It’s been a bit of a pipe dream for a while but, I think I really should start to put things into motion and get a retail property for my organic food business. Hopefully by the end of 2012 I’ll have saved enough money and found a property that fits my budget. That’s the goal anyway. On my to-do list, in order to reach this goal, is first of all visiting the bank to seek some advice on possible loans. Then, if they think it’s a viable idea, I’ll start talking a bit more seriously to some comercial property agents. Once I have a clear budget decided I’ll be able to assess the available shops to let.

On top of this I’m going to spend a good few months looking at other organic food retailers to suss out the competition. Looking at their outlets will also give me ideas about how I should display produce in my shop, once I finally have it. It’s going to be a lot different from the online business as there will be much larger overheads but, hopefully, there will be more opportunities to gain profit.

I’m going to look at a variety of locations too, and assess general footfall but also the demand for organic food in those areas. I really do think York could be a good choice as I know people round there are passionate about local produce. Although, this could mean that there’s already strong competition there.

There’s a lot to consider before anything actually happens – looks like 2012 is going to be a busy year if I’m to reach my goals.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas – mine was simply delightful, I absolutely loved spending the day with Geoff. Then I was able to go to my sister’s for New Year’s eve as she was having a get together. It was a really nice little soiree with just close friends, we had canapes and champagne – perfect.

Now all the festive fun of December has gone it’s time to get back to reality and work hard to make 2012 a good one. But, we can’t do this before we’ve got all our bargains in the January sales. I absolutely love this time of year as it’s the perfect excuse to go shopping and you’re certain to find a decent bargain.

I went into Leeds today and it was heaving, even in the week. It’s times like those that I really wish I had a retail store offline to get more customers. But, suprisingly, despite the number of shoppers there was still a large number of shops to rent.

Sales are great for the expensive things, like today I got a new cashmere coat which will be just as useful next year and it was half the usual cost. The only downside I find with the January sales though is that the shops seem to be getting rid of all their old stock. So if you’re trying to start afresh in January and leave the previous year behind then the sales aren’t for you. It’s good for staple wardrobe pieces but if you want any of the trends for the new years you’ll certainly be paying full price. Apparently ballerina chic is in this year – pumps and puffy skirts. Welcome to 2012

I don’t like to speak about money, but I’m quite sure that Geoff is very well off. He was very successful in his job before he moved to Hebden Bridge so I’m sure he’s got himself a nice little nest egg. Anywho, the way he said ‘our future’ made me smile, so I was in full support of whatever he wanted to do. He explained how property was always a good way to keep your money as it will always be safe in property – as long as you buy low and sell high.

Apparently the market’s quite good at the moment, so he wants to buy something soon. I said he should buy a flat in the city and rent it out but he said he was thinking on a much larger scale (I obviously didn’t realise quite how well off he is, but didn’t want to ask questions). He said he was wanting to invest in Commercial property. He’d buy a building, or floor in a building, in Manchester city centre and then rent the rooms out to businesses to use as offices, or whatever they wanted to use them as.

I think this is a really good idea as there are lots of new businesses always opening up in Manchester so I doubt his building will never be vacant. He’s going to be spending quite a lot of time in the city over the next few months though whilst he chooses a property, but once that’s done it should take care of itself and he can relax again back in Hebden Bridge ☺

It was with a heavy heart that me and my cats packed our worldlies and bade farewell to our pad in the city. I’d been there a long time and the place had made a useful base during the trials and tribulations of starting my organic food company. But with the business now performing well without the need for too much input from me, I figured the time was right to escape the hustle and bustle and enjoy some peace – not to mention better stargazing.

The only headache really was with web access. I wanted to get an SDSL connection put in but apparently the local exchange isn’t enabled to handle it. On top of this, the fairly remote location of my new cottage means I’m further from the exchange than I’m used to, which in turn means slower speeds. Nevertheless, I’ve still got a fairly decent speed up here and with the VPN we set up at work I can log onto the network and work from home with ease. Plus it means the guys don’t have to put up with my unannounced office visits anymore!

Another boon of my move to the countryside is that I get to spend more time with my beloved horse, Pip. She used to board at Dickey Steps in Littleborough – the bridleways in the area, and up on to Blackstone Edge, are fantastic – but now I’m thinking of moving her closer to me. There are a couple of stables in Todmorden that I’ve been looking at, although I haven’t made any decisions yet. Being just a short drive from Pip means I’ve already been out on her this month more than I had during the entire first part of the year.

I’ll be blogging more about my arrival in Hebden Bridge soon. I might even post up some photos of the new place. Stay tuned!

In star-watching news, the Moon is at perigee on Sunday, so fingers crossed we get a clear night so we can have a good look at it. Also on Sunday, clocks go forward by one hour – don’t forget, or you might be in for a nasty surprise on Monday morning.

As a nice way of following on from my last couple of posts about online gaming I thought I’d do a quick run-through of online bingo and online casinos and pit the two against each other. So, here it is, my definitive (sort of) guide to the best way to gamble on the internet.

Online Bingo

I discovered online bingo at the end of this summer. I’d been to a couple of clubs but found that visiting in the evening was interfering with my stargazing and new found penchant for TV soaps. So I decided to try the website of the club I’d been going to, as that allowed me to play whenever I wanted. To be honest, online bingo is not too dissimilar to the game I’d been enjoying offline: you still get cards, numbers are still called out. But it’s simple and fun and there seems to be better special offers online. I’m not as excited now about online bingo as I was when I started playing but I think I’ll still have the odd game, I’ve been quite lucky with it and I also like playing the slots games in between sessions. Which leads me neatly on to…

Online Casinos

In terms of variety, online casinos have the edge over online bingo sites. They give you the option to play roulette, blackjack, poker and, my favourite, online slots. I got into online casino gaming after I’d being playing online bingo for a while, when one of my friends told me about the online casino no deposit bonus (basically a small amount of money to get you started). I picked a casino that looked nice and got started on the slots. To be honest I think they are a bit arbitrary; there’s certainly not much skill involved in hitting the button and watching the reels spin. But online slots can be very exciting. And the randomness of their alignment appeals particularly to the astronomy fan in me.

If you’re looking for fun, simplicity and a sense of community (the chat rooms can be great) I’d say give online bingo a go, but if you’re more serious about experiencing a varied selection of games, try online casinos. It’s hard to say which is ‘best’ out of the two, but at the moment I think I probably prefer online slots, so the casinos win.

Good luck!

Ps. In case I don’t get a chance to blog before, Sunday (17 Jan) sees a close Earth approach by Asteroid 136849. Pretty interesting for anyone interested in CEOs, it comes within 0.03 astronomical units. There are also a couple of comets coming nearby that day, notably LINEAR-NEAT, which will be closer to us than the sun for the first time in seven years.

Pps. Still no real progress on the move to Hebden Bridge. As well as looking for a suitable place I’m also doing research into who will be able to provide reasonably fast internet access in the area. I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

I’m at the stage where the hustle and bustle – not to mention the light pollution that so hinders my stargazing activity – of the city has become tiresome. Also, career-wise, I now find that I don’t need to be in the office as often since our company expanded and I took on a general manager. This leaves me much more time for indulging my love of the online casino world.

So we’re thinking about leaving the big smoke and getting a little cottage in a beautiful place called Hebden Bridge. The clear night skies will be perfect for astronomy, with barely any glare from city centre lights and buildings to disturb the view through my telescope. And the quieter pace of life should be perfectly suited to where I’m at right now. I’ve been told that I can use a VPN connection to access the files we have saved at work, which will allow me to work from home (should I feel like it) on documents stored in the office, but the concern I have – which is what I have been reading about – is with rural broadband speeds.

The latest report says that the government is looking at bringing in a 50p duty (tax) on all phone connections in the UK, in order to fund the expansion of broadband networks. They say that without this, only 70% of the country will get new high speed connections – leaving rural areas out in the cold and my dreams of using a VPN to stay in touch with my office in tatters.

With the VPN I could save files on the server at work, which is more secure than sending them over email. I can also quickly review things my colleagues have put together, again, more safely and quickly than over email. But all of this works best with a high speed broadband connection. If I move to the countryside and end up with an email connection slower than the orbital period of Hale-Bopp, I’m not sure how I’ll be able to cope. I also use the web for playing online casino games, keeping up with astronomy news and, of course, blogging.

The government has opened up a consultation on the new broadband tax, which should run for around 12 weeks. Only then will we know the fate of rural broadband users, or potential rural broadband users like myself.

The certificate provides an energy rating for a building which is based on the performance potential of the building. Aspects of the commercial property such as lighting, heating and ventilation are taken into account during the undertaking of any commercial EPC.

All assessors conform to a standard score system when issuing a commercial EPC – an A-G energy rating given on the certificate reflects the energy performance of the building. The rating can then be used by potential buyers or commercial tenants to draw comparisons between properties, and gauge the likely running costs of the existing building.

A commercial EPC is accompanied by a secondary report which provides recommendations on how the energy performance and efficiency of the building could be improved.

The commercial EPC is valid for ten years, or until a newer EPC is prepared.

As with residential assessments, commercial property assessors are trained to the highest of standards.