bananza80's Xanga

Happy Halloween from the Yip Yips

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:52:23 GMT

Happy Halloween from the Yip Yips!

Yip Yip, Uh huh.

(I'm in the pink and Kate is in the blue)

We made these costumes last night and they are a hit today at work!

My New Hero

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:24:10 GMT

Man I was so super grouchy this morning. Anyone looking in my window would have been cracking up at the scowl on my face. At one point I was trying to get my keys out of my pocket and they got stuck a little, so I shout, "I HATE YOU!" and then I felt like it wasn't the keys fault so I amended it with," ...LIFE!".

Great, so now I hate life, I thought to myself. Real nice, Anne.

But I got in the car with Kate for the drive to work and I'm just bitching about everything. And we get to work and she tells me I'm acting like this guy:

And that made me feel a lot better. This guy is my new hero. He hates everything, for no reason. Good stuff.

:-) I Feel Better Today.

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:52:20 GMT

Already feeling much better, thanks to such nice comments from my friends, and the following things:

Joined a gym.

I have been paying $20 a month for a membership at Cardinal Fitness, and I haven't been there in 5 months. It just didn't make sense anymore, because I carpool to work now, so I can't stop on the way home from work, and it sort of voids the purpose for carpooling if I drive back there after getting home. Anyway, there is a gym about 3 blocks from my house and I called and checked it out. And went in to try it out last night. AND I got up this morning and went! And although I didn't technically join because I'm still in the trial period, isn't this just about as close as I'm gonna get? Yeah.

Credit card balance is under $400.

When I was 20 I couldn't resist the credit card offers they kept sending me. So I blew the limit on a Sears card. Got a new TV and DVD player, tons of CD's, and a computer. I don't have any of that stuff anymore, but I did have a $3000+ balance at one time. I let the interest go crazy by thinking I could ignore them and they would go away. But I wised up a while back and started sending in money regularly, even $50 pretty consistently. Once that's gone I will be so happy! I can devote more funds to my car payment or school loans. Or a pair of knee high boots, whatever.

Saved $100 per month by switching to a shared plan on Sprint.

Why is this on the list? Because any little victory you can make with a cell phone carrier is quite an accomplishment. But I can't take credit for this one, Tom called and straightened it out. He also charmed them into giving us a $90 credit. So right now I owe them -$22.50. Yeah, negative twenty-two-fifty. Booyakasha.

It's Friday, who can argue with that?

Not me.

This is how I really feel ...

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:09:25 GMT

So, I just feel like writing. Not a website review, not a meme, not a themed entry. Just me this time. When I first started blogging I was just totally honest about what I blogged. Then I got more readers, and like most bloggers I know, I had to start censoring what I say based on who might be reading.

Fuck that. And consider yourself warned, I'm having a really crabtastic day.

I miss school. Immensely. I miss sitting in a class taking notes and watching people around me text message while the prof lectures. I miss Student Senate and meetings and missed opportunities to go to D.C. I miss waiting in line at the bookstore. I miss sitting in the library and eating in the cafeteria. I miss getting a free pass to make my own hours at work because I'm a student. I miss the challenge. I miss it in my gut, you know that feeling? I looked out the back window of my car today and saw my MATC window decal. I thought I should rip it down since I'm not a student there anymore, technically. I'm between schools right now. It's sad, really. I should have gone back this semester.

My teeth are all jacked up. But not on Mountain Dew. Mostly Diet Coke and not brushing before bed consistently. Oh and bad genes. Thanks for the Aggressive Periodontal Disease, mom and dad. I am headed to the dentist this afternoon for my third of four $198 deep cleanings. My insurance ran out a while back. $1000 per year, are they crazy? No they are smart, because they make more money that way, not having to pay for my dental hygiene problems. I had a root canal and a crown already, and next on the calendar are four wisdom teeth removals. At least the dentist is supremely good looking. I enjoy going for that reason alone.

Also -- and I won't get into too much detail lest you squirm in your chair -- I am having a *ahem* 'procedure' done to rule out cancer in a few days. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm optistic because it will do me no good to worry about it until I know exactly what we're dealing with here. Again, wishing I would have taken the real insurance instead of the Health Savings Account paired with a high deductible ($3000) cuz I'm not even close to meeting that goal. IF something is wrong with me I will switch it during open enrollment this January. Cross your fingers, pray, knock on wood, whatever. I have a feeling I'll be a whiny little cancer patient and nobody wants to see that so let's think in the opposite direction, mkay.

My dad. Urghhshhshlll. <<< That's a noise, trust me, it's like a combo of a sigh and a frustrated groan. I still haven't found him a place to live. Well, he has a place to live but I think we can find a better place, and I just haven't been on the hunt like I should. I won't even tell you how many places I've looked at but trust me it's not enough. And I'm racked up with guilt over it. It's a big responsibility. And I've seen the top notch places - I've worked in them - so everything else looks like Auschwitz to me. Yeah I said it I'm sorry. If only I had money to send him to a private pay facility. Who said money can't buy happiness. I would gladly throw money at this problem.

Work. Dude - I dream about work. And I go on these binges of working maniacally one day and doing the work of like an entire week and then the next day I can't concentrate or get motivated for shit. And I like my job so I worry about losing it the whole time. And there's a lot of responsibility too. I mean, when did I grow up and get a real job? I was clerking at a liquor store for five years, and now I have this and I complain that it's challenging? Yeah, right about the same time that I didn't go back to dropped out of school. Cuz let's call it what it is. I dropped out.

Wow. Suckfest 2008.

I'm All About Obama

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:36:39 GMT

I realized after watching Barack Obama's speech last night that I will be thoroughly heartbroken if Obama does not become our next president. I feel a twinge of despair just thinking about the fact that the AP likes to say it's a "close race".

While I was originally a covert Hillary supporter, now I will gladly place all my hopes on this man. The Obama campaign's clever marketing has a lot to do with it. Michelle's tear-inducing speech, the eloquent emails from Barack, Michelle, and Joe in my inbox every few days, the text message right to me telling me who the veep is. The CHANGE signs, the lower taxes (yeah, it's rhetoric but it's nice to hear right?), the health care promises, the reduced foreign oil dependency. The end of the war. The fact that he's NOT Bush.

I admire Barack Obama for dedicating himself to our country, for his willing commitment to be our new leader. I respect that he is willing to expose himself to the world and shatter the discriminatory practices of yesterday. And believe it or not, I have a newfound love for my country through him.

If he can win, I will gladly laugh at the late night comedians' monologue jokes poking fun at him for whatever they may. I'm ready to reach into my bank account to give money to ensure that he gets where we need him to be. The last time I supported a candidate like this was when I went door-to-door campaigning for Wisconsin Libertarian candidate for governer, Ed Thompson. And that was just because someone asked me to.

This time it's REAL. I am all about Obama.

Mint.com: A Free Way to Manage Money

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:57:01 GMT

I have been trying to improve my credit score and pay more attention to where my money is going. And I came across the perfect site to help me do just that.

Mint.com is my new budgeting tool. It reads my spending information based on my credit and debit card purchases, savings accounts, checks written, bill payments, car and student loans, etc. And tells me where I fall in comparison to myself and others. It helps me set up spending limits and tells me if I've gone over budget in a certain area - Mint will even text me to let me know if my interest rate has changed, if I am charged a late fee, or if my account balances fall below a certain level. Granted, my bank will do this as well, but my bank doesn't have the rest of these awesome capabilities.

Trends: Here's what the 'Trends' category looks like. As you can see at the bottom of the page you can choose which month you'd like to look at, or look at several months at a time. Here I am looking at just this month. When you hover over each area, percentages show up. You can click on any slice of the pie to have it broken down further. For example, 'Auto' would break into: Car Payment, Gas, Insurance, and Parking.

Budget: Here is the page that shows budget. Since I just set up Mint, my budgeting isn't quite on track yet. And I get a little confused on this part, like how do I classify fees that I pay once per year (car registration, renters insurance, etc). As you can see from the empty Spa & Massage line, I am WAY overdue for my monthly pedicure. I also need a haircut but that's one of those things that isn't done monthly. You see how this part can be confusing? I like the trends section better.

Compare: There's also a feature where I can compare my spending to others in my area or any city. Since I carpool, I think I spend less than others when it comes to Gas/Fuel. This feature is neat but pretty pointless, really. I also don't think it's accurate if it's pooling data just from other Mint users. I mean, with fluctuations in the amount of users per month and those who may not categorize every purchase, this could be way off.

There are those who are skeptical about Mint because of security issues. I admit, it was quite a hurdle for me to get over. It can be kind of scary giving one website all your login information, and some may even say I'm stupid for doing so. But hey, as you can see -- I don't have enough money to matter to anyone. So in the meantime I'll let Mint help me out.

Chacha: Answers on the Go

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:30:39 GMT

How thick is a lightning bolt? Can ten year old cats have kittens? Do you need to have rubber in copper tubing to make colorful fire? What is "Crysis"? Where is the nearest tattoo shop? What is Prader-Willi syndrome? How is a dental crown applied?

These were all questions I was in need of answers to when I wasn't in front of a computer. And ChaCha.com had the answers for me.

Via text message!

If you have a burning question you can send it to 242-242 (CHACHA) and Chacha will send you the answer within a few minutes. It's a pretty intriguing concept: ask a human the answer instead of sorting through Google Mobile results on your phone.

Some other Chacha features:

"Send me a joke" For those times you want to have a laugh
"FB A" Send FB for feedback followed by the letter grade you think your previous answer deserves
"W Milwaukee" Will tell you the weather for the city following the W

Chacha guides make 10 cents per answer, or 20 cents per answer if they meet certain criteria. A pretty tedious way to make a living but as a side gig it's perfect. A decent guide can make $3 to $9 per hour, putting in as little or as much time as they desire.

With the exception of the time I got "Yeah sure" as an answer, the Chacha guides haven't steered me wrong. (In that instance, my next question was "Are the answers at Chacha researched or are you just guessing?" to which the answer was "Previous guide was reported due to not researching", along with the actual answer to my original question.)

PS. The answer to my question in the screenshot was "Victor Hugo called Notre Dame a symphony in stone."

Thanks, Ebates: I Got My Big Fat Check

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:00:01 GMT

I made $37.19 just for being me. (An internet-obsessed-shopaholic.)

Look at that beautiful check I got just for 3 months of online shopping. I just click through Ebates before I buy anything online, and they give me a percentage of my purchase back. Some sites I got my cash back from:

Sephora - 4%
Best Buy - 1%
Coldwater Creek - 2%
iTunes - 3%
Netflix - $18
1-800-Flowers - 6%
Drugstore.com - 6%
Target - 4%

This would be a easy way to have a few extra bucks sent back to you at your office/company too. When you are ordering through Office Max, Dell.com, Amazon, VistaPrint, etc., all you need to do is click through Ebates to make a purchase, and log in with a universal email+password each time. You could put the money towards a fun budget!

Now please excuse me, I have to go shopping with my Big Fat Check ....

Bob Likes It Rough

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:17:14 GMT

This was in my inbox today:

...........

Um. NO.

Things That Might Be Bothering Me

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:08:13 GMT

I'm in a foul mood today. I think it's so much more than a case of the Mondays. Here's a list of what it might be:

The house messy
Summer's almost over
Want a new fall wardrobe and can't afford it
I wanted to go on a vacation but I can't afford the plane tix
Want to go back to school this semester but can't because of a stupid completion rate rule
Failed to visit my dad last week, I'm a bad daughter
Student loan repayments start next week
I miss my sisters
I have a zit
bleh