Hedge Fund.

 Hedge cutting.  Yes, not the most interesting subject, unless you're a hedge cutter and even then if you've been doing it for some years I expect the novelty wears off pretty quickly.  I've been doing it on and off since we moved to where we are now, so around 27 years but fortunately its more a necessity rather than a job to prevent them getting out of hand.  Some are doing a job i.e. holding the horses in, whilst others are merely to look good so I this year I have endeavored to hack back the 'looking good' ones back to a more manageable height/width to make it easier in subsequent years.

The trouble is, is that is it physically hard work doing this.  I don't have a tractor, so have invested in a long powered trimmer which makes short work of the frilly, fluffy sticking outie stuff, but is quite heavy for a weakling like me.  My latest acquisition is a reciprocating saw which takes most of the hard work out of cutting the larger bit of growth that the trimmer or lopper struggle with.  So, I sweat a bit less, but get sore arms but still takes an awful long time.  Last weekend I hacked just over 100m down in about a day, although clearing up after me took about the same time and I haven't burnt it yet.  I also have a list of other jobs that need doing whilst the weather is reasonable so might be a matter of prioritizing or seeing if our local man with a tractor can do a bit for me.  

Just Kidding.

 I'm in a bit of a quandary over money.  Do I spend it, or save it.  Over the years, I've never had much in the way of savings, and if I did, it didn't last long.  Now that I'm getting towards the end of my working life (a few years to go mind!) I've been able to put some dosh away for luxuries, and there is the crux of the dilemma - it's a luxury.  One of my more common thoughtful sayings is that 'the easiest person to fool is yourself' and nowhere is it more true when it comes to justifying buying something.  I've spent a lifetime trying avoid luxuries when 'that'll do' has been common place.  This has applied to holidays, cars, tools, clothes and in fact nearly everything I've had to spend my heard earned money on.  There have been exceptions of course and as I get older I kid myself more often that 'it's only money'.

So, do I buy an expensive motorcycle helmet or not?  By 'expensive' I'm talking around the 400-450 GBP mark rather than my existing helmet that was £80.  I need a matching pair of course, because I've just about persuaded my other half to tag along on her proviso that she has a decent helmet to wear.

..so I need to find some old stock.  

Power Up!

 The price cap set by Ofwatt (or whatever they are called) are changing the frequency of price cap changes from 6 to 3 months.  This has sparked outrage from a consumer group (can't remember who) which think the government needs to help those in need; invest in green, cheap energy and other well intentioned actions etc.  A dose of realism might calm him down, but I doubt it.  In the 'old days' I don't remember this issue being such a big problem as the price went up and down although the price is quite high at the moment so a % increase does have more effect.  I have no idea what the solution is, and in some way Putin's war in Ukraine might speed up the switch to renewables which has been dreadfully slow overall even though have have been some notable investment in e.g. wind turbines.

Because the issue is global i.e. global warming, then we need to think of global solutions.  I would like to see big investment in solar powered power generation would have to be linked around the world to feed those with less sunlight available and ability to follow the sun.

  

Theoretically Speaking

April was my last update on this platform, and I can't remember why I stopped writing but I should really kick things off again to get things off my chest.

Occasionally, I hear myself sounding feel like a grumpy old man, and this got me thinking how you become a grumpy old man.  I like to think that I'm quite an open minded cup half full type of person who embraces change as much as the next 30 year old so I reckon the key word is the 'old'.  

By old, I'm talking experienced.  'Grumpy experienced man' sounds much better but I can't imagine it will catch on.  The 'old' conjures up thoughts of senility, past his best, over the hill and a general impression of being not much use to society so can be tolerated - but ignored.  An old man with little experience of life, (and by this I mean the couch potato types who possibly have had a relatively small number of jobs, lived in discreet areas for all their lives etc.) would probably not be known as the grumpy old mad because they don't feel as aggrieved as others who might have had a much more varied lifestyle and who, in later years, lament the passing of these times as they sink into a more passive way of life and let anyone know how good it was in the old days if they care to listen.

It's just a theory though.