This Is The Day

There is dancing in the streets.

At least, in my street. Today was the day that The Debt went away.

It has been over six years of struggling, with both patience and impatience. But: now, we are debt free. No credit card debt – we have paid off the last one. We will be keeping two cards in a file cabinet, but the one which we just paid off will be cancelled and cut up once the payment clears.

Those who deserve thanks for helping me accomplish this task are: God most of all for his patience with me and his provision in my life, Laura for her willingness to work through the debt with me that I incurred, my parents for their wise council, and my grandmother for providing the final push over the edge.

So, even if you don’t know me well, you still should celebrate that one more person is free of the slavery of debt.

Go dance in your street.

2 Of 7

No, not “Seven of Nine”, but two out of seven hard drives in my new system either failed to start at all, or went bad after a successful start. That fast: one hour. At least I got that out of the way early. The others seem to be working just fine. Of course, since one drive in each array died, I cannot even install the OS on my computer yet. At least, not permanently. I can “practice”. Or, just install the OS and run the hardware diagnostics to see if any other items need to be replaced.

This is my first major computer assembly from parts, at least from so many parts, and I suppose that statistically speaking, this is within the norm. However, I don’t want to be normal. I want it all to work the first time!

I did try to install the OS last night [Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition for 64-bit], but the CD I burned with the OS on it had a flaw, so I need to burn a new one. And I didn’t want to do that last night, or I’d have never gone to sleep at all… However, up until the point it failed to copy one file, it positively FLEW. The processor and the drive arrays I have are SO fast, that the usual 30 minutes until the customization stage was more like 5 minutes. Quite nice. I highly recommend 64 bit and SATA II.

Now, I must wait again… How long does it take to do an RMA replacement?

One More Down The Drain

I went ahead and did it – I cut up my second-to-last credit card [that is, of the ones that will go away – we will be keeping one Amex and one Visa just in case] – the Discover. We never used it and it was a rather tempting card since they would let me do large volume cash advances. So, I called the number and out came the scissors.

Chop, chop! One down, one to go! MBNA, you’re goin’ next!

If Only…

2012-01-08 23:29:27

If only it were a wee bit warmer, I’d be able to ride my bike. If only I were a whole LOT richer, we’d be able to afford a house in Northern Virginia.

Soon, we will be debt free – a process that began once I realized how much money I owed. Laura has been patient with me and we’ve finally made it to the point where once we pay off the last credit card, it gets cut up and cancelled.

I know – this post is not coherent. It’s a bit stream of consciousness. But, sometimes, that’s me.

Now that I have the motorcycle back from the shop, I’m aching to ride it. It’s been so cold, I’ve even been freezing in the car. Maybe it will thaw just enough for me to get on the bike in the morning. One can always, hope, yes?

Now that we’re going to pay off our consumer debt, we can start the long process of saving for a house. Maybe we can save enough to buy a house up here in Northern Virginia, yes?

If Only…

A Rodent Of A Problem

After a week without the bike, riding it home today in the high-40s temperature was wonderful. Taking it in for service fixed one minor nuisance issue [like my battery not lasting long enough] and one very large one. It seems that some time in the last few months, a small “rodent” [of what type, I’ll never know] either crawled or flew into the airbox where the air filter is and lodged there for a while. I doubt the creature survived the sub-freezing rides I made all winder, but it was certainly affecting my gas mileage and the smoothness of my engine. It left some kind of nest in there with hair/feathers or whatever it was. It was restricting the airflow substantially. Now, the engine can breathe the way it was intended and feels like it did when I first bought it.

I only recognize this now after the shop has cleaned all the mess out. “Oh, yeah – it rides much better now. Thank you!” Now, I’m back to 43+ miles per gallon.

So much for my observational skills…

Where’s The Bike?

Okay – so I’ve not posted for a while, I know. I’ve been a bit busy with other things and haven’t had a chance until now to post.

I’ve been bike-less now for a week since I took my motorcycle in for service. The one thing they needed to replace is the battery – and they had to order it. Aparently, that particular battery is only used in my model of motorcycle and none other, so it’s not all that common. I just called them and it’s ready, so I’ll get a nice mid-day ride today – especially since it’s not real cold today.

You know, I bet you they didn’t wash it… it’s probably still very dirty.

Feelin’ The Breeze

I am certainly enjoying the weather today – even with the wind. It’s a balmy 55 degrees outside and PERFECT for riding. As long as the rain that’s supposed to come waits until late evening, I’ll be great. Of coruse, after today, it’s supposed to get freezing again. Now that all the snow is gone, I had hoped for a few more days of False Spring, but it looks like tomorrow the chill begins again. After that – more snow.

Of course, what I really want to do is ditch work, take my new camera and go take some pictures. I guess that will have to wait…

Camera Comes Today

So I missed a day in my postings – big deal! Okay, I guess I’m feeling the pressure from family to keep the posts coming more frequently. And, no – no pictures today.

Anyway, today, my new camera gets delivered. I’m totally hyped. I keep refreshing the UPS Package Tracking page…

I will try to post a review on the camera, but I can’t guarantee that it will be as detailed as some I’ve read.

My Aching Back

I can’t believe I was so excited about shoveling snow. Well, I had my fix for a while. I had to shovel perhaps for about an hour even in my short driveway. Part of that is because the plows came into our neighborhood and plowed the streets… which meant that the plow pushed a huge pile of sludge [not that light, powdery stuff which was in the rest of the driveway – but that heavy, wet, icy goop that is very, very heavy] at the end of our driveway. It was almost as if the plow driver was saving it just for me.

So, I trudged through the shovelling process and finally got it done. It could be that I just don’t know the techniques or my shovel is too small, but my back is killing me. I’m sore all over. At least I didn’t need a workout!

I have finally posted my film pictures for the snow day in the directory you can get to by clicking on the picture in this post. Most of the roads are clear, except for ice in spots [this morning it was very bad, but it’s getting better as the sun is out longer]. I should be back on the road tomorrow.