November 5, 2007

• News And Notes

  

  Health:
  The pinched nerve in my back, which caused me to suffer so much pain in 2005, and which eventually shut off most of the feeling in my left hand, is at it again, with a vengeance. The two little fingers on my left hand have been without feeling since 2005. I’m used to the constant numbness, and even though I hit the wrong typewriter keys (er, I mean, computer keyboard keys) a lot, it hasn’t been that much of a bother.

  However, a few weeks ago, I lost feeling in my left index finger, and this is a bit of a pain, in more ways than one. When working with hand tools in the testing department on my job, if I move the finger ‘the wrong way’ pain shoots all the way from the tip of the finger to where the damage started in my back. I’ve been trying to convince the owners of the company that I’m getting worse and not better, and would really like someone else to test the control panels, but I think they don’t think pain in a finger is cause for alarm. It’s almost time for my yearly physical, and I might just ask my doctor for a “note” this time. He has told me  that I should stop doing these ‘torque tests” which require use of my left hand, if they cause me pain.

  I like to think I’m losing a little weight, although I did splurge a bit with all the candy that has been around the workplace because of Hallowe’en. I’m to the point where I’d better lose some more of this belly quickly or else I need to buy some “large” shirts so my snaps don’t continually snap open.

  Finance:
  On the 25th, my very first payment for my consolidation loan comes due. That $36,000.00 sure went fast. I only used it for consolidation, and I will only have one payment a month from now on. I’m a bit upset that the BofA did charge quite a bit for each of the three balance transfers. Over 500 dollars for the $17 grand they deposited in my own checking account. They told me there would be a charge, but the language was such that it didn’t seem too high until I saw the bill. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to pay a bit more than the $746.00 a month payment, and can now hardly wait for six months to pass, so I can ask for a reduction in the APR. It’s been sheer hell trying to close down accounts. I keep getting billed for finance charges which shouldn’t exist. (Including on BofA accounts that were supposed to be closed down by the bank when I got the consolidation account approved.) So far, phone calls to the various creditors seem to “correct the problem”, but it takes a couple of statements, and a couple of phone calls  in some cases before the computers clear me from their database. My Discover Card, which was the first account I successfully closed, has already started mailing me “come back and get 1.9% for the next six months” announcements. If only they’d lowered the APR when I was still a customer!

  I’m spending most of my free time holed up in my “media room” and I’m not going on “excursions” or “photo expeditions”. Gas is now almost $3.25 a gallon at some stations. I feel a bit like a hermit or an agoraphobe on weekends, but I feel better about finances than I have in a long while.

  Xanga:
  I’m “hiatusing” again a bit these days. It was really neat to be on the “front page” of Xanga for a while with one of my entries a month or so ago. I got 148 comments (ONLY 148 comments!) on the entry. I answered each comment, and I believe I got a half a dozen new readers. A lot of my readers are kind enough to give me 5 star ratings, which keeps my entries on the front pages, but then someone will come along and give me one or two stars, which knocks me off the front pages. I’ve even received “messages” which target Xangans who are supposedly giving others, including me, less stars, so that their entries are always at the top. I guess I could go to those sites and give them one star, but I’m just not one to stoke these kinds of fires. (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.) I’m appreciative of the support from my readers, and am happy to gain new readers to the fold. Thank you all for your comments. When I do visit other Xanga sites, I do read multiple entries and attempt to cover a lot of territory.

  That said, I seem to be scaling back my Xanga time as the weeks pass. Perhaps I’ll be back in the swing of things in a week or two. Two weekends ago, I spent most of my free time making the “Skyline” video, and last weekend, I didn’t even log onto Xanga I don’t believe. Nobody is “wondering where I am” and I admit, I’m not visiting much, so it’s a good thing. I’m not missed, and every three or four days I seem to have an entry to post. I’m only putting this one up because it’s been a week since I last put anything up here, and I didn’t want to put a “wayback post” up today.

  I’ve wondered (yet again) what to do with the “Internet Island”. I don’t even believe I’ve “welcomed” the last couple of Islanders. I haven’t posted a topic in a month or so. I’m just not that interested in maintaining the blogring right now. However, I might just announce that this month Islanders should look back into the files and find a topic from the past on which to write. I promise to “list” any new entries in a hastily constructed topic entry. I’ll try to get over there and at least send a message to the few Islanders who regularly participate during this first week of November.

  Creativity and Entertainment:
  Apologies to anyone who was really into reading the “rest” of my “After the Curtain Call” short story. I promise to rewrite and post the rest sometime soon. I mainly transcribed the first part, which is now on the blog, but the second part needs to be completely rewritten, and I have yet to make the time to do this.  I seem to carom from writing to video making, and now there’s that morph program to play around with. I must admit that since I’ve upgraded to full HD TV on my widescreen television display, the quality of the picture keeps me watching lots of crystal clear movies and television series. I seem to have more entertainment choices than ever before, and I’m not even renting that many DVDS!

  Vacation:
  I’ve decided that if November ends and I have money in the bank, (instead of having to borrow to pay bills, as I have been doing all year), then I will definitely take a two week vacation in December. I plan on flying to Florida, and staying at the Animal Kingdom Disney World park for a few days. I’ve always wanted to go on an African safari, and the Travel Channel documentary I saw a couple of years ago on Disney’s Animal Kingdom looked really great. This costs money, however, and would have to be tied in with my bonus. I still owe my HMO almost a thousand dollars for my colonoscopy, and want to pay at least some of that off before the end of the year too. Right now this might just be a pipe dream, and I’d be going alone. Maybe I could visit some Xangans I ‘know” in Florida. I probably won’t be able to go this year, but I’m penciling it in just in case.

  Work:
  I’d better get back to. It’s almost 7am, Monday morning, and last month I wrote over 60 quotations. Orders from those quotes are now coming in, and we’re exceptionally busy for this time of year. I’ll be dreaming about that Christmas bonus, and maybe that vacation. 

  • 9:53 am
  • 21 Comments