The month started with a stag to Dublin. It was a small group with a few of the boys not knowing each other, but it didn't take long to click at all with the stag's outfits to break the ice and our shared love for Guinness, apart from James!
As cliché as it is, the Guinness factory was most of the boy's highlight from the trip. The bar there included traditional Irish Dancing (the dancers made a few jaws drop in the crowd), a live band whose rendition of foggy dew will never be beaten in my mind, and some interactive drum bashing. Even James enjoyed it there, despite gagging on a freebie!
It's incredible how many excellent pubs and bars there are within a small area, particularly when thinking about all the pubs that have closed down in my local area in recent years. The Dubliners were all welcoming and happy to have a natter. It probably helped that the Stag was wearing an electric dog collar, so maybe they all went on the charm offensive to get hold of the remote and give him a good zapping, which happened quite frequently.
Even with the number of pubs and bars, it was a nightmare getting into places. We didn't know at the time of booking, but it was the Hurling Semi finals on the Saturday and Sunday. The whole of Cork out in full force on the Saturday night after they demolished Dublin on the day. The sea of red gave me flashbacks of the Addicks faithful around Wembley in May. When we finally got into Devitt's top floor on Camden Street, the first song that greeted us on our arrival was "Up The RA". Upon hearing that, we had our Guinness and fucked off quicker than the time it took to get in there.
The Finger is still in it's splint after breaking in June, so I haven't been able to play cricket. Even though it's just one measly finger, It's been hard doing any sort of exercise as I can't grip onto any weighted items with my left hand and the splint slides off the finger when sweating, so even running has been difficult. Walking to dog has been the one form of exercise that hasn't been inhibited, so he's been happy at least.
Whilst not playing cricket, I did get to day 2 of the England v India test Match at Lords. Lords is known as the home of cricket, which is the perfect description of the ground with all of the history and tradition on display around the ground. Just a warm and fuzzy feeling from being there. My writing doesn't do it justice.
Highlights from the day included Joe Root reaching his hundred from the first ball of the day, Bumrah's peach of a delivery to Stokes and the return of Jofra Archer sending down thunderbolts in test cricket, including a wicket in his first over. A non cricketing highlight from the day was my mate trying his best to avoid the sun as much as possible, given his pasty complexion. As you can see there wasn't much cloud cover, so he didn't stand much of a chance. Wrapping himself with newspaper was quite humourous at least....
Whilst these were decent highlights, the real action of the test started on day 3, with all of the drama around the time wasting at the end of day spicing the match up. This was followed by 2 of the best days of cricket on days 4 and 5. Spare a thought for Jadeja running out of batting partners. Ben Stokes is some guy too eh. Nothing beats test cricket at it's best!
July 2025 Financial Position
My financial independence portfolio saw some different movements this month. An increased cash position in the build up to Australia, not investing in July and selling some old workplace and Tesla shares, all without exceeding the capital gains tax threshold.
It felt a bit sad getting rid of most of my old work shares as I've had them for almost 10 years now, weirdly having some sentimental value to them. The Tesla shares not so much. I suppose I still have plenty in my index funds.
I paid for my flight to Singapore in July, which pushed the cash down, just missing out from having £10k. It likely won't go up higher, if at all before going Australia, with other things to buy in preparation for that.
Gains in the ISA in July eased the thought of not paying into it. The price has gone up around 10/15% from the drop in April, when I threw in a bit more than usual, I missed out slightly compared to how much I could've put in. Trump's liberation day has since meant shares have gone down again at the beginning of August. What a ride!
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