Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Happy (belated) New Year!! (and an even more belated Merry Christmas!)
Well well well... Here we are in 2007, and I'm sitting at my desk crushing the hopes and dreams of yet another batch of students. I'm amazed I get paid for all of this. No, seriously, I'm paying students left and right, and preparing for another speaking engagement at one of the local high schools. I do this all the time, but things have changed rapidly in the financial aid, and I've had to redo my act. I call my spiel "bad information" which is to say that banks are marketing the snot out of their alternative/private loans and feeding parents and students a load of bullshit to fatten their bottom lines. I could go on in detail, but all I'll say is the ads you'll see online and elsewhere are not always the best deal available. Moreover, this is bad for you and good for the banks. Shop around.
Financial aid issues aside, now is the perfect time to look back on the year that was and review. I certainly had my share of ups and downs. By far the low light was my illness. Missing 3 weeks of work, I was shot to hell. The most humbling feeling was looking at the 2 1/2 blocks from the doctor's office to my apartment (all downhill, by the way) and knowing there was no way I would be able to make it. I was 35 and too weak to walk the distance. I can blame a little of my situation on the breath test I took in the doctor's office, but to what extent I couldn't say. It hurt like Hell; I can say that. Getting a cold during the spring was unusually stressful. Once that passed and an EKG stated my heart was beating properly, I started to feel normal. There were other low points as well, such as not working the Faire and the loss of a friendship that I will never again pursue, but there were minor in comparison. Not tending bar at the Ren Faire was a blessing in disguise really, as I survived fall registration much more easily with my weekends free. The party from Hades was also a lowlight personally, for a few reasons, but I'll not cover that today.
I also need to mark the highlights of 2006, and one of the biggest was the official award of tenure. I'm much more secure now, and my future clear. It was a moment 5 years in the making, and I was never really sure I'd make it. Now it's a part of my daily living. I'm looking forward to a more secure and stable '07. Still, the real highlight of 2006 had to be my trip to Miami over the summer. No run of the mill road trip, this was a near transcendent sojourn into a new me, I couldn't have had a better time without exchanging body fluids (and money). We'll save that for the next trip. I didn't make it down for New Year's, but I can't complain. Instead, I spent quality time with kitty and at the gym. I also spent a small fortune on presents and other items, so I really couldn't afford to travel anyway.
Other notable happenings in 2006 were my father's 2 visits, one with Alex and one solo. Both were good trips, but as usual, I spent WAY too much loot. Most of my loot went to laser tag and Dave and Buster's. Never has the term Penny Arcade seemed more archaic. Still, the end result was quite beneficial: my father is now back in the USA, working for a company he left long ago. He'll live in Bethlehem, PA. As such, my excursions to the Poconos will have a side trip or three involved. Other than that, the year had been the usual series of coffee at Starbucks, hanging with Scott and other program people, attending conferences, etc. One unique instance was my trip to Boston for the college, and that was a good time. I look forward to driving to Montreal in April.
As you can tell, there isn't much to review, really, just the rises and dips in a normal life. For that I am strangely grateful. Finally, with any end (OK, beginning) year post, one must, under penalty of blog-law, look forward to the new year. Well, who am I to refuse? 1) I need to continue my efforts at the gym. My health is improving the most consistently I go, and even my "enthusiasm" has returned. (Yay!) 2) Continue to explore and practice meditation. I did a little of this yesterday, and loaded a guided meditation on to my I-Pod. It's official, I'm a Yuppie. (gag...) This can be the guided meditation above or the Buddhist book/DVD in the Brianmobile. More on that as I progress. I just need to remember not to play the meditation track in the car. 3) I need to continue to eat better. I've made a little headway with this, but not much. 4) I really need to eat at home. This means I need to go to sleep a little earlier so I can wake up a little earlier. The more I cook at home, the better I will eat and the more money I will save. 5) Continue cleaning and arrainging my apartment. This desereves it's own post, and I will say more then. 6) Spend a little more time with Kitty. She's used to me being around, and now work and overtime calls. A few minutes invested with Champange is time well spent. 7) Drive less. I know this is a familiar refrain on this page, but it bears repeating. Scott is away for the winter, so I have fewer reasons to jet back and forth. I'll experiment with leaving the laptop at home so I have a reason to head home rather than Starbucks or Border's. 8) Many of the above resolutions (thought I have resisted labeling them as such) revolve around money mismanagement. The less I drive, the more I eat at home, etc. the more money I can save. I wish to buy a home within the next 15 months, and I won't be able to do that without money in the bank.
Can I do these things and live a better life? Time will tell, and until then I wish you and yours a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2007. More in the eteral later.
Financial aid issues aside, now is the perfect time to look back on the year that was and review. I certainly had my share of ups and downs. By far the low light was my illness. Missing 3 weeks of work, I was shot to hell. The most humbling feeling was looking at the 2 1/2 blocks from the doctor's office to my apartment (all downhill, by the way) and knowing there was no way I would be able to make it. I was 35 and too weak to walk the distance. I can blame a little of my situation on the breath test I took in the doctor's office, but to what extent I couldn't say. It hurt like Hell; I can say that. Getting a cold during the spring was unusually stressful. Once that passed and an EKG stated my heart was beating properly, I started to feel normal. There were other low points as well, such as not working the Faire and the loss of a friendship that I will never again pursue, but there were minor in comparison. Not tending bar at the Ren Faire was a blessing in disguise really, as I survived fall registration much more easily with my weekends free. The party from Hades was also a lowlight personally, for a few reasons, but I'll not cover that today.
I also need to mark the highlights of 2006, and one of the biggest was the official award of tenure. I'm much more secure now, and my future clear. It was a moment 5 years in the making, and I was never really sure I'd make it. Now it's a part of my daily living. I'm looking forward to a more secure and stable '07. Still, the real highlight of 2006 had to be my trip to Miami over the summer. No run of the mill road trip, this was a near transcendent sojourn into a new me, I couldn't have had a better time without exchanging body fluids (and money). We'll save that for the next trip. I didn't make it down for New Year's, but I can't complain. Instead, I spent quality time with kitty and at the gym. I also spent a small fortune on presents and other items, so I really couldn't afford to travel anyway.
Other notable happenings in 2006 were my father's 2 visits, one with Alex and one solo. Both were good trips, but as usual, I spent WAY too much loot. Most of my loot went to laser tag and Dave and Buster's. Never has the term Penny Arcade seemed more archaic. Still, the end result was quite beneficial: my father is now back in the USA, working for a company he left long ago. He'll live in Bethlehem, PA. As such, my excursions to the Poconos will have a side trip or three involved. Other than that, the year had been the usual series of coffee at Starbucks, hanging with Scott and other program people, attending conferences, etc. One unique instance was my trip to Boston for the college, and that was a good time. I look forward to driving to Montreal in April.
As you can tell, there isn't much to review, really, just the rises and dips in a normal life. For that I am strangely grateful. Finally, with any end (OK, beginning) year post, one must, under penalty of blog-law, look forward to the new year. Well, who am I to refuse? 1) I need to continue my efforts at the gym. My health is improving the most consistently I go, and even my "enthusiasm" has returned. (Yay!) 2) Continue to explore and practice meditation. I did a little of this yesterday, and loaded a guided meditation on to my I-Pod. It's official, I'm a Yuppie. (gag...) This can be the guided meditation above or the Buddhist book/DVD in the Brianmobile. More on that as I progress. I just need to remember not to play the meditation track in the car. 3) I need to continue to eat better. I've made a little headway with this, but not much. 4) I really need to eat at home. This means I need to go to sleep a little earlier so I can wake up a little earlier. The more I cook at home, the better I will eat and the more money I will save. 5) Continue cleaning and arrainging my apartment. This desereves it's own post, and I will say more then. 6) Spend a little more time with Kitty. She's used to me being around, and now work and overtime calls. A few minutes invested with Champange is time well spent. 7) Drive less. I know this is a familiar refrain on this page, but it bears repeating. Scott is away for the winter, so I have fewer reasons to jet back and forth. I'll experiment with leaving the laptop at home so I have a reason to head home rather than Starbucks or Border's. 8) Many of the above resolutions (thought I have resisted labeling them as such) revolve around money mismanagement. The less I drive, the more I eat at home, etc. the more money I can save. I wish to buy a home within the next 15 months, and I won't be able to do that without money in the bank.
Can I do these things and live a better life? Time will tell, and until then I wish you and yours a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2007. More in the eteral later.
