Thoughts and reflections from the past week or so from my own financial independence campaign.
Progress on my goals
I completed my RYA Day Skipper qualification!
So I’m now reasonably qualified to take the boat out on local trips. That’s pretty cool, seemed like the thing to have really.
Technically I can use this to get work if I top it up with a sea survival and a first aid course. In reality, I don’t know how much work is out there for someone with this fairly low-level qualification. Still, it might be useful as a side skill if I need to top up my FI pot when I hit CoastFI.
I can also use this to charter boats, so if the boat plan doesn’t work out then at least when I go back to a normal life I can have sexy yachting holidays.
I did both the theory and the practical in a single, intense back-to-back session – which is why this update is a bit out of sync.
If you’re interested, I did mine with BOSS in Hamble, on the Solent.
Distractions and detours
Financially speaking, I’ve been a good little boy. Going on the Day Skipper course meant that I didn’t have much opportunity to spend money, and it was a whole nine days.
I did spend a bit of time on Netflix over the (almost) two weeks. Recent viewing has been It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Disenchantment.
Normally, I’m not keen on too much telly time. My entertainment vice is usually video games, so it’s hardly like I’m a saint, but telly time (since Netflix bingeing became possible) is a bit valueless. I rarely look back at telly time and think “I’m glad I spent two hours watching that” – I’ve usually forgotten what I was watching by the end of the week, with a few exceptions.
On reflection, I realise that you, the reader, only see the bit of me that I present on here, which has been cunningly cleaned up. In case you’re wondering: my other big vices are drinking (I like whisky and ale) and creative swearing.
You know you’ve hit it big in the swearing world when you can fit swear words inside other words.
Try it. The words “outstanding”, “incredible” and “absolutely” are great beginner-friendly words for the novice curse inserter.
Still, it’s been a busy couple of months. Gotta be kind to yourself sometimes.
Non-FIRE goals
My guitar rock god quest (AKA learning to play)
This week we moved onto 2 Minutes to Midnight by Iron Maiden. Classic riff, love it.
I’ve been playing guitar for almost 6 months at this point. I still sound a bit like a vinyl record… that has been scratched by angry tomcats and is being played with a blunt stylus. It’s really great to play but I don’t think I’m listenable yet. Lady SierraWhiskyMike can work out the song I’m mauling that day, but I’m still getting to grips with just playing.
I tend to play most days for about 40 minutes. Can’t often manage longer, just yet, and there’s only so long you’re willing to sound crap for before suddenly everything else in the world becomes more interesting.
Sadly, I had to take last week off to do the Day Skipper course. Now I’m back I can push on.
Fitness
Day Skipper itself was kind of physical, but I managed to get a decent run in during the theory days.
Now I’m back at work, I’ve squeezed in two more lunchtime swims.
I’m actually looking pretty good at the moment! All this activity is paying off. Probably won’t survive Christmas – corporate Christmas run-up is seriously boozy – but we’ll see how it goes and enjoy seeing my abs again, no matter how fleetingly.
Archery is still being neglected
Kind of a continuation of the theme: I’m not getting much archery time in.
If it falls to the wayside, I guess that’s just how things go.
Final thoughts
So I made bags of progress on the boat plan but not much else!
Things look worse than they actually are. This was a week and a bit of my leave, so it’s basically the same as if I’d been on an active holiday… but with a qualification coming out of it.
That doesn’t sound too bad to me!
The distractions have been pretty boring this last week or two. Maybe I’ll get a few more exciting distractions in the coming weeks? Can’t live a life of just working, have to get some fun out of my week.
I actually haven’t had chance to test out that modified Nintendo 64 yet. Maybe by the end of the month I’ll find time, but right now I have boat repairs to do.
My financial independence campaign continues!
