TV/play games. Relaxing.
But to be honest - that is not really me. Most weekends in fact, I still get up early but am on the 'net surfing.
But these days I feel I need to be productive. So waking up at 6am, I felt the need to clean up. Mainly the paperwork on my desk and sort out my cupboards. It was such a mess that every time I looked at it I would think, "I'll deal with that another time."
Or, "I'm too tired."
Terrible.
So I decided to be proactive to clear as much as possible: filing, sorting and cleaning. It was a task I had started a few days ago - as I was filing away my paperwork which had piled up. I keep most receipts - from buying my morning coffee, grocery shopping to all the receipts from holidays. Every week I extract a wallet full of receipts and plonk them on the table or squirrel them into envelopes.
So you can imagine how many receipts I have accumulated over a short period of time. I had every intention to track expenses but found it such a hassle I don't. I keep them in case there is a dispute or an incorrect charge. Ok, ok - I need a better system and am still searching for that!
Going through a table full of receipts is downright distressing, however, the upside was I needed to read and determine if I wanted to still keep the receipt (for warranties etc).
Strangely, most recipes were readable, and still had a lot of information. Times and dates of my purchases. Restaurant receipts still had the addresses of the places, what I ate and the tip I gave. Interestingly, the memories came flooding back to the exact places I was at. I don't recall everything - like what I was wearing - but the situation, vibe and how I was feeling did come back. All these receipts made me think of all the places I tried on clothes, the shop assistants, the stores - pretty much putting me at all these places - some of which I had forgotten all about!
One of my friends had told me about a shoebox full of movie ticket stubs - something he had collected ever since he started going to the movies. I was just thinking whether a scrapbook full of receipts would ever be a thing, but it certainly made my day as I never thought something as simple as a kept receipt would ever be a memory of a good thing (especially if it meant I was paying!)
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