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Well, I made not one, but two videos tonight, and have nothing to show for it. The first attempt required way too much editing that I gave up on it. The second one magically decided not to record audio correctly. Awesome. I also gave up on that previously mentioned upcoming how-to post, for now at least. Forgive me for being brief throughout this post, but it’s past my bedtime already, and this is now the third time I’m going over all of this, which kind of annoys me.
Just got back from my first ride in two weeks. My back and neck did not appreciate it, but my legs did. Clocked my fastest pace yet, and wondering how much more I can improve. Goal was 5:29 per mile, and I ended up at 5:08. It’s been helping a lot, but I really need to keep at it. Two weeks ago I could climb the 4 flights of stairs at work with ease, but lately the last flight has been a killer.
I was recently “nominated” to the safety committee at work against my will. They wanted someone from our shift, and either my boss is punishing me, or he thinks I’m the best man for the job. Probably both. One hour long meeting a month, but with my luck it’ll be at 7 in the morning or something ridiculous like that. It’s something decent to add to my resume, too, sure, but overall… meh. Whatever. We’ll see.
Since it’s slightly past halfway through the month, I figured I might as well balance the books and see how much I’ve been spending. Thankfully, my predictions were correct, and not only have I not been overspending, but I’ve actually been underspending. Only by a few bucks, but hey, good is good, right? Just gotta keep it up. It almost got boned up by my scooter last week, though… go to leave for work on Tuesday, and it won’t start. Lights go off when I hit the starter button, but it wouldn’t turn over. Spent the day fretting, wondering how much not only the repairs would cost, but having it towed up to the shop as well. It was thoroughly annoying, seeing as it’s my primary transportation. Magically, though, it fixed itself the next day and just needed a jump start after I killed the battery trying to start it the day before. They couldn’t have just put a kick start on it, could they?
And finally… I’ve been sucking big time lately on the creativity front. Like I said before, if nothing happens, there’s nothing to write about, and since my financials are currently in order, well, not much happening on that front. I was really hoping to stick to a M-W-F schedule, but now I’m lucky if I manage one post a week. I’m sure I can find plenty of other stuff to write about, but I worry about losing the focus of this blog – my journey out of debt. More importantly, I worry about annoying you guys with off-topic posts. Other blogs in this realm manage to do just fine like that, but I like to worry about things, apparently. That and I’ve always believed in quality over quantity. That’s not to say off-topic posts wouldn’t be quality posts, I just don’t know that they would… belong. So please, let me know, dear readers, would you rather I write more about more diverse topics, or fall off the face of the internets for a week at a time?
I know, putting it like that, really? And a big oh-by-the-way: I’m still out of beer. Seems to be at least temporarily permanent. Gooooo me!
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Sorry, no, uh, dimple-laden (wtf?) video tonight – I was through setting up and whatnot, but then got super lazy and decided that I didn’t want to edit it afterwards (throw in a little bit of camera shyness for good measure). A few things needing to be talked about (or just to myself, in a mirror):
1. I’m out of beer! This would typically be an oh-shit moment, but really it’s not, as of course one of my goals this year is to drink less, only because of the money, so I’m taking advantage of the situation. Probably makes this my first sober blog post in ages (and might explain the recurrence of camera-shyness). I ran out of beer on Saturday night, which was alright at the time. Sunday, however… well, no beer on Sunday unless I wanted to overpay for it by getting a six pack. I ended up overpaying for it anyway when I hit the Downtown Lounge for the Super Bowl. The owner’s truck was sitting out front of the beer distributor, though, so maybe he was sneaking some sales in anyway. Now to today, it was one of my planned stops before work. It’s a miracle in and of itself that I made time to run errands before work, but I decided to skip that stop, because, again, taking advantage of the situation. So now I’m drinking Kool-Aid, a jar of which I still had in that bag behind me from last year’s vacation. Better than water, cheaper than beer.
2. Mmm, Yakisoba… The whole purpose of getting the new microwave (and/or finding the old one) was to be able to fire up cheap and easy food all night long. That cheap and easy food turned out to be yakisoba, which I’ve been eating for a couple of weeks now. Maruchan’s beef teriyaki flavor is the shit. The roast chicken flavor, on the other hand, is just shit. Yes, it smells like hot cabbage water when you get it out of the microwave, and yes, the flavor packet smells like cinnamon - but the two combine to make a pretty yummy little meal. The helping of veggies is a bit better than most ramen cups I’ve tried, too – even if half of it is indeed cabbage.
2a. More… yakisoba. It solves the continuing problem I’ve been having with taking lunch to work, instead of buying lunch damn near every day. That problem, of course, is that I’m lazy (and just plain lack of time). Even sandwiches take 10 minutes to make before work, and that’s 10 minutes I don’t generally have. At 80 cents a pop, it’s a huge savings even over a $3.83 sub from the grocery store across the street. However… and this is a big however… there needs to be more. One brick of noodles isn’t going to keep me fed all night, so if anyone has any ideas for something else that’s both cheap and requires next to zero preparation (grab and go), I’m all ears. I’m thinking fruit, but I know that apples just make me hungrier.
3. I got gas! No, really, as far as my records indicate, tonight was the first time I filled up the scooter since December 22nd. Well over a month, and I still had about a half gallon in there. Suck it, cars and trucks of the world! And it only cost me $8.42 to fill up, to boot.
4. More hours! A few people got laid off last week, which, yeah, it sucks for them – been there, done that – but on the other hand, after working SIX days last week, I only got one hour of overtime. As long as we keep it in a good 5-10 overtime hour range, I’m happy. With only four days in this week, I need’em.
Oh, by the way, there’s another how-to post coming up, and this one’s only slightly less lazy than the last!
I could really use a beer right now…
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From January 1 to February 1, my net worth increased an average of $61.08 per day, or $1,893.48 overall, to -$42,443.58. This is a 4.46% increase, and results in a projected zero net worth on 6/15/2014.
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We’ve been struggling to get even 40 hours at work the past few weeks. The slow season is upon us. Everyone’s furnace is working fine. Nobody’s thinking about air conditioning. The pipes have already burst and have been fixed. It’s a good thing the “slow season” usually only lasts a couple of months. So, in the effort to get more hours this week, I’m taking the day off.
Typically a stupid move, as at any other time during the year, it would mean a massive loss of overtime. Like, all of it. However, with burning this vacation day, I’ll be finishing off the week at just over 36 hours. Count’em, thirty-six. If I’d actually bother to drag my lazy ass in to work today, I’d be looking at an even 35 or so. Suck it, lack of hours! The con to the pro is that I’ll probably have to borrow a vacation day this summer, but I think I can live with that.
Oh, and it’s my birthday.
It just so happened to fall on a Thursday this time around, so I figured, what better gift than a three day weekend? So screw work, even though I’m just going to be doing a whole lot of sitting around the house – don’t exactly have any plans (including writing a coherent post – intros, editing, proofreading, and generally giving a damn are all for suckers). Pro to the con of a boring birthday is that I’m no longer 23. And as we all know, nobody likes you when you’re 23. So here’s hoping 24 is a better year for me in terms of people liking me. You know, people like cute girls. Cute girls who want to sleep with me.
P.S. I *thought* I had a date lined up with Sunflowers from The Debt Chronicles, but she totally stood me up. You should all go rag on her about it.
P.P.S. Some part of this post I’m sure to regret when I wake up. I haven’t yet decided which. Now taking bets. Winner gets something random in the mail that is junk to me but I don’t want to throw away. It may or may not be ticking when it arrives. That ticking may or may not indicate that it is in fact a time bomb.
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Yes yes, I done gone disappeared for a week again. But, when nothing happens, there’s nothing to write about. Turrrible. Last night, though, something did happen. I got started on another of my goals, that being to cull the crap, as I put it two weeks ago.
It only made sense to start with my office, since I spend the majority of my home time in here. In 2 or 3 hours, I made a heck of a lot of progress, and despite filling more than one large garbage bag (with not only garbage, but a lot of stuff to go along with it), there’s still a lot more work to do. Those white drawers? Yeah, they’re all full of stuff, and once I get them cleared out, I could actually put some clothes in there, which currently don’t all fit in my dresser. And then after that, there’s still the bedroom, the attic, the shed… it very well could be a year-long adventure. So, with that, here are the lovely pictures. All taken with my iPhone, since I still haven’t found my camera charger.
Top of computer - random mail, statements... sunflower seeds?
All nice and tidy now! Forgot to get rid of the empty tissue box though 
Desk - a complete mess! Receipts, more mail, and buried under that the results of my wallet cleanout
Now, only the necessities
This...
Becomes this
And this...
Becomes this!
Bookshelf full of JUNK
And now look at those pretty empty shelves!
Desk drawer of doom - I swear, I knew exactly what was in there and where. Until I needed something.
It's not exactly organized now, but at least I can see everything that's in there
My office looks HUGE now! I’m taking the approach of “do I really need this?” in my work. Sentimental, yet useless? Probably trash. Something from my childhood? What, am I gonna lug it around with me my entire life? Case in point – I happened upon a penny trapped inside a small glass jar that I bought on a 5th grade field trip to Gettysburg. That one little thing has been travelling around with me for 12 or 13 years now. Other than to remind myself that I probably spent five bucks for that penny, it serves no purpose whatsoever. Doesn’t even look good on my desk. In the trash it went.
And now I realize that I didn’t even break the jar and keep the penny. Dammit!
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