We found a photographer! So that’s one more thing off the list of wedding dealings.
I’m glad we’re making progress because today it is only 157 days left. Nice thing is, we are getting video of the wedding as well, all included for a very reasonable price. I’m actually looking forward to marriage, it’s something I’ve been striving for since I was 18. You have to understand, I grew up in an area where most couples met in high school and got married shortly thereafter. I moved to Greensburg in 1991 and thought it odd that there were so many single people in the high school. I had a girlfriend when I moved, and we stayed together for three years, that’s pretty good for a long distant relationship.
It’s weird to think about it now, but I kind of wish things would have happened differently. I was in “teenage love”, and of course was not thinking about the long term. The three years I lived in Greensburg with her in Falls Creek were torture on my soul. It’s a miracle I didn’t end up severely emo from it all. I had several opportunities to date during my last year in high school, instead, I stuck it out till the end. I realize now that it was very unfair to both of us. We lost a huge chunk of our teenage years that could have been spent learning who we really were, and of course, hooking up with a couple of random people for some hardcore pipe cleaning! 🙂
That’s all in my distant past now, it seems like a lifetime ago. Now I have a great fiance, who will soon become my wife, and we can officially start the rest of our lives together.
So, what’s been going on since my last post? Lots, nothing, you decide.
My dad and I finally got my brakes to stop squealing like a train, I kid you not, it sounded like we were pulling into the station every time I went to stop. Turns out it was cheap pads, the material had too much metal in it, and thus they would become very shiny very quickly. I ended up getting a set of OEM Motorcraft ones, which were much more than the previous ones, but they work a lot better. No more cringing every time I hit the brakes. My Focus is at 99,500 some miles now, so soon she’ll hit the big 100k. I’m going to try and keep the ol’ girl around as long as possible, at least until I’m debt-free, and get a different job. We’re still paying on the Blazer, so that’s another $200.00 a month to deal with.
Next May, perhaps March, I will be officially debt-free. My debt consolidation program will be up, and I will have paid a buttload of money back to the various creditors. My advice for all of you is, DON’T GET MORE THAN ONE CREDIT CARD! Even then, keep the limit around $500-$1000. Keep it reasonable, not one of these $4,500 credit limit ones, because that will go up real damn fast if you are not careful. I had over $10,000 of credit debt before I started on my reduction program. I’ve learned a valuable lesson, that’s cost me a lot of money, but one that will forever shape my future. I’m looking at about $400.00 a month allocated towards the debt program that will be available. I will continue to put that money aside, perhaps to pay off the blazer, maybe a mortgage. As long as I still have it coming in, it’s going to go into paying things off, after that it will be put into savings for future purchases. (That’s the plan anyway)
Tonight we are going to look at some houses in our area. We’re trying to get a feel for what’s out there so that when we are ready to buy a house in the next 6 months, we’ll have a pretty good idea of what we’re looking for, and what we can afford. There’s also a possibility of us moving out of the area because apparently there isn’t a good computer repair store anywhere within the DuBois area unless you are willing to drive to Clarion. If I knew I could make it on my own right now, I would pick up and move up north and open my own store. I need to think small first, and now that I’m finishing up on a project, I will have more time to dedicate to getting my business online. Bonante Computing will become a reality, it’s just taking time, which all good businesses do.
My inner CG artist has awoken once again. Last week I was able to form a wheel, a tire, and disc brakes from scratch without any instructions. Last night I kind of figured out how to do a chrome and billet metal texture, but I’m far from textures right now. I really need to get my skills worked out on making the things, I’ll worry about giving them color later.
The Breezeshooters hamfest is coming up this Sunday, I’m going to try my best to make it. It all really depends on how I feel when I wake up on Sunday, and how much work I have to do. I really enjoy amateur radio, and am looking forward to getting my General ticket. I need to work on morse code first, once I pass that test, I can cram for the theory in no time. My mind doesn’t like code though, it’s all a jumble of beeps to me now. I hope I can overcome this because I would really like to get on HF and start making contacts with people outside of the local repeater range. I’ll probably do a lot of digital communications, because of my background. I really like PSK31 and would love to dive into it more.
My muse just staggered into the other room to lay down, so I’m done gabbing it seems. Enjoy the hot weather all!
Geek OFF!