Part 238: Flukes, Cool Worlds, CHILL, and more…

Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on FIRE.  This week I discuss the CHILL movement that was mentioned by someone on Reddit, and give some suggestions for how I would change the world of work.  I also give a shout out to a really cool YouTube channel I’ve recently discovered.

Weekly Update

As I write this I’m coming off the back of ten days working out of the last eleven.  It’s just a consequence of how my schedule has fallen with the bank holidays.  I’m ready for a rest now as the last few days in that stretch of work were difficult.  One bit of exciting news, at least for me, is that I’ve acquired two Lego sets I’ve been after for a long time.  I was able to snap up the Venator model at a massive discount, and I was given a nice surprise gift in the Rivendell set.  Now the challenge is to work out where I can display them.

I’ve had a few medical appointments recently and it looks like I’m back in the diabetic range, but only slightly.  I need to tweak my diet and get some exercise done.  The worry is that the last few times I’ve started exercising, my joints just decide to pack in.  It’s not as though I’m doing anything particularly strenuous either, but it’s widely known that autistic people tend to struggle with joint pain more so than the NT population.  

A friend suggested a little weight loss challenge and although it’s still in the early days, it seems to be making a difference.  I’ve dropped a couple of KG since we started two weeks ago.  The aim is slow and steady progress.  Oana and I are looking to go back to Norway next summer, and I’d love to be in decent shape for that.  

It seems that not a day goes by without someone on social media claiming that “tipping culture” is getting out of control in the US.  It’s not as contentious an issue in the UK but it’s still something that causes debate.  I don’t mind tipping for good service in a restaurant. It’s only fair to show appreciation for those working in the service industry. It shouldn’t be expected though.

One morning this week we popped into a new local cafe to grab a drink to take out.  We ordered and then a card machine was placed in front of me, with the staff member telling me I can choose what tip to leave.  A tip, for getting a take away coffee.  For me, that’s a step too far.

Kygo

Last year we went to London to see Kygo at Gunnersbury Park, and this year he’s coming to the O2.  Obviously this means we are having another trip down to the capital.  It’s more expense than we’d like, but we’ve decided this will be our anniversary and Christmas present to each other.  I’m a big fan of his work, but Oana is on a whole other level of fandom.  

If you aren’t familiar with Kygo’s music you should check out the song Freeze.  The video on YouTube is great.

YouTube

On the subject of YouTube videos there are some great channels I’ve been watching recently.  My favourite new(ish) discovery is the Cool Worlds account, which is run by the Department of Astronomy at Columbia University, led by Professor David Kipping, pictured below:

The videos deal with a range of questions relating to astronomy, physics, and science in general.  Two of the most powerful videos the channel has put out are works of fiction, though, which are used as vehicles to explore different scientific concepts.  The first of those videos tells the story of the first civilisation to emerge in our galaxy.  It’s moving, thought-provoking, and a work of art.

The First Civilisation to Emerge in our Galaxy

The second video I’ll mention tells the story of the Earth, from its birth to its demise.  

Watching the End of the World

I found the third video, Living Past Eternity, to be poignant and powerful.

Living Past Eternity

I spend a lot of time thinking about the nature of the universe and reality.  There’s one thought that makes my brain go into error 404 territory, and that is trying to imagine nothing, i.e. the absence of anything and everything.  This leads to the question, “why is there something rather than nothing?”

Don’t even get me started on the heat death of the universe because it’s sure to put me in a melancholic mood for days.

This Week’s Tory Clusterfuck

I came across a great quote today about Rishi Sunak and the Tory party;

“Sunak has realised something needs to change, although he yet hasn’t realised it’s the Government. Which explains why we were subjected to yet another relaunch of the Prime Miniature, a man who has already been through more relaunches than the Space Shuttle.”

We’re less than a year from the next General Election and it’s going to be interesting and, I fear, frustrating.  I would hope that the UK electorate have finally woken up to the reality that the Tory party is at best incompetent, and at worst intentionally evil.  The way the country has been run since the Brexit referendum, in particular, has been a joke.  

Cameron pushed through the referendum, and then took his ball and went home when the result went against him.  This led to the May government and I’m convinced to this day that the only reason she was in office for so long was because no one else wanted the job when we were trying to negotiate the Brexit deal.  

Then we had Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, better known as the floppy haired fucker who led this country through Covid as smoothly as the guy who tried navigating the Suez in the Ever Given.  At least with the 2021 Suez Canal blockage thousands of people didn’t die unnecessarily. 

I’m not going to list all his failings because I’d have to upgrade my plan with WordPress to account for the volume of data we’re talking about.  So I’ll just move on to Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng.  If I could ask this double act one question, it would be, “what the shit?”

I mean, in the space of fifty days they nearly brought down the pension system.  Their acts led to interest rates rising at a much faster rate than many predicted.  It was an absolute clusterfuck.  We need to get the Tory party out and give the country a chance to reset and move forward.

Looking Back

Part 11 of the Looking Back series is now live, and you can find it here.

What I’m Doing

TV: MasterChef (BBC).

Audiobook: Fluke by Brian Klaas (audible).

I’ve talked a few times about the role that chance, or luck, plays in our lives.  Too many successful people fail to publicly acknowledge the impact that luck had on their eventual success.  I get it; people want to take credit for their achievements, but I also think a little humility and acknowledgement towards good fortune would be a good thing.

Life is full of “sliding doors” moments where one tiny change could have huge consequences further on.  We are always talking about how small changes in history could have led to significant differences in the present, but we hardly ever consider the impact that small changes now could have on our future.

All these things are discussed in the audiobook I’m currently listening to, Fluke.  I’m just over halfway through the book and it’s fascinating.  One of the best examples of chance impacting someone’s life was the incident where a man was swept out to sea in Greece.  The thirty-year-old, Ivan, battled to stay afloat but ran out of energy and was about to be pulled under the surface when he spotted a football floating nearby.  He used the last of his energy to swim to the ball, which he then clung on to for almost an entire day before rescue teams recovered him.

When the story was reported in the news, a mother recognised the colourful ball as belonging to her sons who had been playing with it over a week prior when they lost it in the sea.  A man’s life was saved because two kids miles away lost their football.  

Support Mortgage Advisor on FIRE

If you would like to show your support for my blog please comment, like, share, and subscribe.  All these things help the blog to grow.  If you want to make a financial contribution towards the running costs of the site, please use the donation form below:

Financial Update

Assets

Premium Bonds: £13,325.00. 

Stocks and Shares ISA: £75,049.07. 

Fuck It Fund: £15.60.

Pensions: £79,413.52. 

Residential Property Value: £229,818.00. 

BTL Property Value: £148,301.00.

Total Assets: £545,922.19. 

Debts

Residential Mortgage: £172,359.25. 

BTL Mortgage: £104,871.60.

Total Debts: £277,230.85. 

Total Wealth: £268,691.34.

Investment Income in 2023: £2,386.69 (target £10,000).

So, it would appear I forgot to update my figures on last week’s post.  I’ve noticed the error and corrected it, but it’s a little embarrassing I didn’t notice before.  It happened because of the way I write this blog.  I use the previous week’s post as a template, where I delete all the info except titles, headers, and other parts that remain week to week.  I must have been distracted or something because I left the figures in from the week before.  Apologies for any confusion caused.

The market is flying right now and my figures, after I double checked I had the right week’s, are looking great.  My pension has increased by approximately £5k in ten weeks, which is incredible.  

BTL Update

We’ve got lots of forms to fill out as part of the conveyancing, and the forms are annoying.  So much information that I don’t know and it’s one of those jobs that feels a bit overwhelming.  I’m going to tackle this job on Sunday.

The CHILL Movement

I saw an article mentioned on the FIREUK subreddit, which linked back to the Daily Fail Mail.  The columnist, Andrew Oxlade, coins the term CHILL Movement, which means Career Happiness Inspires Longer Lives.  No, I’m not shitting you.  Yes, that’s what the article says.

The thing is, when you are a director at a big company, much like Andrew is, it’s probably quite easy to lose touch with the majority of people that work fairly unfulfilling jobs where they have little autonomy.  Whilst it’s great to love your job, the reality is that most people can only hope to land a job that they can tolerate. 

I must stress that there’s a difference between one’s feeling towards their role and their feelings towards their employer and/or colleagues.  It’s possibly to dislike your job, but like your employer, and respect your colleagues. 

Anyway, if you are chasing FIRE the chances are you dislike your job or career.  Afterall, if you liked your job you may not be as motivated to seek alternatives like FI.  So telling people who are chasing FI to seek happiness through work seems to be missing the point.  At best it’s just some bullshit advice from someone out of touch with the mood of the room, and at worst it reminds me of the Nazi phrase, “Arbeit macht frei”, meaning “work sets you free”.

I’m not comparing Andrew Oxlade to the Nazis, as I don’t know hardly anything about him.  However, the point remains that the CHILL acronym immediately reminded me of that Nazi motto.

Most jobs are, by and large, a bit crap, but we find the positives where we can.  Telling someone who is chasing FI because they are unsatisfied with the career options available to CHILL, is like advising a depressed person to try not being depressed. 

In my experience, most people don’t have a career; they have a job.  A career assumes you are progressing towards an end goal but with so many people living on the borderline of poverty, these people are only able to concentrate on progressing to their next pay packet.  Telling these people to CHILL is just insulting.

My circumstances are a little different because my desire for FI is not linked specifically to a single job, but rather the constant struggle of being autistic in world designed for, and built by, neurotypical people.  I can’t change the game, so the best I can do is get to a position where I no longer have to play.

What changes would I make to the world of work?

For all the jobs that require work to be done at specific times, i.e. emergency services, restaurants, bars, and cafes, there are plenty more that could be done at any time, such as data analysis.  The only reason we have a set working day running from 9-5 is because that’s what we’ve done since Henry Ford pushed for it in his factories in the early 1900s.  So, because some dude over a century ago wanted his workforce to build cars for eight hours a day, millions of office workers now work the same shift pattern.  

Many studies have shown that the time it takes to complete work will inevitably expand to fill the available time, and this is known as Parkinson’s Law.  It’s also been demonstrated that companies that switched to a four-day week generally see no drop off in performance, and it’s been claimed by many employers it made a positive impact.  There’s nothing stopping us, as a society, just agreeing that a five day working week is too much.

I also think that home working, where possible, should be the standard, with people able to opt-in to working in an office if they want to.  The amount of traffic that could be reduced is not insignificant, but the main bonus of working from home is the time it frees up.  

The average commute to work is thought to be around half an hour each way.  If you start work at 9am, and have a thirty minute commute, you probably have to wake up sometime around 7am-8am.  Then, on your way home, you don’t just open the front door and start winding down.  I know when I used to work in an office, it would take up at least an hour and half either side of my working day during which I was not being paid and was unable to do anything else. 

An eight hour day suddenly turns into a ten hour, or more, day.  Over the course of a standard five day week, it’s like you’re working an extra day just prepping for work, and recovering from work.

When you work from home, you have much more free time available.  That is the biggest bonus. It’s not about avoiding people, or being lazy.  It’s about having more time and mental energy to put towards the things that matter. It also means that employees are not getting to work stressed because of the traffic, the weather, or some other issue related to commuting.  I know that I’m much less anxious starting my working day now than I was when I worked from an office.  

It’s not surprising that most of the voices I hear promoting a return to the office are from those who a) can generally rock up at a time of their choosing, b) are well paid and/or in senior positions, and c) have their own dedicated work space or office.  

This whole debate is just another example of us doing things because we’ve always done them this way, rather than stopping and asking “why?”  

That’s all for this week.  Thank you for reading, and please remember to like, share, comment, and subscribe.  If you like my content, please consider making a donation towards the running costs of the site on the form below.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions in this blog are my own, and do not represent the views or opinions of my employer, nor should they be considered advice.

If you want personalised financial advice, seek an appropriate professional.  If you are in financial difficulty, seek advice via the resources below:

StepChange

MoneyHelper

Biolink

You can now find all my social media pages by checking out my Biolink:

bio.link/davidscothern.