My budgeting system

My budget system, though greatly improved, is still an imperfect entity. Here's the basics of how it works. I begin each school/work week by going to the atm and taking out 20 dollars in cash. This is my "discretionary/U of M" spending allowance. I use this money for breakfast and lunch over the course of the week. I leave my card at home during these times. However, when I want something after school and during the weekend, I generally will use my card. I need to keep a careful watch over how much I actually spend with my card for things like groceries and eating out.

One thing to change, that could make my 20 dollar discretionary budget stretch further would be to buy my breakfast from the supermarket. This would require going to the supermarket sunday or early monday and purchasing a week's worth of bananas. I imagine that paying by the pound, rather than by the piece of fruit, I will come out ahead of the ludicrous 96 cents per banana that the university of Minnesota charges. This will help me to afford more luxuries such as full lunch or coffee.

Beautiful, what a beautiful life.

Post-Mugging

I've mostly been posting to Twitter lately. However, this blog deserves attention, not abandonment.

I've mostly sorted out replacing various cards, etc. from my mugging. What remains is getting a new social security card. Last night I went to Marshall's in Richfield and purchased a decent wallet for 10 dollars, it's Perry Ellis, made of soft leather. I've replaced my phone as well, with a slightly smaller and more "hip" model. I like it, particularly since it works. Another major change since the incident is that I hardly carry my check card with me anymore. I generally carry small ammounts of cash. An interesting side effect is that I've been managing my budget far more effectively. This is perhaps a result of not having the ability to fulfil any whim I have with my check card.

Another interesting thing is that the men responsible for the mugging have been charged with 2nd degree aggravated robbery, because they implied the possession of a deadly weapon. (In fact, they threatened the use of deadly force) This crime has a fairly long maximum sentence of 15 years, and I believe is a felony, so if these men are convicted, they will never be able to vote again.

On the voting front, I'm pleased to see that Barack Obama is currently winning handidly in the election. The vast majority of people seem to believe that he is the next president of the United States, and I would certainly like to believe them. Palin frightens me, and McCain's willingness to associate with a religious extremist, far right psychopath of her caliber makes me question his judgement and honor. I believe he has been corrupted in his path for ultimate power, and that his experience in the 2000 primary against Bush taught him harsh lessons.

I've been spending a large ammount of time doing schoolwork, studying, working out, working, and watching various high-quality TV shows with Shane and Vanessa. I heartily approve of True Blood and Dexter, and have really enjoyed Twin Peaks and Rome. Also, I've been reading some Lovecraft.

I'm currently participating in clinical research regarding lipids. Also, I just completed my first runway show on Saturday, dressed as a robot.

Here's a link to a site with photos.

I'm going to attempt to return to a 2x per week posting schedule, with more regular updates on Twitter.

For the Future

I think that sometime in the near future I would like to do a number of things.

The first is make an autumnal trip to Duluth, one of these weekends in October, if it's at all possible. (and it might not be with the utter craziness of my schedule) I love the drive and watching as changing leaves give way to completely dead and empty trees, finally ceding to evergreens.

The second is to make a trip to Chicago. I would take the "Megabus" to Chicago from Minneapolis for a small price, and use cheap public transit to get around, eating food and seeing whatever catches my interest. Chicago is a famously interesting city.

Also, I plan to vote in the near future.

Mugging

I just got mugged outside my house, what the fuck, I've lost my phone, check card, bus pass, etc.

This is a bad day.

Car Window: Hint... Crime

Someone decided to destroy the window of my car, a 1990 toyota camry, sometime between sunday and 4:30 today. I'm a bit pissed off about the damage and the minor injuries I sustained as a result of it . However, I can't help but not being all that angry, and rationalizing it as being basically not important.

I'm filling out a police report with the city right now, and Shane was generous enough to give me some duct tape that he helped me seal up the window with.

So that's alright.

What isn't alright is my feeling toward schoolwork. My laziness is growing, and I need to nip it in the bud.

Kind of horrifying

ja..... mit Henry Kissinger...

Also appearing on:

Twitter: Vernacularshift

Also on october the 18th you will be able to see me in my first runway show. Hint: it has to do with Robots. (Also it's on my birthday, so one can possibly help me celebrate afterwards)