Most of my friends who have known me a while will think I am referring to Videotrek ..... my mobile video library .... it was a good starter business, although not exactly financially lucrative, but it did teach me a lot and I enjoyed running it (most of the time) for a few years.
I will blog about that another time ... but no ..... my FIRST foray into the business world was on a much smaller scale ....and when I was MUCH younger !
I think I was about 8 or 9 years old when I started. It was not a business my parents approved of ..... but I was too young to realise that at the time, until they found out and I got a lecture.
I was a money lender ..... a loan shark ....charging extortionate amounts in interest on the money I lent my brothers!
Now ...to get this into perspective ..... I was meticulous .... I was actually brilliant ...... and I still think secretly my Dad had a little bit of pride in my initiative and Mum was impressed with my organisational skills and paperwork at such a young age !
Basically, from a young age, we got weekly pocket money - I think at that time it was around 30p a week. I always spent 10p a week on my collectables - whimsies - and then about another 10p on sweets from our local sweet shop "The Chocolate Box". Leaving me 10p per week. This mounted up quite quickly and I found I was (in childhood terms) fairly wealthy!
Initially I would save my money for family holidays and special occasions but then my brothers both realised I had a few pennies stashed away and they didn't - they spent all their pocket money, most weeks.
So they started to regularly come to me, for a short term loan! I caught on quick !!!
I bought a notebook and started recording the amounts they owed. It wasn't long before I then decided that for each amount they borrowed, they should compensate me, by paying back extra, depending on how long they borrowed it for.
Now please bear in mind my age and the times - this was mid 70's - no access to 24hour TV and ads - the internet had not been launched - and I had no idea about the wider world and the real aspects of money lending - other than a VERY basic knowledge that a bank would lend money if you needed it.
How clever was I back then !!!!
Unfortunately I had NO idea about interest rates, what may or may not be acceptable, or even the moral aspect of encouraging my brothers to get into debt.
I can't recall what interest I was charging - I am fairly sure it was pretty high - something like a penny a week for every 5p borrowed. Whatever it was ......... my Mum found my notebook - with pages of amounts of money recorded, going in and out (I think I had been running this for several months and I thought I was most DEFINITELY onto a good thing) !
However, quite rightly Mum and Dad did not think it was a good thing, they confiscated the book and made me write off the debt (not the initial borrowing - the boys paid that back) I guess it was a good lesson to learn.
So that was that .... business number one canned ! It did not dampen my enthusiasm or desire to be my own boss as I later managed another 2 small businesses - neither particularly successful but both good for me at the time.
It's just that .............. whenever the adverts for all the money lenders are shown ...such as Wonga.com ....... I sit back with a smile and think about how RICH I could have been, if I had just extended my loan sharking .....
Muhahaha !!!!
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Pinch, Punch 1st of the Month
Many families use this saying ... it's a way of welcoming in the first day of a new month.
One of the explanations of its origins is that it would keep witches away for a month - in mediaeval times people believed in witches and thought that salt would make them weak - so a pinch of salt would make a witch weak enough for a punch to banish her from your home for the month.
Now in our family we have always done this ..... from when I was a little girl ..... and then passing it on to my 3.
When the kids were younger I used to LOVE jumping out of bed on the first day of the month to run into their bedrooms and do "pinch punch"... my goal was to get all 3 of them before they realised and got me first ..... this presented a challenge as they were all in different rooms so whoever was first would usually "get it" but then 2nd and 3rd's had heard the commotion and were well prepared !!
As they got older there would always be a groan as I approached the bedrooms for the ritual pinch and punch before hauling teenagers out of bed for the school run ...... but I persevered ..... its a tough job but someone has to do it!
It was a little sad then, that this morning ..... I had no-one to say/do it to !!!!
Greg gets up early for work, so by the time I was in the land of "wide awake" ..... I had forgotten to say it to him. Then .... as Wednesdays are my day off ...... I was still in bed by the time Dan got up for work and I just shouted out to him to have a good day.
So when I actually got up and dragged myself downstairs ..... it hit me that I had not done this age old tradition .....and for a few moments I realised that this is the downside of being "nearly" an empty nester.
The house was silent and there had been none of the hustle and bustle of the morning school run and no-one to give a friendly pinch/punch to ............
EXCEPT THE DOGS ... HA !
One of the explanations of its origins is that it would keep witches away for a month - in mediaeval times people believed in witches and thought that salt would make them weak - so a pinch of salt would make a witch weak enough for a punch to banish her from your home for the month.
Now in our family we have always done this ..... from when I was a little girl ..... and then passing it on to my 3.
When the kids were younger I used to LOVE jumping out of bed on the first day of the month to run into their bedrooms and do "pinch punch"... my goal was to get all 3 of them before they realised and got me first ..... this presented a challenge as they were all in different rooms so whoever was first would usually "get it" but then 2nd and 3rd's had heard the commotion and were well prepared !!
As they got older there would always be a groan as I approached the bedrooms for the ritual pinch and punch before hauling teenagers out of bed for the school run ...... but I persevered ..... its a tough job but someone has to do it!
It was a little sad then, that this morning ..... I had no-one to say/do it to !!!!
Greg gets up early for work, so by the time I was in the land of "wide awake" ..... I had forgotten to say it to him. Then .... as Wednesdays are my day off ...... I was still in bed by the time Dan got up for work and I just shouted out to him to have a good day.
So when I actually got up and dragged myself downstairs ..... it hit me that I had not done this age old tradition .....and for a few moments I realised that this is the downside of being "nearly" an empty nester.
The house was silent and there had been none of the hustle and bustle of the morning school run and no-one to give a friendly pinch/punch to ............
EXCEPT THE DOGS ... HA !
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Another addition to the family
We have a new member of the family ..... well not really new ... more like returning.
Jess has recently had lots of things going on in her life ..... not all bad ..... just hectic and she was finding it hard to cope with 2 energetic dogs, Kovu, her pregnancy and managing working too.
So after much heartache she felt that she would have to give her dogs away .... thinking that would be best for them. Thankfully, at the same time as she was thinking this .... Dan was considering getting a puppy and had already asked Greg and I how we would feel about this, as he still lives at home.
We were a little cautious about this as (and those of you who read the blog regularly will know) Harley is not exactly sociable with other dogs!
We had been through a similar situation before, introducing a new dog to the house, that just didn't work out at all. We had gone to a re-homing organisation (and I do think they do a wonderful job so this is not a reflection on them) where we met a very boisterous terrier and he immediately warmed to us.
Now whilst I am not criticising the re-homing organisation as such, I will criticise the person whom we dealt with. I explained that we already had 1 dog (Billie) who was still quite young and this was why we were looking for another dog, as a companion for her. Greg also emphasised that we had a cat, who was the boss. Oh and 3 teenagers too !
This lady had absolutely no interest in the rest of the household ...... had no inclination to engage with us in that sort of conversation which I did find surprising. She did reassure us that this dog was friendly with the other dogs in the kennels and that was as far as her concern went.
We duly paid our £100 and took "Bobby" home.
DISASTER !
We had him on a lead and as we walked in he and Billie gingerly sniffed around each other. They did seem fine although Billie appeared a little nervous. We took Bobby off the lead and all seemed quiet for a few minutes until he spotted the cat ............. I had never seen Scamp move so fast or jump so quickly up the stairs and onto the window sill of the landing . Scamp instantly knew this dog was not cat friendly. Bobby was snarling, growling and desperate to get to Scamp ... with Scamp hissing back at him wondering what chaos we had brought into his home!
We decided to call the lady to explain that we were happy to see how it all went overnight but that it did not feel right ..... including the fact that by now, Billie had hidden under my desk to keep out of the way!
The answer she gave is one I was horrified at and will never forget - and since have repeated this to anyone using her services - "well you could always get rid of the cat" !!!!!!!
I informed her that the cat was here first and, on looking to home a dog, we specifically asked her that question around the dog's sociability. She did not seem happy!
We duly kept Bobby overnight and repeatedly and gently tried to re-introduce him to Billie who by now had decided she wanted nothing to do with the "intruder". We had a couple of further attempts to get both Bobby and Scamp in the same room and it clearly was not happening.
In the morning, Greg and I took Bobby back to the lady's house, reluctantly. Her main concern was that she did not want to give us our £100 back - thankfully in the contract we signed there is a trial period - and I guess it helped that my husband became a little intimidating - particularly reiterating that we had asked about the dog's history and she had been reluctant to go into detail.
So we were lucky I guess that when we got Harley, as a young pup, he had only known a harsh beginning (Greg got him from the traveller's site) and, as a pup, he was easier to integrate, immediately accepting that Scamp was boss!
Of course then he and Billie mated, had 5 puppies and 2 of those puppies remained with us (Kenzi and Ruby).
Then, when they other dogs all moved out with Jess and Gina moving from home, he only had Scamp as his companion, and since Scamp's death he has become more unsociable to most other dogs except Billie and Kenzi.
So Dan's request for a dog seemed fraught with challenges .......... until Jess's dilemma arose and a very obvious solution appeared !
We took Kenzi (or rather Dan did) and Jess was able to keep Billie (one dog/half the worry)
Harley has already calmed down again - he and Kenzi are best buddies, and there had been no need to worry about the unknown factor of how they would get along ! A peaceful, harmonious home.
All you need is love ...... and a dog (or 2!)
Jess has recently had lots of things going on in her life ..... not all bad ..... just hectic and she was finding it hard to cope with 2 energetic dogs, Kovu, her pregnancy and managing working too.
So after much heartache she felt that she would have to give her dogs away .... thinking that would be best for them. Thankfully, at the same time as she was thinking this .... Dan was considering getting a puppy and had already asked Greg and I how we would feel about this, as he still lives at home.
We were a little cautious about this as (and those of you who read the blog regularly will know) Harley is not exactly sociable with other dogs!
We had been through a similar situation before, introducing a new dog to the house, that just didn't work out at all. We had gone to a re-homing organisation (and I do think they do a wonderful job so this is not a reflection on them) where we met a very boisterous terrier and he immediately warmed to us.
Now whilst I am not criticising the re-homing organisation as such, I will criticise the person whom we dealt with. I explained that we already had 1 dog (Billie) who was still quite young and this was why we were looking for another dog, as a companion for her. Greg also emphasised that we had a cat, who was the boss. Oh and 3 teenagers too !
This lady had absolutely no interest in the rest of the household ...... had no inclination to engage with us in that sort of conversation which I did find surprising. She did reassure us that this dog was friendly with the other dogs in the kennels and that was as far as her concern went.
We duly paid our £100 and took "Bobby" home.
DISASTER !
We had him on a lead and as we walked in he and Billie gingerly sniffed around each other. They did seem fine although Billie appeared a little nervous. We took Bobby off the lead and all seemed quiet for a few minutes until he spotted the cat ............. I had never seen Scamp move so fast or jump so quickly up the stairs and onto the window sill of the landing . Scamp instantly knew this dog was not cat friendly. Bobby was snarling, growling and desperate to get to Scamp ... with Scamp hissing back at him wondering what chaos we had brought into his home!
We decided to call the lady to explain that we were happy to see how it all went overnight but that it did not feel right ..... including the fact that by now, Billie had hidden under my desk to keep out of the way!
The answer she gave is one I was horrified at and will never forget - and since have repeated this to anyone using her services - "well you could always get rid of the cat" !!!!!!!
I informed her that the cat was here first and, on looking to home a dog, we specifically asked her that question around the dog's sociability. She did not seem happy!
We duly kept Bobby overnight and repeatedly and gently tried to re-introduce him to Billie who by now had decided she wanted nothing to do with the "intruder". We had a couple of further attempts to get both Bobby and Scamp in the same room and it clearly was not happening.
In the morning, Greg and I took Bobby back to the lady's house, reluctantly. Her main concern was that she did not want to give us our £100 back - thankfully in the contract we signed there is a trial period - and I guess it helped that my husband became a little intimidating - particularly reiterating that we had asked about the dog's history and she had been reluctant to go into detail.
So we were lucky I guess that when we got Harley, as a young pup, he had only known a harsh beginning (Greg got him from the traveller's site) and, as a pup, he was easier to integrate, immediately accepting that Scamp was boss!
Of course then he and Billie mated, had 5 puppies and 2 of those puppies remained with us (Kenzi and Ruby).
Then, when they other dogs all moved out with Jess and Gina moving from home, he only had Scamp as his companion, and since Scamp's death he has become more unsociable to most other dogs except Billie and Kenzi.
So Dan's request for a dog seemed fraught with challenges .......... until Jess's dilemma arose and a very obvious solution appeared !
We took Kenzi (or rather Dan did) and Jess was able to keep Billie (one dog/half the worry)
Harley has already calmed down again - he and Kenzi are best buddies, and there had been no need to worry about the unknown factor of how they would get along ! A peaceful, harmonious home.
All you need is love ...... and a dog (or 2!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)