Fiscal Fitness

I'm up 20% for the year so far--partly due to increases in my retirement accounts and partly due to the fact that my home is still appreciating (I'm lucky to live in an area where the housing bust hasn't hit quite as hard.)

To celebrate, I made an extra $300 payment towards my mortgage, bringing it under $90,000 for the first time.

Nice to see progress

Friday was my birthday. I had planned to to take myself out to breakfast, then go in to work, and in the evening, get taken out to dinner by my boyfriend, but my plans were changed when my beloved basset, Henry, started the day by throwing up and refusing his food. The food refusal was alarming, as this dog is nicknamed "Henry the Hungry" and "Henry the Ate and ate and ate." He didn't seem otherwise actively distressed (as he did during his gastric woes of last summer), but he was quieter than usual. When we were sitting on the porch and a neighbor greeted him, he just lay there--no tail wag. Then he had an episode of diarhhea. So I called the vet and they had an appointment open right away. An exam revealed that his vitals were normal, and bloodwork showed all values in normal range for blood, kidney, liver, etc (which was reassuring to know in any case since he has been on prednisone for nearly a year). No parasites, either. However, while we were there, he had another bout of diarhhea--and this one was almost pure blood and mucous. The vet suggested that his IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) had re-emerged, though this time with lower GI tract symptoms rather than upper GI tract ones. A call was made to his internal medicine specialist, who prescribed an antibiotic. I cancelled almost all my plans and (since classes hadn't started yet and I thus had the luxury to do so) stayed home with him all day. Tom picked up Chinese takeout and a video and came over for a quiet evening in. Henry was lethargic most of the day, but, after a long nap, felt well enough to take his afternoon walk, and his tail was wagging when he saw the neighbor kids. It took another 24 hours, during which he fasted without complaint, before the occasional bouts of throwing up stopped and before his appetite reemerged.

Since my attention was preoccupied with Henry all day Friday and Saturday, I had to spend Sunday frantically working on syllabi for the start of the school year--a chore which I will finish as soon as I finish this entry.

Classes started this morning and we're off on another school year. It's scary knowing that it's possible that this is my last year of full-time teaching, but who knows what the year will bring?

1. The "someday/maybe" list...things I want to buy go on a list (some items are on paper, but mostly I just add things to my "wish list" at amazon.com). Only if I keep on thinking about buying things after a long time do I usually buy them.

2. Consider buying used. I buy most of my books and furniture used, and a good portion of my clothes and some of my appliances. Lingerie, walking shoes, and electronic devices are the main categories of durable goods that I always buy new.

3. If I can get it for free, I do so. I make a lot of use of the library! And if I can borrow a rarely used item from a friend, or rent it for a day (eg., heavy duty steam cleaner), or barter for it (minor home repairs for tax assistance), those are also ways of getting things without shelling out $$.

4. If I'm going to give in and buy something new, I check out prices on the internet, and I also check to see if a coupon code is available. Today I ordered "yoga toes" for some persistent foot problems I've been having--they're about $50 on the web, but a quick search garnered me a $15 coupon code, so the cost is $35. (And given the good reviews these get--albeit without any formal scientific evidence--I'm hoping these hope me avoid more expensive trips to the podiatrist, orthotics, etc.

5. Keep track of what you spend regularly. I *do* struggle with the spending demon, especially insofar as spending too much on groceries and eating out. Keeping careful track of these categories is somewhat helpful in keeping my spending in line...I tell myself that I can wait another 10 days or whatever until it's time to refill the food budget envelope again (given that the larder is full). Since it's usually a relatively short time to wait, I can do so without depriving myself of my favorite indulgenes.

6. And, as others have said, pay off the credit cards monthly and put something aside for savings every month.

Because of the computer, an expensive week

grocery 159
dining 35
pets 272 (annual exams for 2 cats, with biannual shots)
dentist 190 (some of which will be reimbursed by insurance)
computer & accessories (keyboard protector, surge protector, VISTA book) ($150 expected back in rebate) 1040
Total spending: 1696

I got the bad news on Friday that if I had the repairs made on my laptop the bill would be $500-600. Since it was only a $700 machine, that was not worth it. And since I spend 4-8 hours daily on the laptop, it IS worth it to me to replace it. So I spent Saturday researching and bought one (Toshiba Satellite A135) on Sunday, and have spent the time since then getting used to Windows Vista, getting the new machine hooked back on line, tranfering files over, etc. For the same price (after rebate) as I spent for the old laptop 15 months ago, I got 4 times the RAM (and a dual core processor) and twice the hard drive (but somewhat weaker graphics as this one has an integrated card and the other one had a separate video card).

Now I'm trying to decide about an extended warranty. Normally I don't buy them but I feel like I got burned on the last machine so I will buy one this time around...trying to decide between one offered by the manufacturer (Toshiba) and one by the retailer (Office Depot).

For completeness sake:

parking: $5
netflix: 5.29
watch (old cheap one broke): 10.59
personal care (cold meds): 7.62
grocery: 109.54
eating out: 29.05

Spent more on food than intended...maybe because I was sick all week and had no energy to cook, so bought more prepared foods both from convenience stores and the grocery

weekly spending apart from monthly bills: 159.47
monthly bills (mortgage, utilities, annual service contract for heating/water cooler, congregation dues): 1166.04

July 8: kayaking trip, $15
lunch, 7.90 + ice cream, 3.29
(all unnec)

July 9: grocery, 31.30

July 10-12: no spend days

July 13: 20.29 household
2.92 iced cappucino (unnec)
52.86 grocery

July 14: gas: 31.72, grocery: 28.44, household (flower baskets on sale, unnec, replacement fan for one that broke, 20% off): 52.98


Total weekly spending: 214.98
proportion unnecessary/"fun": 13.5%

A little bit over my 10% "fun" limit, but if I recategorize the flowers for the front as household rather than a pure "fun" expense, I'm still under 10% frivolous expenses.

Flowers are frivolous, but they also feed the soul!

My computer is being "held hostage" in the shop over the holiday week (I completely forgot the 4th was a holiday, and they took the rest of the week off), so I haven't been able to log in except by going to the library.

Spending since 7/1

July 2
Grocery: 20.17

July 3
Drugstore: 18.96

July 4
Dining: 6.25
Video rental: 1.75
Total: 8.00 (nonessentials)

Then I've been in "holiday weekend" mode since this is the only weekend I have with no class commitments looming over me, so I've spent a bit the past few days.

July 5
Veterinarian: $10
Auto-fuel: $29.32
Total: $40.32

July 6
Dining: $11.00 (nonessential)

July 7
Clothing: $98.32 (a swim suit, a pair of summer clogs, a pair of water shoes, and a shirt) at the sale at LL Beans) (items worth $134 if not on sale, so I saved over 25%). Arguably nonessential, except possibly the swim suit (I discovered yesterday that the old one is unwearable) but I'll get good use out of it. Also tomorrow I'll spend $15 for an introductory kayaking class that Bean's offers. I do like living near one of their outlets!
Dining: $12.59
Total: 110.91

That's $209.36 of spending so far this month, $19 of which is clearly nonessential. But that's less than 10%, and I think the "extras" of the couple of meals out, the video rental (The Da Vinci Code), and tomorrow's kayaking trip will help give me a sense of having had a tiny bit of real vacation during this generally hard-working summer. Hopefully this little bit of getting off track will help me stay on better track the rest of the month.

I'm trying to limit my expenses this month to necessities. Off to an ok start with a no-spend day today.

I'm up 15.5% so far for the year according to the updates I do on NetworthIQ.com.

The biggest source of the increase is (presumed) home valuation, as judged by zillow.com. The area where I live has *not* been enduring the nationwide housing slump--things are definitely slower than they were in 2005, but still expanding. My retirement accounts are also up 5.5%, and my emergency fund, which I'd pretty much decimated last fall with all of Henry's medical problems is back up to over $4200.

I've been too busy to post much of late, but do check in periodically to see how the people I've gotten to know here are doing.

This summer isn't the crisis of last summer, when I had no paycheck and was trying to live off savings--but on the other hand, I'm trying to build up the emergency fund to prepare for a 23% drop in salary in September. I've got to cut expenses now so I don't go into debt then! And whatever I can save will go into the emergency fund.

The first month of summer has led to some overspending--which is typical of me. I get so busy the end of the term that I start eating out more, and I'm exhausted when vacation first begins, so it takes a while to get back into cooking. Actually, I only had a week of time off, since I'm teaching this summer (hence the summer income). And I'm taking a class. So I've spent money on books, a postponed home repair, a postponed vet visit for Henry, and 6 weeks' worth of training classes with a person to get me back into shape after having not exercised for a few months. After only two weeks the persistent pain in my Achilles tendon is gone, and the frozen shoulder is beginning to loosen up, so it's a worthwhile investment.

Now that I have only two more paychecks at my "regular" pay before the big decrease, I've got to focus on cutting expenses as much as possible, so I'll be hanging out around here again.

Classes ended yesterday; now I just have two exams to administer and piles of papers and exams to grade, so that the academic year should wind up in about a week. I get a brief break of a week and then start teaching summer school (1 class) and taking classes (2, I think, presuming the two I want to take enroll enough students to run). I suppose if I don't take the two I'm planning on, I'll go over to the community college and enroll in more distance learning classes--but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, as the (4-year) college classes are not only better, but, since I've worked there for more than two years, I get to take them for free, while registering for two community college classes will cost about $800.

I started Weight Watchers just over a week ago and lost over 5 pounds the first week. Maybe eating less will lower my food bill eventually, but at the moment, it really helps to buy things that are precooked or prepackaged in small servings, plus my consumption of fresh produce has increased, so the food bill remains high for now.

Back when I lived in the next town over, there was a nice consignment store that I used to shop routinely. But that store burned down 3 years ago, and then I moved. I haven't bought very many clothes in the past couple of years, but what I have bought has been primarily Lands End clothing, bought at Sears when on sale.

Last week, my friend Anne & I were talking, and she told me about some stores that she knows in another nearby town. Today we went, since Anne is shopping for some new outfits for work. I'm not particularly in "need" of anything (other than of 1. losing the 12 pounds I gained recently to fit better into most of my clothes and 2. a warddrobe update--lots of my dresses and skirts are over 10 years old and work outfits that seemed fine in my early 30s doesn't feel appropriate to my mid-40s), so I looked at what was available. I found two sweaters (identical style, different colors), a scarf, and a pair of earrings, all purchased for $39, that work towards the "wardrobe updating" goal.

Now that I know about these two stores, I'll chek them out a few times a year as I continue updating.

And tomorrow I officially launch a diet to see if I can lose the 12 pounds by summer.

Net Worth 12/31/06 $153,979
Net Worth 3/31/07 $169.871
Difference $15,892

Looks great, but most of the increase is from the estimate of my house's price on Zillow.com, which took a big hit a few months ago and is just rebounding.

Retirement accounts are up $1743, of which $180 is my contribution and the rest is interest.

Retirement contributions are low because I have been focusing on rebuilding my emergency savings, which I wiped out when Henry had his surgery last October. That is now up to $2213, an increase of $1478 over the end of last year.

Debts are down $1416--$1000 of that being loan forgiveness from my mom, which I'll take.

The good news is that I have a full-time job offer for next year--when I'd presumed at the beginning of the year that I'd be patching together part-time adjunct teaching positions.

I began to suspect that I might get another full-time offer when in February, the department decided that they had a "failed job search" and would have to search again next year (the academic job-hunt calendar being what it is). Of course, that job was in a different specialty than my own, so I was hopeful but not certain. Then when a colleague announced her resignation the beginning of March, I felt certain that I'd get an offer.

This type of thing has happened to me 3 times previously on this job--what began as a one-year replacement position in 2003 has been continously renewed through circumstances of either resignations or failed searches.

Each time previously, however, when they offered me a one-year contract, there was a nominal salary increase (the 3% college average). This time, however, the position was offered to me with a 23% pay CUT--and a corresponding demotion in title down two ranks. This will have me earning $12,000 less than I am earning this year--significantly less than they started me at in 2003.

No explanation has been given--only that the alternative is that instead of hiring me full-time at this lower salary, they could hire me part-time for about half the cost. It's a decision by the Financial VP who's decided to save himself some money--but it certainly will reflect poorly on my CV. The demotion in title has nothing to do with my performance, but is so that the lower salary doesn't bring down the averages for my rank in the salaries reported each year in the Chronicle of Higher Education. If I had any other alternative source of income for the fall, I'd turn it down because of the insult. But I don't.

I've spent all day trying not to be furious, but I'm spitting-nails angry. I try to focus on the positives--guaranteed income and benefits until August of 2008, health insurance, free tuition--but the RED FURY is overwhelming everything at the moment.

Didn't mean to abandon this blog, but life has been busy.

Quick update:

-Henry the $$$ Hound has been doing ok, thank god. I worry because he's gained so much weight while on the prednisone (from 67 to 80 #s), but I'm beginning to cut the prednisone back (for the second time...tried it around Thanksgiving and he wasn't ready yet, but so far so good this time--knock on wood!!!).

-Back at work, of course. I'm taking a course as well as teaching three. I'm auditing the course, actually, since I already have credit for it on the books from this past summer when I took it via Distance Learning at the Community College. But such a difference having a class in person makes! I'm seriously contemplating changing programs to complete my Accounting Certificate at this college rather than at the community college. The courses cost 3x as much but there are fewer of them--I think it would cost about $4400 (vs $2400) if all the credits transferred. But the difference could well be worth it. More in a later entry.

-It looks like I most likely have 3 classes in place to teach for the fall (plus one over the summer) as an adjunct--which means that I should be able to pay the basic bills but things will be extremely tight. My usual monthly expenses the past year or so have been $3000/month, and this should bring me in $2880/month...but if I'm adjuncting, my COBRA health insurance will add about another $270 beyond the $100/month I currently pay to the bills, so there will be a lot of skimping and cutting, and I'll be saving as much as possible now and praying with all my heart that Henry (and the cats) stay healthy.

But at least having that income in place for the year means that the anxiety and depression of December have mostly disappeared.

And I anticipate some income beyond that as well--for one thing, there's still some possibility that another full-time renewal will open up here if their current attempt to do a new hire falls through (as has happened in the past)--I'll know within the month. And the big one is that, inspired by the course I'm taking, I'm going to look for a summer internship in accounting and start making this attempted career change seem more real. Get myself out of the classroom and into the "real world." I'm such an ivory tower type that this is a bit terrifying, but right at the moment the excitement is higher than the fear factor, so that's good.

I downloaded the TaxAct program (basic) for free from their website and used it and the information from my December paychecks and statements to run-through a draft of my 2006 taxes. Looks like I'll be getting about $1450 back, which will make a nice boost to the Emergency Fund (which desperately needs it).

I also made a last-minute donation to one of my favorite charities, Co-Op America. They actively support sustainable and socially just businesses, and I think that making in-roads on the environment and social justice concerns by supporting corporations that act in favorable ways is a tremendously smart move. Until midnight tonight, Co-Op America has a donor grant that will MATCH any contribution you make, making your gift twice as effective. (Of course, that doubles the money that Co-Op America gets, NOT the amount you can deduct on your taxes.) But since this is one of the groups that I most consistently support, I made an extra $30 contribution (I'll get $13 of it back when I file my taxes, according to the calculations I did with TaxAct.)

Other than that, today has been a "no spend" day--in fact, other than taking the dog for a short walk, it wasn't even a "leave the house" day.

The picture shows a big drop in the last month, but that's due to my home value. I use the zillow.com appraisal in order to use a consistent methodology, and that sometimes has big changes without clear rhyme or reason. It shows my home value plummeting 10% this month, while my boyfriend's house mysteriously rises over 200% in value! If you follow the zillow prices over time, you see that there are occasional odd blips, and the thing to do is to look at the overall trends. So I can't know whether these changes are temporary blips or part of a more enduring pattern. Also, my town was awarded a casino license Dec. 20th, which will surely impact housing prices, and I doubt the zillow data incorporates any of that impact yet. I didn't want the casino but I'm still praying that the impact on property values (and quality of life) is for the better.

Probably a better comparison than the changes over the past 6 months is a comparison with my end of 2005 data.

Net Worth 12/31/2005, 149,279

Net Worth 12/31/2006, 153,979

Change: +3%--This is due to a 2% increase in assets (mostly retirement funds) and a 1% decrease in liabilities (mostly mortgage).

Taking the year-long view, 2006 wasn't a great year but at least my net worth still rose.

Expenses (Not including Income Taxes)

Home: 14711 (8736 mortgage/PITI, 3763 utilities (gas, electric, phone, internet, water, sewer, trash) 108 repairs, 739 furniture, 1364 other household expenses)

Food: 5678 (4611 groceries, 1364 eating out)

Transportation: 2704 (708 insurance, 946 gas, 1005 service, 46 tags & parking)

Insurance: 435 (mortgage-disability & umbrella liability)

Pets: 7880 (!) (the vast majority of this has been due to Henry's illness).

Unreimbursed Business Expenses: 2430 (mostly a new computer & software)

Education: 1141 (tuition & books)

Personal: 1220 (clothing, toiletries, vitamins, gym membership)

Recreation: 1155 (883 for entertainment = books, newspaper subscription, video rentals, theatre/film/concert tickets, an mp3 player, knitting supplies; 272 to fly out to visit my family for a week)

Charity: 600 (edited 12/31)

Gifts: 258

My Christmas present arrived today--a (7-cup) Cuisinart, along with an extra "thick slicing" blade for soft veggies, and also an OXO salad spinner. When I first put everything in my cart, the total was about $170, but I'm actually only paying $40 for all of this!

First got free shipping--that took about $26 off.

Then used my $50 amazon.com gift certicate (which I received for being a "community leader" at a discussion board on another online website).

Then I noticed that Amazon.com was having a promotion in Kitchen & Housewares, where if you bought $125 worth of goods, you'd received $25 off. Hence the extra blade and the salad spinner--that brought the "goods total" to $145, more than the $125, but they were both goods that I truly wanted.

Finally, I gave in and opened an Amazon.com VISA for an additional $30 off. My other credit card bill is down to $355, which means that I should be able to pay it off in full in January (barring any more emergencies). The new card is a "rewards card," where I get back 1% for general purchases and 3% for purchases made on Amazon.com, payment being in the form of a $25 amazon.com gift certificate that gets issued automatically when I've spent $2500 on the credit card. I'm planning to pay this card off in full every month and will transfer money from my savings into my checking account to make sure I can do this. I won't be using it for emergencies, except maybe during the first 6 months when the card has a 0% rate.

Total bill after all the deductions: $40.06.

The Cuisinart, by the way, replaces an identical one I sold at a garage sale 10 years ago. I sold it because I was moving and didn't use it much. I've regretted the decision since. I might not use it *much* but it is indispensible for some things. I've probably bought $50 worth of cheap slicinng and chopping gadgets during the intervening 10 years which I can now purge from my kitchen because they not only take up space but never worked as well as the food processor.

******

I also splurged and paid for Henry to have a bath. He needed one and I need a pro to cut his nails. He's doing pretty well these days (and he looks quite dapper in the scarf they tied around his neck after the bath). The Prednisone is generally working, although an initial attempt to lower his dosage failed and we're back up to the inital dose. He's handling it better this time around, though--no more peeing on the rugs like he was doing the first month on the drug. The drug makes him hungry and lethargic, so he's gained 12 pounds and takes shorter walks, but the digestive woes are under control and he should be off the Prednisone by April or May and we can work thn on getting the extra pounds off and the walking mileage back up.

Since Henry fell ill this summer, my wallet has had a hole in it that has been immune to being patched. I'd expected that a fairly young dog would cost me about $80 a month to feed, supply, and provide veterinary care for. Henry has been diagnosed with 3 chronic condittions that require 3 monthly medications for life, plus an expensive veterinary diet that I expect him to be on for life since the other conditions apparently derive from his food allergies. Even buying his medications online 6 months at a time, his monthly maintenance cost is now about $250 just for meds and food. Hopefully with the diagnosis and treatment, the outrageous vet bills will go down. Between the startup costs of getting the dog (whom I DID have checked out by a vet first...he had no problems until I'd had him for five months), the vet expenses, and the maintenance, he's cost me about 15% of my salary for the year (in other words, my retirement contribution and my emergency fund.) My baby is well worth it but it's frustrating nonetheless--and I worry terribly about what happens when the contract job I am on ends in August. My income could take a significant hit.

So any savings is good. I have two small victories to report, one pet-related, one not. The pet-related one relates to the weekly urinalysis the vet has been charging me $30/week for. I bought some pH strips (which cost about 10 cents each) and will start doing the weekly reports myself most of the time. I paid for one last urinalysis today just to calibrate my strips against their reports--mine were .25 off, which is close enough (given the scale of these measurements) to accept most of the time.

The other savings has to do with a personal purchase. I've spent a good deal of time the past couple of weeks evaluating various software packages for doing mindmapping, which I've decided will help me be more productive in my teaching and other work. The first time I'd tried to download a freeware program, I'd had no luck, and I gave up and instead became enamoured of a commercial program that would cost me about $100. But I was motivated to try and download the freeware program again, and this time I got it working and am quite happy with it, thus saving myself that $100. (Now I can buy that new pair of walking shoes--the old ones are a year old and I put about 600 miles/year on them, so they are in need of replacement. A good pair of shoes is less costly than podiatrist care!)

Paycheck came today and I immediately transferred $1000 to pay off some of the accrued credit card debt. That still leaves about $370 left to pay on the CC, but the latest car repair expense hasn't yet been posted, nor have I done my holiday shopping (limited tho that will be), so I'll pay the rest of the CC off after Christmas. That still will leave $1000 that I owe my mom that I was supposed to pay off by year's end--but (with her permission), I'm delaying that another month, given the $955 worth of unexpected car repair and veterinary expenses this month.

Finally did the last of the end-of-semester chores today so I am officially closing my books on the Fall semester. Relieved to be done. Mostly tired and not very much in the holiday/celebratory spirit. Not trying to be, either. I live in the "Christmas City" and maybe I'll take a walk downtown tomorrow and try and feel a little "holidayish." But we also learned today that we got one of the state's coveted slots licenses, so that the casino will indeed be built on the old steel mill, and for me, that's definitely NOT cause for celebrating--I worry about the crime and traffic that will soon begin to befoul my beloved historical city.

I just can't seem to get ahead. I *thought* I was in good shape to have all my credit card and loan debt paid off by the end of the year. After all the money I've spent recently on vet bills and getting Henry's problems under control (and after last week's $150 car repair), I thought the laws of probability would work with me--at least til the end of the year. But NOOOOOO.

The female kitty hasn't been eating or drinking, and it's been three days, so I brought her in to the vet and she's in the hospital now getting rehydrated. That's at least $350-400 I spent on tests etc for her this morning, and if the rehydration alone doesn't do it, then tomorrow she goes off for a $450 ultrasound. Before that, I took the car in for its regular maintenance service and they told me that the inner front axle boots are broken and should be replaced before they need to start sanding the roads--so I have an appointment next week for another $325 (on top of today's $85 for oil change & tire rotation).

Then today I received the last of my part-time job paychecks, since the last class was last week. That's $840 extra a month that I'm really going to be missing.

Maybe I should start looking for a part-time job for my month off of teaching but I am SO burned out and SO don't want to.

So much for ending the year being out of debt.

Well, the goal in moving $1000 out of my ING account back into my checking account over the weekend was to pay off the credit card bill. But not quite. First there was the $150 in emergency car repairs on Friday that got added to the credit card bill. Then I forgot about last weekend's $95 gym fee...by paying $95 once up front, my monthly fee is reduced to $19 for life--something I should be able to afford regardless. Doesn't save me much the first year but is a good deal thereafter, and Gold's Gym has been around long enough that I'm not worried that they're going to fold anytime soon. Then there were my two impulse buys: $113 on two accounting textbooks for a class that is required at one school but not at another. I'm working on an accounting certificate through the community college (generally cheaper) but can take a class through the college where I work this term, so I thought I'd familiarize myself with the material from the prerequisite class at my college that's missing from the community college curriculum. The "real" impulse purchase was a pair of speakers for my mp3 player that I got on sale for $37 including S&H (retail price $99). So with all of that extra spending and the $800 payment, the credit card bill is now down to $380. I also owe my mom $1000 to be paid this month. Things will be tight but I think I can squeeze $1380 out of my Dec 20th paycheck and be out of debt (late edit: other than the mortgage) by year's end. That's the plan, anyhow.

Well, I didn't think that today would be a "no-spend" day (given that the refrigerator was empty this morning), but I didn't think it would be as costly as it turned out. Still, could have been worse. Feeling hungry this morning and facing a large stack of grading, I thought I'd go out for breakfast (being in a celebratory mood with the ending of class), then stock up the fridge and spend the rest of the day grading. It was not to be.

When I went out to my car in the frigid cold (air temp about 10, with windchill about zero), the car wouldn't start. I went in and called AAA. They sent someone out who gave me a boost and got it started and then did a load test on the battery and told me on the basis of that that I'd need a new battery...the CCF or something number should have been over 500 and mine was 178. He said he had a battery of the same brand (Interstate) as I had with him and that it cost $74 and he could install it right then for another $15, so I agreed (the battery was 5-6 years old and corroded and had been a bit sluggish as it got colder, so I knew it was indeed time for a new one). It actually took him nearly half an hour to install it--something wasn't catching right--and he worked pretty hard for that $15 out there in the frigid cold, so I gave him a $5 tip when he left.

By then it was lunch time, so I stopped off at the library and then for lunch at my favorite little Korean restaurant. While driving to the library I kept on hearing this ticking noise that had started when the battery had originally died, and when I got out of my car, I could see that the hazard lights would not switch off. I didn't want those to drain the battery again, so I drove over to the dealership. They ended up having to reset the security system and that cost another $52. I also treated myself to a latte around the corner while I was waiting.

After the car was fixed, I finally got a chance to do my grocery shopping, so that was another $90 or so out the door--plus $21 for filling up the gas tank while I was at BJ's since their gas is relatively cheap.

Now I've got a pot of minestrone cooking on the stove, a full refrigerator, and a car that starts right up....and a whole pile of papers to grade that I haven't touched yet. Oh well. I'll tackle some of those, then watch an epidosde of Northern Exposure on DVD and call it an early night and get up to grade bright and early in the morning.

I just taught my last class for the semester this afternoon. I don't have to step in front of a classroom again to lecture for over a month!!!--the new term doesn't begin until January 15th. I still have final exams to give and administer and a heck of a lot of grading in front of me (100 exams, 25 term papers, 120 lab papers, and two honors theses), but the daily grind of class prep is over for the moment. By this time next week I ought to be able to hear my own thoughts again!

(Ought to be eating decently again too....as often happens this time of term, I haven't had time to go to the grocery store or to cook and meals for the past week have been frozen dinners, fast food, and PBJ sandwiches.

I started keeping track of my net worth on NetworthIQ around the same time as I started keeping this blog. It's good to see that things are moving in a positive direction. Increases are mostly a result of increases in the estimated worth of my house (I use Zillow.com for the estimate for my house, and also Kelly blue book for an estimate on the worth of my car) and the rising value of my retirement accounts, since what with the unexpected $5000 in veterinary expenses I've had over the past few months, I've actually spent a little more than I've brought in in income during the past 5 months.

My kind of holiday. I remember vividly attending the chaos that accompanies Black Friday sales 30 years ago, and have avoided shopping malls at this time ever since. For years now, I've made it a point not to enter a shopping mall between Thanksgiving and New Years...not too difficult since I probably only stop in at a mall 2-3 times a year.


Check out the home video below and the organization that has promoted the concept for the past 9 years,

26. I worked during college as a proofreader/copy editor for a professional academic journal. The editor actually tried to hire my *mother,* who was primarily a book indexer and reference librarian. My mother said that I was the one who did all of *her* editing, so the editor gave me a test and then hired me.

27. Also during college I hired myself out as a statistical consultant to graduate students in clinical psychology who were math phobic. I had taken a year's worth of statistics as an undergrad and had taught myself SPSS and BMDP from the manuals, and I ended up doing the analyses for two dissertations. Sometimes I think about going back and getting an M.A. in statistics now.

28. When I was in high school, my school was very active in a state-wide program called "Reform in School Education" (RISE) that involved groups of faculty, administration, students and community members to come up with suggestions for improvement. I was active all through high school and my senior year was the city-wide representative for high school students for this program.

29. Later on in college I continued my involvement in educational policy: I served as the undergraduate "Research Coordinator" for the Student Educational Policy Commission at UCLA and once made a presentation in front of the faculty senate that successfully convinced them to make a policy change.

30. Three dreams that I want to pursue at the point where I need to spend less time earning money are to get involved in local history organizations (I am fortunate to live in an area where there is a lot of pre-Revolutionary War history around), to get involved in local politics, and to become much more involved in making music.

31. I've been involved for 6 years in a local voluntary simplicity support group that meets for monthly potlucks.

32. I am Jewish by birth but went through a serious Buddhist phase in my early 30s. I went on a meditation retreat the result of which was an insight that it was time for me to explore my Jewish roots, which I promptly did. I was very active in the congregation that I joined for the next five years. More recently, I have found that most of my friendships are with Quakers (via the simple living group) and my lapsed-Catholic sweetie and I have agreed that if we get married we will join the Friends meeting.

33. I have a wealthy cousin in NYC. One of my fond memories from graduate school is visiting NY, where I stayed at the YMCA and had them move my room several times until I found a floor where there were mostly students rather than down-on-their-luck men, and then going to meet my cousin for lunch at Sardi's, where he was greeted by name by the maitre-de, and for dinner at another restaurant, where his wife was telling me about how sitting on the *first* floor was de-riguer while the *second* floor seating was declasse--when who comes sweeping down from the second floor but Bernadette Peters, who was at that time starring on Broadway in "Sundays in the Park with George." The trip was a vision in contrasts.

34. Three of my favorite places in the world: a patch known as "Henry's Woods" in the local state park, where a plot of conifers stand by a stream and create a cathedral-like space; the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of art; and the 17-mile drive in northern California (though the latter is sadly developed compared with what I remember from my childhood memories).

35. I've had the honor of standing on the Supreme Court dias. An old boyfriend worked as a clerk for Justice Rehnquist back in the late 1980s and he took me on a tour of the building including the courtroom and up on to the dias when I visited him while I was in D.C. for a job interview.

36. I went to a nursery school run by a bunch of psychoanalysts since my mother was in psychodynamic therapy at the time. No wonder I turned out rather neurotic!

I've cancelled class tomorrow--from past experience I know that no more than 15-20% of students will show up the afternoon before Thanksgiving. I don't know why my school's administration insists on having classes the day before anyway--every other school I've taught at cancels classes the day before to give students the opportunity to drive safely to their destinations. Of course, students will take every opportunity to take the whole week off that they can, and that's a pain too--it's the "give them an inch and they take a yard" phenomenon.

So I have a 5-day weekend for what has been an unexpectedly hectic term. There's some grading to do and letters of recommendation to write, but I also have a little time to myself for the first time in a while anyhow. I haven't thought about anything much beyond work and Henry for a long time.

It's actually kind of scary having the mental space since I know new challenges are ahead--but at least I can avoid thinking about most of that until the end of the term in mid-December. The time I take off this weekend can be for play, not planning.

Now that the leaves are gone, I can see the sparkle of water on the river from my front porch when it's sunny and at night. It's just a glimpse, but that little view gives me the same sense of space opening up too.

I think I need to take up meditation again and practice letting the river of my thoughts run by me rather than getting as caught up in things as I have of late.