A Lazy Goblin
02/07/2006 11:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaIzzie is a lazy serpent today. After a sniffly sneezie day at work last night, informed the registered nurse that the Iz would be taking off Sunday and Monday sick. Really should have stayed at home yesterday too but simply cannot afford to miss both days of weekend pay rates - especially as the mean and nasty goblins gave Izzie a pissy 50 hours for this whole fortnight. (We usually get 56-60)
Like - the Iz is available both mornings and afternoons five days a week and has been there longer than most but they still went and gave the longer shifts to the newbies. Izzie suspects it may have had something to do with the usual one writing the roster having been on holidays so Peggie - Miss Piggie's daughter did it instead. (And since a certain series of events in April 2005, Izzie no longer bothers giving the pair of them the respect that they don't deserve. Like - will be civil and all that but will no longer indulge in the silly 'Hello - how are you? sort of chit chat unless they initiate it. )
So, we used the opportunity of a whole free day to snooze in the sunshine, tidy up the serpent sock drawer and to count another envelope of beans for the Potions Mistress. Guess we should actually be keeping records of the time spent on this project. The Izzie is doing it for free but it's still useful to know what sort of time is involved. So far - seems to be about two hours per month of receipts. Of course - a proper Goblin or one of those trained data entry operaters would be much faster but the only way to learn is by actually doing it.
Between the start of our two weeks holidays in May and the end of June, took the opportunity to once again draw up a five year plan and out of curiosity, went looking at some of the old ones.
It's funny - forgotten about some of those goals - such as the one to maintain a grade average of over 70% and to visit New Zealand some time before 2004.
Got to tick them off the list. But the green garden and frog pond seems to be one that is going nowhere fast.
Also had to giggle at our ambitions during our goblin phase which lasted for a few years back in 1999 -2000 or so. One goal was to try become financially independent by buying one rental property a year until reaching a total of 5 by June last year. (Oh and not any old properties - had a whole list of conditions to be fulfilled - same as when we were deciding whether or not to buy our own place)
Came to the inevitable conclusion that Izzie - even with the best of intentions - is just not an entrepreneurial serpent. There's a certain singlemindedness required to run a business or make lots of money and the Izzie just does not have the required motivation or dedication to do such a thing.
Yesss. If we had followed such a plan - would have more than a million in assets by now and enough net rental income to pay the monthly mortgage repayments on the Lair.
There's so many folks here who buy so called investment properties which do not earn enough in rental income to cover the costs of interest payments, rates or maintenance. In many cases - by several $$100 per week. But because they can claim the losses against their taxes and hope to make lots of capital gains when they sell, they still think it is a good deal and of course the real estate agents are always going to tell them so. Unfortunately, the new capital gains rules encourage such speculative behaviour as the question no longer concerns the actual value of the property but simply the ability to sell it for more than what you paid for it and to pay a maximum of 24.5% tax on the capital gains (in contrast to between 31.5%- 48% on money earned by actually working)
But what they end up doing is inflating house prices to ridiculous levels and making it difficult for folks who want to buy a place just to live in. It's all one very big bubble and lots of folks will come back to earth with a big bang when it finally busts.
Really, as the Izzie only works 30 hours a week, really should spend our time finding some way of earning an income independent of a job. With the nasty new industrial relations laws, job security is a thing of the past and wages and conditions will slowly be whittled away.
The ma and pa are always saying that we should work more hours to earn more money. But firstly, in spite of being on very low house elf wages, we still earn sufficient for our needs and even most of our wants. It's more important to think outside the square and find a way of earning an income without putting all ones' eggs in the basket of increasingly fickle and unpredictable employers.
Renting out rooms is the most obvious solution but the Iz has always been prepared to pay a premium for privacy and our den of bears would most certainly not approve of sharing with nasty studentses.
All the Izzie knows is that time is preciousss, and unless we have proper plans and goals for it, will end up flittering it all away with nothing to show for it. Nothing like some kind of grand project to turn it to useful ends. Problem is finding one that is useful, doable and that we can be enthusiastic about.
Growing our own fruit, herbs and vegies is the first one on the list and we are slowly making progress.
Like - the Iz is available both mornings and afternoons five days a week and has been there longer than most but they still went and gave the longer shifts to the newbies. Izzie suspects it may have had something to do with the usual one writing the roster having been on holidays so Peggie - Miss Piggie's daughter did it instead. (And since a certain series of events in April 2005, Izzie no longer bothers giving the pair of them the respect that they don't deserve. Like - will be civil and all that but will no longer indulge in the silly 'Hello - how are you? sort of chit chat unless they initiate it. )
So, we used the opportunity of a whole free day to snooze in the sunshine, tidy up the serpent sock drawer and to count another envelope of beans for the Potions Mistress. Guess we should actually be keeping records of the time spent on this project. The Izzie is doing it for free but it's still useful to know what sort of time is involved. So far - seems to be about two hours per month of receipts. Of course - a proper Goblin or one of those trained data entry operaters would be much faster but the only way to learn is by actually doing it.
Between the start of our two weeks holidays in May and the end of June, took the opportunity to once again draw up a five year plan and out of curiosity, went looking at some of the old ones.
It's funny - forgotten about some of those goals - such as the one to maintain a grade average of over 70% and to visit New Zealand some time before 2004.
Got to tick them off the list. But the green garden and frog pond seems to be one that is going nowhere fast.
Also had to giggle at our ambitions during our goblin phase which lasted for a few years back in 1999 -2000 or so. One goal was to try become financially independent by buying one rental property a year until reaching a total of 5 by June last year. (Oh and not any old properties - had a whole list of conditions to be fulfilled - same as when we were deciding whether or not to buy our own place)
Came to the inevitable conclusion that Izzie - even with the best of intentions - is just not an entrepreneurial serpent. There's a certain singlemindedness required to run a business or make lots of money and the Izzie just does not have the required motivation or dedication to do such a thing.
Yesss. If we had followed such a plan - would have more than a million in assets by now and enough net rental income to pay the monthly mortgage repayments on the Lair.
There's so many folks here who buy so called investment properties which do not earn enough in rental income to cover the costs of interest payments, rates or maintenance. In many cases - by several $$100 per week. But because they can claim the losses against their taxes and hope to make lots of capital gains when they sell, they still think it is a good deal and of course the real estate agents are always going to tell them so. Unfortunately, the new capital gains rules encourage such speculative behaviour as the question no longer concerns the actual value of the property but simply the ability to sell it for more than what you paid for it and to pay a maximum of 24.5% tax on the capital gains (in contrast to between 31.5%- 48% on money earned by actually working)
But what they end up doing is inflating house prices to ridiculous levels and making it difficult for folks who want to buy a place just to live in. It's all one very big bubble and lots of folks will come back to earth with a big bang when it finally busts.
Really, as the Izzie only works 30 hours a week, really should spend our time finding some way of earning an income independent of a job. With the nasty new industrial relations laws, job security is a thing of the past and wages and conditions will slowly be whittled away.
The ma and pa are always saying that we should work more hours to earn more money. But firstly, in spite of being on very low house elf wages, we still earn sufficient for our needs and even most of our wants. It's more important to think outside the square and find a way of earning an income without putting all ones' eggs in the basket of increasingly fickle and unpredictable employers.
Renting out rooms is the most obvious solution but the Iz has always been prepared to pay a premium for privacy and our den of bears would most certainly not approve of sharing with nasty studentses.
All the Izzie knows is that time is preciousss, and unless we have proper plans and goals for it, will end up flittering it all away with nothing to show for it. Nothing like some kind of grand project to turn it to useful ends. Problem is finding one that is useful, doable and that we can be enthusiastic about.
Growing our own fruit, herbs and vegies is the first one on the list and we are slowly making progress.
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just to amuse you...
Date: 2006-07-02 10:00 pm (UTC)Re: just to amuse you...
Date: 2006-07-03 07:39 am (UTC)Will certainly be snatching this one for our "Garden Gallery"
Re: just to amuse you...
Date: 2006-07-03 10:09 am (UTC)