…grayblog…

Month: April 2005

  • Number crunching

    I’ve spent much of the day working on PFE’s accounts for the year ending 31 December 2004, and I’ve achieved quite a lot:

    • tallied the entire year’s expenditure records and reconciled them with the bank statements, for transactions in Sterling and in euro (PFE is a dual-currency business – I leave my accountant to reconcile it all into a single financial statement suitable for the tax man and Companies House)
    • tallied the additional personal investment made by me in 2004 (not insignificant, it turns out)
    • tallied the income records for the year (again, in two currencies)

    I’ve still got several things to do, most notably to get my mileage records for 2004 into a format that is suitable for presentation to the powers-that-be (i.e. not scribbled on the back of an envelope) and compile the list of creditors and debtors at year end. In summary, performance is in line with expectations. The turnover is around twice that of the preceding year, and is expected to continue to grow in 2005. Additional revenue streams will come online in the current year and it is projected that PFE will break even in the current year, depending on trading conditions.
    Of course, the main thing is that PFE retains the confidence of its principal creditor (me). I expect that the full financial report will be ready by the end of next month when it shall be presented to the AGM of shareholder (note singular).

  • Music gremlin

    For reasons known only to the little gremlins that inhabit my skull, I’ve had Airport by The Motors on my brain all morning. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not.

  • Hmmm

    Labour -8
    Conservative -9
    Liberal Democrat 17
    UK Independence Party -9
    Green -4

    You should vote: Liberal Democrat.
    Take the test at Who Should You Vote For?

    Hmmm. But I don’t agree with PR, which is a bit of a sticking point with the LibDems for me.
    link via Steve.

  • Five-a-side

    Footie without the sweaty.

  • Monty 1 – 0 Local Shrew Population

    At least he killed it properly this time. Now they are hunting around the conservatory, trying to find where it is hidden (I opened the door, and sent its corpse into low orbit over the pub garden).

  • Pretentious?

    Pitchfork: Once you guys were asked about progress and you said that every record was an asymptotic approach to something– that there wasn’t a perfect Autechre record, just a series of tangential curves towards and away from the same point.

    Autechre: Yeah.

    Pitchfork: Maybe [Charles] Manson was asymptotically approaching pop stardom but just curved off. So I was wondering about that metaphor, and tell me if I am just being a Charles Manson and reading too much into it, but about that point that you guys are approaching over and over– is that point itself in motion? Is it changing?

    Autechre: We’re kind of following it, so yeah, it’s traveling but not with any given trajectory. It’s bouncing around. It’s confined by moving walls.

    Pitchfork interviews Autechre. Time to get my Autechre CDs out. (Thanks Bob).

  • Brimstone, no fire

    A rather beautiful yellow butterfly has just fluttered by the window.

    That is all.

  • Spoilt rotten

    Gordon gives a thoughtful discussion of the Spoil Your Vote campaign. I strongly feel that we should have a system in this country that is similar to that in Sweden – compulsory voting for all citizens (subject to a fixed financial penalty and combined with the introduction of more accessible secure voting methods) but with the addition of a "none of the above" option. Not that that idea on its own would solve the problem of people spoiling their paper or abstaining through laziness or ignorance. It is, at least in part, the duty of politicians to motivate the public to vote. In some instances, a minimum turnout is required for a vote to become valid – so it is not only the responsibility of the parties to win a majority of the vote but also their responsibility to motivate people into placing their X. Perhaps a combination of obligatory voting to motivate the people and a minimum "turnout" in the form of papers showing a cross against a candidate instead of abstention to motivate the candidates might, when taken together, lead to more meaningful results.

  • Sailing

    We visited Gosport and Portsmouth this weekend to see my brother at his girlfriend’s house. These days, one thing stands out, begging to be photographed. I took a whole bunch, and reckon this to be the best, not for any technical reason but simply because it was caught in sunlight at that moment with dark clouds behind. The Spinnaker Tower:
    Spinnaker Tower seen from Gosport waterfront

  • Mmmmmm deep fried maize

    This company make very nice foods. I particularly recommend the Frutos Secos – deep fried maize. Yum. Available in Borough Market.