Completely random blurbs of an ordinary life

I'm settling back into a pattern lately. The weather has been nice lately so I've been doing a lot of cycling. I consistently find myself overestimating distances in Greater London. The area really isn't that big when you're on a bike. For two weeks in a row now I've been meeting up with Kamil at a place at equal distance from both our homes. Then we cycle outwards from there into the countryside. Today Terry joined us and we happened across a nice airfield and a very narrow countryside road right on top of a ridge, offering great views at  both sides.

The bike is doing great. The Long Haul Trucker feels very comfortable long-distance, especially the seating position, which is a likely indication that my previous frame was indeed a bit too small for me. The thing I don't like about it is the saddle, though. It feels really uncomfortable after a while, and I'll probably order a better one today.

Weird moment during lunch: I was trying to convince Kamil that I couldn't just up and fly to a nice country tomorrow for a holiday, even if I wanted to. Kamil responded by showing me flight prices to Japan for Monday: 590GBP, entirely within my budget. My company wouldn't fire me as long as I did some work while on holiday, so a trip would be totally feasible. I'm really quite lucky to work for Potato. They're very relaxed about their remote working policy, and I think it's getting results. Anyway, long story short, now I feel like a boring person for not going on a trip. But I can live with that.

I bought a shaver yesterday. I figured that I don't usually have a distinctive haircut or style so I might as well save money by cutting it myself. I started doing it myself in front of the mirror but soon Xiyu stepped in (or had to :S) and did a more proper job of it.  Long hair short. Now I'm ready for summer.

Taxes: I finished the HMRC self assessment tax return filing thingie today. It was long, tedious and mildly complicated. But given the complexity of the rules involved I think HMRC is actually doing a pretty good job. There's lots of help items everywhere in case you get lost, and the whole process is quite transparent. Well, the 'how' is quite transparent. The 'why' is, like anything government-related, a complete mystery. Also: if you're working on your own in the UK and don't have a Limited company yet, set one up now! The tax benefits are enormous.

I've been rather content lately, both in daily life and in looking towards the future. Finding a sustainable lifestyle is a continuing process, and my life is far from stable yet, but things are stabilizing, and I've re-realized that I'm not in a hurry. I can do things at my own pace and stuff happens when I want it to. Now all that's left for me to do is to get filthy stinking rich. And change the world. One step at a time.

IMG_9408ps

Now, time to clean my chain.

Posted in Daily Life

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