Black and Blue Man

Kindle: Year Two

Posted on 7 April 2013 by blackandblueman

It’s been almost two years since I made of the most important purchases of my life – my Amazon Kindle Keyboard 3.

It’s still going well. Although I do most of my reading on my iPad nowadays, my new ebooks are always loaded on to my Kindle first, it’s still the best device for bedtime reading and I always take it alongside my iPad in my backpack.

It was the Kindle that really got me into ebooks, and as a result I have saved so much money and reduced the amount of books that would have otherwise taken up even more space in my already cluttered home.

As well, as I have travelled more and more during the past few years, ebooks have helped to make travel easier (not having to pack books) and more enjoyable (having, at last count, 1144 ebooks to choose from at any moment).

Yes, 1144 ebooks – and thanks to sites like Kindle Nation Daily, Pixel of Ink and Book Basset, a growing number of ebooks during the past year have been free. During the past few months, I’ve been averaging perhaps one free new title a day.

Most of my ebooks are still bought, however. Each fortnight on payday, one of the first things I do is visit Amazon and spend $50-100 on new ebooks. Also, in the two weeks between each payday I may buy one or a few more ebooks depending on specials or which author or what subject has suddenly grabbed my interest.

As well as the lower price of ebooks, the internet has made available an even greater variety of reading material. As well as other blogs and online articles, podcasts like The KunstlerCast and those from the New Books Network are always pointing me to intriguing-sounding titles that I may have otherwise missed.

So thanks to the gateway device that is my Kindle, ebooks have become a huge boon to my life.

Until next time, stay well and take care 🙂

Posted in Bibliophilia, Gratitude, Happiness, Life is Good, Life Strategies, Reading | Leave a comment

Poor Man, Rich Man: Bankruptcy – Year Two

Posted on 31 March 2013 by blackandblueman

Year One

2012 wasn’t one of the worst years of my life, but it certainly wasn’t one of my best.

There were good periods and successes, as described in some of my posts throughout that year – but often there was also underlying stress and tension.

Some of it stemmed from a trying year at work. Part of it stemmed from there being a lot of sudden change – also at work, where several former colleagues I’d known for years retired or were retrenched, and outside of work with my psychiatrist retiring.

In the latter half of the year, a long-time friend suffered from several months of medical problems. He is recovering, which is a huge relief, but at times it was very upsetting.

And especially during the first half of the year, there were money issues.

I suffered no major financial disasters during 2012-2013, and I only took on one new lifestyle expense during that year, but it was still a major period of transition where I had to make adjustments. At times, it was trying.

One issue was with grocery-buying.

I have always been a stockpiler or supply-dumper, in that when I buy groceries I almost always buy back-ups or spares of each item. That comes from a fear of running-out, and feeling relief whenever I see at home that I’m still well-supplied.

In early 2012 I also went to Costco for the first time. I thought (and still think) it was a marvellous place, and I quickly became a member and a regular visitor.

Unfortunately, for a while those two factors became a problem.

The worst example was after one payday when I made an especially big-spending visit to Costco, paid my rent and a bill or two, made other bulk purchases elsewhere…and discovered that three days later, I had barely $150 left until my next payday 10 days away.

I certainly didn’t starve or lack for anything for the next 10 days – but leaving myself that low cash-wise was very dangerous, and I had to cancel next week’s visit to my psychiatrist.

For a while, cancelling every second week’s appointment with my psychiatrist because I didn’t have the money to pay became a routine.

I had to start applying the brakes and stop my panic-buying attitude.

Another issue was with bills.

I don’t have many bills anymore, but by early 2012 my average monthly bill for my bundled landline ‘phone, smartphone and mobile broadband reached $250. Later, when I got an iPad on a monthly plan, that average went up to $300.

Every three months or so there was also my power bill, which ranged from $200-$300 but by year’s end was closer to $300. I wasn’t using any more power – in fact, as my bills showed, I was using less power than I had been 12 months before – but the cost of power increased greatly in Australia in 2012.

I always paid all my bills – but for almost all of my ‘phone bills throughout 2012 I rang for extra time to pay, and sometimes rang again. I was never turned down and I accepted having to sometimes pay a $15 late fee – but at first, I was very disappointed with myself.

It was another demonstration of why I had to learn how to live better from pay to pay, and also think about earning more in the future.

About this time last year there was a deluge of big bills all at once, and even with asking for extra time to pay them a period of struggle loomed.

There was one possible solution, but I spent 24 hours debating with myself whether I should do it or not and feeling ashamed that a 40-year-old man had to consider this.

The next morning, though, I decided that I had no other option left and the worst thing that could happen was to be told no.

So for the first time in many years, I rang my parents to ask if I could please borrow some money.

They not only said yes, but told me that I didn’t need to pay it back.

There would be two more occasions in 2012 when I asked my parents again for help.

On one occasion, I stressed that I was asking for a loan that I could pay them back in several days’ time, and I did.

The other occasion, I paid them back unasked in instalments until they discovered it and told me to stop because it wasn’t necessary.

Writing those two last sections of this post brought back a flood of emotions.

Eventually the second half of 2012 arrived and then slowly seemed to go by.

Work stayed a drag, my psychiatrist retired, my friend suffered and life was meh on a semi-regular basis.

But one area that did see achievement and improvement was my finances.

Over time, I found myself ending each fortnight with more and more money left over from my previous pay. Unlike infamous experiences like the longest day, I was no longer living right down to the wire.

I began saving through rediscovering and redeveloping old strategies like emptying any 5c, 10c and $2 coins from my wallet into a jar at the end of each day (20c and $1 coins are for the coin-op laundry in my building). In time, I developed a small ongoing fund that wasn’t big but every now and then helped with some expenses.

Overall, I found myself having to think less and less about money because gradually there was more and more of it around.

At the end of each year, I usually take my four weeks of annual leave.

At the end of 2012, I was especially relieved to go on leave and finally put that fucking year behind me.

Fortunately, 2013 thus far has been a lot better.

Work has improved, my friend is getting better, and although from time to time I still miss my psychiatrist’s counsel life keeps improving thanks to what I’ve learned since mid-2007.

My money situation also continues to get better.

During the next two days, there is another big life- challenge that I’m planning to finally confront, and I may soon write about it here.

Until next time, stay well and take care 🙂

Posted in Action, Anger, Confidence, Depression, Gratitude, Happiness, Hope, Inspiration, Life Challenges, Life is Good, Life Strategies, Pain, Poor Man Rich Man | Leave a comment

Poor Man, Rich Man: Two Seats (Part 2)

Posted on 23 March 2013 by blackandblueman

Part 1

The carriage looked very inviting. It was clean and roomy, the mostly blue decor was fresh and relaxing, and it was mostly empty.

Thus far, the only people on board were a group of six at the end of the carriage I’d entered, three people at the centre, and one or two people up at the other end of the carriage.

I moved up the aisle and looked for my seat number. I passed the centre row where the three I’d spotted earlier were sitting – two guys in the two seats on the carriage’s right, and one young guy in the window seat on the left.

Two rows later, I discovered where my seat was.

It was next to the guy sitting on the left, and he’d already turned my seat into his side-table.

Oh, for fuck’s sake, I mentally groaned.

There’s a mostly empty carriage here – and yet CountryLink is cramming everyone together?

Briefly, I considered sitting in the vacant seat behind mine.

But just as quickly, I dropped that notion.

First, it wouldn’t be fair to the person whose seat it was.

And second, I didn’t want to cop any shit from CountryLink when someone came to check our tickets.

So I did the right thing and told the guy that his side-table was my seat.

Quietly, he cleared his stuff, and I unloaded what I could of my stuff and sat down.

Not a promising start to the trip, I thought, but all was not lost.

When the CountryLink ticket-checker came through, I could ask if I could move to another seat.

Not long after, the train departed Central and began its long journey south.

Soon after that, the CountryLink ticket-checker came through.

And just after my fellow passenger and I were verified, my fellow passenger asked if he could move to the seat behind him.

The ticket-checker told him sure.

My fellow passenger relocated, I turned his former seat into my side-table and silently thanked him for my unexpected good fortune.

About four hours went past.

I alternated between reading on my iPad, listening on my iPod and napping.

Lunchtime arrived, I treated myself to a meal from the buffet car and added dessert from my goodies bag, which now sat on my fellow passenger’s former seat.

I had gotten an unexpected opportunity to travel like Nat Markal, and it was a very pleasant way to do so indeed.

It was just after we’d pulled into Cootamundra, about halfway to Albury, and I was mostly absorbed in reading again.

A young woman stopped beside me, gestured to the window seat and said, “Excuse me, that’s my seat.”

I looked up from my iPad.

Behind me, in the corner of my eye, I noticed that my previous fellow passenger was now gone from his seat behind me.

Ahead of me, to the front and to my left, I saw that although the carriage had filled up more since Sydney, there were still a good number of empty rows available.

Oh, for fuck’s sake, I mentally groaned again.

Quickly and quietly, though, I cleared my stuff from the window seat and its fold-down table so that my new fellow passenger could sit down.

As I settled back into travel mode, I scolded myself for falling into a false sense of security in having assumed that my previous fellow passenger would be traveling as far as I would, so that his seat would always remain mine.

But I also got annoyed again at CountryLink, and wondered why they insisted on cramming strangers together.

I assumed that it was because it made it easier to clean carriages after trips – if all passengers were concentrated together, so would their rubbish, and therefore it saved time and costs.

Which was fair enough from their point of view, but not very enjoyable for passengers like me.

As the train resumed its journey, I considered that perhaps I should have booked two seats for this trip after all.

I also considered that for the trip back in a week’s time, I could still book a second seat.

And then came the incident that definitely made up my mind.

Soon after we’d left the station, the ticket-checker returned.

He checked my new fellow passenger’s ticket, and as he gave her the okay she asked politely if she could change seats because hers was damp.

The ticket-checker responded loudly with, “Damp?!? What do you mean – damp?!?”

There was a moment’s awkward silence throughout the carriage, and then my fellow passenger politely asked again if she could change seats because although she didn’t know why, her seat was damp.

To which the ticket-checker again responded loudly with, “Damp?!? What do you mean – damp?!?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake, man! What does it matter?!? Just let her move!

For a third time, but now with an edge of frustration to her voice, my fellow passenger politely asked if she could just move to another seat, please.

To which the ticket-checker grinned and said, “Yeah, sure!”

Jerk!

He moved on – good riddance! – and my new fellow passenger relocated to her new seat, which was where my former fellow passenger had also sat behind me.

As I heard her speak to other passengers nearby and wonder aloud what the ticket-checker’s problem had been – and I silently sympathised with her – I felt her seat and found it to be not damp but warm.

Still, before she’d sat down my goodies bag had been there for a few hours, so maybe it had made the seat uncomfortable for her.

I got annoyed with myself again with perhaps having done that, albeit unwittingly – although maybe she simply hadn’t wanted to sit next to me, which was fair enough.

Once again, though, I was mostly annoyed with CountryLink.

I was annoyed that for whatever reason, they crammed passengers together when they could be spread throughout a carriage with greater comfort and more privacy.

And I was especially annoyed that reasonable and simple requests to alleviate that were treated rudely by some staff.

Enough was enough.

Fortunately, the rest of the journey passed without incident.

Even more fortunately, two days later it was payday and one of the first things I did that morning was to ring CountryLink – and five minutes later, the seat next to my already-booked seat for the journey home was also mine.

And five days after that, after having spent a pleasant week in Albury, I traveled home first-class like Nat Markal.

Okay, so it wasn’t quite like flying first-class – but I had two big comfortable seats to myself and I set up a very relaxing corner of the world for 7-8 hours.

Once again I read and listened to music for hours, and I also improved with an absorbing new habit I’d picked up in Albury – Sudoku.

I also ate and drank well from my goodies bag and the buffet car.

That trip alone was one of my favourite parts of that week.

Late that night after I got home, I was catching up on reading at Longform.

One of the latest articles featured there was the very interesting ‘How to Spend 47 Hours on a Train and Not Go Crazy’ from the New York Times Magazine.

Included was the following:

…the tendency of Amtrak conductors to seat long-distance passengers next to each other, even if the next car contains 20 rows of empty seats. This policy is designed to keep rows open for passengers who board at later stops, but sometimes those anticipated passengers never materialize.

So maybe CountryLink has the same policy.

But even if they do, or whatever reasons why they seat booked passengers like they do, the two trips I’d just taken with them had given me a new policy of my own.

Whenever possible in future, for long-distance travel with CountryLink or anyone else, I will do a Nat Markal and book two seats for myself.

Yes, it’s an added expense, but if affordable it’s worth it indeed – and like my journey home, it becomes an enjoyable part of a holiday in itself.

Until next time, stay well and take care 🙂

Posted in Action, Anger, Happiness, Inspiration, Life Challenges, Life is Good, Life Strategies, Poor Man Rich Man, Travel | Leave a comment

Poor Man, Rich Man: Two Seats (Part 1)

Posted on 16 March 2013 by blackandblueman

Hundreds of years ago during my mid-teens in the 1980s, I began reading the 1968 Herbert D. Kastle novel The Movie Maker. I didn’t get very far into it because it wasn’t really my sort of story, but there was one early scene that fired my imagination and stayed with me ever after.

It’s a scene where movie mogul Nat Markal flies to Hollywood on a jet airliner, and Kastle describes how Markal booked himself two seats so no one else would sit beside him and disturb him.

At that time, I’d never flown on an airliner and couldn’t imagine if or when I ever would. As well, back then air travel was still expensive in Australia – so Nat Markal being able to buy himself two seats seemed like not only a great idea, but also an unimaginable luxury.

As the years passed and I did more and more long-distance traveling, I often recalled Nat Markal and his two seats – especially as air travel, although it became more affordable, became an increasingly uncomfortable and unpleasant experience.

For a long time, however, I still regarded booking two seats for travel as a fantasy. After all, from time to time I got lucky and wound up with an empty seat beside me, and although flying sucked I was only spending an hour or so in the air each way, so I told myself to just deal with it.

Funnily enough, a few months after I went bankrupt in 2011 I did a Nat Markal not once, not twice but three times.

It was for this holiday that involved three trips by road coach.

Because each leg involved several hours of travel, and seats were cheap, I decided to splurge and buy myself two seats each time.

And it was great.

Not only did I have extra space to sprawl in comfort, but my second seat became my side-table that held everything I needed within easy reach – food, drink, iPod, Kindle, tissues, moist-wipes and small garbage bag.

In early 2012 I had to travel to Canberra for work.

I could have flown there and back on work’s dime, but for several reasons I preferred to travel by road coach – and because it was much cheaper, work certainly had no objection (in fact, back in early 2009 for other work in Canberra when I had first requested to travel by road coach instead, the approving manager had even thanked me in writing for saving the company money).

Once again I decided to do a Nat Markal, although I paid for my second seats out of my own pocket.

And once again, it was great.

A few weeks ago, I got an unexpected but very welcome invitation to spend time with some old friends down in Albury down on the NSW-Victoria border.

After some thought I decided to travel to and from Albury by CountryLink train.

That meant 7-8 hours of travel each way, but that didn’t bother me for several reasons.

First, although flying would be much quicker, it wasn’t something to look forward to.

Second, traveling by train was less expensive.

Finally, I’ve always loved train travel; I hadn’t done a long-distance trip for about 10 years; and 7-8 hours on a train meant 7-8 hours of reading and relaxing.

So I decided to make the traveling an enjoyable part of the overall experience, and to add to that I decided to go first-class each way – which was only $30 more than economy, anyway.

And I also thought about doing a Nat Markal, but in the end I didn’t.

Why?

First, although I had the money to do so each way, I thought that perhaps it was being too indulgent and I could use my second-seats money for something else.

Second, a train carriage is much less cramped than a jet-airliner cabin; I remembered train seats being larger and more comfortable; and I could get up and walk around whenever I needed to.

Finally, I gambled, on a train there could perhaps be more of a chance of winding up with an empty seat beside me for all or most of the trip.

So I booked myself one first-class seat each way.

Finally, the big day of the trip to Albury arrived.

I packed a suitcase, my backpack with my iPad and iPod and Kindle, and a bag full of food-and-drink goodies.

I got to Central Station with plenty of time to spare, checked in my suitcase and had breakfast.

Half an hour before departure, we were allowed to board and get settled in.

I stepped into my carriage, looking forward to the long leisurely trip ahead and hoping that I would be lucky to have an empty seat beside me for most of or the entire journey…

…but that part of the story will have to wait until next time.

Until then, stay well and take care 🙂

Part 2

Posted in Happiness, Hope, Inspiration, Poor Man Rich Man, Travel | 2 Comments

Poor Man, Rich Man: Bankruptcy – Year One

Posted on 16 February 2013 by blackandblueman

As regular readers will know, Valentine’s Day is a special day for me because on 14 February 2011 I was officially declared bankrupt.

Two years ago!

As the recent Valentine’s Day drew near I looked back at the past two years, and it was interesting to remember just how different each of those years had been.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I didn’t find out that I was officially bankrupt until 21 February 2011 so to me that day was the beginning of a new era.

Getting that ‘phone call from my new bankruptcy trustee that Monday afternoon had been both hugely liberating, in that I was now debt-free, but also unnerving, in that I was now reduced to a ‘cash-only economy’ and that was it.

What would the future hold?

Fortunately, and thanks especially to my personal growth since mid-2007, I decided to focus on my second chance in life as a positive rather than a negative.

And several surprises lay in store.

One of those surprises was staying in hotels.

In early 2009 I had spent most of two months working in Canberra. Overall it had been a hugely rewarding experience, and one part of it I had especially enjoyed was staying in hotels (so much so that it has become a component of my 10-year plan).

Yet because of my ever-increasing debt problem, between early 2009 and 14 February 2011 I only tried this new interest once.

And after I went bankrupt, staying in hotels seemed like something I wouldn’t be doing for a long time, or only for work.

Yet only weeks later in March 2011, I would stay in hotels twice – first to another part of Sydney for one weekend to get away from the noisiness of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, and later to Wollongong for this experience.

And a few months later I spent a few nights down in Canberra, which back in February would have seemed impossible.

But all of those experiences turned out fine through careful planning, being in the right place at the right time and having the self-confidence that I had seriously lacked in years past to take those chances.

As well, I got a lot of satisfaction out of paying cash for those stays, because once I handed over my money that was it – no more worrying about future bills and interest.

It was very liberating, indeed.

Another surprise was that going bankrupt partly led to a purchase two months later that would have an enormous impact on my life – my Kindle.

Just then, I went back and re-read my first post about my Kindle, and several things about it made me smile.

One thing was reading the reasons I’d been mulling over to buy one. They’re all true – but one missing reason was my bankruptcy, which back then was something I wasn’t yet comfortable blogging about.

Another thing was that vague notion I had had of perhaps getting a Kindle “later (that) year”.

And another thing was wanting to own an iPad as well, but that’s a story for my post about Year Two.

A more detailed account of my second year as a Kindle owner is also another story for another post – but in brief I will say here that the amount of physical space and especially money that I’ve continued to save has been very rewarding.

Another surprise, and the biggest one of all, was that as more and more months of Year One went by I not only survived but thrived.

In fact, by the end of 2011 I was often telling people that bankruptcy had turned out to be one of the most remarkable experiences of my life.

While I certainly regretted the years of foolishness and mistakes that had led to 14 February 2011, bankruptcy had given me a second chance at life and especially to get my finances right.

I learned new money skills, rediscovered old ones and began turning my life around.

At times I was genuinely amazed at my new life, and it showed.

At Christmas 2011 when I holidayed and saw my sisters again, they told me how much different I seemed to the “preoccupied” brother they had noticed at Christmas 2010, when I had feared that my world was going over a cliff.

Now, though, life had gotten much better and was staying well.

And then came Year Two.

But that’s a story for another post.

Until next time, stay well and take care 🙂

Year Two

Posted in Action, Confidence, Gratitude, Happiness, Hope, Inspiration, Life Challenges, Life is Good, Life Strategies, My Story, Poor Man Rich Man, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Downtown Alley

Posted on 3 February 2013 by blackandblueman

WARNING! This post describes an incident that may offend some readers

Shortly after 8am, Saturday, 2 February 2013.

It was grey and raining as I stepped out of my apartment building.

Despite the miserable-looking day, I was in good spirits because I was making a Costco run, something I hadn’t done in months, and I was also taking a friend and her partner as guests.

So, I began walking to a railway station about 15 minutes away to take the train to Costco.

I crossed my street and entered a nearby alley.

About 50 metres ahead at the other end of the alley, a young woman in a short skirt who looked like she’d had a big Friday night out on the town staggered into view.

She continued staggering to some garbage bins on one side and stopped there.

I decided to ignore her and continued walking.

A moment passed, and I noticed that the woman was still at the bins.

At first, it wasn’t clear what she was doing…

…but as I drew closer, I saw that she was now squatting behind the bins with her back to me, her skirt pulled up and her underwear pulled down.

I groaned with contempt and disgust.

This wasn’t the first time I’d seen Sydneysiders openly relieving themselves – and I’m sure it wasn’t going to be the last time – but it’s a grim and unhygienic sight that I never like to see.

I needed to get to my train, however, so I resolved to look straight ahead, pay the woman no attention and hope that at the very least she was only doing a wee and not a big poo.

I continued walking.

Finally, I passed her only a few metres away.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her stand and pull up her underwear.

And then she did something completely unexpected.

In a ragged morning-after voice, she cried, “Aaaah…I’m sorry!”

I continued walking and didn’t turn my head…

…but I suddenly found myself saying, “That’s okay”.

After all, there had seemed to be some regret in her voice.

As well, the sound of that “Aaaah…I’m sorry!” was unintentionally hilarious.

And a day and a half later as I type this, I still find myself laughing at that.

Until next time, stay well and take care 🙂

Posted in Action, Having a Laugh, Life Challenges, Life Strategies | 1 Comment

Attack of the Australian nanny state – Part 4

Posted on 19 January 2013 by blackandblueman

Long-time readers of this blog may remember this old series that I never finished, but now I will.

For those who came in late, and to cut a long story short…

Part 1
Way back in…yikes, April 2011 I tried to buy tickets for my friend and myself to see the film Paul, which was rated MA15+ – but I was refused service after being told that the law now said I couldn’t buy tickets to MA15+ films for people other than myself, lest I was trying to sneak in under-15s; dumbfounded by this inconvenience, I wrote to the Australian Government department Australian Classification for more information

Part 2
Australian Classification wrote back to say that what had happened to me wasn’t because of any law but perhaps because of a policy enacted by that cinema; therefore, I decided to write to the cinema for more information

Part 3
A few weeks later, I experimented by going to a different cashier and trying to buy tickets to Your Highness, also rated MA15+ – but this time, I wasn’t stopped; therefore, I further resolved to write to the cinema for more information

As it turned out, I never wrote to the cinema – partly because I forgot to; partly because my friend later suggested that it may cause more problems than it was worth, and partly because of my next two ticket-buying experiences.

The next two films my friend and I saw after Your Highness were Snowtown (released in the US as The Snowtown Murders) and The Hangover Part II. From memory, both of them were also rated MA15+, although Snowtown may have been rated R.

Although there had been no trouble with buying several tickets for Your Highness, I was still prepared for the worst when I tried again for The Hangover Part II and especially Snowtown, a controversial film based on the Snowtown murders.

Yet, both times nothing happened.

And on one of those occasions (I can’t remember which), I was pretty sure that the young cashier who’d refused me service for Paul was on duty, and for a while it looked like he could be serving me again…but I ended up being called another cashier instead, who sold me my tickets with no problems whatsoever.

As for those two films – The Hangover Part II was good silly fun like its predecessor, but the powerful Snowtown haunted me for weeks afterwards. It’s a very grim yet highly compelling account of not only terrible serial-killing but also a much blighted community and the people who suffer living in it. Snowtown reminded me very much of the similarly powerful Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer.

After Snowtown and The Hangover Part II, I still thought about writing to the cinema regarding my Paul experience.

Weeks and then months passed, however, and I forgot about doing that and also posting further in this series.

A few months later, as I recall, I mentioned to my friend about my writing to the cinema, and he commented that maybe it wasn’t worthwhile because it might cause more trouble than it was worth.

I agreed.

And since then, I have never again had issues with buying several tickets at a time for MA15+ films.

More months and then finally the past year or so went past, and I kept on forgetting to update this series.

Today, though, I decided that enough was enough, and so here we are.

Until next time, stay well and take care 🙂

STOP PRESS
Suggested tags for this post – the mind continues to boggle:

Posted in Action, Life Challenges, Life Strategies | Leave a comment

Poor Man, Rich Man: The Website That Saved My Life (Part 5)

Posted on 11 January 2013 by blackandblueman

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Mid-morning, Wednesday, 21 December 2011.

A year to the day after the events described in Part 3, I was back in that same country town.

And again, while my eldest sister went off with her kids to do some things, I returned to the local RSL and had another great comfort-food lunch.

I didn’t go back into the combined meeting room and library, because I had no need to, but I looked at its door from the centre of the club with a mixture of feelings.

It was also ten months ago to the day when I’d been informed that I’d officially been bankrupt since Valentine’s Day 2012.

A lot had happened in those ten months, and was still happening.

There had been some financial hiccups along the way, but overall life had gotten much better.

Early afternoon, Friday 21 December 2012.

I hadn’t planned it because of the significance of the date, but because that particular day was convenient for all parties concerned.

I caught a train from where I’d spent the past few days holidaying with my youngest sister and traveled to that same country town near where my eldest sister lived so she could pick me up to spend the next few days at her place.

Sis, her kids and I set off for an afternoon of Christmas shopping in a couple of other nearby towns. As we drove and talked, I mentioned the significance of the date, and in turn that unexpectedly led me to tell sis more about the details of my bankruptcy.

I also talked a lot about a famous Jon Ronson article I’d recently read that had especially resonated with me – ‘Who Killed Richard Cullen?’

A year and ten months to the day had passed since I’d learned that I was bankrupt.

2012 had seen more financial hiccups than 2011, as well as other pressures and stresses (particularly during the last six months) that had made me glad that the year was now almost over.

But still, life overall was much better than it had been before I made that fateful discovery late that night at sis’s place almost two years before.

Bankruptcy Saves Lives had indeed saved mine.

Until next time, stay well and take care 🙂

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Poor Man, Rich Man: The Website That Saved My Life (Part 4)

Posted on 18 November 2012 by blackandblueman

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Most of the time, I have a good memory – which has been both a blessing and a curse.

I remember a lot about when I applied for bankruptcy, but not everything.

Most of all, the first several weeks of 2012 when I contacted Bankruptcy Saves Lives and put together my application to ITSA are mostly blank.

What happened, and when?

Fortunately, there are some records I still have from back then.

In late 2010 when my financial world collapsed, I created a folder on my PC where I began saving mostly Notepad files recording information like calls I made to creditors.

I can’t remember what this folder was originally called, but eventually it became VB (short for Voluntary Bankruptcy) which it remains to this day.

As well, there are emails I still have in my Yahoo! inbox.

Last week after posting Part 3 of this series, I had a look at some of these records and emails for the first time since then, and they made for startling reading.

Just then as I prepared to write this post, I read them again and discovered even more files that I’d previously missed. They also made for startling reading.

One file I’d missed last week but found just then was a record of that ‘phone call I described in Part 3.

As you may recall, the overall tone of the person I spoke with was polite.

So much so that in that record, I made a comment at the end:

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts in this series, my first New Year’s resolution for 2011 was to apply for voluntary bankruptcy, and the first step was to contact Bankruptcy Saves Lives.

But when I was writing those posts, I couldn’t remember when I contacted them.

There’s no record in VB, but in my Yahoo! inbox I found my answer (click to enlarge):

It took me almost two weeks to write to them? Why? Unfortunately, I can’t recall.

Bankruptcy Saves Lives replied to my email early the next morning. Later that day I began speaking with them by ‘phone and they also began emailing me information I needed to complete my application.

Two weeks passed.

I exchanged more emails and ‘phone calls with Bankruptcy Saves Lives, and offline I put together my application.

In VB, I have a copy of the blank application form that I downloaded from ITSA, but no copy of my completed form and supporting paperwork – I must have printed that out and completed it by hand (and maybe somewhere in my paper files, I have a photocopy of it).

On Friday 28 January 2011, I sent my application and supporting paperwork with a cover letter to the bankruptcy trustee that is highly recommended by Bankruptcy Saves Lives, in the hope that they would take me on and forward my application to ITSA.

A week passed with no word from either the bankruptcy trustee or ITSA.

Then a second week passed and still no word.

And then a third week passed with still no word.

I was getting more and more worried – especially after Friday 18 February when I went to withdraw some money from an ATM and found that my bank, who was also one of my creditors, had put a stop on my account (fortunately, weeks before I’d gotten into the paranoid habit of withdrawing as much of my cash as possible as soon as possible in case something like that happened, so I wasn’t destitute).

And then late in the afternoon of Monday 21 February, I got a call from the bankruptcy trustee to advise that they had taken me on and that on 14 February – Valentine’s Day, a week before – ITSA had accepted my application, so without knowing it I had officially been bankrupt for the past week.

And just before I’d begun writing this post, I found that during that call I’d made the following brief record in yet another Notepad file:

The caller from the bankruptcy trustee asked if there was anything else she could help me with, and I said yes – three days before, my bank had put a stop on my account, and could she possibly help me with that?

She said she’d contact my bank – and the next day, if I remember correctly, the stop was lifted.

14 February 2011 is the important date because that’s when my bankruptcy became legal – but because I didn’t know about that for a week, emotionally and psychologically 21 February 2011 is the most significant date.

It was the first day of the rest of my financial life.

And from here on, I had to get it right and keep it right.

Until next time, stay well and take care 🙂

Posted in Action, Gratitude, Hope, Life Challenges, My Story, Pain, Poor Man Rich Man, Resources | Leave a comment

Poor Man, Rich Man: The Website That Saved My Life (Part 3)

Posted on 10 November 2012 by blackandblueman

Part 1
Part 2

Mid-morning, Tuesday 21 December, 2010.

My eldest sister, her kids and I drove to that town near her home.

Sis dropped me off at the dentist and went away for the next few hours to do shopping and other things.

Not long after, I was sitting in a surgery where, after using some amazing-looking high-tech equipment to analyse my collapsed tooth, the dentist gave me two choices for a filling: a plastic-based type that would cost me $600, and a ceramic-based one that would cost me $1000.

I thought hard for a moment.

I still had a last few thousand dollars left on one of my last active credit cards.

That day was also a payday, but after paying for rent back home and either type of filling I’d have very little cash left to live on for the next fortnight.

The dentist has also added that the plastic-based filling wouldn’t last as long as the ceramic-based filling.

Up until just a few weeks ago, I’d had private health insurance with dental cover – but as my financial world collapsed, I was unable to keep making payments and so it came to an end.

Thinking harder, I recalled some of the advice I’d heard at previous DA meetings about alternatives to using credit…

…and so I asked the dentist if he accepted instalment payments.

Politely but firmly, he said that although I appeared to him to be an honest and trustworthy type, he didn’t want to have to spend extra time and money chasing up my payments – so, no.

I thought hard one last time.

Finally, I decided on the ceramic-based filling.

And, very reluctantly but realistically, I would pay for it with credit.

About half an hour or so later, I was standing in the main street of the town with my new filling.

I’d just withdrawn some cash from an ATM, but mostly I was thinking about what I’d just done at the dentist.

It was another watershed moment slapping me in the face with the stark reality of my finances being a fucking mess, and that time was fast running out.

But there was one more painful watershed moment to go.

I crossed the street to the town’s RSL club. Like many RSL clubs, it was a pleasant-looking place with the promise of a comfort-food lunch.

Lunch would have to wait, however, because first I had to give my mouth time to recover from surgery.

Second, the club’s restaurant was not yet open.

And finally, I had to make an important ‘phone call to Sydney.

At first glance, however, the club didn’t seem like a good place for making such a ‘phone call because it was noisy – especially because of the poker machines, and the sound of them was the last thing I wanted in the background to my ‘phone call.

Soon, though, I discovered the separate combined meeting-room and library. It was a cosy-looking place decorated with military memorabilia from several wars and stocked with decades of military-themed books that the bibliophile in me marvelled at.

I asked one of the bar staff if I could use that room to make a ‘phone call, and she said sure.

So I went inside, sat down at a table and took out my mobile ‘phone and the most recent letter from one of my creditors.

I called them, and with a polite but firm member of staff we worked out when I could make my next payment.

It was more a symbolic gesture than anything else, because that payment would do nothing really towards reducing my ridiculous debt with that creditor alone.

But I wanted to show them that I wanted to do the right thing.

At one point during that ‘phone call, the member of staff I was talking to suddenly surprised me by asking why I’d gotten myself into so much trouble.

He wasn’t being accusatory, nasty or smug, however.

Like his tone throughout the rest of the call, he was polite.

For a moment, I was unable to speak.

Then I told him the truth. I can’t remember the exact words, but it was basically that I’d been a fool.

I can’t remember if he responded to that. There may have just been neutral silence.

When we got back to business, he was polite as ever.

I completed my call and stepped back out into the club.

It had been a very trying morning, indeed (but I had only brought it all upon myself).

Now, though, it was time for lunch.

I got a table in the restaurant and not long after I was enjoying a comfort-food lunch consisting of a big steak, generous servings of baked vegetables and mashed potato, lashings of gravy and an enormous bread roll for wiping the plate clean at meal’s end.

I paid for it with cash, and after eating it I felt a lot better – especially as once again I considered my morning, and what it meant.

Enough was well and truly enough.

As I’d told myself 12 hours before, my first task for 2011 was voluntary bankruptcy.

And fortunately – very fortunately – Bankruptcy Saves Lives could help me.

Until next time, stay well and take care 🙂

Posted in Action, Gratitude, Hope, Inspiration, Life Challenges, Life Strategies, My Story, Pain, Poor Man Rich Man, Resources | Leave a comment

Black and Blue Man

Kindle: Year Two

Poor Man, Rich Man: Bankruptcy – Year Two

Poor Man, Rich Man: Two Seats (Part 2)

Poor Man, Rich Man: Two Seats (Part 1)

Poor Man, Rich Man: Bankruptcy – Year One

Downtown Alley

Attack of the Australian nanny state – Part 4

Poor Man, Rich Man: The Website That Saved My Life (Part 5)

Poor Man, Rich Man: The Website That Saved My Life (Part 4)

Poor Man, Rich Man: The Website That Saved My Life (Part 3)

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