A fine morning to sleep in on, or tl;dr mit Uberreiniger
It has been a couple of busy weeks for me. I've kept meaning to get on LJ and talk about it but have either been too tired or too preoccupied to bother. Two weeks ago my team at work unexpectedly got moved to day shift. We go back to evenings today. But the change in schedules let me enjoy raiding in the evenings with my World of Warcraft guild - something I've really missed since I started this job. And I also got to go to rehearsal with the theatre group I'm involved in. The downside was the harsh reminder that I really am a night person and that as much as I like having my evenings free, I'm always going to hate getting up in the morning to go to work. I always feel very tired, sluggish, and almost ill at work in the daytime even when I've gotten plenty of sleep the night before. I hate not having my evenings free now, but am very glad to be back on a sleep schedule that fits my circadean rhythm.
Coinciding with the switch to days was the toothache I've been ignoring for some time now reaching unbearable levels. So I ate the fact that I do not have insurance and went to the dentist. Turns out the pain is from grinding my teeth. He did a little work that's taken care of things enough that I no longer wake up in agony in the middle of the night now. Unfortunately it's just a short term solution. I need two root canals and some more work besides. But hey, people in this country don't NEED better health coverage, right?
I don't want to go into detail, but this last couple of weeks has also seen me having trouble from one of my nastier creditors. I've got a date with them this month to work out a payment plan and get them to stop harassing me but doing so is going to leave me with virtually nothing from my paychecks. I'm already dealing with one creditor and trying to keep up with my car payments after all. At least I'm in a situation where I'm living rent free so it's not the end of the world. But the stress of dealing with these people is consuming and I'll be happier when I can just mail them checks and not have to talk to them anymore.
Once I set up my payments with the creditor it's going to be the end of fun money as I know it for the foreseeable future. Therefore I figured that if I needed or wanted things I had better buy them now while I still had the bulk of my paycheck sitting in my pocket where no one else could touch it. Friday night and Saturday were one epic shopping trip. I bought some new shirts, a new pair of pants for work, and a much-needed new pair of shoes. Those who follow me on Facebook know what an ordeal that was. In a nutshell, nobody around here sells the style and brand of shoes that I like. Friday night saw me go to five different stores in search of them. When I finally did find them they weren't in my size. Luckily the store had what I needed at another location nearby but since it was closing time I had to wait until Saturday to get them. It was worth the wait though. I'm very satisfied.
On Saturday I also sold off the last of my old books I no longer want. I've been doing this over the period of several weeks but this weekend I really hit the jackpot. Turned on some of the books I'd been hanging onto were actually on the store's list of merchandise they really wanted. This used bookstore also has a used cd section and as it so happened someone else's trash was there waiting to be my treasure. I walked out with the latest releases from Nile and Megadeth, along with a Dresden Dolls CD. Still having plenty of my book bounty left over, I wandered down to Streetside Records in Westport and also acquired the newest releases from Paradise Lost and Epica.
Probably the naughtiest thing I bought for myself this weekend, however, was an MP3 player. I've never really owned one unless you count the weird one my dad found at work that I never figured out how to use and eventually lost. This one's a Sandisk and fairly cheap but it's working for me so far. Things I've learned about Apple lately have made me never want an iPod or anything else they make. What I bought seems to work just as well. Plus the only iPod I could have afforded is one of those really tiny ones that's the size of a Lego brick and could easily be confused for a piece of chewing gum. I might finally be joining the 21st century and buying an MP3 player but I'm not caving into this obsession with having every piece of technology so small it's a choking hazard. For the same price as an Apple iSwallowedit I got a Sandisk Sansa that fits in the palm of my hand and has more storage space. Eat it, Jobs.
It was still an extremely impulsive purchase on my part. I rarely make them and if anything, I hate making them. But as I was sitting at home loading cd's onto my computer I finally had the moment of going "Damnit, I want this. And if I don't buy it now I won't have another chance for a long, long time." So it is done and I don't regret it. Now I can put my money toward debt, taxes, and the GRE less fettered by unfulfilled want.
Congratulations if you're still reading after all that. Sunday was the day I had really looked forward to. I went over to Lesley and zombiecowboy's house to rehearse for the theatre troupe again and to provide drumming accompaniment while the ladies bellydanced. I haven't gotten to drum in almost a year and I was terribly out of practice and kept missing beats. But Lesley complimented me afterward and said she was really glad and excited to be having me there to do it. It was definitely fun and since this is going to be an every Sunday thing I'm hoping I will soon be back in the groove, literally.
I really enjoy all the music I acquired this weekend, but The Dresden Dolls are getting the heaviest play right now. I'm definitely on an Amanda Palmer kick at the moment. I've got to say I like The Dresden Dolls better than her solo work. Her solo work's not bad, just different and the DD's fit my tastes a bit more squarely. It's too bad she killed the other Dresden Doll and used his sinews for ukulele strings. He joins a long and tragic musical graveyard whose cadavers include but are not limited to:
-Art Garfunkle
-DJ Jazzy Jeff
-The male members of No Doubt.
-The two Black Eyed Peas who aren't Fergie or will.i.am.
-Anyone from Destiny's Child who isn't named Beyonce
-Any Stray Cat who is not Brian Setzer
-That guy who founded Evanescence, then left because Amy Lee is a bitch.
-The guy from Wham! who wasn't George Michael... and later, George Michael.
RIP
Coinciding with the switch to days was the toothache I've been ignoring for some time now reaching unbearable levels. So I ate the fact that I do not have insurance and went to the dentist. Turns out the pain is from grinding my teeth. He did a little work that's taken care of things enough that I no longer wake up in agony in the middle of the night now. Unfortunately it's just a short term solution. I need two root canals and some more work besides. But hey, people in this country don't NEED better health coverage, right?
I don't want to go into detail, but this last couple of weeks has also seen me having trouble from one of my nastier creditors. I've got a date with them this month to work out a payment plan and get them to stop harassing me but doing so is going to leave me with virtually nothing from my paychecks. I'm already dealing with one creditor and trying to keep up with my car payments after all. At least I'm in a situation where I'm living rent free so it's not the end of the world. But the stress of dealing with these people is consuming and I'll be happier when I can just mail them checks and not have to talk to them anymore.
Once I set up my payments with the creditor it's going to be the end of fun money as I know it for the foreseeable future. Therefore I figured that if I needed or wanted things I had better buy them now while I still had the bulk of my paycheck sitting in my pocket where no one else could touch it. Friday night and Saturday were one epic shopping trip. I bought some new shirts, a new pair of pants for work, and a much-needed new pair of shoes. Those who follow me on Facebook know what an ordeal that was. In a nutshell, nobody around here sells the style and brand of shoes that I like. Friday night saw me go to five different stores in search of them. When I finally did find them they weren't in my size. Luckily the store had what I needed at another location nearby but since it was closing time I had to wait until Saturday to get them. It was worth the wait though. I'm very satisfied.
On Saturday I also sold off the last of my old books I no longer want. I've been doing this over the period of several weeks but this weekend I really hit the jackpot. Turned on some of the books I'd been hanging onto were actually on the store's list of merchandise they really wanted. This used bookstore also has a used cd section and as it so happened someone else's trash was there waiting to be my treasure. I walked out with the latest releases from Nile and Megadeth, along with a Dresden Dolls CD. Still having plenty of my book bounty left over, I wandered down to Streetside Records in Westport and also acquired the newest releases from Paradise Lost and Epica.
Probably the naughtiest thing I bought for myself this weekend, however, was an MP3 player. I've never really owned one unless you count the weird one my dad found at work that I never figured out how to use and eventually lost. This one's a Sandisk and fairly cheap but it's working for me so far. Things I've learned about Apple lately have made me never want an iPod or anything else they make. What I bought seems to work just as well. Plus the only iPod I could have afforded is one of those really tiny ones that's the size of a Lego brick and could easily be confused for a piece of chewing gum. I might finally be joining the 21st century and buying an MP3 player but I'm not caving into this obsession with having every piece of technology so small it's a choking hazard. For the same price as an Apple iSwallowedit I got a Sandisk Sansa that fits in the palm of my hand and has more storage space. Eat it, Jobs.
It was still an extremely impulsive purchase on my part. I rarely make them and if anything, I hate making them. But as I was sitting at home loading cd's onto my computer I finally had the moment of going "Damnit, I want this. And if I don't buy it now I won't have another chance for a long, long time." So it is done and I don't regret it. Now I can put my money toward debt, taxes, and the GRE less fettered by unfulfilled want.
Congratulations if you're still reading after all that. Sunday was the day I had really looked forward to. I went over to Lesley and zombiecowboy's house to rehearse for the theatre troupe again and to provide drumming accompaniment while the ladies bellydanced. I haven't gotten to drum in almost a year and I was terribly out of practice and kept missing beats. But Lesley complimented me afterward and said she was really glad and excited to be having me there to do it. It was definitely fun and since this is going to be an every Sunday thing I'm hoping I will soon be back in the groove, literally.
I really enjoy all the music I acquired this weekend, but The Dresden Dolls are getting the heaviest play right now. I'm definitely on an Amanda Palmer kick at the moment. I've got to say I like The Dresden Dolls better than her solo work. Her solo work's not bad, just different and the DD's fit my tastes a bit more squarely. It's too bad she killed the other Dresden Doll and used his sinews for ukulele strings. He joins a long and tragic musical graveyard whose cadavers include but are not limited to:
-Art Garfunkle
-DJ Jazzy Jeff
-The male members of No Doubt.
-The two Black Eyed Peas who aren't Fergie or will.i.am.
-Anyone from Destiny's Child who isn't named Beyonce
-Any Stray Cat who is not Brian Setzer
-That guy who founded Evanescence, then left because Amy Lee is a bitch.
-The guy from Wham! who wasn't George Michael... and later, George Michael.
RIP