Antony’s Life Blog

(Picture is from Tom Toles, Washington Post.)

Well… my life is not as bad as the guy in the picture above. Thanks God…

However, my life is more or less affected by this financial crisis.

• I almost lost my job. More than 80% of my colleagues at my previous company have been laid-off. Last year at the peak, we were a team with about 50 people. From what I heard last week, there are less than 10 people left. Had I not make a quick decision relocating to Waterloo, I would have been unemployed (just like the guy in the picture).
• Our house is not foreclosed; but we cannot stay in our own house now. I had to relocate to another city because I couldn’t find a job in Vancouver. Now, we have to rent an apartment… hopefully we can stay in our own house again.
• My retirement fund is down more than 50%. Yes, it was my fault. I chose very high risk investment; and I had a faith in “buy-and-hold” strategy. I just realized that “buy-and-hold” simply doesn’t work in the last 15 years or so.

So… what’s been happening to me in the last 3-4 weeks? I haven’t updated this blog since I left Vancouver. Here is the summary:

• After we arrived in Ontario, I was a little bit shocked with the weather. The temperature was about –20 degrees Celsius. I had a very bad flu for about 2 weeks.
• As you may know, I have started a new job at Research in Motion. The company has been keeping me very busy; which is a good sign because my job is secure for now.
• Then I had to deal with the hassle of relocation. Oh boy… I always hate relocation. We have to find a new place to live; I have to request for a new health insurance; I have to change my vehicle registration; I have to change my driving license; blah… blah…. I feel that I have just moved to another country although I just moved to another province.
• About 2 weeks ago, there was bad news from Indonesia. My mother-in-law has kidney problem; so wife is now in Indonesia to take care of her.

Well… that’s all the update from me. I hope I can write more postings after I have settled here in Ontario.

It is now 134 hours before New Year for me in Vancouver. New year… new spirit… new plan… new clothes… new gadgets… what else?

It’s a good time to evaluate what we have done this year. Have we been good or bad? Have we achieved our new year resolution from last year? What can we do better next year? Blah… blah… blah…

Anyway, I had five new year’s resolutions; but have achieved two of them. How about the others? They are just gone with the wind.

Anyway, what are my new new year’s resolutions this year?

• Secure my job for 2009.
  Although I still have a job until today; I might be laid-off soon. Many projects in my current company have been cancelled. About 200 people have been laid-off in the last 3 months. Worse, their cash flow position is not looking good at all. This is going to be the first thing I need to do in January 2009. There is a high probability that I have to move from Vancouver…
• Recover from my financial lost.
  I wasn’t investing in Madoff fund or any other Ponzi schemes; but I have lost money significantly. I don’t have any Christmas present for myself this year. We have to postpone our Disney trip. It seems that we have to tighten our belt next year.

Let’s see whether I can achieve my new year’s resolutions next December.