I went to dinner on Friday night with a group of ladies from my meetup.com group. There were two women whom I met for the first time, one women whom I would consider an acquaintance and another who is a friend. Dinner was delicious but the evening had a very weird vibe to it. I decided early on that I really didn't like one of the women. Her mannerisms and her speech bothered me and her conversation topics were uninteresting. I don't remember what we were talking about, but towards the end of the evening the women grabbed her phone and began to try to find something on it. She brought up some pictures and handed the phone to our end of the table and told us to scroll through them. I was shocked to discover that these were pictures of naked women with giant breasts. WTF!!! Why would she pass this around to a table of women she just met. Can you say awkward? We tried to give the phone back after we saw the first picture but she insisted that we kept scrolling through them. There ended up being about 3 or 4 pictures of naked women with fake breasts and one of a man with a abnormally large penis. After this incident I decided I couldn't wait for the evening to end and so could go home and play Oblivion. It took forever to finish things up and pay our bills, but I did call my friend as I was driving home and we laughed over this incident for 10 minutes. Outrageous!!!
I made up a limerick about the evening (I am aware that it doesn't exactly rhyme but I still found it amusing).
I went to a Meetup dinner
the food was not bitter
out came a phone
that should have been left at home
because it contained some raunch
I went to see Romeo and Juliet at the IRT a couple of weeks ago and a disgusting thing happened while I was there. It was the end of the play and Juliet's contemplating taking the vile of magic drug that will make her appear dead for two days. The stage is dark and her tone is serious then all of a sudden we hear something akin to a drink spilling on the floor. I look over to my right and I see some commotion and then I hear it . The sound of someone vomiting. The person was located on the other side of the theater and you could see them moving. Remember there is an extremely important and moving scene on the stage but all attention is on the person vomiting. A women comes in and ushers the sick person and family out of the theater and then moves the people in the row directly behind them the empty seats at the back of the theater.
The commotion dies down and I try to refocus my attention on the play but I keep glancing over and I see the people in the nearest row using their shirts to cover their noses and making gagging noises and faces. I really tried to ignore them but I couldn't. I just kept looking over. Then about five minutes later I started to focus on the play again when a manager guy comes in with what looks like a giant baggie and proceeds to clean up the mess. Again distracted Candy. I don't believe that the remaining portions of the play ever got my full attention. I just couldn't stop giggling in my head. Someone vomited in the theater. Gross!
Now for my shiny eyed musings. This was one of the best productions of Romeo and Juliet I have ever witnessed. They changed the setting to be 1940 racially charged America. The Montague family was an affluent black family and the Capulet family was an affluent white family. They did an extremely great job of adapting the familiar story to this new setting. They still utilized much of Shakespeare's original script and anything they added was written in traditional Shakespearean style. Bravo! I am not a huge Shakespeare's fan mostly because if not done well, the language confuses me. But, this version was outstanding and kept me enthralled the entire time (except for the vomiting).
March 9, 2010
March 8, 2010
&*###@$^^&&**(
Doesn't the title say it all. I am angry because it seems to me that all things technological are breaking on me. The latest thing being my home internet. It hasn't been working very effectively for the last two weeks, but I have been ignoring it and connecting to a neighbors unsecured network. Every time I would think about the problem it would confound me because I just couldn't come up with an answer as to why I was having problems.
Saturday was the last straw as everything stopped working. No internet anywhere, even the 360! I assure you I act like a spoiled child when my toys are not working for me. On Sunday, I told my long and sad story to ems just to get it of of my chest, and hoping that I would have a flash of brilliance that would solve my problem. Unfortunately, my brilliance was dulled on Sunday and no fix came to me. Ems decided that Z would be able to fix my problem and with a bit of encouragement he said he would try to help me. After my long and dull explanation he thought my problem might stem from a windows update problem.
Did I mention that I disabled all windows updates? I mean ALL of them! This means when I reformatted my hard drive in December and reinitialized Vista that I never processed any updates. Yea...there was a crap load of updates. The process took about 2.5 hours and I went home cautiously optimistic that everything was going to work. Guess what? My fucking internet still didn't work. I was dejected and obsessed with this problem. I went to bed on Sunday night consumed with thoughts about possible problems and fixes. I believe one of them involved me smashing every electronic devise (internet, laptop, phone, IPod) that didn't work properly with a baseball bat. I am glad that my violent tendencies dissipate quickly.
The entire time I was at work on Monday I was preoccupied with the internet problem. I spoke with a few friends in our IT department and they gave me a couple ideas but I knew my first order of action was to call Comcast when I arrived home. Upon arriving home I receiving the cold shoulder from the roommate, I believe she didn't appreciate being home all day sans internet. O well and sorry about your luck! I started some laundry, put the groceries away, carried in my newly acquired coffee table and then tried to mentally prepare myself for a phone call to Comcast customer service.
This phone call actually went a bit better than expected. Fairly early on we discovered that the modem was working properly so we focused on the wireless router. We tried to do a few diagnosing things to no avail. I was able to direct wire my laptop to the modem and viola the internet worked. It seemed like a miracle but I knew it wasn't an option to sit on the floor in the spare room every time I wanted to use the internet. That was so not a practical option. For some reason near the end of the conversation she had me disable all wireless networks. This piece of information comes up a bit later but hello...that isn't going to help me log on to any network.
Now that the problem is narrowed down to the wireless router I gather more Patience and make my second annoying phone call of the night. It only takes about fifteen minutes to reach a human who has some questionable English skills. I giver her my information and product information and ten minutes later she comes back to tell me that I am no longer covered under my warranty. Apparently, it ended in November 2009. Seriously! She gave me three options which were ridiculous.
#1) I can purchase an additional 1 day warranty for $29.99, and that will cover her helping me fix my router problems for the next 24 hours.
#2) I can purchase a six month warranty package for $39.00.
#3) Do nothing.
My first response was, "No Thanks, I can purchase a new router for $50, therefore it isn't logical to me to purchase an additional warranty on a product that may or may not still work." She then pipes up with the following offer:
Linksys: If you are considering purchasing a new router I can sell you one for $59.99....bla bla bla marketing stuff.
Me: Is that ### model number? (I had just looked up Linksys wireless routers on Amazon and I wanted to compare prices.)
Linksys: No it isn't. But I can sell you that upgraded modeled for a discounted price of $79.99.
Me: I can purchase that model on Amazon for $59.99
Linksys: Our product will include free shipping.
Me: So will Amazon's.
Me: What was the model number of item your first offered to me at $59.99.
Linksys: That is a lesser quality product, but the model number is ####.
Me: That product is available on Amazon for $39.99.
This conversation finally ended a few minutes later but I was horrified that she kept trying to get me to purchase the router from her when I could clearly get it from Amazon for $20 less. I guess she took her job seriously. My anger level was pretty high after this second phone call as my problem still wasn't fixed.
I called Lou and hoped he would answer (he had been gone to Great Wolf Lodge for two days) as I really needed to vent. I was happy that he answered his phone and I asked him if he had 10 minutes to listen to me whine and complain about my internet problem. I assure you this wasn't the first time he had heard about it. I started speaking at hyper speed with my brain racing along at an even faster pace. He is used to my hyperness and he listened patiently to my entire story and then he said the most beautiful sentence.
"Candy, I have an extra router if you want it!" OMG ... finally some positive news. I said I would be right over. He was like now? I said yes...it was about 8:00pm. I raced over to his house wearing my crop pant PJ bottoms, T-Shirt and flip flops. I am sure I was under-dressed. While driving I was hoping that he would be able to find all of the components and I would really be able to fix my problem. Hurray, he did! I arrived home 30 minutes later with my new router and disk.
It took me another hour or so to properly install all of the components while I was trying to cook dinner, clean and work on laundry. I finally put food in my mouth at 9pm and it was horrible. I shoved in enough so I wouldn't feel so hungry anymore and pushed the rest aside to finish my tasks. I finished my instillation at about 10pm which means I had been working on this task for four hours. Woa! The earlier referenced disabling of my entire network threw me off for a bit, but I am glad that I remembered how to enable it again.
I hope you have all enjoyed meeting tenacious Candy tonight. This is how I get when I encounter a problem that I think I can fix. I just don't stop, even when logic tells me I should, until I have finished the task. This quality is good some of the time and very bad some of the time. This time it was good as the end result was home internet!
****Rapid Clapping of my Hands*****
Finally, closure to my problem.
Saturday was the last straw as everything stopped working. No internet anywhere, even the 360! I assure you I act like a spoiled child when my toys are not working for me. On Sunday, I told my long and sad story to ems just to get it of of my chest, and hoping that I would have a flash of brilliance that would solve my problem. Unfortunately, my brilliance was dulled on Sunday and no fix came to me. Ems decided that Z would be able to fix my problem and with a bit of encouragement he said he would try to help me. After my long and dull explanation he thought my problem might stem from a windows update problem.
Did I mention that I disabled all windows updates? I mean ALL of them! This means when I reformatted my hard drive in December and reinitialized Vista that I never processed any updates. Yea...there was a crap load of updates. The process took about 2.5 hours and I went home cautiously optimistic that everything was going to work. Guess what? My fucking internet still didn't work. I was dejected and obsessed with this problem. I went to bed on Sunday night consumed with thoughts about possible problems and fixes. I believe one of them involved me smashing every electronic devise (internet, laptop, phone, IPod) that didn't work properly with a baseball bat. I am glad that my violent tendencies dissipate quickly.
The entire time I was at work on Monday I was preoccupied with the internet problem. I spoke with a few friends in our IT department and they gave me a couple ideas but I knew my first order of action was to call Comcast when I arrived home. Upon arriving home I receiving the cold shoulder from the roommate, I believe she didn't appreciate being home all day sans internet. O well and sorry about your luck! I started some laundry, put the groceries away, carried in my newly acquired coffee table and then tried to mentally prepare myself for a phone call to Comcast customer service.
This phone call actually went a bit better than expected. Fairly early on we discovered that the modem was working properly so we focused on the wireless router. We tried to do a few diagnosing things to no avail. I was able to direct wire my laptop to the modem and viola the internet worked. It seemed like a miracle but I knew it wasn't an option to sit on the floor in the spare room every time I wanted to use the internet. That was so not a practical option. For some reason near the end of the conversation she had me disable all wireless networks. This piece of information comes up a bit later but hello...that isn't going to help me log on to any network.
Now that the problem is narrowed down to the wireless router I gather more Patience and make my second annoying phone call of the night. It only takes about fifteen minutes to reach a human who has some questionable English skills. I giver her my information and product information and ten minutes later she comes back to tell me that I am no longer covered under my warranty. Apparently, it ended in November 2009. Seriously! She gave me three options which were ridiculous.
#1) I can purchase an additional 1 day warranty for $29.99, and that will cover her helping me fix my router problems for the next 24 hours.
#2) I can purchase a six month warranty package for $39.00.
#3) Do nothing.
My first response was, "No Thanks, I can purchase a new router for $50, therefore it isn't logical to me to purchase an additional warranty on a product that may or may not still work." She then pipes up with the following offer:
Linksys: If you are considering purchasing a new router I can sell you one for $59.99....bla bla bla marketing stuff.
Me: Is that ### model number? (I had just looked up Linksys wireless routers on Amazon and I wanted to compare prices.)
Linksys: No it isn't. But I can sell you that upgraded modeled for a discounted price of $79.99.
Me: I can purchase that model on Amazon for $59.99
Linksys: Our product will include free shipping.
Me: So will Amazon's.
Me: What was the model number of item your first offered to me at $59.99.
Linksys: That is a lesser quality product, but the model number is ####.
Me: That product is available on Amazon for $39.99.
This conversation finally ended a few minutes later but I was horrified that she kept trying to get me to purchase the router from her when I could clearly get it from Amazon for $20 less. I guess she took her job seriously. My anger level was pretty high after this second phone call as my problem still wasn't fixed.
I called Lou and hoped he would answer (he had been gone to Great Wolf Lodge for two days) as I really needed to vent. I was happy that he answered his phone and I asked him if he had 10 minutes to listen to me whine and complain about my internet problem. I assure you this wasn't the first time he had heard about it. I started speaking at hyper speed with my brain racing along at an even faster pace. He is used to my hyperness and he listened patiently to my entire story and then he said the most beautiful sentence.
"Candy, I have an extra router if you want it!" OMG ... finally some positive news. I said I would be right over. He was like now? I said yes...it was about 8:00pm. I raced over to his house wearing my crop pant PJ bottoms, T-Shirt and flip flops. I am sure I was under-dressed. While driving I was hoping that he would be able to find all of the components and I would really be able to fix my problem. Hurray, he did! I arrived home 30 minutes later with my new router and disk.
It took me another hour or so to properly install all of the components while I was trying to cook dinner, clean and work on laundry. I finally put food in my mouth at 9pm and it was horrible. I shoved in enough so I wouldn't feel so hungry anymore and pushed the rest aside to finish my tasks. I finished my instillation at about 10pm which means I had been working on this task for four hours. Woa! The earlier referenced disabling of my entire network threw me off for a bit, but I am glad that I remembered how to enable it again.
I hope you have all enjoyed meeting tenacious Candy tonight. This is how I get when I encounter a problem that I think I can fix. I just don't stop, even when logic tells me I should, until I have finished the task. This quality is good some of the time and very bad some of the time. This time it was good as the end result was home internet!
****Rapid Clapping of my Hands*****
Finally, closure to my problem.
February 21, 2010
CPA Exam
I was talking to my boss on Friday and the the topic of the CPA certification came up. He was talking about preparing for it and how much it would help his career to make that step. I feel like my boss and I have had a very similar career path and education level. This conversation put this idea back into my head.
I have considered working toward the CPA certification in the past but I have always dismissed this idea. Most of my verbalized dismissals are excuses that stem from my internal doubts. I have always worried that I wasn't smart enough to pass the test. I have had people tell me that they think I am smart enough but that still doesn't shut up the internal mean voice in my head that tells me that I am not. I worry about failing. It is almost as if I don't want to try because I don't want to fail. As I was writing that sentence I realized how insane it sounded, except that still doesn't make me feel any different.
If I can get past the self doubts of failing then I encounter the discipline problem. I have always had an easy time in school and most of the time I didn't need to study. I could just show up for class, pay attention and listen and I would do decently on my exams. However, I don't think I could just walk into the CPA exam and pass. I know it is going to take daily discipline to study and learn this material. It has been a very long time since I have studied most of the material that will be covered and I am not really sure I digested it the first time. Also, I don't use most of this material in my job so it is never being reinforced in my brain.
The main reason for partaking in this challenge is for more and better career opportunities. As many of you know I feel like my current job is slowly sucking the life out of me. This has to stop, but I am not sure that I have the required experience and skills necessary to make the next big leap in my career. I am sure if I become a CPA, doors will open for me that remain closed today.
Upon discussing this idea with a friend yesterday she asked me if I thought that was the kind of job I wanted. Hmmm...that was a very good question. Do I want a job that will require more of my time? I think not. But the rewards for more of my time and additional responsibility is more money. It is quite a conundrum.
So I guess I am looking for some positive encouragement. I want you to tell me I am smart enough and be sincere enough that I might actually believe you. But, how am I going to fix the discipline problem? I mean it isn't as if it is going to be fun. It is nothing like playing Rock Band or Oblivion.
I have considered working toward the CPA certification in the past but I have always dismissed this idea. Most of my verbalized dismissals are excuses that stem from my internal doubts. I have always worried that I wasn't smart enough to pass the test. I have had people tell me that they think I am smart enough but that still doesn't shut up the internal mean voice in my head that tells me that I am not. I worry about failing. It is almost as if I don't want to try because I don't want to fail. As I was writing that sentence I realized how insane it sounded, except that still doesn't make me feel any different.
If I can get past the self doubts of failing then I encounter the discipline problem. I have always had an easy time in school and most of the time I didn't need to study. I could just show up for class, pay attention and listen and I would do decently on my exams. However, I don't think I could just walk into the CPA exam and pass. I know it is going to take daily discipline to study and learn this material. It has been a very long time since I have studied most of the material that will be covered and I am not really sure I digested it the first time. Also, I don't use most of this material in my job so it is never being reinforced in my brain.
The main reason for partaking in this challenge is for more and better career opportunities. As many of you know I feel like my current job is slowly sucking the life out of me. This has to stop, but I am not sure that I have the required experience and skills necessary to make the next big leap in my career. I am sure if I become a CPA, doors will open for me that remain closed today.
Upon discussing this idea with a friend yesterday she asked me if I thought that was the kind of job I wanted. Hmmm...that was a very good question. Do I want a job that will require more of my time? I think not. But the rewards for more of my time and additional responsibility is more money. It is quite a conundrum.
So I guess I am looking for some positive encouragement. I want you to tell me I am smart enough and be sincere enough that I might actually believe you. But, how am I going to fix the discipline problem? I mean it isn't as if it is going to be fun. It is nothing like playing Rock Band or Oblivion.
February 18, 2010
Why I am Happy Today
Hi little blog, I have missed you. I have been bitten with a bit of apathy and writers block for the last several weeks and I feel like I am coming out of it today. I thought I would tell you some of the things that are making me happy. BTW...these are in no particular order.
1. No roommate when I arrived home. Woot...some much needed alone time.
2. I made a delicious dinner tonight and everything was cooked properly. Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage on a bun with grilled onions and peppers...very delightful!
3. I had a fun and silly debate with a friend today. I feel that has been lacking in my life lately, look for more of this behavior in the future. BTW...I do think you need to wear a helmet when rollerblading.
4. I got another achievement on Oblivion tonight and I feel like I am making some good progression in the game. What is Oblivion you say...it is a RPG game for my new to me XBox 360.
5. While I was eating my packed lunch, I finished reading "The Man in the High Castle".
6. Cute kitty Sparks is cuddling with me on the couch.
7. I can see the end of winter. I know it must be it's last leg.
8. I am enjoying some exciting events in the Winter Olympics. Shaun White flies so high!
9. I have recently discovered some new to me bands that have been dominating my IPod play. So Cow has a nice rough sound and Cold War Kids give me much to think about.
10. Of course I cannot forget Waffles and Rock Band!
1. No roommate when I arrived home. Woot...some much needed alone time.
2. I made a delicious dinner tonight and everything was cooked properly. Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage on a bun with grilled onions and peppers...very delightful!
3. I had a fun and silly debate with a friend today. I feel that has been lacking in my life lately, look for more of this behavior in the future. BTW...I do think you need to wear a helmet when rollerblading.
4. I got another achievement on Oblivion tonight and I feel like I am making some good progression in the game. What is Oblivion you say...it is a RPG game for my new to me XBox 360.
5. While I was eating my packed lunch, I finished reading "The Man in the High Castle".
6. Cute kitty Sparks is cuddling with me on the couch.
7. I can see the end of winter. I know it must be it's last leg.
8. I am enjoying some exciting events in the Winter Olympics. Shaun White flies so high!
9. I have recently discovered some new to me bands that have been dominating my IPod play. So Cow has a nice rough sound and Cold War Kids give me much to think about.
10. Of course I cannot forget Waffles and Rock Band!
January 27, 2010
Progress Report
As many of you may know, I have been on a long and winding road of weight loss and exercise. On November 30, 2009 I took body measurements in several key areas with my trainer at the gym. I decided to update my measurements tonight and to my great delight, I have made some noteworthy progress in the last two months.
1. I have lost a total of 17 inches in 14 areas.
2. I have lost 3.5 inches in my chest. I know...girls don't usually like to loose in this area...but I am quite happy with the results.
3. I have lost 1 inch in each bicep.
4. I have lost 2.5 inches in my hips.
5. I have lost 1.5 inches in my R thigh and .5 inch in my L thigh. But, at least they are now both the same size.
I have been doing a ton of weight training so I began to think that I was getting stronger. Last week I was feeling especially cocky so I wrote my little brother an email requesting an arm wresting contest. I was humble when I wrote this email and said that I didn't think I could beat him but I wanted to try. What I really was thinking was there was an itsy bitsy chance that I might actually beat him. My brother doesn't do any working out but he is a normal enough man when it comes to his natural muscular abilities. He is also about 10 inches taller than me and I think his femur is a good four inches longer than mine. So just with leverage he had quite an advantage.
Friday came and I went to his house for some homemade pizza and Mario. Shortly after I arrived I reminded him of my proposed contest. We sat down at the kitchen table and a couple of the children gathered around us. However, I am not sure who they were rooting for. We clasped hands and WHAM...my hand was immediately on the table. I tried again and again and again...and he kept easily beating me. Little Bastard! I told him to give me a slight break and let me try my hardest without him immediately laying me out on the table. I still didn't win but I held him off for a good 20 or so seconds of me scrunched up my face and groaning. He told me when we were finished that I made him use about 75% of his available strength.
So I think we should have a rematch in about four month and I can measure that progress. However, if I actually do get close to beating him I am not sure his pride will actually let him admit it;) Game on Lou!
Workout Stats:
I can do about 15 traditional push-ups without collapsing. Hell Yea...there are no girlie push-ups in my regime!
I can do about 30 leg lifts with 160 pounds. My god that is another person!
I can do about 50 lunges holding 40 pounds.
I can bench press about 30 pounds.
I can endure Evil Trainer Mandy for 60 minutes;)
O...I have also lost about four pounds in January so my no eating in the evening decision could be working. This brings me to a total weight loss of about 35 pounds in the last year or so. Woot! Woot!
1. I have lost a total of 17 inches in 14 areas.
2. I have lost 3.5 inches in my chest. I know...girls don't usually like to loose in this area...but I am quite happy with the results.
3. I have lost 1 inch in each bicep.
4. I have lost 2.5 inches in my hips.
5. I have lost 1.5 inches in my R thigh and .5 inch in my L thigh. But, at least they are now both the same size.
I have been doing a ton of weight training so I began to think that I was getting stronger. Last week I was feeling especially cocky so I wrote my little brother an email requesting an arm wresting contest. I was humble when I wrote this email and said that I didn't think I could beat him but I wanted to try. What I really was thinking was there was an itsy bitsy chance that I might actually beat him. My brother doesn't do any working out but he is a normal enough man when it comes to his natural muscular abilities. He is also about 10 inches taller than me and I think his femur is a good four inches longer than mine. So just with leverage he had quite an advantage.
Friday came and I went to his house for some homemade pizza and Mario. Shortly after I arrived I reminded him of my proposed contest. We sat down at the kitchen table and a couple of the children gathered around us. However, I am not sure who they were rooting for. We clasped hands and WHAM...my hand was immediately on the table. I tried again and again and again...and he kept easily beating me. Little Bastard! I told him to give me a slight break and let me try my hardest without him immediately laying me out on the table. I still didn't win but I held him off for a good 20 or so seconds of me scrunched up my face and groaning. He told me when we were finished that I made him use about 75% of his available strength.
So I think we should have a rematch in about four month and I can measure that progress. However, if I actually do get close to beating him I am not sure his pride will actually let him admit it;) Game on Lou!
Workout Stats:
I can do about 15 traditional push-ups without collapsing. Hell Yea...there are no girlie push-ups in my regime!
I can do about 30 leg lifts with 160 pounds. My god that is another person!
I can do about 50 lunges holding 40 pounds.
I can bench press about 30 pounds.
I can endure Evil Trainer Mandy for 60 minutes;)
O...I have also lost about four pounds in January so my no eating in the evening decision could be working. This brings me to a total weight loss of about 35 pounds in the last year or so. Woot! Woot!
January 21, 2010
Financial Diet
My checkbook and I recently had a heart to heart talk and we decided I needed to curtail my spending. It went something like this:
CB: Gee…my balance sure is low
ME: Please stay positive…I am sure I will be paid soon
CB: I would appreciate less swipes at restaurants
ME: I know…I know
CB: Vacations will need to be put on hold for a while
ME: PLEASE NOT THAT!
Seriously, I really need to make some changes in my current lifestyle. The biggest is my dining out budget. I know I want to eat out but I need to put a limit on it. I think I am going to start with $150 a month. Please understand when you ask me to go out and I have to say no….it is really going to hurt. I propose more social engagements at people’s houses and free activities. Biking season cannot get here soon enough for me.
Vacations…Vacations…Vacations…How am I going to go a year without you? I could possibly dive into the debts of despair. Ok…so I don’t think there will be none. But, I don’t foresee a fancy overseas trip anytime soon. I know I want to take my yearly visit to NYC and perhaps a couple smaller long weekend trips in the US.
The other big budget item I am giving up is my personal training. I am extremely sad over this decision. I know it is the right financial move but I will really miss this weekly event. I told the trainer and my training partner about it tonight and they were very sad. They tried to think of ways we could still do it...but I had to be firm and say NO. Ugg...that was hard.
Being a financially responsible adult sucks!
CB: Gee…my balance sure is low
ME: Please stay positive…I am sure I will be paid soon
CB: I would appreciate less swipes at restaurants
ME: I know…I know
CB: Vacations will need to be put on hold for a while
ME: PLEASE NOT THAT!
Seriously, I really need to make some changes in my current lifestyle. The biggest is my dining out budget. I know I want to eat out but I need to put a limit on it. I think I am going to start with $150 a month. Please understand when you ask me to go out and I have to say no….it is really going to hurt. I propose more social engagements at people’s houses and free activities. Biking season cannot get here soon enough for me.
Vacations…Vacations…Vacations…How am I going to go a year without you? I could possibly dive into the debts of despair. Ok…so I don’t think there will be none. But, I don’t foresee a fancy overseas trip anytime soon. I know I want to take my yearly visit to NYC and perhaps a couple smaller long weekend trips in the US.
The other big budget item I am giving up is my personal training. I am extremely sad over this decision. I know it is the right financial move but I will really miss this weekly event. I told the trainer and my training partner about it tonight and they were very sad. They tried to think of ways we could still do it...but I had to be firm and say NO. Ugg...that was hard.
Being a financially responsible adult sucks!
January 12, 2010
I am a Daydream Believer
Do you ever daydream? I do! I recently become aware of the quantity of time I spend daydreaming each day. What kind of thinking is a daydream? I don’t include thinking of everyday stuff like making a mental list of errands or thinking about a future social event. I would consider daydreams as thinking about things that could happen, perhaps unlikely, but are not necessarily based on my real life. Ok...I do think of things that have ZERO chance of happening...like riding to Mars on the space shuttle.
When the glass shattered and I started to keep track of my daydreaming I was amazed to discover that I spend an average of two hours a day on this activity. Go ahead and gasp...I did. Sometimes I do it in short 10 minute increments and other times I can do it for 30 to 45 minutes at a time.
I will provide you with an example from this morning. I woke up to my three obnoxious alarms and I killed the beeping one. I then decided to be irresponsible and go back to bed and listen to the radio for a few minutes. The commentators were talking about the Colts playoff game on Saturday and how you could win two free tickets if you call in and give a clever answer to what we should call the opposing team (I cannot remember the team name;). Anyways my brain begins to engage in a dream about winning the tickets (even though I never had any intention of calling the radio station) and who I would share them with and what it would be like to go to the game. I assure you I generally don't ever think about going to sporting events but I had a pretty extensive fantasy going for about fifteen minutes. I managed to keep thinking about it after I got up and I was engaging in my morning routine. Weird!
I do this all day long. I will often find myself looking out the window at work dreaming about something outside the context of reality. These daydreams encompass a variety of topics and locals. I find that I do this when my brain isn't otherwise engaged in a specific task or conversation.
I never hear my friends talking about this topic and I was wondering if other people spend time in this endeavor? Do you wish you could do it more or less? Do you dwell on specific topics?
When the glass shattered and I started to keep track of my daydreaming I was amazed to discover that I spend an average of two hours a day on this activity. Go ahead and gasp...I did. Sometimes I do it in short 10 minute increments and other times I can do it for 30 to 45 minutes at a time.
I will provide you with an example from this morning. I woke up to my three obnoxious alarms and I killed the beeping one. I then decided to be irresponsible and go back to bed and listen to the radio for a few minutes. The commentators were talking about the Colts playoff game on Saturday and how you could win two free tickets if you call in and give a clever answer to what we should call the opposing team (I cannot remember the team name;). Anyways my brain begins to engage in a dream about winning the tickets (even though I never had any intention of calling the radio station) and who I would share them with and what it would be like to go to the game. I assure you I generally don't ever think about going to sporting events but I had a pretty extensive fantasy going for about fifteen minutes. I managed to keep thinking about it after I got up and I was engaging in my morning routine. Weird!
I do this all day long. I will often find myself looking out the window at work dreaming about something outside the context of reality. These daydreams encompass a variety of topics and locals. I find that I do this when my brain isn't otherwise engaged in a specific task or conversation.
I never hear my friends talking about this topic and I was wondering if other people spend time in this endeavor? Do you wish you could do it more or less? Do you dwell on specific topics?
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