Just a small update: The car is finally street legal. There is a huge satisfaction seeing the blue NYS inspection sticker in that spot that has been empty for so long. There is even greater satisfaction knowing that I made all those repairs and payments without the use of a credit card. I paid for it with my own hard-earned cash. Just another triumph in my battle to become debt free. The class I'm taking is the best thing I have going for me right now. I just learned about investing and mutual funds and stuff. I learned it in a way that is simple and makes sense. How cool is that?

Dave is back home as well and doing pretty good. I've seen him a few times since then but so far we're keeping to ourselves right now. I'll keep in touch.

I also received news from Goob that he is engaged to be married! It's happening in June and I'm very happy for him! I'm invited as well and the tux is covered. I just need to get myself over there and find lodging if necessary. With the way things are going I should be able to save up for it just fine. It kinda makes my worrying about my brother's wedding costs seem a bit trivial. Congrats Goob!

To the person I talked to on Saturday night- thank you. It's good to know where we stand regarding each other and while I won't hold myself back from other opportunities, you'll always have a special place in my life. You are and always will be important to me.

This weekend has been packed with lots of stuff. My nephew and I did finish cleaning up the apartment, and we even changed things around too. I like the new setup! I can see the tv and the kitchen table is near the desk so I can quickly move from one to the other.

We also visited Dave and played a round of Risk. Dave beat us handily, though we didn't have the rules so we started off with a great deal more armies than we should have. It may have ended up the same way though, with Dave's amazing luck. Tom still thinks Dave should have been born in Vegas.

I can understand why Dave feels he doesn't belong in the section of the hospital that he's in. The other folk in that section had a great deal more problems than Dave displayed. Dave says he can't wait to get out, and is looking forward to being back at his apartment. He is going to have part of his lung removed, but certainly after he returns home for a while. He looks worlds better and we're all hoping for the best.

Sunday was also the night I assembled the computer and found out the motherboard I have needs a BIOS update before I can run the processor in it. There are so many things I should have considered before making the purchases I did. The process and knowledge required to build your own PC were two of the reasons I dropped out of the computer hardware race in the first place. Thankfully, everything is still compatable, but I don't trust myself to do a BIOS update on my own and I plan on leaving it in the hands of someone more knowledgeable than myself. My situation can be likened to putting a beefy v8 320hp engine in a Dodge Neon. The processor is very beefy, and it was even $40 cheaper than the slower processor was originally planning on getting, but it's actually too powerful for my motherboard without that new BIOS update. I still won't be getting all the power out of it that I should but that can wait for a future update.

All in all it's been a good weekend. Hopefully the new machine will be up and running by next weekend. News to look forward to: Part time job!

I spent Singles Awareness Day in the car shop, hoping my car passes NYS inspection. Turns out that no, it won't pass. All the safety things pass but the emissions do not. The shop finally pinpointed the last few problems and next week, when I take it in, it'll pass(pray!). "But JR! Haven't you spent enough on that lemon?!" In hindsight, probably. Thing is, I still haven't spent enough on parts in order to waive the emissions, and I still need a car. The only solace I have in all this is that I haven't used any credit to pay for it, and I'll have a care with nearly all new parts in it.

One of the steps to keeping a budget is finding out just how much I actually spend on necessities. I've never kept track before and so the budget for January has failed. The budget for February has failed too. However, I've been keeping track of my expenses since the start of February so this will help me shape the budget for March, and hopefully that will work, or at least come close.

I took Miu Miu to the vet on February 15th. Turns out she has some fleas and has developed an allergic reaction to the bites. This caused her to nip at some of her fur, causing bald spots. The vet said this was a common thing, and gave me some flea medicine that'll fix my kitty up for the next three months. I just have to vacuum the apartment regularly(good luck) and administer the medicine once a month. I wish I had a calendar.

I visited Dave. He is in that special section of the hospital until the lung surgery. He talked to someone about his depression and they felt it was necessary to move him to a place where he could be monitored. He's not comfortable there but I think he'll do fine. They are going to remove the lower lobe of his left lung because it is no longer living tissue. It fills up with fluid and could be the cause of more problems down the line. Keep him in your prayers.

I have my nephew over this weekend! What an awesome thing to happen. He's helping me clean up the apartment(again!). I swear I put him to work every time he visits. I did treat him to breakfast at Denny's at 3am on the way home, and we're going to see Dave Sunday afternoon for a nice game of Risk.

It's a little cramped in the apartment right now with my nephew and my sister staying here. My sister says she's going to have the electricity back in her apartment on Tuesday. We did get into an argument Friday. I don't mind helping people out but I feel like I'm being used. I finally get some privacy back and my sister screws up and needs a place to stay again. I really hopes she learns to pay her electric bill(or at least call them if she can't) so this doesn't happen again. I love her to pieces but I'm not always going to be here to catch her when she falls. She needs to learn how to make due with what she's got.

I visited the local hospital to weigh myself. I figured I lost a bunch of weight but it wasn't as much as I expected and I'm still (slightly) above 400lbs. I've figured out what I'm doing wrong. I'm also looking at getting that YMCA membership in a month or so. My insurance will reimburse me but I'll need to pay for it up front first. I also have my dental problem to deal with as well, but I feel that's covered.

I thought this was going to be a fast update but so much is happening lately, I had to spill about it all! I'll be back with more soon, if not tomorrow then Tuesday.

I cut up one of my credit cards yesterday. Wow, what a relief. I've been catching up with my financial class and I reached the class on dumping debt. David Ramsey explained why I don't need debt anymore and I can do just fine without a credit score. It made perfect sense so I took the next big step and cut up one of the credit cards. I'm not quite ready to take out the second one(though I'm sure it's coming up soon), but at least I'm one step in. This class I'm taking has given me hope and has kindled a fire in my desire to get rid of this debt with which I've shackled myself. Freedom is near, I can feel it.

So much for making this a daily thing. Actually, I wanted to wait until I had a number of things sorted out before I did an update. Those things have come to pass!

· It was an interesting month. We provided fake calls for a new call center and helped them out a great deal. I didn't make bonus as much as I tried. It was the last month to make the really big bonus and despite my efforts to lower my call time down I ended up only making it worse. Oh well. The new bonus structure is much smaller than before but it's easier to make this time around. Now that it's a new month I also have a new shift. I work much later in the evenings now and I get paid more for it too.

· My car has been giving me trouble for many months now, and only recently did I come close to the 'last straw' marker. Tuesday night on my way home I lost my brakes completely. It steadily got worse and by the time I reached the last intersection before my apartment they wouldn't work at all. Through a combination of the emergency brake and careful shifting into park, I managed to reach home safely. The next day I acquired some brake fluid and limped the car down to the repair shop. Alas they could not get it fixed before work so I and to employ strategic use of personal time to cover for it. Thankfully I used a vacation day on Thursday to continue the repair as well as complete the repair to fix my emissions computer Not only did they fix the brakes and the emissions computer but the car now runs much better than before too. It chugs a little but otherwise the car actually accelerates when it's supposed to! W00t! And the repairs were well under my budget.

· Speaking of budget, my tax return came in and I used it to pay off nine different bills. It left with with enough money for my new computer parts and a good chunk to put into savings as part of the Financial Peace University course I'm taking.

· I'm excited for my new computer parts. It's going to be cheaper than I expected with the mail-in rebates and it'll finally replace my aging clunky laptop.

· I did get to talk to Arche this week but she had to leave and said she'd call back but I must have missed it. It's always a pleasure to hear from her and from what she was telling me she was doing much better than a couple months ago. It makes me very happy to hear she's doing well. I hope she gets her medical issue straightened out but she's a strong woman and I know she'll pull through.

· Speaking of Ohio babes, Digigurl has made her return to Activeworlds after being MIA for a couple weeks. It was great to hear from her as well. Today the Goober Zone followed the Lost in Trancelation show and I got to stay on for it. It was a pleasant surprise as my new schedule usually doesn't allow me to do so Friday nights.

· My sister has been staying with me the last week or so because she lost her electricity. She might have it back up by Monday but who knows. I've been sharing this apartment so often I've almost forgotten what it's like living alone.

· Speaking of houseguests, Dave is doing better in some cases and worse in others. I received a call from his mother that he's been moved to another section of the hospital and doesn't have access to the phone. I plan on seeing him on Monday and hope he's doing better.

That's it for now, but hopefully I'll have some new stuff coming soon. I will still try to post more often!