Money Matters

    Cost Benefit Analysis

    When Andrew, my 18 year-old, flew to Australia for his gap year,
    I remember different emotions.  There were tears, of course.  
    After all, I like Australians and why should they have to put up
    with him?  Being an accountant my mind also raced through
    several monetary calculations.  You could say I undertook
    sophisticated cost-benefit analysis.  Or in simpler terms, you
    might say I’m just mean and worked out how much money I’d
    save.  

    One big saving was going to be the Forest season ticket.  
    Obviously he wouldn’t need one in Australia.  But what he told
    me he would need were goal alerts, and half-time and full-time
    reports by text message.  For a variety of reasons (tribal
    loathing, poking fun at his mates, etc.) he also needed updates
    on Notts County, Derby, Mansfield, Leeds, the front-runners in
    League One, and the foot of table scrappers in League 2.  

    So I saved about £150 on his season ticket.  But it’s costing me
    about £10 per match day in mobile phone charges.  Andrew,
    we’re proud of you, son, and miss you.  And get back soon
    because it’s costing me a fortune.


    Some things are priceless

    The early morning train from Nottingham to London is obviously
    full of commuters.  And increasingly computers.  And wireless
    routers.  Except for the mobile phones, the carriages are
    strangely quiet.  Nobody wants to talk to anyone in case they are
    boring and they have to sit next to them for the next 30 years or
    so:

    “Hi, I’m John and what do you do for a living?”
    “Hello, my name’s Peter and I’m a Chartered Accountant.”
    “Fascinating,” says John, immediately deciding to travel on the
    later train for the next three decades.

    The day-trippers are easy to spot, fresh-faced, wondering what
    the day will bring, and naively expecting the train to arrive on
    time.  When I go to the buffet, I always ask the day trippers on
    my table whether they want a tea or coffee.  They find my
    kindness overwhelming.

    This web site tries to promote many things.  Experience,
    versatility, etc.  It also tries to promote the colour yellow (far too
    much, I hear you cry).  Another thing is honesty.  With regard to
    the tea and coffee, however, I fall short in this respect.   It’s not
    what I say, it’s what I don’t say.

    “Thanks, that’s really kind,” say the day trippers.
    “Oh, it was nothing,” I reply.
    You see, in actual fact, it really is nothing.  I’m going to the buffet
    anyway.  And Midland Mainline gives the hot drinks away for free.