Every light in the house

2004-04-19 - 11:57 p.m.

I'm back from Hawaii! I had a great time. I'll post some pictures and a detailed account of the trip a little later.

Sometimes I think maybe I shouldn't mess with things I don't understand. But then how would I ever come to understand them? I don't know. Anyway, I'm a big dork. You know those checks that come with your credit card and you can write them to anyone and when they're cashed they're charged directly to your account? Yeah, well, I decided I'd use them last month. I've never used them before, I usually put them right in the trash. But last month I decided to pay a few of my other bills using these checks that way I could earn bonus points by paying my bills and end up only writing one real check per month. It seemed like a good idea. Well, it turns out for starters that I don't get bonus points for money spent using those checks. And on top of that there's a 5.99% charge every time I use one. Obviously I'm never doing that again. But I really have to wonder, why in the world would anybody ever use these things then?

I also found out today that my last cell phone payment was never received. I payed this one with a normal check. I have duplicates so I know I wrote the check. But I got my bank statement and sure enough, the check didn't clear. So now I wonder what I'm supposed to do about it. Should I be concerned that my check is wandering around out there in no-man's land? I suppose if anybody else finds it there's nothing they can do with it, right? And if it somehow gets to the company after I've payed the bill again, then they'll just credit the extra to my account. I don't know, it's just annoying. Not to mention the late fee I have to pay now.

While I was in Hawaii I gained six pounds. Honestly, I expected to gain more, so this doesn't really upset me. And besides, I totally oinked while I was there. Instead of just eating like a normal person not on a diet, I ate like I was trying to gain weight. I gorged myself at every opportunity. I can get by on very little food with no complaints, but when I want to I can also eat quite a lot. Anyway, losing this weight will give me something to do.

Tomorrow there's a library booksale I'm planning on going to. This booksale is monthly and I went last month only to discover that it wasn't all that great, but I'm going to go again. You never know, maybe I'll find something spectacular.

Other than that, my plan for tomorrow is to finish cleaning up from the trip, pay all of this months bills after I find where I stashed my box of blank checks, and then get studying. Anybody out there have any ideas on how I can force myself to study? I need to make myself accountable for this. No more sitting around wasting my life. I hate it when people say things to me like, "That's ok, you have the rest of your life to be working. Enjoy your time off." It takes away some of my inspiration to be studying. True, I have the rest of my life to be working, but I'm not enjoying my time off. So let's get to it.