An interesting few weeks

I've had a pretty good last few weeks with the exception of the past two days. I've thoroughly enjoyed my new car and I'll continue to for quite some time.

I've been really busy at work but I've had a bitch of a time balancing quality against their deadline. I like to be proud of my work and they just want it done by their due date. To be honest it doesn't really concern me what their due date is since it's not my fault they're behind. I'll do what I can as quick as I can as best I can.

I'm heading to my uncle'a house today but before that I'm getting a long overdue haircut. That's all for now, folks. I'll post anything I might have forgotten later


-Crash

Shitting Bricks

Hey, all. I just picked up the title to my car yesterday! I'm so happy that I'll finally get to drive my car. I'll register the car this Saturday which means that's when I'll pick up the car from the seller's house. I've already made the first payment on the loan so it's really about time that I got to drive the car. To be honest, I'm glad I didn't have the car yet. Considering this huge snow hurricane the northeast got this past week, I would've killed myself had I been driving the car and crashed it or something happened at all.

Anyway, that's now the reason I'm shitting bricks. I've been absolutely obsessed with my budget as of late. I'm constantly checking my bank account and modifying my budget to make sure I'll stay within the lines. I'm bent on moving out, though I had to push it back to August. I'm trying my hardest to, both, get out of debt as quickly as possible, and save up as much as is necessary to move out. So far I'm looking good in terms of my budget. I actually saved money this month over what I projected. Let's hope the other months are just as good, if not better.

My Surreal Day

I went to Raymour & Flannigan today to check out some Presidents Day deals and look at some stuff that was different from Bob's Furniture. I wasn't sure I'd find anything at a decent price but we found quite a few things for a great price, a little too much stuff. I planned out my living/dining room and my bedroom including a mattress. It worked out to $6474. That cuts into my TV budget so I probably won't have a TV in the living room for a bit. I'll also most likely have to delay moving in by about 2 weeks to make sure I have enough money to fall back on just in case. This makes the whole moving out thing much more real. I need to make sure it all fits in the apartment! I'll most likely head that way this week and submit the credit application for the apartment. I'll probably need a co-signer since my credit's been crappy due to, both, my financial irresponsibility and my being unemployed for 3 months last year.

I went with my parents to visit my uncle up north since we were close by while buying the furniture (not the uncle I usually go visit). I played with the kids, they're 3 and 4. They're so much fun. He lent me his Grand Prix so I don't have to inconvenience my parents. He hardly uses the car and had it garaged since they use their minivan more often because of the kids. I'm hoping this car thing is solved soon.

Sidenote:
@Steve: The reason for the prices being so high is it's Northern NJ. The cost of living is quite high here compared to the rest of the country.

The Direction of Things

I started my new job 2 weeks ago and it's been good so far. I've been doing simple stuff and some more complex stuff as well. To be honest, the project itself scares me, not because it's too much to handle, but because it's a clusterfuck. I wouldn't put my name on that. Unfortunately it's mostly done so there's no chance of a rewrite. It's horrible and I've tried to merely do as I'm told in terms of fixing or adding features. I've had to fix stuff for browsers they didn't even test on like Safari and Chrome and even some javascript issues on IE7/8 which they DO test on but somehow didn't catch. I know this sounds like I'm bitching but it's a good thing. I'll be working on a new project soon and it's from scratch so there won't be any horrible code to look at :).

The car situation still isn't sorted out. The loan went through, luckily, but now I have to figure out how to get the title. It seems the seller's bank is going to send it to my lienholder, which I then have to request it from and have it sent to the DMV to register the car. It's annoying, but at least we got this far. I'm one step closer to driving my (realistic) dream car, an E46 M3.

I'm at my uncle's right now. I drove here last night in order to drop off his car, which he so graciously offered the use of, but I realize it's been 2 weeks now and he needs his car. I'll borrow my mom's car for a bit and if this takes too long, I'll simply rent one for a bit or ask my other uncle if I can borrow his Grand Prix.

I don't remember if I posted about this, sorry if I already did. I've been planning on moving out of my parents' house. My stepdad's company is closing in the next two years and he's pretty close to retiring anyway. They're planning on buying a house in Puerto Rico and moving there within that time period. That's not why I'm moving out, though. I've felt it's time for a while but after having been unemployed it took me a while to get back on my feet. I made a budget a few weeks ago and was planning on moving out with a friend of mine. Unfortunately it seems she won't be able to. I would've saved a lot more money by getting a 2 bedroom apartment and sharing the cost of utilities, furniture, etc. even if the rent was more than a 1 bedroom. I found a nice 1 bedroom near work for ~$1200/mo. It's a really good price for the area it's in considering the average is between $1300 and $1400. On paper, it should all work out and I'll be out of credit card debt by next May. I plan on moving in around April 1^st.

Cross your fingers! If all goes well, 2010 could be the year of my independence and a turning-point in my life.

The More Things Change...

The more they stay the same.

I'm quite annoyed right now. My cousin hasn't come home yet and it's 7. I asked my uncle where his son is and he simply responds with "I don't know. He didn't call me or anything." I wait an hour or so and proceeded to prod my uncle again. "You may want to find out where you son is." I say to him only to get some lame excuse I expect from his son. I hand him my phone and have him call his son, who doesn't answer. He calls his son's friend who also doesn't pick up. I ask him if he's got his son's friend's mom's number and he tells me "He never gave it to me." Seriously? This is your rationale? How about fucking following up on this shit? It's your kid and he spends time at this person's house, shouldn't you have their goddamn number? It sure as hell isn't his kid's top priority so he needs to make sure he, as both adult AND parent, gets that number.

Come to think of it he's probably at the skating rink (who knew those would be cool again?) but still, my uncle's apathy is appalling. I'm not even sure I could describe it as apathy, I know he cares about his son but he's just so laid back about this it's truly bordering on disturbing. I thought things would change, I see I thought wrong. I've stopped being the parent and he filled the role for 2 weeks but that seems to be his limit. I refuse to play parent anymore. Bryan will simply end up hating me for being so strict and I will be the only one to blame should his upbringing be questioned.

I think I may have to walk away from this situation and hope it turns out for the best. I truly hate the idea but I'm not sure I can do anything more.

Let's change the subject. I'll be delivering the check for the car tomorrow and then I just need to register the car. I'll be driving my M3 soon. I start my new job on Monday and hopefully I'll be moving into my apartment in April. Things are looking up for my independence. I'm making some serious money (hopefully I'll be hired full time, this is a 6 month contract with possibility of hire) and hopefully my debt should be severely reduced over the course of the next year. Let's see what happens.

The Universe and its Complexities

Buying this car has been an absolute nightmare. It's just been one setback after another. The bank screwed up from day one and then wouldn't give us a replacement check. They said we had to reapply for the loan in order to get another check sent out but failed to mention there's a 90 day waiting period to reapply so we got immediately denied the loan when we reapplied. 2 days ago I applied with Bank of America instead and they handle EVERYTHING. We don't need to register the car or pay any of the DMV fees, they handle all of that and include it as part of the loan (hehe, not free unfortunately). They also offered to refinance the loan in a few months to get a lower rate which means that everything worked out as it should. Had BMW Bank NA not fucked up, I would pay somewhere around 7%, but instead Bank of America is willing to refinance at 5%. EPIC WIN!

I got a call on Thursday from the job I had interviewed for and they asked me to lower my hourly rate. I lowered it b $2 (not a huge deal) and they agreed to it. I got a new job starting February 1! I gave my two weeks notice yesterday as I left work. I sat down with my manager and he understood that more money and shorter commute isn't something they could very well compete with.

I was incredibly pissed off this week (any of you who follow on Twitter may know) because before Thursday everything just seemed to be on a spiral downturn. The car seemed to be slipping away and I hadn't heard anything back from the job. The loan was completely fucked up at that point and everything seemed to be coming down on my head. Thursday everything changed though and the loan came through on Friday.

I must admit that there are greater forces at work here. I can't fathom that all of this happened like this at random. I seem to have done something right and gotten in somebody's good graces.

Some Clout (thanks to a 16 year old)

I have to say that reading MirrorBoy's last post was an eye-opener. I've been doing the same thing, only in real life, for a while now. I've pushed aside my own needs and put others' needs ahead of my own. For him to have such clout at the age of 16 is, quite frankly, amazing.

A friend of mine has been telling me I need to move on with my life and stop taking on my uncle and cousins' problems on but I argued that they're family and I should help them whenever I can. Right now I'm torn as to how much I should help because I've been almost taking on the role my uncle should've taken which simply makes me a crutch, not a solution to the problem. I think it's time to step back and hope I've made enough of a difference and they'll take over on their own.

I hate this feeling though. Anyway - MirrorBoy, do what you need to do. I know how you feel and how hard this decision must be for you.