She has stolen from me, treated me like she doesn’t even know me and left me with a legacy of self hate.  It’s partly her fault that I’m hurt like this.  Is that why I can’t let go?

I want her back.  More than anything, I want to sail through life with her, experiencing everything there is.  I built my life to be free.  I spent three years oppressed, working myself out of a hole.  Now I can be free only now it seems too late.

I miss her smile, I miss the time we had.  I miss the theatre.

Every drink I have reminds me.  Every free moment reminds me.  Every fucking day reminds me.  This house, these walls, my camera.

Haven’t I paid a thousand times over for what we had?  I was so fucking stupid.  Why did I believe her.

I’m going to be a millionaire.

Something caught my eye a few minutes ago: Meet the New Young Millionaires.  These “young” millionaires have an average age of 31.  I’m 24 which is seven years younger.  There’s still plenty of fucking time!  Seven years ago I was in college, a quiet kind of guy, studious but not to the extreme.  I’d had a year at sixth-form to make friends and experience some more of the outside world than my ‘boys only’ high schooling allowed.  It was exciting, fresh and fun.  But lets not romanticise.  It was also fucking scary and a risky move.  I gave up a school which I didn’t like and didn’t like me, but would guarantee me high grades at A-Level for a more down-market college which allowed me to take a subject like Media Studies and ultimately didn’t care if I failed or not.  So what?

Ok, so 7 years ago I was in a risky situation and I didn’t know where my life would lead.  Look at me now ma.  I have a first-class honours degree, I own property, I have a business, I fly aeroplanes, I have a job, I even held down a relationship.  I’m also becoming less skilled as time passes, have huge depreciation on my property, have to survive in a broken economy, balance time and weather to fly, battle politics at work, and am recently single with a very slim chance at love Mk. II.

How obvious does it have to be?  Risk is always there, bad things are always there, good things are also always there.

So how do I become a millionaire?

The same way I became comparatively rich.  I do what I did in the previous seven years.  Just fucking do something.  Anything good, anything that might work out.  It really doesn’t matter what because the balance is always there.  There will always be shit, there will always be good and you simply can’t plan for the future.  Any plan you make will be wildly wrong.  Do you think in 2003 that kid sitting in McDonalds with his friends teaching him how to pick locks because the lecturer didn’t turn up again could really have predicted where he is now?  Do you think that he could even tell you how his life would turn out in a month’s time with any degree of certainty?

Your answers should be ‘No’ and ‘Yes’.  I’ll leave you to figure out why.

I’m going to become a millionaire because I can.  There is absolutely no reason why I can’t and there’s absolutely no way that I can predict that I will succeed.  I will do it because there’s plenty of time.  I will do it because I believe I can and there is opportunity.  I will do it because it’s simple:

1. Make something people want
2. Set a price
3. Profit

Am I likely to have a million (or billion dollar idea) like the people in that article?  No.  Am I likely to have a £40 idea?  Probably.  Can I sell that idea at £40/mo to 2000 people?  Maybe.  That’s a million.  Seven years to make something worth £40 and sell it to 2000 people?  Doesn’t seem too hard when you look at it like that now does it.

It’s time for something completely different and this is it.  I’m becoming my own boss and I’m going to make a million.  Then maybe I’ll do it again.  Or maybe I’ll fail but that’s half the fun; you just have to try.

The first few days of my holiday have been pretty crazy and as a result I’m starting to get ill for Christmas.  No matter, there’s time off to recover and if I can just relax a bit, maybe I’ll get better.

So last year I wrote “For the new year: 2009 roadmap” and I guess a similar one for 2010 is due soon.  Looking back on things makes me a little sad, and from the crap I’ve had to endure recently, I’m somewhere between wanting to punch something and curl up in a ball.  While there is much to be said for the curl-into-a-ball approach, I don’t have the necessary support (if you want to come hug me and tell me it’s all fine, then I’ll gladly retract) to foster such an apathetic cry for attention.

Alas then, I must consider how to proceed in 2010 and the Christmas break will be an opportunity to do that.

I now realise that the choices you make now affect the rest of your life.  A lesson learned for 2009.  Choose wisely, for good or bad, make the best of what you have.

Become more financially stable

I set out two main financial decisions to make in 2009:  Clear student loan and dent mortgage.  I did look into both these decisions and have done neither.  Have I done nothing?  Absolutely not.  Analysis has helped me make other financial decisions which benefit my stability as a whole.

It’s going to be a hard year.  Work aren’t paying any bonuses this year and the economy is set to slump even further.  It’s a long road for the UK to get anywhere near stable and the housing market, which is of very personal interest to me, is besides one or two blips which the media never cease to take joy in reporting, not getting any better.  The warmer weather is lifting spirits for now, heaven help us in the darker months to come.

Progress satisfactory, continue working hard.  Evaluate:  Live for now vs. save for tomorrow?

Improve skill set

I had two goals here:  Learn to fly and continue piano lessons and I’m happy to report some progress.  Back in December I wrote  that I wanted “to make 2009 the Year of the PPL“.  That’s what I’ve done.  I made my first flight for the PPL on the 24th January and since then have flown 15.5 hours.  I’m told progress is going well, and I’m still alive so I must be doing something right :)

And piano?  I said I needed to restructure to give me more time to practice.  I think I was too unrealistic here.  I’m still very busy and continue to find it difficult to fit in my practice.  Progress has been ok, but a little slow for my liking.  I know I can do better but I have no idea how to allow it to happen.  Nevertheless I took my Grade 1 practical exam last Thursday and eagerly await the results.  My teacher informs me I am allowed two weeks rest only.  Then it’s on to Grade 2 :p

Progress good, start work on PPL theory for exams, keep pushing the piano for now.

Improve health

Head bows in shame here.  Health is always the first thing to go when you’re put under pressure.  I said I’d do two things here:  Get fit and No junk food.  Who was I kidding?  I type amongst Coke cans and beside about 20 bags of crisps.  Uneaten, but it’s only a matter of time.

Seriously, I’m killing myself.  Eating rubbish, not exercising, getting up at 6am and not going to sleep until midnight will lead me to an early grave.  I feel fatter, I feel sicker, tired, I get colds.

Something needs to happen here.  I’ve done two things this evening (partly they reminded me to write this review) to get fitter.  I bought a unicycle as a new skill to learn that I can try to master over the summer months.  It should provide at least minimal exercise.  I’ve also enlisted some help to get to the gym.  I’ve never been to a gym.  Swimming pool yes, but never to a proper gym to use the equipment.  If it comes off, I’ll make every effort to go and get fit.

It’s still not enough.  I need to start taking care of myself.  Above everything else I’ve written about here, it all means nothing if I’m sick.  I’ve had long running health problems that are finally being addressed and will see me visiting the ‘top dogs’ at Royal London Hospital in two months.  Going into hospital last week is what has really hit home.

Progress fair, must improve as a matter of, well, life and death.

Improve work environment

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting…
[If... Rudyard Kipling]

I thought I could improve the company and improve myself.  I’ve done one at the expense of another and it hasn’t been in my favour.  Persistence has won out so far this year and I’ve introduced some things to the company which I’ve fought long and hard for.  Everyone seems to be enjoying the benefits except me.

From an idealistic standpoint, it’s good to watch everyone using techniques and tools which you’ve worked so hard to introduce and build, but at the same time crippling not to be able to use them yourself.  Like the inventor of the motorcar, forbidden to drive.

For the rest of this year I need desperately to improve my professional skill set.  It’s starting to turn this way and I only hope it continues and isn’t too late.

Progress fair.  Work hard.  Remember to expect something in return.

I’m learning something important this year.  Take chances while you have them.  “Have happiness while it’s here”.

For a number of years I’ve run a hosting company.  The products and services are exceptional, great value and I can take pride in what I’ve created.

However, hosting is not expensive (to the customer).  The cheapest we sell is £36/yr.  Yup, per YEAR.  I’ve spent more than that on a single night out.  If you want something a bit meatier, for your business maybe it’s £60/yr.

We charge in quarterly instalments and I’m sick of chasing payments of £9.

It gets even sillier when discounts become involved.  The margins on a £3/mo package are so ridiculously slim that I simply can’t offer a financial discount without losing money.  Why do I do this to myself?

Well.  When I started, it made sense.  The market was different back then and we had budget hosting cornered.  Smaller payments meant smaller losses if a customer left and had more financial stability overall.

I can tell you though that this model simply doesn’t scale.  Reseller hosting has always been my most profitable and most rewarding area.  I can focus on providing stable, high availability, high quality services to other businesses to help us both grow.

Time to rethink.

Howards Alias – “Southampton based Howards Alias came to life at the tail end of 1999, and after a various self released demos and gigs, released their debut album “The Chameleon Script” (2002) on Good Clean Fun Records, to a very positive reaction. After touring the album relentlessly, in January 2004 the band recorded 3 songs for a split release with US band DESA, ready for the bands’ joint UK tour together.”

The wikipedia article has this to say about their split: “… Jon and Steve really felt that they didn’t really have any stability at home. Neither of them had a place to live, so they were sleeping on mates’ floors and things like that. They couldn’t afford to buy food a lot of the time. After a while it kind of got to them both. …”

Comeback Kid – Originally from one of the guys at work…  “Comeback Kid (CBK for short) is a hardcore band from Winnipeg, Canada, formed in 2002 by Andrew Neufeld and Jeremy Hiebert, who were both members of the band Figure Four, currently on hiatus.”

Billy Talent – Staying on a Canadian theme, I first saw Billy Talent at Download Festival.  “Billy Talent is a Juno Award-winning Canadian rock band formed in 1993. They performed and recorded together for about a decade before finding a wide mainstream following. Originally called Pezz, the group originates from Mississauga, Ontario, but now hail from Toronto, Ontario. The band, as of September 2007, finished 16 months of touring, and have returned home to work on their new album.”

Sonic Boom Six – A LFM classic…  “Formed in Manchester, England in 2002, Sonic Boom Six represent the most compelling soundclash to rise from the underground in years.”

Jonathan Coulton – A geek favourite, more recently known for composing the end theme for the game Portal, Still Alive.  “Every week for a year Coulton released a new song for free on his website as part of his Thing a Week podcast, on topics as diverse as vengeful nerds, self-loathing giant squid, partially-imagined historical figures, and devotees of a certain Swedish prefab furniture store.”

MC Frontalot – Geekier still, MC Frontalot is the founder of his own genre, Nerdcore.  “MC Frontalot is the stage name of Damian Hess, a hip hop musician and self-proclaimed “world’s 579th-greatest rapper.” Many of his songs deal with things nerdy in nature, which has led him to be categorized as nerdcore, a word he himself coined in his first single, “Nerdcore Hip Hop”.”

Honourable mention:  Captain Everything!, [spunge], Nouvelle Vague, Puffy AmiYumi, Rival Schools

Keep your ears open kids.

Lots to do this weekend including sunglasses, flying (although the forecast is rain atm) and a trip to Fenstanton.

Cute Wednesday tomorrow :)