there's always something...

got one credit card paid off. had a chance to pay off a second card, but miyuki wisely mentioned maybe we should wait until the end of the month. just 'cos we have the extra money now doesn't mean we HAVE to pay it off right away, no? after all, it's been there for over five years, another couple weeks won't hurt.

turns out she was right. I just sank $400 into the ShitCar. this is after dropping $800 into it last month for its 60k tuneup. the tires had started squealing, and my AC stopped working. it was still cold, but there was no pressure behind it unless I turned it all the way up, and even then it was feeble.

turns out the blower motor fried. and despite having a "100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty" the dash electronics are only covered for the first sixty thousand miles. remember what I mentioned the previous paragraph about my 60k tuneup? yeah, I'm sitting at 62k miles. the damn motor literally crapped out six weeks after the warranty ended.

oh, and the squealing tires? turns out my brake pads were down under two millimeters. that's kinda like, bad, and stuff. so I had to have my brakes redone. you'd think they would have mentioned that during the tuneup... I'm sure it would have been cheaper to have the brakes done somewhere other than the dealership, but I had already been there 90 minutes and didn't want to bother. so I forked over a hundred bucks to get the AC fixed and another three hundred for the brakes. I'm gonna pissed if I have to put anything other than gas and oil into this car before it's paid off next year. I really shouldn't have to fix anything for another three years or so, but I won't hold my breath.

never, EVER buy a hyundai. seriously. they suck ass.

my birthday is in two weeks. I'm debating whether or not to go bar hopping or invite people over. the decision will likely be made for me. we tried going to a bar last weekend with the canadian hordes, and every bar in ballard was packed. I'm not all that excited about my birthday. I just want to go out drinking with friends, and go to a nice dinner with miyuki. monies I get from family (we don't do gifts anymore, which seems kinda silly) will go towards debt. miyuki's mom is getting me a set of scary go round books, because I'd feel bad taking money from her and I don't know if I could ever justify shelling out $85 for some comic books on my own. it'd be nice to find volumes one and two but they're OOP. I may never find them. I'm not as big a fan of his earlier work anyway, his art has dramatically improved over the years. he draws really purdy girls. we also have a karaoke party planned two weeks later in canada. I'm gonna try some new material if I can. and get very drunk, knowing I can crawl two blocks back to "home" at the in-laws.

I've been foiled in several attempts to buy wii fit or mario kart. guess I learned my lesson and will pre-order shit from now on. we did pick up the last copy of lego indiana jones at fred meyer, but I've been frustrated by the gameplay. I've never been very good at the nunchuk controller, I'm not coordinated enough to use both hands independently of one another. I could barely manage the PS2 controller, and that was button mashing with only my right hand 98% of the time. I have a really difficult time using my left hand for buttons AND movement at the same time. hoping mario kart will be easier on me. and we did play wii fit, it seemed like fun. if anyone can recommend where to buy either fit or mario kart, I'd muchly appreciate it. and if you happen to see a copy somewhere, by all means grab it! I'll gladly pay you back for purchase price plus beer or whatever. mmmm, beer.

I also had my first close-up iphone experience. pretty sure I need one now, especially with the 3g price drop. I'll try to hold out til the car is paid off in six months, since I don't want to ADD expenses if I can avoid it. still trying to figure out how the rate plans work, looks like at&t charges for voice and data separately. I wish they had a smaller voice plan, we barely use any of our shared 450 minutes, and it looks like if I upgrade, the smallest family plan now starts at 700 minutes. it'll mean adding $50 or so a month to our phone bill, but I won't feel too guilty splurging on it. it looked REALLY cool.

haven't really lost much weight this month. only two or three pounds. but I was sick for a week and didn't go to the gym. I've also been bad for a few meals. I won't get down to 220 by the end of the month, but 225 is still feasible with some effort. 25 pounds in sixty days still seems impressive. I'm just a bit disappointed that I can't actually tell that I've lost any weight just looking at me. except for the hair, anyway. everyone notices the lack of hair.

UPDATE: found mario kart sunday morning, picked it up and an extra wii wheel. still looking for wii fit, however. at least if the barhopping doesn't pan out, we can play mario kart back at the house. drunk. woooo.