What a Mint!

Total Black: $2,352.41
Total Red: $269,991.43

Last Sunday, while bored at home waiting to leave to meet some guy for one of those quasi-dates—those “let’s grab a drink” things.  Never materialized.  It was raining too much.  The place we were going to meet at was closed on Sundays.  He’s local so I suspect he may have gotten cold feet.  But I digress.  Anyway, while waiting at home to leave, I started browsing the App Store on iTunes on my iPhone.  Time-killer, right?  Well, I came across one app, Seize the Day, that looked interesting.  Downloaded it.  It’s an app to keeps track of tasks and alerts you to outstanding To-Do list items.  Do we need it?  No.  We can just take a pad of paper and create our own To-Do list.  The iPhone has a Notes section too.  But I thought, why not!  Anything to help organization in this cluttered, electronic world.  But it was the app for the personal finance website Mint.com that really intrigued me. 

Permanent Vacation

Total Black: $109.30
Total Red: $270,623.78

Yesterday was the first day I spent under the Caribbean sun.  I actually wrote this post on Saturday but had to adjust it to accommodate my Twelfth Day of Accounting as yesterday was the 10th.  With an afternoon spent in the sun, it passed my mind completely.  Lord & Lady took me out on their boat.  We sailed over to Buck Island, a national park untouched by man.  Well except for the random droppings he leaves behind.  Or she—like the tampon applicator I came across in the bushes.  But I digress.  I shot this photograph from the edge of the water with my iPhone.  We needed to know the time.  The temperature of the water varied in an instant from refreshingly cold to amazingly warm.  And the colors!  From this turquoise to teal to deep blue.  Just within a few feet.

Done Stepping Down

Total Black: $1,066.47
Total Red:$229,755.52

Happy Easter.  Hope the Easter Bunny was good to you.  I popped a few peeps at the contact attorney position today.  Sucks having to work on a holiday but even more so when you’re the only one there.  I received a task on Friday that was supposed to be done by Saturday.  Yesterday, however, I was nearly crippled by a headache—as noted in Overactive Imagination—so I didn’t get much accomplished.  Instead I spent much of the morning and then the afternoon and evening compulsively checking my iPhone between serving cake and passing out playbills.  That email asking me whether I had completed my task never came.  Of course, it never came.  Just my overactive imagination again.  But today I’m in the office late again, furiously trying to get all the materials and copies assembled for the morning.

As I noted in Movin’ On, the law firm I’m working for asked if I could continue on for roughly six more weeks.  I haven’t heard back from either clerkship opportunity, so I sidestepped that point by stating that I don’t have any constraints on my availability currently.  Except for the theatre.  Back in Stepping Up and Down, I explained my plan to reduce my hours at the theatre gig to allow for increased work at the contract attorney position.  And once again I asked whether I should keep my shifts at the theatre  scaled back.  In a roundabout way I was told yes.  But I decided not to.  Looks like I’m in for a few more weeks burning that midnight oil—and the candle at both ends.

Welcome Rest

Total Black: $3,978.75
Total Red: $226,702.78

I had to post a placeholder entry via the iPhone WordPress app.  I haven’t paid the Time Warner bill for internet and telephone and so they suspended my service.  Really annoying to need the internet to pay for the internet.  One welcome aspect to suspended service: my telephone, and I have, enjoyed a welcome rest.  It’s been quite.  No one can get through on the telephone to call me about my debts.

Today’s post is short again because I’m home sick still.  Bad cold.  I’ve spent nearly the entire day in bed, except for the three hours I worked at the theatre today.  You can’t really call in sick there.  Well, you can, of course.  But it’s not like the contract attorney position.  I couldn’t really just stand there for a few hours and get paid.

I must say though, I’ve needed this rest.  Even if it does end up costing me over $700.  Crazy, eh?  Sickness sucks.

Stupid Cupid

Total Black: $1,066.57
Total Red: $228,913.98

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Not much of one here.  I worked two shifts at the theatre and had to smile and beam at all the happy couples (both straight and gay) and giddy families coming to see the shows.  And both shows were sold out too so that meant a lot of patrons.

Colleague Confusion

Total Black: $750.64
Total Red: $229,126.19

Numerous comments over the past few months have taken me to task for daring to expect something additional from the colleague I’ve worked for since August.  Way back in Hang A Shingle.  So, I thought I’d take the time to lay out some of the back and forth between him and myself.  Might help to make for a clearer picture.  Note that I’ve changed any identifying information as to persons or corporations.

Late Night

Total Black: $222.26
Total Red: $228,854.86

Despite this post not appearing on time, this was not another day without a post.  At least not technically speaking.

State of My Union

Total Black: $83.69
Total Red: $229,225.06

I couldn’t help but co-opt the title for today’s entry from the main feature in the American press: President Obama’s first State of the Union address.  This morning as I was in the dentist’s chair, MSNBC turned on in the background, I couldn’t help but notice an odd similarity of mine to President Obama.  Not that I’m in any way comparable to a man of his caliber and accomplishments, but in a small way, I noticed that we share one similarity: seems that nothing either of us do can appease any of our critics.  He’s taken the fall for the bank bailouts, whether a wise move or not, when it was actually President Bush and Congress who approved it.  His efforts on health care were sabotaged, and even though everyone in the country wanted something done to improve the current system, no one will give him credit for getting something done.  Likewise the economy hasn’t recovered as quickly or as fully as we all would have liked; ask anyone and it is single-handedly all his fault.  Every bemoans the Stimulus Plan as having had no effect.  I can personally say that without it, I wouldn’t have been in that dentist’s chair this morning.  It also got me an additional $25 a week in unemployment benefits back when I was still on the dole.  Sadly, that little bit extra did make a difference.  I could go on with additional examples, but the few I’ve cited suffice.  I suppose unless you’ve achieved something just short of herculean or heroic, people will only go on about your short-comings or missteps.  So, how is the state of my union? 

View From the Top

Total Black: $84.21
Total Red: $228,973.35

Last night I paused for a moment at work and snapped a few pictures with my iPhone of the midtown Manhattan skyline.  This is the view outside one of the rooms I was working out of.  Amazing.  And beautiful in a way only modern cities can be.  I have a similar sense of awe anytime I land in Chicago—seeing all the lights spread out in grids for miles.  I recall being humbled and awed when visiting the Sears Tower at night one time.  Every pair of lights moving around the city carried at least one person scurrying to another destination.  So too here.  Many, though certainly not all, of the lights peppering this picture illuminated someone burning the midnight oil.  And it was nearly midnight when I took this.  Just at midnight when I left.  I definitely got in thirteen hours yesterday.  I suspect there will be more nights like this in the days to come.

Vindication!

Total Black: $88.81
Total Red: $229,590.92

Manna from heaven.  Yesterday the clouds parted and down fell some wonderful news.  In threes I might add.  A trifecta of vindication!  Let me explain.

The Rat Race

Total Black: $649.59
Total Red: $230,772.32

Something hit me tonight.  I woke late this afternoon.  I went out last night for a few drinks.  I stayed in my neighborhood though and hit up a few neighborhood bars.  I had maybe three beers and two rum & cokes.  Nothing excessive for a Friday night out, but with the drugs from the medical experiment in my system, I think the drinks have a harder impact, especially the next day.  Or perhaps I’m just getting older, eh?  At any rate, I spent much of the day in bed, just being lazy.  The cable guy was supposed to stop by to pick up the box and remote control today.  He never showed.  So by around 5pm I decided I’d get up, head to the gym, and take care of some grooming matters.  It’s been awhile since I got my hair cut.

You’re Gonna Die

Total Black: $543.54
Total Red: $230,467.77

On the train to work today, I had music on my iPhone on shuffle when a great song (if you can call it that), “You’re Gonna Die” by William Shatner, came on.  The song is hilarious, catchy, and actually quite aurally diverse with many subtle background shout-outs, odd sounds, and other noises.  But what brings the biggest smile to my face is the song’s overall message.  Guess what?  You’re going to die. Bet you forgot, eh?   Not something we think about very often.  But it’s the only sure thing in life.  Everything ends.

Sometimes, it seems, we do forget.  We get so wound up in our own lives—in our debt and our dramas, our aches and pains, our joys and pleasures.  The slightest affront sets us off.  The lost job has us in tears.  The wedding plans have us in knots.  The grades have us doubting our career path.  Why?  As the saying goes, you can’t take it with you.  And if we live once, it certainly does not make sense spending the bulk of it in worry or despair.

Blogging From the Bathtub

Total Black: $1,029.83
Total Red: $231,341.81

Yes.  I am blogging from the bathtub.  With a bit of ingenuity, I can post via my iPhone.  The last time I had to do this, in Miracles of Modern Technology, my internet service had been suspended.  This time it’s nothing so frustrating. In fact, pay came through today, allowing me to pay my cell phone bill, which restored my service.  Without that, I might have had another day without a post.  Or not.  In New York City there are still some places where you can buy internet access. 

Venom and Vitriol

Total Black: $393.85
Total Red: $230,977.94

. . . Or a response to the Mikes of the world.

Earlier today I received my first negative comment.  Given the nature of the internet, and particularly with the ability to anonymously comment, I figured when I started this blog that it would come with the territory.  I suppose I foresaw such comments in Getting There From Here, but to be honest I was quite taken aback by the viciousness of the comment.  It physically jarred me for a few hours, partly, I think, because the comment was not given in a supportive or encouraging tone but merely in a vicious rant.  So much so that I’m devoting this entry to his comment, especially since, as of writing this entry, at least four people have rated his comment positively.

Miracles of Modern Technology

Total Black: $112.45
Total Red: $230,311.86

I came home tonight to find that my cable, telephone, and Internet service had been disconnected.  I’m posting this entry via my iPhone.  I’ll clean the post up tomorrow at the temp job when i get a chance.  I’ll also be able to pay the bill.  Hopefully my blogging efforts won’t be constrained tomorrow as well.  Thanks to these miracles of modern technology, I can still post my daily entries.