house

Shields Are Down, Captain!

For all of you out there who have been waiting for your opportunity to burglarize my house… Hmm. That sounded like a cute opening when I thought of it, but now it’s just creepy. Moving on…

Last week, there was a power surge at home while I was at work. Aaron says that the TV turned off, his computer restarted, the XBox 360 threw the scary error that means it’s fried (it’s not, don’t worry), and our home security system started beeping. Turns out everything’s OK… except the security system. It’s hosed.

Now, we only signed up for the service because 1.) the system was already installed when we bought the house, and 2.) I failed to read the fine print that locked us into a FIVE-YEAR contract, of which we have now completed three. According to the technician that looked at our system today, we may have to upgrade our security system instead of simply having it fixed. Our model has been long discontinued, and even the next model up from ours hasn’t had parts available locally for over seven years.

We’re hoping to either get a major discount on an upgrade, or get out of the remainder of our contract. I’m really hoping for the latter. Over $80 per quarter is a little steep for a service we only use when we go out of town.

So, now our perimeter is wide open (yes, our doors and windows still lock), and the ever-present keypad night-light is now dark. Good thing Mom’s going to house-sit while we’re in Japan…

ruminations

Realization

I wrote a blog entry on Friday — at work, and e-mailed it to myself at home for posting later — about my shitty morning commute and how people pissed me off and how I reacted.

After sitting and stewing all Friday morning, then recovering all afternoon and getting back to normal, I came to realize that I was just being an asshole. The story really isn’t worth posting. Although I’m saving it in my Gmail for posterity. 🙂

weight loss 2 Comments

Part of the Elite Few

I guess I never realized that I’m one of only 5% of dieters who have kept off the weight long-term. (Does three to four years count as long-term?) Sure, I gained back 10 of my 50; but I lost it again, plus more.

Check out the article 5 Secrets of the 5% at SparkPeople to find out how I did it. Apparently.

Actually, they’re not far off the mark. I just hadn’t thought about it.

P.S. – If anyone’s interested, I’m down to 197 lbs.

house, japan trip 2007, the ongoing saga of my job, weight loss

Life Is Good.

Furniture was delivered Saturday afternoon. Only major downside was that the old couch didn’t fit through the basement door, so the entire point of buying a new couch (so we could put the old one in the basement) was nullified. On the upside: we have a giant, nine-foot pillow-back sofa on which to lounge; a new, smaller dining room table with non-80’s chairs and a bench; and after our return from Nihon, we will have a new massagey recliner.

In other news, Aaron has determined the status of his passport. Due to our change in departure date, it hasn’t yet been processed, even though he applied for it back in February. It has now been expedited, and should be on its way by week’s end. Which is still calling it close, and may mean that we’ll need to obtain our Ghibli Museum vouchers after we arrive in Nihon instead of in advance.

Weight has stabilized at 198 pounds. I’m OK with that for now. Slow and steady weight loss means it’s more likely to stay off. I won’t make my goal of 190 by Japan, but so be it. I still intend to eat heartily while we’re on vacation.

I am SO almost done with my freelance project. I’m hitting some snags with programming the content management system, and I’m going to just have to set some strictures on what it can and can’t do. I can’t make it account for every possible instance of weirdness. Hopefully, the client will be accepting of that. Honestly, though, I’m really just glad to have it done. I don’t know if I’ll get the remainder of my pay by the time we leave for Japan, which is unfortunate… but, again, I’m OK with that. Between Aaron and myself, we have enough money saved up to have a sufficiently good time.

Yes, indeed… life is good.