Fall has arrived, people!

You know what this means, right? Winter is coming!

Yes…But also: here is this months (long overdue) update from August!

The Update

I feel like the days are running at 2x speed lately. We have made 0 progress in the “new house project”. We’re just…living. I’ve struggled to remember any major events that happened in our lives in August…

I should maybe start writing small notes whenever something major happens so I don’t forget them 😛 Then again, if I forget them in 2 weeks, then they might not have been that major after all, right?

Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans – John Lennon

My wife is getting more and more impatient as the days goes by. She wants to get this renovation under way ASAP! I on the other hand am perfectly fine living in temporary accommodations (inside the renovation project). Then again, it might be that the project is so overwhelming that I’ve developed some sort of Stockholm syndrome towards our house. It’s holding me (us) captive – and I’m perfectly fine with it! I’ve learned to love – well, maybe love is a big word to use here – but at least accept that we are living a bit alternatively compared to how we used to live 😛

Our daughter and her friends do not seem to notice the mess though – they are just enjoying the house being a big playground, and they can crumb on the floors without anyone yelling at them 😛 (we do vacuum on occasion, but not nearly as much as we did in our old house). Everything in this house is eventually going to be removed (floors, windows, doors etc.), so there is no point in trying to keep it spotless. Our old house was kept immaculate, partly because we had a robot vacuum cleaner that would regularly eat whatever was left on the floor, so we eventually learned NOT to leave any kind of items on the floors! Roberta (as it’s called) is currently tucked away somewhere in a box…who knows where she is, or when she’ll be let back out?…

Anyway, we had a small summer getaway at the beginning of August to have some awaytime/downtime from the horror-show that is our current living situation (it’s really not that bad :). We visited some friends on the island of Fyn. They have 5 kids (!) and they are all homeschooled. We love to visit them because their life is so very different from ours. Their kids are the most well mannered, well-behaved, caring and knowledgeable kids that we know. It’s always a pleasure spending time with them (and their parents of course), and our daughter even enjoys the iPad-free playtime 😉 They live on a small farm and raise chickens & ducks as their “after-school” activity. The kids learn valuable traits to turn their “hobby” into an income. So far I don’t think this project is turning any major profits, but it gives them valuable life skills that kids on our street certainly don’t have (including our own). The older kids (young teenagers) cook and clean – and they enjoy it! 😮 I know, this sounds too good to be true, right?

Our daughter turned 9 in August, so we celebrated her birthday in the garden. Some other kid must obviously share her birthday, because it was pouring down HAHA! We managed to quickly install some tents, so the rain didn’t bother us that much. We even managed to light a bonfire and roast marshmallows (this was my wife’s idea, and while I thought it was idiotic to try and build a fire in the rain, I must hand it to her: she managed to make it happen! 😛 ). It’s small moments like these that become lasting memories in our kids minds, and I’m glad that I have a wife who always fights for her ideas – even when they seem foolish at the time 🙂

There was some tiny progress in the insurance case (sewer issues), as the insurance company (FINALLY) dispatched some sewer guys to validate that our initial discovery was actually true. Big surprise; IT WAS!…What a f**** waste of everyone’s time. We have now decided to start the process of getting offers from contractors for the sewer work. We’ve now invested more than 2 months in WAITING on the insurance company, so we are going to wait this one out, but we need to know what this shit-show (literally bwaha) is going to cost to get fixed. We are expecting the insurance company to pay for some of it, but we are also expecting them to try and weasel out of it, in order to pay us the least amount possible. At this point we have no idea what to expect – we just know to expect the worst, basically 😛

Speaking of the worst possible outcome; I decided to try that whole biking to work thing…Worst experience of my life! HAHA. It’s about 8km, and it took me about 45mins to recover from the ordeal. I had eaten a proper breakfast meal, but I felt like I had completely depleted my sugar deposits – from a 30min bike ride…The day was pretty much ruined after that. But it would turn out that my troubles was far from over. I managed to get home by taking it a bit more easy, but I didn’t feel great in my back that evening. I shrugged it off as just being out of shape. The morning after I was squatting with a screwdriver in my hand to fix a door (as you do when you live in a fixer-up’er renovation project) – something that I had done numerous times that summer (while building the shed, remember?). I suddenly felt a burning in my lower back, and I jumped to my feet and stumbled back to my bed. I pretty much stayed there for the next 4 days. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even turn over while sleeping without waking up and feeling excruciating pain. I’ve experienced something similar before, but not at those same pain levels. On day 5 I just barely managed to slow walk to my car and drag my ass to my body-sds therapist (Susan, remember?). At this point I felt it was moving in the right direction, so I knew it was only a matter of moving as little as possible, and eventually I managed to regain my full mobility. I’ve restarted my training routine (back and core especially) in order to regain some of the strength that I’ve clearly lost during the summer (been skipping gym for too long).

The back issue is an old issue that I’ve been battling with for many years (L4-L5 Disc herniation), and it was clear to me that my body posture is far from ideal on my current bike. The experience has not deterred me from wanting to bike to work, but I need a new bike with a much more upright body position. Naturally, I’ve been browsing for electric bikes for weeks now 😛

I think I’ve found one that matches my whishes, which are: CHEAP, COOL and FUNCTIONAL 😛

Have a look here: TENWAYS CGO800S

Let me know what you think! I have not found better value for the money than this bike. I tried it the other day, and it’s really well-built and so easy to ride. No gears and no classic chain that needs lubrication. I think I would be able to get to work in less than 20 minutes on this beast!

In regards to the financials there is not much to be added for August. It was a pretty blah month in the markets. Our renovation budget is currently yielding 2.8% with Saxo Bank (my broker). In the grand scheme of things this is of course peanuts, but at least we’re pulling in around €200/month in passive income from this cash stash. More than we’ve been seeing for several years now…Is Cash still King?! If so, you can just call me Arthur from now on! 😛

The Classic Growth Chart

As long as we are not contributing to our Total Balance, I don’t think it makes sense to keep updating this chart (also, I’m very lazy). We have started dipping into the cash stash to support our crazy building project, so I will temporarily retire the Classic growth chart from the monthly update for now… (It shall return!).

In Conclusion (TL;DR)

I’m old and need to exercise more. Otherwise my body will turn against me!

We are still playing the waiting game with the insurance company. I can wait all year long, but my wife is getting increasingly impatient, and as you know: unhappy wife = unhappy life 😛

While we wait at least our cash stash is generating some much needed passive income. Nothing that will make us rich, but it’s a small band-aid on the wound at least!

We celebrated our daughters 9-year birthday (in the rain) in our garden. It was good fun! 😛

I have been looking at getting an E-bike that I can use to take me to work (8km). I will keep you guys posted on this adventure! 😛

See you next month!