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Vehicular Fun

Apr

19

2009

Very, very little is happening in my world right now, and there are two things to blame for this. One is a usual suspect: Unemployment. The more unusual suspect is my car. My car has been a rock. Ten years old, eight of them under my care. Other than routine maintenance and a couple cosmetic ...

Getting To The Last Straw

Apr

3

2009

I’ve written repeatedly about how I hate Sprint and their shitty shitty reception with the fire of a thousand suns, but last night just about tore it for me. I had what the phone kept telling me were four bars of reception and yet: I could not place an outgoing phone call for over 20 ...

A Taxing Year 1

Feb

8

2009

It’s one thing to say, “Boy, I really had a shit year financially last year.” It’s quite another have your tax guy explain to you that your adjusted gross income fell by over $14,000, particularly when you weren’t making THAT much money to begin with. And the icing on the cake is that I get ...

For The Record

Dec

23

2008

In case any of you were wondering, I am not the Ellen Shapiro mentioned in this story. Hint #1 is that the story mentions she was married in 1968, whereas I was born in 1981. Also, I am not married. Also, I cannot legally get married (thanks, Prop 8!). Hint #2 is that my father ...

The Battle Royale Begins 3

Nov

13

2008

Today marks the end of my Sprint contract, and the beginning of a technological battle royale. Let’s meet the contestants! IN THE RED CORNER…. The Blackberry 8703e, better known as the Crackberry. A practically indestructible phone on a shittastic network. A phone that I’ve dropped on concrete or asphalt so many times I’ve lost count. ...

Things, Divided 1

Oct

7

2008

Still just buried in work as we try to get our footing, but a few quick: THINGS I LIKE – This American Life’s podcast this week, aptly titled “Another Frightening Show About The Economy.” You can download it for free from that page for the rest of the week, and it’s a much, much clearer ...

Addition To The Previous Space Nerdery

Oct

4

2008

MSNBC’s Cosmic Log breaks down the bailout in terms of the Apollo program: Even accounting for inflation since the program ended in the early 70’s, this bailout could pay for seven Apollo programs. Seven Apollo programs. Not just sending one set of guys to the moon, but the ENTIRE program. SEVEN TIMES. And that’s before ...

A Little Tired

Sep

29

2008

Last week: 6 days, somewhere between 75-80 hours (I pretty much lost count). Today: 13 hours, and lost my boss halfway through the day so I got to pull double-duty for most of the afternoon. Tomorrow: Likely even more ridiculous. I’m bloody exhausted, but I will say: I’m glad I’ve been WAY too busy to ...

Gee, I Wish I Could Bike To Work

Jun

18

2008

I bought my first $50 tank of gas tonight. $50.45 for 10.970 gallons. For those lazy at math, that’s $4.59 a gallon. I fear later this summer as gas continues to spiral up, my credit card is just going to melt one day.

What Credit Crunch?

May

20

2008

I got a USAA checking account for their bad-ass Deposit@Home feature, where you scan in checks instead of mailing them in or having to go deposit them somewhere. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize you had to have a “Credit Product” (ie. car loan or credit card) to access this feature, so I had to sign up ...