For The Record

 Four days at Galaxy and I'm already given a day off. The great thing about NDI was them not giving me a day off. It was consistent even though they claimed to be struggling for consistent output. Any how, good luck to them. The consistency just added to being able to sustain commitment to my Playbook Strategy. Where am I with ADR learning? Taking another look at my training plan Phase 1 – Core Foundations Legal framework (ADR agreement, UK regs, responsibilities). Roles of the driver, employer, consignor, consignee. Documentation: Dangerous Goods Note, Tremcards, etc. Vehicle requirements & safety equipment. Marking, labelling, placarding. Basic emergency procedures (spills, fires, PPE, first actions). Limited quantities, exemptions, tunnel categories. Phase 2 – Transport Forms Packages module  → packaged goods (boxes, drums, IBCs, cylinders). Tanks module  → bulk liquid/gas in tanks and ...

First day: Thumb Up This is actually turning out in my favour. Despite the truck stinking of dog, dog ass and possibly stale fag residue, it has a defective tyre on the off side rear steering. The psi should be above 105 but it's a mere 37.9. This is not good so I have reported it and waiting for a tyre person to be called out. A few hours later and the tyre was removed and the culprit identified. I was presented with a chance to continue with ADR training. The bonus of having ChatGPT in my phone proved its advantages. I'm up to Class 6 having just nailed Class 5. I'm still having to scroll back over course notes to find the right answers but I somehow don't think this is an issue right now. Being able to find the correct answers and know how to apply them is also being tested here. In the real world, I wouldn't necessarily be expected to remember every code category and division. Most jobs will only be centred around transporting certain hazardous good and not the ...

Monday 25th August :: Where am I up to? It's almost 11pm the night before, and I have work at 6am. Not much time remaining for sleep, and I've just started a blog post. First day back at Galaxy in the morning. It should be good. If I recall correctly, I've not a bad word to say about the previous times I worked there. I don't mind what they have me do to be honest. So, ADR training. Where am I? I've just done Class 4 as of this evening. It looks like I'm around half way. I need to do a lot of revision. Some things are not sticking. This week I want to work on a bit each day. I'm not in a rush to work through the material; I'm just concerned I'm not retaining all of it. And retaining the information is something I really need to work on. I could do with creating a quick-access revision-notes book containing all of the key information. Cutting and pasting the complete training notes contains more information than I need; I'll need to edit it dow...

ADR training is on my to do list, and I've been using ChatGPT a lot lately. I wondered if ChatGPT could train me up for my ADR exam. I asked it and it said yes. I don't know how good the training will be because I have nothing to grade it against. It would be amazing if I could book the exam without actually paying to sit in someone's classes, then pass with full marks by letting ChatGPT train me. I mean, what else could ChatGPT train me to become exam-ready for? Transport Manager CPC? This is the course breakdown that ChatGPT has presented to me: Training Plan for ADR (Core + All Classes) Phase 1 – Core Foundations Legal framework (ADR agreement, UK regs, responsibilities). Roles of the driver, employer, consignor, consignee. Documentation: Dangerous Goods Note, Tremcards, etc. Vehicle requirements & safety equipment. Marking, labelling, placarding. Basic emergency procedures (spills, fires, PPE, first actions). Limited quantities, exemptions, tun...

Saturday 23rd August 2025 and I'm cooking! Week 18 has just ended with the company I've been temping at. My assignment with them has come to a close. They offered me a permanent role a couple of times but I refused. I didn't mind helping them out while they were in a bind, but making that job a permanent fixture is not what I am after. There are only a couple of reasons why. One is the wage. They were offering in the region of £29,000 the first time I worked there back in 2023. That's no good to me. Really, it's not that much worse than CCF who paid me a basic rate of £31,581. I picked up overtime with CCF, and they paid driver bonuses as well as a bonus for bringing empty pallets back to the depot. It was quite easy to attain £35,000 with consistent bonus grabbing. This company offered no such incentives. When I first worked there there were three drivers and the workload was a bit more fairly distributed. Many days I finished my run early and was able to spend tim...

Sunday, August 18th, 2025: Reflecting on the Journey That Led Me Here Today marks 2,934 days since I quit smoking. That was the day a gradual change began to envelope my life. I didn’t just quit cigarettes; I quit alcohol and walked away from every intoxicating substance in my life at the time; including people! That single decision forced me to face reality head-on — no more excuses, no more fog, no more hiding from myself. It was a monumental turning point that helped me begin forging a new path with real purpose. It felt like a rebirth. By August 2017, sobriety was the centrepiece of my life. In April 2018, I returned to education to pursue my passion for horticulture. By June 2019, I was eager to advance toward degree-level courses, ready to go all the way. Then the path collapsed beneath me. After I aced my second-year of studies, the college suddenly dropped the next level I needed, citing funding issues due to low enrolment. The only other college offering the course w...

  My replacement debit card for my secondary account has arrived. I've logged in to Vanguard and seen that the funds from Scottish Widow have now been invested into FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund Accumulation. As anticipated, fund value has gone down immediately, I hear this is almost always the case. I primarily logged in to check my monthly payments setup. I cancelled the existing payment set up and added a new one. The earliest they will take payment is 8 working days from today, so I chose September 5th. I would hope, on the 5th of every month, £100 is paid into this pot. I won't know for a couple of weeks if this works so I'd better be patient until then. On the whole, it's nice to see progress. On occasion I ask AI to answer questions. Here is what I've just asked: How can i compare all of Vanguard's pension products to realise which has given the highest returns to date? Is there an easy way to do this? I invested my pension into FTSE Global All Cap Index...

Very happy to see that as of yesterday Scottish Widows has completed the transfer of funds from the workplace pension I had while working under the Travis Perkins umbrella. It's not a great deal but it does put me in a position to manage this pension myself. I was unable to pay any monies into the Scottish Widows pension to grow that pot, but now, with those funds moved to vanguard I can. I had set up a standing order to pay £100 regularly into this pot but as of yet, a payment has not landed  This is a little bit annoying but it's not the end of the world. When setting up these payments they ask for at least 8 business days so that's what I did. But it didn't work. I'll wait until my new debit card arrives for my secondary account then I'll be using it to perform manual payments until the end of the year from September. The plan is to inject £100 per calendar month which isn't a lot. I could actually throw a one off payment of £400 i...

Wednesday, August 20th, 2025: Lessons from the Crypto Battlefield Earlier this month, I made my final loan repayment—a milestone that lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. For a moment, I felt free. But the banking app wouldn’t let me forget. For two more weeks, it kept showing loan activity, like a lingering fart in an elevator trapped between floors. Each time I opened the app I was reminded of a struggle I thought I’d already left behind. When the loans section in the app finally vanished, it felt like a second confirmation: three years of commitment were now firmly in my rear-view mirror. That discipline gave me something more valuable than just a cleared debt—it gave me proof. Proof that I could stick to a financial plan, never miss a step during the contract period, and come out stronger. It was a springboard into a new chapter. Of course, I’ve made my share of financial mistakes. Crypto has been one of them. Like millions of others, I thought I could outsmart the mark...

Sunday, August 17th, 2025: Refining My Financial Plan — The Fortress Phase Update In revisiting my earlier financial plan, I spotted a key error I’m grateful to have caught early. This highlights why documenting and reviewing plans regularly is essential for staying on track. The correction is this: I previously stated that from September 1st, 2025, I would transfer £420/month into a Cash ISA. That’s not accurate. My War Chest is sacred—its funds strictly reserved for executing my long-term strategy. Phase 1: The Fortress Phase (12-24 months) The  engine room  of my financial strategy is now defined as follows: Gross Weekly Earnings (net): £500 Living Expenses Allocation (Primary Account): £150 (30%) Weekly Investable Capital (Secondary Account - "War Chest"): £350 (70%) Starting September 1st, I will allocate a weekly standing order of £350 to my Secondary Account. Until I spot the right investment opportunities, this capit...