10 Random Moments From Our Family’s History

Haha, I was going through my files looking for something just now, and found a Word doc that I made in 2019, with the title of this post. I had picked 10 random photos from our huge database of unorganised family memories, put a description to them, and made a file out of it. The kids were too young to appreciate it back then, so I thought I'd repost it here. Here goes:

 This first photo comes from way back in 1982, when Daddy was only 10 years old! I was in Penang in Malaysia (we have been there too – remember the pool with the sand in it and the water slides into the pool?). I was there with Grandma and Grandpa. In the photo I am on a water ski with Grandpa. It was my first real holiday. We stayed at a hotel called The Golden Sands. It’s still there in Penang too, all these years later. I’ll show you when we go back there. I wish you had got to meet Grandpa; he would have loved you kids all so much.

The next photo comes from 2012. Look who’s the newborn! Sophie was a very happy baby and is sitting here looking very pleased, knowing she is going to eat soon! This photo was taken in out apartment in Seni Mont Kiara in Malaysia, where we were living at the time.

This photo was taken in 2000, at my brother Peter’s old house in Numurkah, not too far from where Grandma and Aunty V live. This is my other brother Michael, who sadly passed away last year. You guys met him many times when he came to visit us in Barooga. He was a funny guy and we miss him a lot.

This goes way, way back to 1992! Daddy was in university then, which is the school you go to after high school, if you want to get a degree. It was hard work, but my friends and I tried to have a lot of fun too. Here we are, hiking at a place called Wilson’s Promontory, south of Melbourne. It is a national park, which means it is protected from people building things there and is still very much a wilderness. We hiked through the forest and across the hills so we could camp on a secluded beach. It was a lot of fun! The only scary part was when Daddy almost stepped on a snake!

This was back in 2010, not long after Mummy and Daddy first met each other, and before we had any kids. We went to a really nice restaurant called Lafite and had lots of yummy food and drinks. We were living in Malaysia then, but not in KL. We were living where Daddy worked, in a town called Kuala Lipis. We just came down to KL for the weekends. Look how young and pretty Mummy and Daddy look, before we had kids, hahaha!

In 2012, Daddy went to a conference in a place called London (where Grandpa was born, far far away). The conference itself was not so much fun, but Daddy also got to go to a very amazing place, called Highgate Cemetary.

In this cemetary, which is a place they bury dead people, it dates back to the 1700’s and 1800’s. A long time ago. When the place wad full and there was no more room, they just locked the gate and left it, for almost 100 years! When someone finally came to have a look, nature had reclaimed much of it, kind of like the photo here. It was all overgrown. So having all these grave stones sticking out of the weeds, grass and trees, makes the place kind of spooky! I hope I can take you all to visit it one day! During the day time of course!

This photo is from early 2016, when we were living in Damansara Heights in Malaysia and Sophie and Daniel were going to My Little Home school. Can you guess who the newborn baby is?

This is another newborn baby, but not in 2016, this was back in late 2013. He is being held by Por Por. It’s not Sophie and it’s not Alex, so who is it?

This was back in 2012. Little Sophie could sit up now and was busy enjoying her noodles for breakfast. Looks like it was with ham and eggs too, how yummy!

 
Now the story moves to 2014, when we were on a holiday to Australia. It was very cold at the time. We went driving down to a place called Bendigo, and here Dan Boy had his first ever visit to a playground! Looks like he’s having fun too!

Side Hustles

I never thought I'd be one for side hustles. Generally, whenever I have been looking at alternate sources of income, it has been all about trying to find something I can make a full-time income out of, not an additional one. If you go back to the early parts of this blog, or my previous one (not worth it), I spent a fair bit of time trying to come up with a horseracing tipping system that could provide reliable results. Whilst it was enjoyable, it was also bloody hard, and I never really got anywhere. Poor discipline didn't help, but overall, I don't think it is a viable solution, at least not in terms of being the main breadwinner, replacing my current occupation. One day I might try again, more so for fun, and see what happens.

So the actual side hustles I have been gaining some income from in recent times, are as follows;

1) Octopus Group

I put the link here in the hopes that some of you readers will go check it out. I have tried numerous survey mobs over the years, that promise income, but none of them actually ever gave me anything. This one did very quickly, and so far, in a few months, I have received over $100 in cash. Yeah it's not much, but it is cash, and didn't take a whole lot of time, so it is something I will continue to use. 

2) AlphaSights

This mob do in-depth surveys and calls for clients looking for professional advice. I usually make $70 per survey with these guys and have done about four of them so far, over a year. So again, not something to live on, but a nice little supplement here and there. 

I have also done some similar short-term consulting for another group some time ago, so long ago in fact, that I can't remember who they were! I think I only ever got a paying gig with them once, so AlphaSights are definitely a better option here.

3) eBay

eBay is something many people should look at. I use FB Marketplace sometimes, but these days I seem to get more scam attention than anything else, so tend to avoid it. eBay takes time to manage, and can be a killer if you get the postage costs wrong, plus their fees are not small. But overall, I have used it to my advantage, selling my coins, old Lego and a few other things. With the kids losing interest in Lego, I have a lot of sets to put together for sale, so I see this continuing for a while. Again, not huge dollars here, but every little bit helps.

4) Recycling Cans

This is a fairly new one, although I have been doing it for a year or more now. We have a can recycling centre in Echuca, and at 10c per can, it makes me about $35 every couple of months. Nothing to write home about, but it comes in cash, which is always nice to have. I am certainly happy to put the effort into keeping this going.

5) Ma

The last one, a little oddly, is Ma. She feels bad that I am not getting any return on her house, even though I have assured her I am happy with the current arrangement. It costs me nothing, other than a little insurance, and I am happily seeing its value increase over time. But Ma, bless her heart, give me a bit of money here and there, which, like the others, is not huge, but every little bit helps.

So there it is. Certainly not enough to live on, and yes, I would love to have an alternate income source that would allow me to make a permanent change. I can't see that happening though, so I'll continue just picking up a bit here and there, which certainly helps a little with the bills and to have a little extra cash.