End of year musings
Dec. 31st, 2004 10:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skyringKerri has just gone over our portfolio. It's been a year since we got out of property and into shares, and we've done very well, all things considered. The market has gone up, lifting us with it, a few minor hiccups along the way. NAB is back into profit, Leightons likewise with prospects of big rebuilding contracts to come. Gazal has done extremely well, as has Santos.
In hindsight, I could have doubled our money if I'd known then what I know now, but that's the way things go.
Counting our blessings, we've paid off DS's braces, DD has had her uni fees paid, a laptop computer and a holiday overseas. I've bought a laptop and had a couple of decent holidays interstate. We own both cars free and clear, our house mortgage is manageable, Mum's rent payments match the mortgage on her house, and the dividends pay for the interest payments on the shares.
Can't say the bookselling business is thriving, in fact some days I reckon I go backwards, but overall it earns money and while the Aussie dollar is so high I'm not going to earn a fortune on it.
I have written and published one book which has had a modest success. At least people say nice things about it. Maybe I'll bring out a second edition after the Christchurch convention.
I'm well into the sequel - Bookcrossing Through OZ - but a long way to go.
My NaNoWriMo novel is in the middle of being rewritten and I have high hopes that I can use the plot and characters that emerged in ten days of furious writing, massaging the thing into a book that people will actually want to read.
I can probably put out two or three books a year. If Manly Books works out, I'll see if Ann's adventures deserve a sequel. I'm sketching out ideas for the Christchurch convention, but nothing remotely concrete as yet.
I'd like to do the London thing and attend the Fort Worth convention, but that would take about $4 000 - I can't justify spending that much money without some good notion that I can make it back in book sales. Maybe I should get a job - a real job, and see if I can earn it in advance. Heaven knows that I won't do it by selling second-hand books!
My second year has been less individual and more community, at least in personal contacts. First year was marked by excessive use of Chit-Chat, which was actually worthwhile inhabiting in those days. It was six months before I saw another Bookcrosser and I saw maybe a dozen more in sporadic meetups throughout the year. Meeting the Christchurch crew doubled my contacts.
2004 has seen a steady increase in the attendance at local Meetups. We had 18 last meeting. littlemave and jubby came to share a golden autumn afternoon in May, and I met both again at the Convention in Sydney in November which was just a riot! I've met so many wonderful people and shared so many delicious moments that I am quite sure that I want to keep on doing this for years to come.
As regards actually releasing books, I've kept up a steady pace. A little over a book a day all told. passed my thousandth registered book in November.
My biggest Bookcrossing adventure was taking rubyjules' Bookcrossing Journal north to Rockhampton and back, photographing it at various landmarks around Australia. It's since headed off to New Zealand.
I started off something similar at the convention, which is currently on its way to London and I've got a few dozen photographs to upload before Yokospungeon gets hold of it next week.
Looks like the next Australian convention is Brisbane in July, going by the votes in the BCAUS forum.
My Uncle Tom died earlier this year, but he was getting on a bit and had a lifelong love affair with alcohol and tobacco, a surprise he went on as long as he did. Torpedoed a couple of times in the war, he was living on borrowed time for sixty years, so he had a pretty good trot.
New grandniece in Rockhampton. A real sweetie, we saw her in July.
DD turned 18 - the Vietnam trip was her birthday present, delayed until after the university year.
Kerri is acting up as a Medical Officer 6, a position that's reasonably important. Has been since about April. The position will be filled on a permanent basis soon, and she has a good shot at it. Perhaps the best part has been that she's had a couple of overseas trips - to Uppsala in Sweden and Paris via Washington. All very exciting and she's off to Washington in a couple of weeks. Berlin in April if she gets the job permanently.
DS plugs away in high school. He's coping with dyslexia and doing well, considering. He has his "harem" and walks into Civic with them every day, having a coke at Canberra Centre and hitting the free refill button as required. He eats an awesome amount.
I'm a little tubby. Haven't changed by more than a few kilos in years. Should make more of an effort to shed ten kilos.
Glasses no longer adequate - have to get bifocals sometime soon. SIGH
I've just returned from watching the early fireworks at 9pm on City Hill. We did our usual walk, and sat down on the grass at the bottom of Anzac Parade to look up Constitution Avenue to City Hill. A few other groups out and about. The party in Civic climaxes at midnight when the big loud firework display happens. We'll watch (and listen) from the balcony.
We took a walk around the botanic gardens this morning, having morning tea in the cafe there. Very pleasant, even if the rainforest gully was a bit more rain than normal, due to the sprinklers. I released a book there and it was caught!
Did a couple more small watercolours. I'm not much chop at realism, but when it comes to symbolism I'm not bad. Did a little painting for "The Psychology of Sex" which filled a BiblioQuest order and it came out well. Turned the female symbol into a question mark, had a wash of blue to one side, violet to the other.
I'm caught up with books. Will spend tomorrow doing journal entries. Somehow I've managed to exceed 3 Gigabytes download. Possibly something to do with DS playing World of Warcraft for ten days straight.
I think I've done OK this year, and set myself up for a good 2005.
To all my readers, a happy New Year!
In hindsight, I could have doubled our money if I'd known then what I know now, but that's the way things go.
Counting our blessings, we've paid off DS's braces, DD has had her uni fees paid, a laptop computer and a holiday overseas. I've bought a laptop and had a couple of decent holidays interstate. We own both cars free and clear, our house mortgage is manageable, Mum's rent payments match the mortgage on her house, and the dividends pay for the interest payments on the shares.
Can't say the bookselling business is thriving, in fact some days I reckon I go backwards, but overall it earns money and while the Aussie dollar is so high I'm not going to earn a fortune on it.
I have written and published one book which has had a modest success. At least people say nice things about it. Maybe I'll bring out a second edition after the Christchurch convention.
I'm well into the sequel - Bookcrossing Through OZ - but a long way to go.
My NaNoWriMo novel is in the middle of being rewritten and I have high hopes that I can use the plot and characters that emerged in ten days of furious writing, massaging the thing into a book that people will actually want to read.
I can probably put out two or three books a year. If Manly Books works out, I'll see if Ann's adventures deserve a sequel. I'm sketching out ideas for the Christchurch convention, but nothing remotely concrete as yet.
I'd like to do the London thing and attend the Fort Worth convention, but that would take about $4 000 - I can't justify spending that much money without some good notion that I can make it back in book sales. Maybe I should get a job - a real job, and see if I can earn it in advance. Heaven knows that I won't do it by selling second-hand books!
My second year has been less individual and more community, at least in personal contacts. First year was marked by excessive use of Chit-Chat, which was actually worthwhile inhabiting in those days. It was six months before I saw another Bookcrosser and I saw maybe a dozen more in sporadic meetups throughout the year. Meeting the Christchurch crew doubled my contacts.
2004 has seen a steady increase in the attendance at local Meetups. We had 18 last meeting. littlemave and jubby came to share a golden autumn afternoon in May, and I met both again at the Convention in Sydney in November which was just a riot! I've met so many wonderful people and shared so many delicious moments that I am quite sure that I want to keep on doing this for years to come.
As regards actually releasing books, I've kept up a steady pace. A little over a book a day all told. passed my thousandth registered book in November.
My biggest Bookcrossing adventure was taking rubyjules' Bookcrossing Journal north to Rockhampton and back, photographing it at various landmarks around Australia. It's since headed off to New Zealand.
I started off something similar at the convention, which is currently on its way to London and I've got a few dozen photographs to upload before Yokospungeon gets hold of it next week.
Looks like the next Australian convention is Brisbane in July, going by the votes in the BCAUS forum.
My Uncle Tom died earlier this year, but he was getting on a bit and had a lifelong love affair with alcohol and tobacco, a surprise he went on as long as he did. Torpedoed a couple of times in the war, he was living on borrowed time for sixty years, so he had a pretty good trot.
New grandniece in Rockhampton. A real sweetie, we saw her in July.
DD turned 18 - the Vietnam trip was her birthday present, delayed until after the university year.
Kerri is acting up as a Medical Officer 6, a position that's reasonably important. Has been since about April. The position will be filled on a permanent basis soon, and she has a good shot at it. Perhaps the best part has been that she's had a couple of overseas trips - to Uppsala in Sweden and Paris via Washington. All very exciting and she's off to Washington in a couple of weeks. Berlin in April if she gets the job permanently.
DS plugs away in high school. He's coping with dyslexia and doing well, considering. He has his "harem" and walks into Civic with them every day, having a coke at Canberra Centre and hitting the free refill button as required. He eats an awesome amount.
I'm a little tubby. Haven't changed by more than a few kilos in years. Should make more of an effort to shed ten kilos.
Glasses no longer adequate - have to get bifocals sometime soon. SIGH
I've just returned from watching the early fireworks at 9pm on City Hill. We did our usual walk, and sat down on the grass at the bottom of Anzac Parade to look up Constitution Avenue to City Hill. A few other groups out and about. The party in Civic climaxes at midnight when the big loud firework display happens. We'll watch (and listen) from the balcony.
We took a walk around the botanic gardens this morning, having morning tea in the cafe there. Very pleasant, even if the rainforest gully was a bit more rain than normal, due to the sprinklers. I released a book there and it was caught!
Did a couple more small watercolours. I'm not much chop at realism, but when it comes to symbolism I'm not bad. Did a little painting for "The Psychology of Sex" which filled a BiblioQuest order and it came out well. Turned the female symbol into a question mark, had a wash of blue to one side, violet to the other.
I'm caught up with books. Will spend tomorrow doing journal entries. Somehow I've managed to exceed 3 Gigabytes download. Possibly something to do with DS playing World of Warcraft for ten days straight.
I think I've done OK this year, and set myself up for a good 2005.
To all my readers, a happy New Year!
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Date: 2004-12-31 02:06 pm (UTC)