Show us yours .. Noo year's resolutions

[88V8]

Only one from me... to spend less time online... what with car forums both reading and browsing, eBay, old house stuff, investment sites mainly this one, it adds up to a lot of daily hours.

A friend in the village who is not online at all, has a pretty rich life and manages to do all the financial stuff by jumping in the car and visiting in person. Not sure I'd want to go to that extreme, but looking for a middle way.

Perhaps I won't let you know how I get on.

How about you?

V8

[UncleEbenezer]

How about you?

V8

I think I shall, erm, procrastinate.

If I ever get around to it.

[kiloran]

My New Year's resolution is to not make any New Year's resolutions.

--kiloran

[DrFfybes]

Mine is "Don't make prmises you won't keep"

[bungeejumper]

Just the usual, really. Miracles to achieve, people to inspire, dragons to slay, fair damsels to rescue, and an effing tax return to complete by the end of next month. Dammit!

BJ

[Lootman]

A friend in the village who is not online at all, has a pretty rich life and manages to do all the financial stuff by jumping in the car and visiting in person. Not sure I'd want to go to that extreme, but looking for a middle way.

That sounds like me. I am 100% online for sharedealing/investment accounts. But I like to do my banking in person at the branch. I don't need to drive to do that - my two bank branches are within walking distance. Same with my insurance broker - we meet annually in person to review things.

More generally I prefer to do business in person rather than online or by phone. I like to look a person in the eye whilst we are talking. And I find that organisations are less likely to say "No" if you are across the desk from them, than if they are in a call centre hundreds or thousands of miles away. So other things being equal I do business locally with entities with a physical location I can visit.

Of course I still fritter away far too much time online, this place being an example. So sure, I will make a resolution to do that less.

[Tedx]

Just the usual, really. Miracles to achieve, people to inspire, dragons to slay, fair damsels to rescue, and an effing tax return to complete by the end of next month. Dammit!

BJ

Tax return completed and tax paid before I closed the office door for Christmas.

#smuggit.

This will probably trigger all sorts of alarms at HMRC HQ as this has almost never happened In the past....

[WickedLester]

Mine, FWIW, is to give up smoking again and also to stop washing fags down with diet coke. Two habits which have a negative effect on my health. I'm mostly vaping these days and mostly drinking water but I'm going to try to give both of these vices up altogether.

[UncleEbenezer]

Mine, FWIW, is to give up smoking again and also to stop washing fags down with diet coke. Two habits which have a negative effect on my health. I'm mostly vaping these days and mostly drinking water but I'm going to try to give both of these vices up altogether.

With what will you replace the water if you succeed?

[bungeejumper]

Mine, FWIW, is to give up smoking again and also to stop washing fags down with diet coke. Two habits which have a negative effect on my health. I'm mostly vaping these days and mostly drinking water but I'm going to try to give both of these vices up altogether.

With what will you replace the water if you succeed?

A good question, even if it assumes that human frailty of some sort will win the day. When I finally managed to give up smoking (at the third attempt, 45 years ago, and without the benefit of nicotine gum which hadn't been invented), my compensatory pleasure was a supply of Polo mints. Yes, I knew that they'd rot my teeth eventually, but I figured that those could always be replaced, which was more than could be said for my lungs.

Anyway, it/I succeeded. The conclusive factor, for me, was financial. The budget had just increased the price of 20 Benson and Hedges to 37p, which would be £4 in today's money. After a couple of years, I bought myself a brand new motorcycle with the money I'd saved. Of course, that might have killed me as well, but at least I'd have had a bit of fun out of it.

Good on you, WickedLester, and all power to your unflinching resolve.

BJ

[Leothebear]

Yes good luck WL. Tobacco is a tough drug to stop. One tip: Train yourself to hate it and the hold it has over you. I know people who quit and 20 years later still yearn for a cig.
Leo

[biffinsbridge]

II gave up in August with no incentives, do far haven't missed it.After 60 years.
Regards Dickie.

[WickedLester]

Mine, FWIW, is to give up smoking again and also to stop washing fags down with diet coke. Two habits which have a negative effect on my health. I'm mostly vaping these days and mostly drinking water but I'm going to try to give both of these vices up altogether.

With what will you replace the water if you succeed?

I've just noticed the ambiguity in my post. I intend to give up nicotine and diet coke, not water! My incentives are both health and money, there is a big history of lung cancer on both sides of my family and I quit smoking for 14 years straight after Uni but started again thanks to an ex girlfriend. I am also now thinking of buying my own flat again having spent some years at my parents as I have regular (although insecure work) and prices seem to be falling at last.

I'm going to try and go cold turkey which I know I can do when I am in the right frame of mind, but just in case I have plenty of NRT to help me.

[SimonS]

Just the usual, really. Miracles to achieve, people to inspire, dragons to slay, fair damsels to rescue, and an effing tax return to complete by the end of next month. Dammit!

BJ

Please note that dragons are an endangered species and an apex predator with a beneficial effect on the environment (main prey, young human females before they reproduced, thus keeping an invasive species under control).

Experience with the reintroduction of apex species,not necessarily predators; as the wildebeest is recognised as a trigger species for the African savannah; but sometmes ;like wolves in Yellowstone;, suggest that the world really needs the re-introduction of dragons.

Pratchett, the premier historian on dragon affairs, points out that they are not gone but have been forced into an adjacent dimension while others document the value of Luck Dragons (Petersen), river dragons(Miyazaki), Pernese dragons(McCaffrey) et al.

Let "Hug a Dragon" be on your New Year's list instead, especially if it's also the last item on your bucket list too!

[UncleEbenezer]

With what will you replace the water if you succeed?

I've just noticed the ambiguity in my post.

The kind of thing that's easy to overlook when you're writing, but jumped straight out at me so I couldn't resist!

I won't make any new-year's resolution to proof-read my own drivel more carefully before posting, 'cos I know I couldn't keep it. Fortunately most places I write (including lemonfool) allow me to go back and edit something if I spot a problem as soon as I've posted.

[bungeejumper]

. One tip: Train yourself to hate it and the hold it has over you. I know people who quit and 20 years later still yearn for a cig.

Indeed. The blissful memory of that post-coital ciggie still lingers. Although the ensuing chesty wheeze has long since been consigned to the dustbin of history.

Some months after I started the giving-up process, I had the very good fortune to discover an opened pack of small cigars in a coat pocket, where nobody knew it was lurking. For a few seconds, I seriously considered lighting up and letting it be "just my little secret". A minute later, I regained my senses and crushed the packet. And, by doing something proactive that asserted my determination, it somehow cemented the decision. The rest was somehow easier.

BJ

[roger4]

Why wait until the end of a year to attempt to set parameters for self-improvement? It can be done at any time, so why wait?

[bungeejumper]

Why wait until the end of a year to attempt to set parameters for self-improvement? It can be done at any time, so why wait?

Because a year is a universally-standard yardstick against which to set your planned self-improvement. So everyone can see how you're doing, which adds a bit of extra pressure on you. Which some of us find helpful.

Putting it a different way, starting your personal renewal on 1st January means that you know you won't be able to fudge the starting date in retrospect if you've been slacking in the meantime. You can't kid other people about the duration of your struggle (should that be important to you), and you can't kid yourself either because it's right there on your wall calendar.

I sometimes stop drinking alcohol for a solid month, and it's easier to tell my friends and family that it's "October", and not "oh, I don't know, 24th September, give or take a few days, and ending maybe four weeks later if I feel like it. Or not". The clarity of the proposition is there for all to see. Which might help to stiffen my resolve a little bit.

Or not, as the case may be.

BJ

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Only one from me... to spend less time online... what with car forums both reading and browsing, eBay, old house stuff, investment sites mainly this one, it adds up to a lot of daily hours.

A friend in the village who is not online at all, has a pretty rich life and manages to do all the financial stuff by jumping in the car and visiting in person. Not sure I'd want to go to that extreme, but looking for a middle way.

Perhaps I won't let you know how I get on.

How about you?

V8

My Mum died on 21st December 2021. She was 80. She wasn't the sort of person to use mobile phones or computers. She retired at 74 years old. She volunteered to work in the local charity shop for Dove house. She did 2 mornings a week. She also volunteered to work in the local Minster shop on a Saturday morning. But mostly she seemed to have far too much time on her hands and not enough activities to fill it. Her house was spotless and her little Yorkshire Terrier was constantly being bathed and brushed .

Wishing you a healthy, prosperous 2023 and the hope that you achieve your resolution.

As for me ... less time online, get our home back on its feet, and move on from a lifetime of health issues. Not much when you say it quickly

May the road rise up to meet your feet

Take care

AiY(D)

[Loup321]

Stop buying stuff. But I like the idea of hugging a dragon as well.