It’s been about a month since I’ve written on this blog. Looking back at the title of the last post- “System Overload”- I can say that the same feeling of being overwhelmed continues to dominate my little world.

There are ways in which I have settled down at my job. Parts of what I do feel comfortable. Other parts feel way over my head, but the sickly feeling that accompanies having no idea what I am doing is consistent enough that now it just feels like part of my daily routine- walk dog, drink coffee, break out in cold sweat while reviewing to-do list at work, go to gym, and so on. Almost everyday I find out that something new has been added to my plate. Or maybe these things were always on my plate, but just safely hiding under the “and other duties as assigned” clause of my job description.

There are definitely some awesome things about the new job. For example, I seem to come home with a new work-related t-shirt almost every week. Since t-shirts are my favorite thing in the world, this makes me very happy. Kabluey, however, is not as impressed with the amount of swag that has entered the house during my first month of employment. Surely she will change her mind when the compliments start rolling in on the company-issued metal lunch box that I generously gave to her, and pack her sandwich in every day.

Enough about my job. It’s the Saturday of a 3-day weekend, so who wants to think about work?

As of today, it is 2 weeks until my half marathon. The farthest distance I have run is 8 miles. That was 3 weeks ago. I’m not great with numbers, but I am pretty sure that means I am screwed. I know it sounds like I have totally messed this up, but only part of it is my fault. And the part at fault is my hamstrings. Ever since my 8 mile run, I’ve had problems with my hamstrings that have manifested themselves through pain in my lower back. This is probably due to one of two things. It could be the horrific running form that I have mentioned before. Or it could be because I am getting old. Both reasons make me mad so who really cares which one it is. Kabluey has been giving me stretching exercises and if I can get up to 10 miles before the race, I may try to pull out the whole distance. I’ll have to make sure I bring work home with me that weekend, as it’s unlikely I’ll be able to walk for a while after the race.

One form of exercise that does not give me pain is bike riding. This is great because once I get past this ill-fated half marathon thing, I think it will be fun to ride my bike a bit more. Or at least ride it in the great outdoors, as opposed to on a stand in my basement, which is where I usually ride. I had already been thinking it would be a good idea to get my bike out of the house, but my recent bit of good luck solidified this idea. Kabluey and I were at Hopworks (our home away from home) attending one of their Mug Club parties. Neither one of us even knew there was a raffle, until they started pulling names for prizes like t-shirts and 22oz bottled beer. Imagine how excited we were when I won the grand prize, which was a $500 gift certificate to Bike n Hike!

I think it would be cool to get a city/commuter bike, and start riding to my office in Clackamas. I’ve only spent a little time looking at their bikes online, but so far these two are looking pretty sweet:

All this typing about Hopworks has got me craving a Rise Up Red. Off I go…

Tags: bike buying, half marathon training, Hopworks

I’m currently experiencing one of those rare (and probably fleeting) times when I feel like I am not in financial ruin. This unfamiliar sensation started on Thursday, when I found out from my loan officer that my appraisal had been revised and now shows a higher value for my home. This change means my refinance can go through as planned, and a $200 monthly savings is in my near future. (Take that, bitch-cow appraiser!)

To make a good situation even better, when the loan officer was updating my loan, she made what appears to be a clerical error and now, for reasons that are slightly fuzzy to me, I’ll be getting $1200 back at closing. I probably should look into this a little more, but at the moment I am content to keep my mouth shut, pay $6 more a month for my loan, and pocket the cash. And speaking of cash, it also appears that when the loan closes that magical thing will happen where I somehow don’t have to make a mortgage payment for one month. Add to all of this the fact that I got my tax refund on Friday, and I’m basically rolling in money.

Historically, I am not good at rolling in money. The urge to spend becomes overwhelming, and while I haven’t done anything too rash (yet) the desire is certainly there. For example, I suddenly feel like I can’t go another minute without an iPhone.

Side note: Interestingly, an iPhone wouldn’t be the worst thing for me to buy. I get a reimbursement from work for my cell phone bill and, because of some administrative screw up by AT&T that I have tried in vain to sort out, every month I pay my bill, and every month they send me a check refunding it. So, between the reimbursement and the refund, I am actually making money each month on my cell phone.

(The above side note is clearly the groundwork of an elaborate effort to ultimately justify the purchase of an iPhone).

What I really should, and hopefully will, use this money for is to deal with the issues in the main bathroom of my house. A full remodel would be great. Fixing the gaping hole in the wall and repairing the broken pipe so I could, I don’t know, actually shower in it is pretty much a necessity.

Even knowing that I must use my money for this bathroom project, I couldn’t help but sign Kabluey and I up for an year-long membership to the Hopworks Mug Club. We go to Hopworks pretty frequently, and will probably increase our appearances there over the summer, when we can walk the pups there and sit outside while we drink a beer. There are assorted perks to the club, including 21oz beers for the price of 16oz, special parties and exclusive beers. But best of all, we both got free (loose interpretation of that word) t-shirts! And anyone who knows me knows that I will do just about anything for a t-shirt.

Tags: Home refinance, Hopworks, tax refund