And The Beat Goes On

I've been rather busy lately. I didn't have internet for a week when we first moved in, and then when we did get it I didn't have a spare moment to write.

Chase is being rather fussy lately. He suddenly has decided that he will wake up even more often during the night and half the time he wants to stay awake. Um, no. Sorry buddy, but that's just not happening.


Suki died.



We couldn't bring her or Gordo to the new apartment because they don't allow pets. Not a problem in the past because we brought them anyway, but this place has a very strict resident manager and you can get kicked out for the slightest infraction. Erik was going to take her. She was at the old apartment for a few days by herself for the majority of the day, and she might have gotten into something that made her sick. She seemed fine when he took her home, but he called me the next day and said that she was acting sick and throwing up, and was afraid that she might have something that she could give to the other cats. I miss my baby girl.

I got a new car, a '93 Mercury Tracer. It's not as pretty as my old car (a lavender '95 Dodge Neon... I loved my car so much), but it has a brand new engine and is in excellent condition, so it's better than my Neon, even thought it is white with a red interior (i hate hate hate white cars, especially ones with red interiors). I had to get a new car because my poor Neon's engine was failing and it was just a matter of time before the transmission went out, and that could be a potentially dangerous thing.

I started back at work today. I didn't want to go back, but I haven't found another job yet, so I had to. It's not as bad as it was before since I now no longer have a large and ungainly growth protruding from the front of me, and so I didn't feel like i wanted to chop my feet off and beat myself to death with them. That was definitely a nice change. Also, it felt really good to be doing something semi-useful for a change.

--Dragon Read more!

Some Different Things

Let's start with the good things that have happened the last few days.

I have been trying to get a cell phone for a while but with my credit and history with a certain cell phone company, and the fact that cell phone bill costs are absolutely criminal, I haven't had any luck. My only options would be a prepaid cell phone or a local wireless company that offers unlimited minutes (local and long distance), text messaging, etc. for $45 a month, with no credit check!, which is what I've been wanting to do. The problem has been that although their plan is awesomely cheap, you have to pay full retail price for the phones in order to sign up with them. My best friend had them for the last few months, but she travels a lot and while the plan is great, the service area is not as good as the national carriers. So a few days ago she and her fiance' added her to his plan and she got a new phone. And best of all, she's going to give her old phone to me! yay! Now I can think about getting rid of my rediculous $100/mo. land line bill.

Also very awesome: my mom and stepdad got me a crib and a stroller. They got them used, but the crib is rather new and does conform to current safety standards (I checked) and the stroller is in great shape and as far as I can tell, also conforms to today's standards. So yay! Now I actually have some baby stuff!

Lastly, we are pet sitting for my best friend this week, and her cat and my cat absolutely love each other. They are totally fun to watch, although they're kinda rambunctious at night.

And here's for the bad news:

We finally got Erik's car in to the shop and they replaced the catalytic converter and a gasket in the exhaust system, as well as unclogging the exhaust. Unfortunately, they found the problem that started it all-- a crack in the rear exhaust manifold. So we have to get our hands on a new manifold (the only one the guy at the repair shop could find was around $270 and I found them online for about $130, so he told us to buy it online and then he'll install it), and then pay the $170 for labor to have it installed.

On top of the troubles with Erik's car, I filled up the gas tank 2 days ago and started smelling gas when I was driving. I already had an appointment at the repair shop to look at my brakes, so I took it in and told them about the gas smell too. It turns out I have a leak in the gas line, and that needs to be replaced, as well as the front brakes and the rear wheel drums (?), which will cost about $360.

So between the two of us, neither of our cars are really working (Erik's is drivable but the more we drive it the worse the problem is going to get), and it's going to cost more than $650 to get them both fixed. Sucks Sucks Sucks.

On the plus side, I think I was finally able to convince Erik to get a job that's going to give him more hours, because I sat him down and added up all his hours for each week (he gets his schedule for the entire month all at once, lucky him) and it added up to about 36 hours for the first 2-week pay period and 27 for the second. That's less than part time. That's practically 1/3 time. I work more than that, and I physically can't work full time. But if he gets a job working 40 hours a week then we may be able to actually pay our bills, and on time for once.

--dragon Read more!