Various and sundry
1) I still don't have Internet, HELLO. (This entry brought to you from the ex-housemate's house!)
2) My cellphone reception is spotty at best.
3) I have a land line, but I don't have a telephone (I thought it was packed for yesterday's delivery, and it wasn't) to test it out, let alone get the people to wave whatever magic wand they wave to connect my number to the keypad at the entrance so that visitors can ring to be let in.
4) My walk-in closet reeked of cat urine, despite saturating it with vinegar & water. It now smells faintly of industrial strength cleanser. Guess who now refuses to get a cat, thanks to that little reminder. Just guess.
5) I have a short laundry list of other things that maintenance needs to look into, but apart from 4), they are fairly minor, and I'm happy with things as they are. VERY happy with the fact that I can frequently just turn the heat off all together, for hours, and be comfortable.
I'm still trying to figure out how I can afford to have any substantial amount of time off work while Paul's here which is why I've continued to hedge over requesting time off. I need to set aside my income tax return and the second quarter of my hire on bonus once they come in, pay all my bills a month in advance, then figure out what I actually have left over after that. Jay just scoffed when I said I was going to be taking time off and how I wasn't sure how I would be able to make that happen. "Welcome to being an adult." Yeah, to go from having a part-time job and no bills (except for student loans) to a full-time job with full-time bills and suddenly adult concerns... that kinda bites.
The cost to repair my car is now OFFICIALLY more than the car itself is worth, to the tune of $900. It is still limping along, but the entire exhaust system has been glued back together so many times that there really isn't anything salvageable, at least according to the guy at Meineke who pulled me under the car and pointed at the various bits broken off here, here, here and there and where they were broken. The mechanic tied things up and together so that they wouldn't drag along the road any longer while obviously not guaranteeing how long that would last. (It went from my oxygen sensor dangling to my entire catalytic converter scraping along the road on the way back from Boswell. Ever get the feeling that you're holding your car together by sheer force of will? Yeah.)
Oh, yeah, and I just bought furniture even though I wasn't going to, thanks to the twelve months no interest & no payments plan. I can have everything paid off in 6-9 months, according to my math. Mattress, box springs, frame, couch, chair, TV stand, dinette set. Yesterday, Raymond & Co delivered my desk, a bedside table, my chest of drawers, my papasan (a little the worse for wear), and a small bookcase (with some books to go on it, but hello, lots more books to transport).
I'm really, really seriously considering consolidating my school loans even though I don't want to because consolidation turns ten years of repayment into a gazillion. But my current repayment plan eats $700 of my monthly income and that hurts like a motherfucker.
My next step in adulthood is trying to figure out how I can talk Paul into staying long enough for me to NOT have to struggle financially to become a Proper Nurse, with a verbal agreement (and a handshake, if necessary) that we would be relocating to England. I think, even in this struggling economy, I could find him a job here if he was willing to be even a little bit flexible. The easiest way to go about getting a green OK_to_work_here stamp on his forehead is the big pink elephant in the room that neither of us have talked about because... well, we just haven't. I've sneaked up on it, moseyed around it, gestured discreetly, and said Some Nonspecific Things about Really Wanting To Move To England Once I'm Able To, Honest, And Oh, By The Way, Did I Mention How Gosh Darn Important You Are To Me And Do I Really Have To Spell It Out You Idiot? (The response has been: I really don't want you to move here just for me only to be miserable when you could be sampling things on your own terms, that's a terrifying concept, and yes, of course you do because you know me by now, silly colonial, and if it doesn't actually go right over my head, which it very well might have, I can totally pretend that it does.)
Except for seeing Taken recently (which was quite a good action-and-nothing-else flick, probably not very rewatchable but quite enjoyable in the cinema) and working, my life has stalled out accordingly.
Actually, speaking of work, my levels of satisfaction have been better now that I'm not being grumpy and bummed out. My quiet grumbling may well come back to bite me in the butt since Cathy has talked about pulling me upstairs to rehab (the CRAZY unit) since she needs someone who isn't an idiot that she can actually rely on. That's cool and flattering as all hell but ahhh, the crazy.
2) My cellphone reception is spotty at best.
3) I have a land line, but I don't have a telephone (I thought it was packed for yesterday's delivery, and it wasn't) to test it out, let alone get the people to wave whatever magic wand they wave to connect my number to the keypad at the entrance so that visitors can ring to be let in.
4) My walk-in closet reeked of cat urine, despite saturating it with vinegar & water. It now smells faintly of industrial strength cleanser. Guess who now refuses to get a cat, thanks to that little reminder. Just guess.
5) I have a short laundry list of other things that maintenance needs to look into, but apart from 4), they are fairly minor, and I'm happy with things as they are. VERY happy with the fact that I can frequently just turn the heat off all together, for hours, and be comfortable.
I'm still trying to figure out how I can afford to have any substantial amount of time off work while Paul's here which is why I've continued to hedge over requesting time off. I need to set aside my income tax return and the second quarter of my hire on bonus once they come in, pay all my bills a month in advance, then figure out what I actually have left over after that. Jay just scoffed when I said I was going to be taking time off and how I wasn't sure how I would be able to make that happen. "Welcome to being an adult." Yeah, to go from having a part-time job and no bills (except for student loans) to a full-time job with full-time bills and suddenly adult concerns... that kinda bites.
The cost to repair my car is now OFFICIALLY more than the car itself is worth, to the tune of $900. It is still limping along, but the entire exhaust system has been glued back together so many times that there really isn't anything salvageable, at least according to the guy at Meineke who pulled me under the car and pointed at the various bits broken off here, here, here and there and where they were broken. The mechanic tied things up and together so that they wouldn't drag along the road any longer while obviously not guaranteeing how long that would last. (It went from my oxygen sensor dangling to my entire catalytic converter scraping along the road on the way back from Boswell. Ever get the feeling that you're holding your car together by sheer force of will? Yeah.)
Oh, yeah, and I just bought furniture even though I wasn't going to, thanks to the twelve months no interest & no payments plan. I can have everything paid off in 6-9 months, according to my math. Mattress, box springs, frame, couch, chair, TV stand, dinette set. Yesterday, Raymond & Co delivered my desk, a bedside table, my chest of drawers, my papasan (a little the worse for wear), and a small bookcase (with some books to go on it, but hello, lots more books to transport).
I'm really, really seriously considering consolidating my school loans even though I don't want to because consolidation turns ten years of repayment into a gazillion. But my current repayment plan eats $700 of my monthly income and that hurts like a motherfucker.
My next step in adulthood is trying to figure out how I can talk Paul into staying long enough for me to NOT have to struggle financially to become a Proper Nurse, with a verbal agreement (and a handshake, if necessary) that we would be relocating to England. I think, even in this struggling economy, I could find him a job here if he was willing to be even a little bit flexible. The easiest way to go about getting a green OK_to_work_here stamp on his forehead is the big pink elephant in the room that neither of us have talked about because... well, we just haven't. I've sneaked up on it, moseyed around it, gestured discreetly, and said Some Nonspecific Things about Really Wanting To Move To England Once I'm Able To, Honest, And Oh, By The Way, Did I Mention How Gosh Darn Important You Are To Me And Do I Really Have To Spell It Out You Idiot? (The response has been: I really don't want you to move here just for me only to be miserable when you could be sampling things on your own terms, that's a terrifying concept, and yes, of course you do because you know me by now, silly colonial, and if it doesn't actually go right over my head, which it very well might have, I can totally pretend that it does.)
Except for seeing Taken recently (which was quite a good action-and-nothing-else flick, probably not very rewatchable but quite enjoyable in the cinema) and working, my life has stalled out accordingly.
Actually, speaking of work, my levels of satisfaction have been better now that I'm not being grumpy and bummed out. My quiet grumbling may well come back to bite me in the butt since Cathy has talked about pulling me upstairs to rehab (the CRAZY unit) since she needs someone who isn't an idiot that she can actually rely on. That's cool and flattering as all hell but ahhh, the crazy.