Out of control!

Today has been one of the strangest days I've had in a while.  I havent slept 10 hours since Friday night.  I went to work today, broke a $70 freakin tire pressure sensor, had a tire blow up in my face.  I went to a 4 hour training class tonight, so basically I put in a solid 14 hour workday.   But it doesnt matter.  What does matter, is that I'm happy. 

I broke up with my girlfriend of 5 years last weekend.  This was a very hard thing to do.  I realized that I was sacrificing my happiness so she could be happy.  Thats not how a relationship is supposed to work.  Both people give and take so they are BOTH happy.  Not just one person take and one person give.

So I was listening to some jams in my truck while I was running some errands today at lunch and a particular line from a song stuck in my head...

"I can't lose now there's no game to play..."

I think its easier to stay in a bad relationship than to take what seems like a very large step and be free.  It takes a lot of strength.   It takes a lot of pain.  It takes a lot of support.  I learned that it can be done.  I also learned that it is scary.  You just have to realize that there is only 1 person you need to make happy.  That person is yourself.  How do you make someone else truly happy if you arent?  I dont think it can be done.  If you get rid of the game, you cant lose.  You just gotta take that big step and get out of the game.

I'm crashing at my parents house for the time being.  It feels like my world is just in a complete tailspin and its going to crash.  Oddly enough, I'm not scared at all.  I'm not worried.  I know that wherever I end up is where I'm supposed to be.  I think its odd to feel this way.  But I think its okay too.  I'm excited to find out what my future is going to bring.  I'm ready to face all the bad and all the good. 

Oh no, dont kick me slee!

You should understand that a FOAD attitude projected to the world, will net you that in return.  FOAD.

The road to financial freedom...

Let me begin by saying your mileage may vary. 

I bought a house last year which was one of the scariest things I think I've ever done.  Before I could do that I had to learn a life lesson in credit scores.  Admittedly my credit wasnt so great.  In fact, it wasnt even good.  Think low 500's  So before I could buy my house I had to clean it up.  I learned a few valuable lessons.  Number 1 being watch your credit.  You get a yearly report for free from the big 3 credit reporting agencies.  I found out I had some items on my credit report that didnt belong to me.  I tried and tried to get them removed to no avail.  Sent letter after letter and none of that worked.  Eventually I signed up for the respective 'credit monitoring' programs from the companies.  As soon as I was able I went thru my credit reports and disputed every single thing that was wrong.  In less than 45 days I had letters rolling in that item X, Y, and Z were removed.   Wow.  So for a total cost of $45 I had all sorts of things taken off my credit.  Its amazing what happens when you are a paying customer instead of just a number they keep track of.  So, consider that a cheap lesson.  Instead of wasting time writing and mailing and calling, just sign up for their program and get done what you need to get done.  I know it shouldnt be that way, but it is.  So in July I finally bought a house.  The $45 I spent on fixing up my credit was saved in interest on my house by an untold amount of dollars.  Saved 1.75% interest on $135,000.  Thats more than $45. 

So from July 1 to Jan 31, my credit score has gone up by a bunch.  From the low 500's to the high 700's in 6 months.  The thing that saved me was the fact I didnt have a pile of credit card debt and I still dont.  I carry a balance of $100-$150/mo on my 1 credit card.  It feels good to have good credit.  Its something to take very seriously as most of us finance large purchases.  It can mean the difference of hundreds of dollars a month in interest and assorted fees.  If you have credit cards, dont cancel them.  Just pay them off and let them sit as a cancelled card is worse than having a maxed out card.

So, a little time, a little money and credit repair isnt the worst thing ever.  It is however, a bad thing.

Take a number...

Dell customer service HAS to be the next to worst thing on this planet.  If any of you work for Dell, I'm sorry you have to work there. So I ordered a laptop on January 16th.  Got the 3-5 day shipping.  January 28th rolls around and I still dont have a laptop.  As of the 28th I'm pushing 3 weeks overdue on getting rid of the old one.  Anyhow, I called up customer service and spoke to someone in India I'm guessing.  So we have our little chat, she pulls up the tracking number and tells me that my laptop has made it to Oklahoma City and tells me that my laptop should be delivered shortly.  So I ask to for the tracking number which I never got previously and head to DHL.com to pull it up.  I enter my tracking number oh so carefully and see that my laptop made it to Oklahoma city on January 18th.  10 days prior.  I inform the lady that it shouldnt take 10 days for something to be delivered across town.  She calls DHL.  DHL says it is lost.  Crap.  So while I have a mini-tantrum she tells me that I will be contacted in the next 15 days by a Dell rep to sort all this out.  I tell her to just send me another laptop.  Dont use DHL, and make sure its at least the minimum I ordered.  She says that is out of her hands and I should just wait.  So I wait. So I wait some more.  DHL shows up February 6th with a laptop.  I immediately start thinking something is wrong because I never got so much as an e-mail from Dell.  I take the box out to the shop, open 'er up and find out that my 2nd battery I ordered wasnt in the box.  I reply to the Dell customer service e-mail that I shouldnt change the title of and ask where my 2nd battery is.  Ask why I wasnt contacted about my laptop like I was told, and why nobody told me they were going to send me another one without telling me that there was another one coming.  I really tried to be cool about all this.  Never called people names, never yelled, cussed, got loud.  But for the love of all that is holy.  I'm really not happy.  I'm glad I got my laptop, but its missing stuff that I ordered.  So as of right now I havent heard anything about my missing battery.  I know it isnt Dell's fault my laptop got stolen by DHL, but its Dell's fault for using DHL.  Its also Dell's fault my order didnt get filled properly.

So did anyone catch that football game Sunday?  That was a hell of a game wasnt it?  I mean wow, who saw that coming?

I have a case of the Monday's...

I was going to write something inspired using my personal experience and job experience.  I was going to cover the why's and how's of rotating your tires.  But I got 1 paragraph in and decided not to.  Honestly, for such a simple operation, there is quite a lot of information regarding the why aspect of it.  So I'll just say: Rotate your tires every 6000 miles and change your oil regularly.  Why?  Because you'll save money.  Its as simple as that.  I could quantify the cost of it all, but there is no point in putting a dollar value from a consumer standpoint on vehicular maintenance because most people dont care.  Lets just say that if you dont rotate your tires, your 50,000 mile rated set of tires will only last about 20,000 to 25,000 miles.  Yes there are exceptions, but most people arent that lucky.  The majority of people say 'Why cant stuff like that ever happen to me?'

So I tried to listen to the podcast, but I couldnt do it.  I'm sorry guys, I'm sure you worked your ass off, but I couldnt get into it.  I made it to about the 3 minute mark and shut it off.  I'll check out the next edition.