good day (continued)

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And to add to an already awesome day, I came home this evening to find a package on my door, despite the fact that I wasn’t really expecting anything. Then I read the mailing label and got very excited…

You see, about two years ago when I first really started going to Disney World again since moving to Florida, I began collecting these really cool panoramic photos of the four theme parks. The guys who do them do an amazing job – they’re famous for a lot of panoramas of city skylines and landmarks that you may have seen in local stores (lots of NYC, Los Angeles, Miami, etc…). This set they did exclusively for Walt Disney World, meaning it was only sold at the resort, which I didn’t think would be that big of a deal until I found myself one print short of a complete set. I had gradually collected the prints for Epcot, MGM Studios, and the Animal Kingdom, but by the time I went to get the print for the Magic Kingdom, everyone was completely sold out. I checked back dozens of times, scoured every single Art of Disney store on property that I could find, and even checked eBay on and off, but nothing.

So long story short, last week I was up rather late and decided in vain to try sending an e-mail to the photographers themselves in hopes that they might be able to help me procure my missing print. They weren’t even offering it on their website, so I kind of figured it was a hopeless effort, but I was soon surprised when I got a reply asking for my address with the simple note, “Let me see what I can do…” Well, a week later I came home to find a copy of the missing print sitting on my doorstep and I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally have the complete set! Being both a Disney fanatic and a bit of an organizational freak (at least in some aspects), it’s always kind of bothered me to look up on the wall to see the three prints all nice and framed, but without their leader to guide them. And while I’ve come to terms that it would be stupid to make room on the wall to hang it now when we’ll hopefully be moving in less than two weeks, rest assured that this set will be one of the first things to go up in our new home!

If you’re ever finding yourself in need of something to spruce up a wall or even more, the guys of Blakeway Worldwide Panoramas offer an incredible collection of prints to cover just about any genre of interest. Aside from the Disney prints, I also really like their skyline photos and will probably look to get the Tampa one if I happen to get an office with more wall space when we move, but they’ve also got shots of race shots, national parks, lighthouses … even the shuttle taking off! You can get a nice print unframed for twenty-five bucks – I later framed all mine myself and they still look amazing. Needless to say, Walt would be proud…

I am.

go go gadget, debt consolidation!

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This has been a good week for Sara and I financially! Well, in a manner of speaking, anyways…

First we got a letter from our insurance company stating that the Florida laws had been changed and we would no longer be required to carry PIP, which is a duplicate coverage because we already have health insurance and thus costs us about $20 / month for nothing.

Then we got an e-mail from our landlord asking if we might consider moving out a little early and taking a prorated rent for our last month to make it easier for them to re-rent the apartment. While it’s going to make the next couple of weeks insanely hectic as we scramble to find a place and move ahead of schedule, it’ll save us several hundred bucks in the process!

And finally, I went down to my local bank this morning and was able to consolidate my beast of a credit card with a 30% interest rate into a very sexy 8.25% from Wachovia instead! I won’t say exactly how much is entailed because frankly, it’s a little embarassing and scary all at the same time, but nonetheless the reduction will save a couple of thousand each year in interest alone and actually make paying the damn thing off somewhat of a reality once again! No more Chase … at least not for that card, anyways…

For even more savings, we’re also strongly looking into moving my cell phone over to Sara’s plan with Verizon Wireless, which between the reduced rates of her family plan and the company discount that I get should save yet another $40-50 per month for my phone! This one is pretty much a no brainer, as my phone will only cost $10-15 compared to what it is now, and the only thing that’s holding us back right now is having to pony up the initial cash both for a new Verizon phone and to terminate my Sprint contract early.

Good day!

New Week, New Weight Loss Challenge

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Ok, so I’ve been very bad lately.

Not exercising, eating large portions, multiple portions, large, multiple, takeout portions – and it needs to stop. Same old blame game – stress, no time, no motivation, laziness … but it’s time to stop before it’s too late because I’m now starting to gain weight again and I reallydon’t want to put on another fifteen or twenty pounds before I catch on and fess up. So I’m going to start somewhat slow and see where it takes me – here are my goals for next week:

  • no eating out at all (this will by far be the most severe because I ate out almost every day last week, sometimes more than once a day)
  • really fight to control cravings & snacking
  • limited soda (diet), mostly water (this should be easy because I’ve only got one can left in the fridge and I have no desire to go back to the store)
  • exercise on two separate occasions for at least an hour
  • no going to bed at 2:30-3:00am (hard because Sara’s working so late, but it’s partially to blame for my crazy schedule and random eating so I need to get back in line)I want to really try to kick up the exercise in October because I have a follow-up doctor’s appointment mid-month and would love to show that I’ve lost a significant amount of weight, but I also know that I can’t go into next week thinking that I have to workout three or four times because it just won’t happen right off the bat. I think three’s a possibility if I absolutely make it tomorrow, but baby steps for now.

    Here we go again…

a very good weekend

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Sara’s been working just crazy hours lately … try not getting home until 2:00am … by choice, though, to help pay off bills and get us moved next month. The good part about that is the money has been helpful and somewhat of an end is in sight, the bad that we rarely ever get to see each other except for an hour here or there or on the weekend! In fact, this was the first weekend in a while that she’s had both days off, so to say that it was a good weekend is a bit of an understatement…

evening fun at the Magic Kingdom
Last night we went over to Disney (yes, again…) to check out the refurbishments at the Haunted Mansion. Technically they re-opened last weekend, but we only had time for a few hours then and were more in the mood for Epcot anyways, but this was just as good. I think we maybe waited five minutes to get in the door, only because the cut-off was literally right before us, but we were still in momentarily. As for the updates, it was kind of hard for me to distinguish what has changed just because it’s been so long since I’ve ridden, but there were a lot of really cool effects – namely the MC Escher room with the stairs and the floating crystal ball. I’m sure there were other changes, but I wouldn’t know.

Other than that, it rained a bit and we learned where the best places to watch the electric parade and fireworks aren’t, but it was still a good time. We ended up getting park-wide fast passes at Big Thunder Mountain because it shut down right before we were about to board, so we rode Space Mountain instead and then tried our hands at Buzz Lightyear on three separate runs – always good times! Rounding off the evening with ice cream at Ghiradelli at Downtown Disney, it was a nice, little getaway from the stressful world that Tampa has been recently.

Ant Attack
Our kitchen is currently seeing the aftermath of a massive sugar ant invasion. I uncovered swarm after swarm while doing dishes yesterday, which lead to a spraying down of the entire counter area, less the stovetop…which they’ve all made refuge to at this point. Sara sprayed some really nasty stuff around the door where they’ve been coming in when we got home, so while we may be dead from the fumes by morning, with any luck so will the ants. Keep your fingers crossed…

We have an officiant!
Of course, the biggest news is that as of about 3:00pm this afternoon, we now officially have an officiant for our wedding, which given all the problems and roadblocks we’ve had on this road in the past, is quite the relief! I was very pleased because although I’m more touchy about this part because of my own beliefs, the Reverrend was very helpful and is intent on helping us create a ceremony that’s just right for us. As we walked out the door, I told Sara that I wish more religious folks were like him because he ended up being very easy to talk to and needless to say, this part has been particularly apprehensive to me! I also learned more from this guy about weddings in the hour and a half we sat with him than from everyone else who’s tried to sell us their services along the way – I’d definitely recommend him to anyone else who’s in need of an officiant, and our ceremony’s still over a year away!

End with a relaxing evening…
After running a boatload of errands around town, we finally made it home and have enjoyed the last several hours just chilling, eating dinner, watching the premieres of The Simpsons and Family Guy on FOX … the Family Guy rendition of Star Wars is now quite possibly one of my favorite episodes ever! Tomorrow we both go back to work – back to the real world, and all of the chaos that it offers. But hope is in sight on many distinct fronts – I’ve been writing more lately, so my website might go back up this year yet; Sara’s car and my furniture may very well get paid off this year yet, even though we found even more new furniture that we’d like for the new house while we were out today!; and in another month, we will get to pack all of this stuff up and move. Busy times, those are the days of our lives…

career options…

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Everyone else seems to be doing this – looked kinda interesting, so I thought I’d give it a whirl…

1. Go to http://www.careercruising.com
2. Log in as nycareers with password landmark
3. Take the Career Matchmaker quiz and list the top 10 results (I’m posting the top 20 because some of my preferred missing the top 10…)

Those of some actual interest to me are in bold…

1. Website Designer
2. Desktop Publisher
3. Cartoonist / Comic Illustrator
4. Animator
5. Multimedia Developer
6. Computer Animator
7. Market Research Analyst
8. Critic
9. Communications Specialist
10. Print Journalist
11. Translator
12. Medical Illustrator
13. Public Relations Specialist (not for just any company, though…)
14. Graphic Designer
15. Artist
16. Writer
17. Video Game Developer
18. Webmaster
19. Interior Designer
20. Editor

At least it’s kinda good to know that I’m not better suited for construction work or something!

red sky @ Epcot

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Sara and I went over to Epcot this evening for dinner and fireworks, and during our trip around the World Showcase saw one of the coolest … and most bizarre … sunsets that I’ve seen in a while…

free Netflix trial again…

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http://www.netflix.com/Default?mqso=80015521&nfso=63868963

Netflix is doing free trials again – this time a full month long – and we’re even getting a free rental for each referral this time around, thank you! Sara and I have been using Netflix since last fall and we both think it’s a great service. With the $14.99 plan, we can each have a movie out at the same time and get unlimited rentals per month, so I can sit on mine for three weeks if I want and it won’t slow her down from getting new titles just as fast as she cares to watch them. And I just checked our totals – we’ve rented just under 50 DVDs since last November – which I guess would be about equal to paying Blockbuster $4 a piece for them, except of course for the convenience, the selection, and the fact that Blockbuster is a bunch of evil jerks.

Feel free to use the above referral link if you want to try it out for yourself. As far as DVD rentals are concerned, Netflix is the best there is…