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I know what happens when people suddenly stop updating LJ, because it's happening to me. I've been busy with my various projects, and there never seems to be enough time. LJ is falling down to the bottom of the list and also is seeming like a bit of an imposition. I also am having a tough time dealing with how contentious a lot of entries have been lately. I don't need to see that, but I haven't decided what I'm going to do about it.
Anyway, the beginning of the war was quite surreal over here. I checked on the internet, saw that nothing was happening, and went to dinner. By the time I came back, the war had started.
Because of the war, I finally caved in and ordered a satellite dish and service so that I could watch CNN. I've been enjoying DIRECTV at the exercise room at work.
I received my variable pay (yearly bonus) and bought a cat tree and a laser pointer for the cats. (Heh, I don't know what it says about me that when I get a little extra money, I spend it on the cats.) The cats go nuts over the laser pointer, even Random, who doesn't usually play with toys. Despite the cat spending, I've been bitten by the thrift bug and got a bunch of clothes at Goodwill and Ross, and shoes at Payless and Walmart. I'm slowly auditing my expenses to see what I can cut. My mom told me about a discount phone company that she joined called Talk America, which (among other savings) allows members to call other members long-distance for free. Most of my long-distance bill is for calls to her, so I could save a lot of money. At the very least, I should save enough to cover the bill for the satellite service. I'm weaning the cats onto a diet of dry food (instead of a mix of moist and dry), getting cottage cheese and pineapple to eat for breakfast rather than my more expensive Lean Cuisine french bread pizzas, and so forth. I even checked books out of the library. Not exciting, but absorbing and time-consuming. My goal is to free up more money for my 401K, and also a new car.
Things have not been going particularly well at work, but I'll be taking some classes to improve my credentials. I'm going to continue with my project management classes and study Linux as "officially sanctioned classes". Also, there are some online classes that are free to the particular division that I'm in, and I got permission to take some of those free classes on my own time. I'm planning to study C, C++, and Java.
I also have been looking for ways that I can start an eBay business part-time and make some extra money. I'd like to buy items at garage and estate sales to sell on eBay. The problem is that it's impossible to become an expert in everything that you could possibly find at a garage sale. I've also been reading a book on "lifestyle entrepreneurship", in which people come up with businesses that would support the life that they want to lead. They recommend coming up with businesses from a hobby. Well, I don't see myself with a greenhouse of orchids (though that would be fun), and everything having to do with cats has been done. (Although I think someone could make money making house calls to administer medicine to pets. Unfortunately I don't think that "someone" is me.) Anyway, I've decided to focus on watches and clocks. I'm not exactly a collector because I restrain myself, but they're something that I could see myself collecting. I'm going to start out learning prices. I'm thinking of learning watch repair as well. There's a shortage of people who know watch repair. I could see myself sometime having a small watch and clock shop that also provides watch and clock repair.
Anyway, the beginning of the war was quite surreal over here. I checked on the internet, saw that nothing was happening, and went to dinner. By the time I came back, the war had started.
Because of the war, I finally caved in and ordered a satellite dish and service so that I could watch CNN. I've been enjoying DIRECTV at the exercise room at work.
I received my variable pay (yearly bonus) and bought a cat tree and a laser pointer for the cats. (Heh, I don't know what it says about me that when I get a little extra money, I spend it on the cats.) The cats go nuts over the laser pointer, even Random, who doesn't usually play with toys. Despite the cat spending, I've been bitten by the thrift bug and got a bunch of clothes at Goodwill and Ross, and shoes at Payless and Walmart. I'm slowly auditing my expenses to see what I can cut. My mom told me about a discount phone company that she joined called Talk America, which (among other savings) allows members to call other members long-distance for free. Most of my long-distance bill is for calls to her, so I could save a lot of money. At the very least, I should save enough to cover the bill for the satellite service. I'm weaning the cats onto a diet of dry food (instead of a mix of moist and dry), getting cottage cheese and pineapple to eat for breakfast rather than my more expensive Lean Cuisine french bread pizzas, and so forth. I even checked books out of the library. Not exciting, but absorbing and time-consuming. My goal is to free up more money for my 401K, and also a new car.
Things have not been going particularly well at work, but I'll be taking some classes to improve my credentials. I'm going to continue with my project management classes and study Linux as "officially sanctioned classes". Also, there are some online classes that are free to the particular division that I'm in, and I got permission to take some of those free classes on my own time. I'm planning to study C, C++, and Java.
I also have been looking for ways that I can start an eBay business part-time and make some extra money. I'd like to buy items at garage and estate sales to sell on eBay. The problem is that it's impossible to become an expert in everything that you could possibly find at a garage sale. I've also been reading a book on "lifestyle entrepreneurship", in which people come up with businesses that would support the life that they want to lead. They recommend coming up with businesses from a hobby. Well, I don't see myself with a greenhouse of orchids (though that would be fun), and everything having to do with cats has been done. (Although I think someone could make money making house calls to administer medicine to pets. Unfortunately I don't think that "someone" is me.) Anyway, I've decided to focus on watches and clocks. I'm not exactly a collector because I restrain myself, but they're something that I could see myself collecting. I'm going to start out learning prices. I'm thinking of learning watch repair as well. There's a shortage of people who know watch repair. I could see myself sometime having a small watch and clock shop that also provides watch and clock repair.
