Catching Up

It's been a while since my last post, so I wanted to do some quick catching up:

The boot is off, though I've transitioned to a brace for the next few weeks

My folks met Gloria, her daughter Matilda and her parents over thanksgiving. It well well.

I returned to the site of my first trip as an SID. Nothing sentimential, just had been eight years.

I'll type more tomorrow. I'm off to Gloria's house to help finish putting up Christmas lights.

MS

The Root of All Evil

So I've got my appointment to see the dentist about a root canal. I get to go on December 13, which if you're scoring at home, or by yourself, is four weeks away. How is it possible that it's going to take me for weeks to get a root canal? It's not an elective surgery, I need to get my tooth fixed! Then a month after I get the root canal, i can get my crown replace so it will be well in 2007 before my mouth is back in place.

The only positive from having to wait so long is that I'll have time to save up the money I don't have to pay for the damn thing. In case you were wondering, after insurance it's going to cost me $596.25 to get a root canal. The crown will probably be another $300. Good times.

I think I've come up with a stop-gap to my financial woes. This isn't the best idea, but it's about the only one I've got. During my time at NIU, I accumulated about 8 grand in a retirement fund and it's just sitting there. I'm sure I'm going to get a good portion of that taken away in taxes, but if I get half of that, I can pay for my teeth, pay off the overdue portion of my credit cards and put the rest of it away in a saving account towards the down payment on a house. Like I said, it's not ideal, but it's a way for me to pull myself up by my own bootstraps. Like i said yesterday, I really, really, really don't want to ask my parents for more money.

On to another subject...I finally got my ass working out again as I went swimming on monday. I was slated to go today, but lightening in the area closed the pool. I contemplating going to lift, upper body only since I've got the boot, but I'm pretty tired. Gloria is coming down with the flu and/or strep throat so I stayed with her last night and got very little sleep, probably 45 minutes or so at a time, which is nothing compared to what she is going through.

Fortunately I don't' get sick that often. You can probably count on one hand the number of days of school I missed because i was sick. That's high school of course, we won't got into how many times I missed an afternoon calculus class because the allure of golfing or hanging out with friends.

and keeps pouring

Some I got into the dentist today. After nearly two hours of sitting around he comes in and tells me I need to have a root canal done where my crown fell out. Once they do that they'll rebuild the base of my tooth so they can put the crown back in. Even better news is that there is a short of dentist in town who do root canals so it may be a month before I get this done.

Ugh.

The upside is I don't have to pay for it right away, which is good because i don't have the cash for it. The more and more I think about my finances the more it just turns my stomach into knots and gives me a huge headache. I missed a car payment last month and I can catch up on that in my next pay check, but then I don't have the money to pay off my student loan. Add to this that I owe Gloria $225 because she was nice of enough to let me put my plane ticket on her credit card so I could go home for Christmas.

Then on top of all this my parents know about my financial woes because they co-sign my car lease because my credit sucks so when I missed the payment on my car they got a notice. They've always been there to bail me out financially and I feel so guilty borrowing more money from them. I feel like such a failure. Anyone know how much a kidney goes for these days on the black market?

When it rains, it pours

So I've been getting around the last three weeks with the boot on my left foot. It's not the most enjoyable thing, it's not the most comfortable thing, but at least all my left foot shoes are getting a much deserved break. It's a pain in the ass, but I'm managing and it's better than the alternative of a cast. Plus my leg is feeling much better and most of the swelling has finally gone down.

My financial situation is still in disarray and is the biggest stress on my life. I feel like I'm never going to catch up on all my bills. It always seems like a student loan is popping up here or some forgotten bill over there and they are never at the right time for me to keep a positive balance. I've enrolled in credit counseling and if every goes to plan I should have my credit cards paid off in five years, compared to the 20 years it was going to take me by just paying the minimums.

Another reason why my finances stress me is that I can't do much for Gloria. I like to do nice things for her like buy her flowers on a whim or pick up lunch every now and then, but given my financial status, that doesn't happen very often. She makes more money than I do, which I'm fine with - I've always said I'd be Mr. Mom if I could find a sugar momma - and she does a lot for me, but the fact that I can't reciprocate just kills me. I don't even want to think about Christmas.
I swear I'm so desperate in my finances that I'm this close - envision my thumb and forefinger about a millimeter apart - to answering one of those online ads where you get paid to answer surveys and junk like that. I already do one where I earn points towards frequent flyer miles, which I've actually gotten. I'm also entertaining the idea of a second job, but god knows I don't have the time for that. Actually god knows a lot of things, including that, but probably doesn't rate that as high on his list as I do. Even with all those problems, I think there is light at the end of the tunnel. I hope to be getting a raise sometime this year or next and I'm picking up some cash on the side doing work for televised basketball games, but for the time being it's not good.

Before you start the pity party or sponsor a tele-a-thon, though I'll take any donations, things haven't been all that bad. The job is going well, my relationship with Gloria is going great, though she's been a little cranky lately, and in general, everything else is fine.

But, and what for the dramatic pause....the friggin crown on my tooth falls out Friday night! I got it put on about 6-7 years ago in DeKalb and it bothered me a few years ago so I saw a team dentist and the x-rays were negative. I've had a few check ups since then, but really no pain since I was brush and flossing (occasionally), but Friday morning my tooth was a little sore, but I didn't think much of it. That evening I've got the slim remains of a Tootsie pop and when I bite down on it, my crown comes off.

Fortunately it's a pretty clean break, there wasn't any pain. I'm also fortunately in that none of the nerve endings have been exposed so there's really not that much pain in my mouth. However, I do need to find a dentist - i hadn't set one up yet with my new insurance - and I need to get this damn crown replaced. Of course this also means I'm going to have to fork out $300 after insurance for the new crown and this is money I don't have in the first place. All of this just adds to my stress and I don't know what I'm going to do so if you see me on the street corner, throw me a buck.

I Got Your Birthday Candles Right Here

I hate my birthday. I really shouldn't say that, but I do and it's not because I don't like getting older. Getting one day closer to 40, 50, 60, etc. Doesn't bother me. I hate drawing attention to myself and that extends to banquets, award ceremonies, etcs. I know what kind of work i've done and I know how well it was done. Do you get award for doing something poorly? Seriously?

That's one of the many reasons - I won't got into all of them - why I want to get married - when it happens, cool your jets - in Vegas. Some little chapel off the Strip with an Elvis impersonater and/or Wayne Netwon, the actual guy, performing the ceremony. Afterwards there can be a big party with as many people as possible just having a good time, but idea of standing up in front of all those people doesn't thrill. It's not stage fright, I have no problem being in the public eye. Eight Saturday a week I'm on the sidelines in front of 85,000 people and I'm right in my element. Maybe that's because only about 100 of the 85,000 know who I am, whereas a whole church full of people would know who I was.

It's the need for little attention that makes me good at my job. My job is to make other people look good and that's how I get my gratitude. When one of my athletes or coaches wins an award, I know I played a part in that and there's a good chance they wouldn't have won had it not been for my efforts. Yes the athletes and coaches do the majority of the work, but how do you think Lee Corso or Kirk Herbstreet finds out about someone, through someone like me.

Anyways....the one thing that I like about my birthday is that it brings people that I like around. I like hanging out with friends, it really doesn't matter what we're doing, just as long as good people are around. Gloria, as they call my lady friend in the office, asked what she could make me for dinner on my birthday. I told her that I didn't care if it was franks and beans, as long as she made the gesture. I'm a substance guy, not style, which most of you have can tell from my wardrobe.

With that said, I'll be spending most of the night with my friend Daisy while her husband and Gloria go to this banquet. After dinner there will be the usual cake and presents but it will be low key and that's how I like it. Besides, 31 is nothing to celebrate. Now 35, when I'm eligible to be President, that's another story.