GARETH’S LOWLIGHTS

Cycling in the rain
There was one day that really sticks out as a lowlight of ONB. It was pissing it down with rain and i had to cycle home with a trash bag of leftover food over my shoulder. Wet and eating a meal of scraps was not a particularly great day.

The two sublets in Brooklyn and the East Village
We hated hated hated these places - crappy crappy crappy. Hanging out in the office at weekends because it was nicer than home was pretty depressing. I guess you get what you pay for.

Lack of privacy
The hardest thing about living at Amy's Mum's was the lack of privacy. I remember getting very excited when i hired a tiny locker at the YMCA for $10 a month. My own little bit of Gareth space!!! It made me feel kind of pathetic.

Having to say no all the time
Ohhhhhh that was so depressing. No you can't come and visit. No i can't do ot for a drink. No i haven't got you a present. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The reveal
When I first heard the total figure of the debt I think i went into shock! My brain went blank - not one single idea in it not even having a Plan Z. I was totally stumped.

Tax back
The government changing the tax laws for foreigners on New Year's Eve and making it retrospective for last year was a bit of a blow. We had been hoping on - make that relying on - a big chunk of change coming our way. The accountant had actually done all the sums and told me i could expect $8000. The next week he called me up and said it had all changed and i actually owed teh government money!!! Arse.

The big wobble
We never wrote about this on the blog but there was a big almost relationship ending wobble last November. We survived. We moved on. We learned. We grew.