I heart good food.

miyuki got an unexpected first paycheque today. we figured since she started three days before the end of a pay period, they're just tack it on to the next cheque. surprise surprise, they didn't. which is good, since we didn't have much left in the bank account. now we have plenty to last us til my next payday, since all the bills are paid. yay!

we decided to celebrate by going out for dinner. we couldn't decide where to go. she wanted a good sammich, and I had no idea where to go. we ultimately ended up at hattie's hat, one of our fave breakfast places. it was a good choice. everything was so good. I got a smoked salmon club that was way better than I expected. we also got nummy sweet potato fries and an order of spinach dip... I was shocked tho. they remodelled the place. the back room is all dark and modern now, with a huge ass fish tank...

we are so totally going back there for dinner. and of course, for breakfast... mmm, bennies...

ch-ch-ch-changes.

miyuki's job is having a trickle down effect on the rest of our lives.

most obvious, of course, is the financial boost we'll see. her employment, coupled with the benefits she will receive (and hence I can stop paying premiums on) will essentially double our income. and yes, we were living beyond our means these past six months. but no, we hadn't stretched it that far. I expect we will have a surplus of nearly eight hundred dollars to deal with each month. I want to be smart about it, so most will go towards debt reduction and savings. that will still leave a couple hundred leftover for fun. we can go see more movies (it's gotten REALLY lean lately, going to maybe two movies a month at the second run, $3 theatre), and enjoy going out to eat more often. I'm a glutton, and good food is my worst vice.

it will also free up some spare monies to apply towards a gym membership, in part to counteract the gluttony, but also because I just need to exercise.

we've already discussed future expenditures. miyuki needs new clothes for work, she has a fairly limited selection of nice office clothes. she'll have to work on that a bit at a time, at least at first, picking up a piece here and there. I, on the other hand, want only for a new pair of sneakers, and a dozen pairs each of new socks and undies. the rest of my wardrobe is sufficient for my needs. there are other things we spoke about as well... part of our budget includes $100 from each of her paycheques going into a special savings account for vacations. I haven't been on a real, proper vacation since I was 19. I just haven't been able to afford it. this will allow us $2400 a year to go somewhere nice. take a week, go somewhere we've never been. obviously, that won't be enough to go to london or japan or anything, but we can supplement if needed. it should be more than enough for us to finally get to go to eastern canada. a trip to montreal, a trip to the maritimes... I'd like to visit chicago and boston eventually, if only to watch a baseball game and wrigley field and fenway park. I've got friends in missouri I promised to visit at some point as well. maybe visit my cousin in texas? our friend jenn will be in alaska for two years starting this weekend, we could even venture up there in the summer... I've been so few places, I want to see more of the world.

when we get around to buying a house or condo (which should be within two years), I've decided I want a pool table. miyuki was shocked when I showed her how much they cost, but we agreed that, space permitting, it would be nice to have. it would provide entertainment for guests and would give us something more productive than tv to do from time to time. mostly, I just want to learn to shoot pool without looking like a complete ass, and I know that will never happen without practice. and I don't like practicing in bars with other people around.

and then, of course, there's the vespa... I even did some research into the moped army. the seattle chapter is called the mosquito fleet, but I don't know how well I'd fit in. for one thing, I want a new vespa, and the 150cc one. most of the people in the moped army ride old skool mopeds, the ones that look more like bicycles and shit. very few of them appeared to ride newer models. the vespa I want goes 60mph, it's a small motorcycle. short of winning the lottery and buying everyone I know a similar model, I don't think I'll have any part of a vespa gang... we'll see tho. I plan to do a lot of research before I buy, and haven't ruled out buying an older model and learning to repair it.

one of the unexpected results of miyuki's new employment is how it has affected my schedule. since she's up at 5:30 for work every day, I figured I'd do the same. she leaves for work about 6:30, takes the bus and starts her shift by 7:30. I can start mine between 6 and 6:30, and even after putting in 9 or 10 hours, still beat her home from work (my commute is a wonderful thing). this will eventually free me up for things like the gym, but for now I'll probably use the time to run errands, do laundry, etc. I started at 6am today, and my boss mentioned how it didn't make sense for me to start so early, since I'd end up staying late anyway. he's right. so I'll start going in at 6:30. I'll still get up with miyuki, tho, and I'll try something I haven't done in fifteen years: eat breakfast each morning. breakfast had always been reserved for leisurely weekends only, or maybe a fast food drivethru breakfast, which always leave me feeling like crap. I've never had time to eat because I'm always rushed. if I get up with her, I'll have an hour to start my morning. hell, I could even go back to showering in the mornings... I stopped doing that years ago because I realised by showering at night, I could sleep an extra twenty minutes. but miyuki will want to shower at night now as well (so she isn't waking up at 5am), I suppose I could alter my schedule to conserve hot water.

busy busy busy. and if you're not a vonnegut fan, that doesn't mean much to you...

it's good to be DINK.

miyuki got a job today. pays high end of what we're looking for, and it should be minimal public contact for her, which is good. some engineering firm downtown doing administrative work. it's going to be sweet having a second income tho. she gets benefits after 60 days, so I can cancel her off mine and save another $450 a month too. we'll be able to save for a house and pay off all my debt REALLY quickly. that will be so awesome. we'll definitely be able to afford our own place (be in house or condo) within my timeline of wanting to own a home by age 30...

best part is, we'll have more than enough leftover for me to get a vespa this summer! woot!

I'm sure more details will follow...

marriage has its perks.

so while it may suck that miyuki wasn't able to start working right away and all that due to immigration stuff, it's still proved to be financially lucrative to import my li'l mail order bride. we're looking at an income tax refund of about two grand, thanks to the "married filing jointly" deduction andher complete lack of US income (she'll still need to do her canadian taxes).

this is good, because we desperately need some stuff. like a new mattress. the antique brass bed we inherited from my grandfather came with a shitty ass mattress, thing probably cost $100. it's uncomfortable as hell. we don't sleep well, and I wake up every morning stiff and sore. so we'll put half our return towards a new mattress and actually get restful sleep.

the other half will go towards a new computer. my circa 2000 powerbook pismo just doesn't cut it anymore. the 6gb hard drive is at its limits, and the 400mhz G3 processor just sucks balls... I'm eyeing the new imac. so that'll take care of the other half and then some.

this, of course, is all contigent of miyuki having a regular paycheque by the time the refund arrives. which should be about two weeks after I get all my tax info back (I estimated based on unofficial paystubs and whatnot), which will be no later than january 31. I expect to see it sometime next week. seeing as miyuki has two more job interviews next week (monday and tuesday), and is also supposed to hear back about that REALLY sweet insurance job (it's down to her and one other person), she has pretty good odds of being gainfully employed by the end of the month.

things should really start looking up come february. we can make an extra effort to pay off debt and save for a house downpayment. oh yeah, and maybe I'll be able to afford a vespa for my birthday!

now we just need that green card so I can go get me some chineefoo...

overthrow the guvment. again.

just got this email:

"Application Type: I485 , Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status

Current Status:

On January 19, 2006, your I485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status was received here for processing. It is taking between 120 and 180 days for us to process this kind of case. We will mail you a decision as soon as processing is complete."

the problem? we were told it would take six months when we first APPLIED for the damn green card. you know, back in August or September. now they're telling us miyuki won't get her green card until this summer? that's bullshit. we want to go back to canada, dammit.

we've got our interview (you know, like in the movie green card) feb 16... I had hoped we'd get the damn permanent residency shortly after that.

why does it take nearly a damn year for someone to move from canada to the US? it's practically the same bloody country. you can easily import and export manufactured goods under NAFTA, but not people?

this is so sad...

I saw this headline: "Iraq: 99 Percent of Voting Was Valid" and my first reaction was, "wow, that's WAY better than the last election here!"

I'm such a damn cynic.

overthrow the guvment.

so the postage rates went up again. from $0.37 to $0.39 for a first class envelope. this means all those thirty-seven cent stamps out there aren't enough anymore, and need to be supplemented with a two cent stamp. not a problem, just go buy some more stamps, right?

the damn post office has been out of them all week. and the lines to talk to a clerk there have been out the door.

so how am I supposed to mail off my damn bill payments? fucking morons. you can't jack up the postage rates and then NOT supply people with the means of meeting the new requirements.

some firsts.

I built my first piece of equipment today. that may sound impressive, but it's not. we had two to build. one of the shop guys had the first one done in under twenty minutes. it was two gauges and a ball valve being screwed into a fabricated unit. it took me about 45 minutes. mostly just to clean up the pipe dope... anyway, I'll probably get out on the shop floor to help out a bit more.

my boss gave me an attaboy. first one since I started. that was hallowe'en. others had told me I'm doing a good job, but that was the first from my boss. it kinda creeped me out. he came up to me as I was leaving (I drove today), and told me through an open passenger side window.

I also realised that this is the first time I'm not among the smartest of my colleagues. most jobs I've had, I've been the smartest or damn close to. not anymore. there are seven engineers here... maybe eight. there's some seriously smart people. it's kinda sad. I always used to be able to just coast, knowing if I hit a snag, I could think my way through it quicker than anyone else. now, if one of them calls me on something, I'm boned. it's a new feeling for me. not that I'm a genius or anything.... all of my work experience just happens to be in somewhat, erm, not-so-intelligent industries... doesn't take a lot of smarts to be a plumber (don't get me wrong, there were smart ones, but also VERY stupid ones), nor does it take much brainpower to sell toilets... even going back to flipping burgers and library jobs... not rocket science.

but seeing as I don't plan to quit anytime in the next thirty years, I'm just gonna have to get used to being average...

why miyuki is a horrible person.

her: "I'll love you forever if you go as 'quarantine' rimmer in the dress and penguin puppet for halloween!"

me: "don't you have to love me forever anyway?"

her: "yeah, but I'll REALLY love you forever if you do that!"