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April 23rd, 2009
11:25 am - Decaversary? decade-a-versary? Decadentversary? thats the one
so it was 10 years ago today that my lady and i had our first...'date' (actually the first time we went out on a date was a couple weeks later, but this is the NZ uni version of date :) )
wow.
who knew that all the flirting the week leading up to that day that helped me fail a terms test for comp201 would have paid off so much :)
course i now feel a bit old :)
Still love ya heaps my lady
Current Location: work
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif) happy
Current Music: NIN
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November 9th, 2008
05:36 pm - as appears to be the tradition...
Well done New Zealand.
Current Location: home
Current Mood: happy
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April 30th, 2008
10:55 pm - Big News
So over the last two weeks i have been doing a lot of work behind the scenes looking at a potential purchase.
i was offered a business to buy thursday 2 weeks ago, monday i went out to kapiti to have a good look at the details of the business and the numbers, and then spent all of last week (and the weekend, and monday) working out the financing.
i have spent this week sorting all the logistics like the website, 0800 number and branding so my holiday has been a bit truncated.
Today i signed the contract and as of midnight tonight i will be the new owner of Mortgage Max NZ.
its a small but very well branded business that has been in the top 15 of business volume in NZ for the past year. its got a small residual income and a reasonable existing client base.
Becuase the owner is leaving, he has been passing on all the leads from his site this past week and also his loans that are part way through, which is also making me mega busy.
On friday i am going to be in a very long meeting with the directors of FSB, to discusse how to fit it in to FSB, my future shareholding and a raft of other things that have come from this purchase. i am staying at FSB as i have a large asset with them now, and will ideally integrate the new business into FSB, but run two brands for now. over time we may fold up the mortgage max brand but its a very good one, so i will see.
over the coming weeks i will be contacting all 300 clients (rachel nicely stuffed 300 envelopes on monday for the mail out) and working out the ongoing marketing. first thing is to revamp the website over the coming days, especially getting rid of photos of the old owner and adding in my own details.
so check out www.mortgagemax.co.nz over the next few weeks and see it unfold.
exciting times :)
Current Location: couch
Current Mood: excited
Current Music: none
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March 23rd, 2008
01:45 am - Just quickly
Rock2wgtn first night was amazing.
Lordi were cool, Alice cooper has a very cool stage show and KISS were as fantastic as ever.
my feet hurt, my ears are buzzing, i can;t sleep and i am exhausted.
i suspect i will sleep most of tomorrow before i go back for part two.
i took some photos i hope come out, but i have to wait until i get back to work and get my transfer cable to put them up.
Current Location: couch
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/tired.gif) tired
Current Music: Ace Frehley Guitar Solo
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January 3rd, 2008
10:37 pm - New Years Meme
off to chch tomorrrow for grandmothers funeral and usual family mindfuck. do despite getting in at 9am, we are not going anywhere near my family and will show up at the funeral on our own, if they can;t get near me they can fuck with my head :)
and the meme...
1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
Bought a house, and then bought another one 9 months later
went to adelaide
backed up a previous tournament win by winning it again in 07 (did it twice)
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
i don;t make resolutions but i did achieve most of my business plan for the year. finalising this years plan now.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
i don't think so, but plenty of people i know are about to pop.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Not in 2007, but my Grandmother died on the 2/1/8 we are off to her funeral in Christchurch tomorrow.
5. What countries did you visit?
OZ, melbourne and adelaide.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
1- a PA, i am getting just a wee bit to busy to do it all myself
2- focus on weightloss
7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
not good on dates but
winning my work award (may)
winning 3 wargaming tournaments (may, july, august)
achieving my work target in october
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
workwise it was winning an industry award for specialist mortgage lending
personally, finally getting a house and then buying a rental in the same year
also finishing my postgrad diploma in may
9. What was your biggest failure?
losing focus mid year, andbottling shit up a bit too much.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
realised i am going to need to stay off the gluten, as it makes me not feel very good and also becuase my mum has coeliacs disease and i don;t want to get to that point.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
22" flat screen for work,
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
i;ve no idea, i've been a bit myopic on work this year and have kindof lost touch with my friends to know what they have done.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
various elements of the political scene so desperate to retain power they have cooked up a law which is the worst attack on free speech ever and more in line with Chavez et al than NZ.
14. Where did most of your money go?
houses, business and trips to oz
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
achieving my work goals, winning my award, doing well in gaming.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
the one, by the exiles, as i heard it first this year and its cool
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier
b) thinner or fatter? way fatter, i put on about 15 kg over the year
c) richer or poorer? richer
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
marketing, and exercise
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
slacked off, gotten into petty politics
20. How did you spend Christmas?
with rachels family, hordes of children
21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
clients
22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
of course
23. How many one-night stands?
none, needs to do better :)
24. What was your favorite TV program?
QI and battlestar
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
not people know, groups yes.
26. What was the best book you read this year?
i read so many i am not sure, harry potter 7 just cos it ends it all off.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
good charlotte, i have heard them before, but the new album is amazing.
28. What did you want and get?
house, rental, wargaming awards, work award, diploma, work target, office - yea a good year.
29. What did you want and not get?
giant wargaming tank, could have bought it, but bought the rental instead.
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
300
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
turned 30, had a party at lanes, very cool.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
starting to see the work i have put into my business pay off.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
fat clothes, need to lose weight.
34. What kept you sane?
rachel
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
starbuck :)
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
labours malicious and horrific electoral finance act, and the anti smacking bill
pro warming hysteria
37. Whom did you miss?
friends i have not seen for ages
38. Who was the best new person you met?
good to meet up with charlie again, now he is an adultt
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
step back and review your goals regularly, so you can keep on track, its very easy to get sidetacked
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"you wanted the best you got the best" ?
Current Location: home
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: late show
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December 27th, 2007
03:21 pm - Take that!
So its probably my fault for daring to enjoy christmas with family. Family christmas with my family is usually full of recrimination, passive aggressive guilt, family policitics and just general suffereign.
Rachels family, while her parents are a little stressful are very nice, helpful, and fun to be around. to the extent that a christmas with 15 of her family including 6 kids under 10, is less tiring than with 4 members of my family.
so we had a bunch of fun with the family, and spent up large on the kids who enjoyed the presents, stayed in a nice hotel that had cheap deals and $2 breakfasts (instead of teh usual $30) as part of the opening special.
apparently the world could not handle me ejoying a christmas with family so has conspired to ruin it for me.
1- 2 days before we come up to hamilton, my sunglasses break - as i going to be driving, i need some new ones $120
2- car needs warrant, so $350 inc tyres
3- i break my cell phone, and because telecome hates existing customers so we get no specials it sets me back $1100 (admittedly, it is a very cool phone, i did want eventually, just not this way).
4 and the (hopefully) finale - 100meters before bulls on our way home, the clutch dies. so now we are sitting in a cafe, waiting for the amazing and super wonderful dagger to drive up and get us and our stuff, while the car is at the garage and getting fixed. it won;t be fixed until tomorrow avo, so i have to come back and get it then. $600 plus extra petrol and food etc.
gaaah!
... i really did enjoy christmas too :)
i will spend the next few days avoiding ladders, bridges and making sure i don;t enjoy new years :)
Current Location: the Bulls eye Cafe
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/angry.gif) bemused
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December 20th, 2007
11:38 am - end of year
at work on my 4th day of holiday and my 3rd day in a row in the office. why is it when i am not wanting to work is when i get calls from new clients? happens every year.
have some meetings today and WILL NOT be coming into theoffice tomorrow, but possibly saturday :(
off to hamiltron sunday for 4 days to see rachels family. supposed to see my father tonught but will make something up as i have seen him at least 3 times this year and thats plenty thank you.
bought my ticket to ROCK2WGTN today, in the platinum standing, not cheap but 10 hours of concert over 2 days, woohoo.
so if you are thinking of going, get a ticket in the same area and you can look lame like me jumping around with all the other 70/80s rejects :)
merry end of year and all that, hooray capatalistic holiday of fun :)
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November 9th, 2007
12:19 am - good lord a post :)
so anyway
this was posted on another blog and i left a comment.
rather than let one of the longest posts i have left on a blog disapear as a comment, i decided to actually post the whole thing.
watch the video if you want, and decide for yourself. it matters not to me what you beleieve about this, you are free to beleive whatever you want. i only care if you expect me to fund your beleif (in this and in many other things). and i especially care if you expect me to make changes that you yourself have not made.
my reply to the post i saw it in below the video (if this embeddy thing works, if not, go here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDsIFspVzfI )
meh, drivel.
obviously its pascals wager, where the downsides of doing something if its a scam is downplayed (despite what he is trying to imply), and the downside to doing nothing if its true is overblown so much it makes Al gore look skinny.
its easy to make almost any argument work under pascals wager when you control the variables and how they are percieved, especially when you alter them in your favour. so its a straw man, to shift the argument about whether this is even an issue to arguing over the points of the extreme variables, which detracts from the original argument and gives legitimacy to the oddball view (AGW). this of course is a common tactic of policiticians (al gore saying the debate is over, moving the argument away from the actual debate, to debate his comment) and socialist nutbars over the world.
as far as i can see it, if you want to dumb things down as his little graph, the alternates are basically equal, so a nil sum game, so the decision as to which you choose is dependent on what you believed before you saw the video, ie, its simply going to reinforce the world view you already had.
but heres the rub,
my choice does not require you to pay anything, i am not seeking compulsion to make you follow my view. i don;t do one thing and expect you to do the other. i don;t take overseas trips via plane, and yet expect you not to, similarly i don;t expect you to recycle the way i do, etc. should you wish to, its up to you.
yet, and i wondered when he would start shilling for compulsion of action, those who beleive all of this expect me to do as they do. they are the ones who fly aroudn in private jets yet tell me i should not travel by plane. they are the ones who expect me to pay for their beliefs.
theres your imbalance. my way, you can beleive in human caused climate change all you like, as long as you don;t expect me to fund your desires via compulsion (becuase i might choose to) your desires. your way does not allow me to opt out.
but i do hope that those people who think this is the real deal are doing what they are told to reduce it, you know, not buying certain TVs, not driving, not taking uneccessary overseas travel etc, because requiring others to do something you yourself won;t do is the worst aspect of this, but for some reason Al Gore, Travolta and the rest get away with it, becasue they put on a pretty rock concert (what was the carbon impact of that BTW? where they flew mettalica to germany for a half hour set, to combat climate change!)
if the shills pushing this were not for the most part, anti corporates, marxists reactionaries from way back, i might allow them more credibility, but as it is, this is pure watermelon, communist/socialist ideologies wrapped up in environmental language to gain more public acceptance.
i would suggest watching "teh great globabl warming swindle" and reading the report outling the 35 errors found in Al gores wee movie, for the other side of things, rahter than just dogma, wrapped up in a pretty you tube video, no matter how pleasantly presented it is.
Alan
Current Mood: tired
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June 9th, 2007
12:18 am - What i did
Thanks for the various suggestions peoples.
in the end i send her a little box of snack like goodies, a nice card and a sunflower (they were out of irises).
no idea how it went down, will let people know if i hear anything.
Thanks for the help.
AL
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June 6th, 2007
09:05 pm - What would you do?
I just found out today that one of my new clients (as in so new we have not had the second appointment where we put the business in place) partner died a couple weeks ago. i never met him, i don;t think they lived together, just long term couple.
thankfully they did not have any debt together or responsibilities as he was as uninsured as most young people, and sadly shes had to go back to work already, as she is in sales, and has no savings, and he had no life cover.
obviously the funeral etc is all done etc but she is still pretty shattered as you can imagine.
what i want to do is send her something, i know flowers are standard, but i am certain she has had plentty of flowers already and to me they just scream cliche.
but i can;t think of anything that is not inappropriate. vouichers, too impersonal, movie tickets, screams single, chocalate and alcohol, maybe the chocalate but alcohol not so good for someone emotionally tender right now.
i had thought about some sort of pamper pack, or massage thing, something relaxing, but not sure how that would go down.
or do i just bite it and go for flowers? and if so what kind?
shes 27, and the partner was about the same.
any thoughts?
AL
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May 14th, 2007
12:30 pm - Conference and all that
So i went to Tauranga on thursday morning for a two day conference. i was going with my new team member Jo, and as she is poor we were sharing a room.
my first ever time there and on first impressions, seems fine, like a slightly upmarket blenheim.
Scored a free taxi to the hotel as we were sharing a ride with one of the BDMs, that was cool.
got our room, and just as i was walking away i thought i would double check that it was two beds... then we got another room, much to Jo's happiness (a little too happy if you ask me :) ).
got to our room, and there was still only one bed, before she freaked, i pointed out that there were two parts to said bed, and withing 5 mins, a guy came and seperated them.
overall the conference was very cool, really good sessions, from very good and thankfully interesting speakers, and i have tons of notes.
we were bussed out on the first night to a venue, and they plied us with food and alcohol, an ok covers band (but then after 2 years at indigo, i am not a fan of covers bands), and a quite funny comedian. got to watch Jo get flirted with by old men, one of whom was no longer capable of speech at teh time, that was bloody funny.
ended up dacning after one of teh guys dragged Jo up, and she made me accompany her.
home by midnight.
second day, $28 buffet breakfast later, and we were back into it, another couple of great speakers, good lunch.
after lunch we got to the organised fun :( which ended up being ok. we got jammed into teams and given a camera and some zany tasks to run around tauranga and do. some of the teams were full of extroverts who were really into it. i got the munters and the idiots. one guy spent the entire time on the phone, two of them were just dumb, and that left the rest of us to drag them around. we got most of our zany tasks done, but not very well. our best task took only 3.22 minutes, of which the first 3 minutes were me watching in pain as the two assigned to the task did nothing, i finally got to swap with one of them (and she gave me a mumpy, fine see how you do), and we were finished 15 seconds later. that was our best task, yeesh.
3 hours later we were done and the drinking started again. i got all dressed up as did Jo and off we went to the cocktail party, which was once again, beer and wine!
Jo got flirted with again, cleavage will do that, but they were able to speak this time. dinner was quite flash and comedian was a funny Helen Clark impersonator, who did not get a great reception, as people took an opportunity to pretend she was really helen clark and let her have it, good times :)
prize giving: i was nominated for Up and coming broker of the year, and also specialist lending broker of the year, and i won specialist! i now have a zippy trophy and my business cards are being redone today!
after that, another covers band, and it must be tauranga becuase they both played long train running by the doobie brothers.
i went out for fresh air and got accosted by various people congratulating me and also buying me drinks, which i approve of both. i decided to leave about 11, and got accosted by the general manager who has a rep for getting totally trollied and being unable to walk at these things. she could still walk saldy and she dragged me off dancing. bed at midnight again.
breakfast was rather quiet, and it turns out that it went on for a while last night, the bar staff finally got to clean up at 4am, and people were doing beer runs and playing poker until the wee hours.
got a taxi with plenty of time to spare, which wasn;t, as Taurange has awful traffic. made it to the airport as they were boarding, and then like a scene from a nightmare, stood at the gate, with no staff there, and the door locked so we could not get out. the plane was being shut up, and thankfully someone came back through, so we ran across the tarmac and clambered on board, with the stewardess being none the wiser that we were stuck!
and then found out we were sitting with a delegation of mums and their kids on their way to a plunket convention, two rows in any direction from us... long flight.
and then home! also Ed byrne was verra funny.
off to palmy for a course for two days toomorrow, and then off to melbourne for a week on friday. work? at some point i hope :)
Current Location: work
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: random
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April 12th, 2007
10:00 pm - party update
Well Flying burrito brothers are being pains in the butt, so the party will be at Lanes, behind readings, afterall.
we will there from 7, see you then.
AL
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April 10th, 2007
04:40 pm - Last Day approaches, time for Carousel.
Well my lifeclock is now blinking red, with my lastday coming up on the 15th (and that’s about all of the Logans run references anyone can handle). So on the 14th I will be celebrating/commiserating my 30th birthday, and I would be delighted if you could join me.
Where: Flying Burrito Brothers on cuba st (this may change as they are dithering, if it does, then it will be at the Lanes on Wakefield st, behind readings)
When: Saturday the 14th of April, from 7pm until late.
Who: you, your partner/significant other and anyone who knows me, that I might not have invited, because I forgot.
Presents: not necessary, but if you must, Viagra, Book vouchers or games workshop vouchers are fine (mostly joking about the Viagra, I am not that old yet).
We will probably have dinner there, but they are a bit odd on the booking, we will actually be upstairs, as they can’t fit too many downstairs. Does not matter, it will be fun anyway.
Hope to see you all there. If you could let me know if you can make it, I can let the bar know how many to expect.
Cheers
Alan
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March 29th, 2007
10:48 am - hem hem, is this thing still on? super cool news
We all know i don;t post very often if ever, but i have teh cool news that i can;t keep to myself.
Firstly we are having a blinder of a year, we have breached the target for the first quater of the year, and last week alone i made my months target, not including the other weeks of the month. we are at about 200% of the months target. and i am on holiday for the next two weeks, and looking forward to it.
now the other news. first a bit of background. Plan NZ is the aggregator company i belong to, so rather than me having to have a contract with each mortgage lender in the market and having to meet their minimum submissions per month on my own, i belong to a group that has to meet those targets combined and also has a joint agreement regarding comission levels and other things. they are also into advocacy and keeping us up to date in the market.
They are the biggest aggegrator group in NZ and Australia as well.
i just found out this morning that i have been nominated as a finalist for Plan NZ Specialist lending Broker of the year, and..
i have also been nominated as a finalist for Plan NZ up and coming broker of the year.
oddly enough i am super super excited, and finding it a bit hard to focus :)
now this weekend i need to finish my application, tidy up my business and marketing plan and get it all off to them. and i find out at the conference on the 10th and 11th of may.
anyway, thats it from me, now to try and do some work :)
AL
Current Location: Work
Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Music: None, should remedy that
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July 18th, 2006
01:51 pm
meh, why not, a meme counts as a post right?
( Read more... )
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January 30th, 2006
08:42 pm
Am now under 90KG, very very cool. means a belt must be worn more often, but i can live with that inconvenience.
up at 6am this morning, in the gym by 6.45, at work by 8 for first actual day back, ate almost all my food, did business, made money, set plans, felt good to have some actual things happening in my life i have control over and are positive.
good to be back at work, though F is already too annoying, so the buzz may go. had good talk with C, and have set plans or ideas for the mortgage team, as opposed to C's team, small but important distinction. we are also going to be actually coordinating this year with the lender visits etc.
Have lots of food now, and have to write a newsletter for my COG, and an article for someone elses newsletter. hope to sleep better tonight, not sure if its likely, but strangely eating well makes me less tired.
brain not exactly functioning as normal, but is not a big pile of goo, so vaguely positive. future is cloudy and unformed, who knows?
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January 29th, 2006
05:56 pm
Feel weird, this will take some getting used to, but all going well, not have to.
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November 7th, 2005
09:02 pm - Assignment 5
another good mark, weee
(disclaimer as usual)
( Read more... )
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: sisters of mercy!
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November 2nd, 2005
07:10 pm - Assignment 4
took a bit longer, but not long enough to be bothered editing it, which as it turns out was not neccessary.
(good old disclaimer)
( Read more... )
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07:08 pm - Assignment 3
I think this one took 40 minutes, but its easier when you can copy paste from the web.
(disclaimner as usual)
( Read more... )
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grendel_khan's journal