It has been almost a month since I last blogged. I missed last week's Comic update. And I have gotten shorter and shorter updates on the comics.
The problem is nothing exciting is happening. Anything news-worthy is minor bad things and really if that is all I talk about it just seems there is nothing but lows in my life. And just in case you are curious here they are with no emphasis. They are listed, dealt with, and I am moving on.
Two people have quit their job at work, they were both on an important committee that I head up for training and development. It means more work for me and I just don't have time for it. Because of that I am losing grip on being able to lead the group effectively.
A big project I wanted to do before February got delayed due to me not realizing I had the wrong software. Because of this my firewall will not be updated until March. (Not a big deal, the update adds functionality but the current firewall works fine.)
I have gotten a few weeks off from the dangerous duo. It has been good for me to distance myself from them for a few weeks and I can now hang out them again and I have quashed all past romantic feelings I had for them. After the last couple of very strange months, I am avoiding girls for the most part. In fact that I think that is a big reason I have let my beard grow out. Yes, it is really warm in the single digit temperatures we have gotten this last month, but it also makes me look like a scary mountain man. That means I don't have to worry about flirting with girls because it makes me unattractive. It means I can be myself more because I am not trying to impress anyone.
I keep looking at my finances and I see a tough month coming for me in April when some bills like car insurance, an increased HOA, and the moons all aligning in bad position will make money really tight. I will be fine but it may be the first time I only pay the minimum on my credit card bills instead of either paying them off all together or at least reducing the amount owed on them.
Talking about that, I am going to have to refinance my house. I am still stuck at waiting two years but I read the fine print of my mortgage. I need to pay off 80% of the original loan, not 80% of the market value, to get rid of my PMI. But I think it will cost me $5,000 dollars for a refinance. That means I will need to really crunch numbers because I will be pulling that from equity to pay it off and I need to make sure that I will not be increasing my monthly payment by getting a higher interest rate. The bottom line is I am paying $200 a month in PMI (Property Mortgage Insurance) that is like pissing money down a hole. It is not tax deductible and it pays nothing, principle or interest, on my loan. It is a bullshit charge. If for some reason I couldn't make payment on my house and did foreclose, the bank would make big bucks by selling my house because of appreciation so the PMI is just fucking me over by giving them money they don't need. (I am a little bitter about it.)
So life has been life. No major events and even the upcoming tight month doesn't worry me. I know I will get the money to meet my finances through tax returns. I do feel guilty because I think for the second year in a row I will not be able to start paying back my parents. I know they would tell me, "Thom, we just want you to make your bills first." But the fact that I borrowed all that money from them with the intention of paying them back, and not being able to do so bugs me.
And I did do an income comparison from when I made less money. I actually make less "disposable" income now then when I worked as a night auditor and I made 1/3 my current salary. The increased tax bracket, and the fact my rent went up 5 times as much ($500 to the $2300+ I pay now) means that I have cut back my spending. Owning a house put me living closer to paycheck to paycheck then I have in years. And they all told me owning a house meant I would have "stability" in my life. Maybe if I was married and had a dual income this would be easy, as it is now buying a house when you are single is tough.
But like I said, if it wasn't for bad news, I would have no news at all.
To off-set the bitch fest above let me list some good items in my life. I am still proud I hit the 100 comic mark on my site. My D&D circle is going strong. I am surprised at how much getting friends to game with me and hang out means to me. I know that I will not become a closet-case because I have friends. This means a lot to me.
I keep thinking about making a book out of the website comics to date. The issue is I went back and looked at some of the early comics and I want to redo them. Some for formatting reasons, others because the joke didn't come across correctly. Then I wonder, "Do I have the right to change my comics?" Am I like George Lucas where I should not mess with the originals? Or is it OK to "remaster" the early comics? Actually on that note I like that idea. The book will be named "Vail Life – Remastered."
OK, next step is to start updating old comics. I have burned many of my original PSD files used to create the comic to CD. First I need to find that CD to get my original files. I figure it should take me about 6 months to go through the first 100 comics. I guess I have a new goal to do by summer time.
The problem is nothing exciting is happening. Anything news-worthy is minor bad things and really if that is all I talk about it just seems there is nothing but lows in my life. And just in case you are curious here they are with no emphasis. They are listed, dealt with, and I am moving on.
Two people have quit their job at work, they were both on an important committee that I head up for training and development. It means more work for me and I just don't have time for it. Because of that I am losing grip on being able to lead the group effectively.
A big project I wanted to do before February got delayed due to me not realizing I had the wrong software. Because of this my firewall will not be updated until March. (Not a big deal, the update adds functionality but the current firewall works fine.)
I have gotten a few weeks off from the dangerous duo. It has been good for me to distance myself from them for a few weeks and I can now hang out them again and I have quashed all past romantic feelings I had for them. After the last couple of very strange months, I am avoiding girls for the most part. In fact that I think that is a big reason I have let my beard grow out. Yes, it is really warm in the single digit temperatures we have gotten this last month, but it also makes me look like a scary mountain man. That means I don't have to worry about flirting with girls because it makes me unattractive. It means I can be myself more because I am not trying to impress anyone.
I keep looking at my finances and I see a tough month coming for me in April when some bills like car insurance, an increased HOA, and the moons all aligning in bad position will make money really tight. I will be fine but it may be the first time I only pay the minimum on my credit card bills instead of either paying them off all together or at least reducing the amount owed on them.
Talking about that, I am going to have to refinance my house. I am still stuck at waiting two years but I read the fine print of my mortgage. I need to pay off 80% of the original loan, not 80% of the market value, to get rid of my PMI. But I think it will cost me $5,000 dollars for a refinance. That means I will need to really crunch numbers because I will be pulling that from equity to pay it off and I need to make sure that I will not be increasing my monthly payment by getting a higher interest rate. The bottom line is I am paying $200 a month in PMI (Property Mortgage Insurance) that is like pissing money down a hole. It is not tax deductible and it pays nothing, principle or interest, on my loan. It is a bullshit charge. If for some reason I couldn't make payment on my house and did foreclose, the bank would make big bucks by selling my house because of appreciation so the PMI is just fucking me over by giving them money they don't need. (I am a little bitter about it.)
So life has been life. No major events and even the upcoming tight month doesn't worry me. I know I will get the money to meet my finances through tax returns. I do feel guilty because I think for the second year in a row I will not be able to start paying back my parents. I know they would tell me, "Thom, we just want you to make your bills first." But the fact that I borrowed all that money from them with the intention of paying them back, and not being able to do so bugs me.
And I did do an income comparison from when I made less money. I actually make less "disposable" income now then when I worked as a night auditor and I made 1/3 my current salary. The increased tax bracket, and the fact my rent went up 5 times as much ($500 to the $2300+ I pay now) means that I have cut back my spending. Owning a house put me living closer to paycheck to paycheck then I have in years. And they all told me owning a house meant I would have "stability" in my life. Maybe if I was married and had a dual income this would be easy, as it is now buying a house when you are single is tough.
But like I said, if it wasn't for bad news, I would have no news at all.
To off-set the bitch fest above let me list some good items in my life. I am still proud I hit the 100 comic mark on my site. My D&D circle is going strong. I am surprised at how much getting friends to game with me and hang out means to me. I know that I will not become a closet-case because I have friends. This means a lot to me.
I keep thinking about making a book out of the website comics to date. The issue is I went back and looked at some of the early comics and I want to redo them. Some for formatting reasons, others because the joke didn't come across correctly. Then I wonder, "Do I have the right to change my comics?" Am I like George Lucas where I should not mess with the originals? Or is it OK to "remaster" the early comics? Actually on that note I like that idea. The book will be named "Vail Life – Remastered."
OK, next step is to start updating old comics. I have burned many of my original PSD files used to create the comic to CD. First I need to find that CD to get my original files. I figure it should take me about 6 months to go through the first 100 comics. I guess I have a new goal to do by summer time.
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