Sloth: The Man with the Hammer

[Rooks]

54 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I haven't been training for Hammer Racing.  You have a fair shot at taking the Nerd Fitness Hammer Racing championship from me. 

 

I have a feeling TML or Eric will still beat me out, assuming everyone ends up doing it.  We shall see.

 

46 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I am really fretting and worrying about my job.  It's pushed me into the depressed category.  I still haven't heard when the discipline hearing will be or that they decided I don't need one. Ugh. The district is facing a $28 million shortfall next year.  Last time that happened they fired everyone they could fire (tenure doesn't protect jobs the way it used to) ahead of layoffs. My principal thinks they'll just drop the matter, but I'm freaking out that they'll throw the book at me and I'll be out of a job.  Aargh, I just wish I knew what was going on.

 

Sorry man.  That's a real bummer.  Happy to setup a time to buy you a beer sometime if you feel that would help in anyway.  I'm a good drinking partner, although that might be part of my reason for being overweight.  

 

47 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Now that I have tackled slothbelly (mostly), the next dragon is debt.  This has convinced me that I'm not cushioned well enough from stupidity and/or accidents.  I'm assuming I'll keep my job, even though I'm freaking out right now, but it's not too hard to imagine an old man on a mountain bike becoming unable to work and needing a cushion. 

Step 1: Keep my checkbook balanced, which will help with

Step 2: Rein in my spending (I have a bad Amazon and Bike shop habit) which will help with

Step 3: Pay off debt, which will allow me to 

Step 4: Save more money. 

 

Something that I've found to be helpful (but can be dangerous if you aren't good with Credit Cards).  I've stopped using checks for basically everything, and just put everything on one Credit Card, specifically, my Capital One Quicksilver card.  That way I in essence get a 1.5% discount on everything (since it's 1.5% cash back).  You only really come out ahead if you pay it off every month, but they have some great tools to track where money is being spent within their website.  It's basically budgeting software built into the card.  It's pretty slick.  

 

And even if you couldn't get that card, I'm sure there are others you might qualify for that could help build up the credit.  But again, I'd stay clear if you have a hard time sticking to a budget on credit cards.  I get that it's hard for some people when that little magic plastic card just gets you stuff.  

[Sylvaa]

Sorry that things are still going crappy. It totally sucks that you have to wait in this state of not knowing. 

 

[Sloth the Enduring]

22 hours ago, LadyShello said:

That's a tough spot to be in.  The wheels of beaurocracy move too slowly for normal humans.  This is easier said than done but it's probably best to not fret about something that isn't concrete and sounds like it is just as likely not going to turn into anything but to also just be frugal for the time being as a precautionary measure.  But regardless, I'm sorry you have to suffer through this.  

 

Thanks.  I whine too much and worry too much. I'll be fine. 

 

21 hours ago, Rooks said:

 

I have a feeling TML or Eric will still beat me out, assuming everyone ends up doing it.  We shall see.

 

 

Sorry man.  That's a real bummer.  Happy to setup a time to buy you a beer sometime if you feel that would help in anyway.  I'm a good drinking partner, although that might be part of my reason for being overweight.  

 

 

Something that I've found to be helpful (but can be dangerous if you aren't good with Credit Cards).  I've stopped using checks for basically everything, and just put everything on one Credit Card, specifically, my Capital One Quicksilver card.  That way I in essence get a 1.5% discount on everything (since it's 1.5% cash back).  You only really come out ahead if you pay it off every month, but they have some great tools to track where money is being spent within their website.  It's basically budgeting software built into the card.  It's pretty slick.  

 

And even if you couldn't get that card, I'm sure there are others you might qualify for that could help build up the credit.  But again, I'd stay clear if you have a hard time sticking to a budget on credit cards.  I get that it's hard for some people when that little magic plastic card just gets you stuff.  

 

I'd put my money on Eric this year if he can make it. 

 

I'm reasonably okay with credit cards, but something happens (medical bill usually) and it takes me forever to pay it back down. That's a good idea.  I've been telling myself I'd get a cash back card when I paid of my current card and could keep it paid down. My problem is I spend everything I make so I don't have much of an emergency savings. 

 

6 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

Sorry that things are still going crappy. It totally sucks that you have to wait in this state of not knowing. 

 

 

Thanks. . I'm less fretful today. 

[Marauder]

It's not easy, but I can honestly tell you that getting away from the paycheck to paycheck life is a huge stress reducer.  I will never go back.  It took a good year of pretty strict budgeting, but a miraculous thing happens when you pare down the unnecessary expenses and start saving...  You realize you never needed that crap anyway and you sleep better at night knowing very little can come in and take you out financially.  

[peelout]

23 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Step 1: Keep my checkbook balanced, which will help with

Step 2: Rein in my spending (I have a bad Amazon and Bike shop habit) which will help with

Step 3: Pay off debt, which will allow me to 

Step 4: Save more money. 

Sorry to hear about your job issues.  Hope it turns out OK.

I've lived my entire life living below my means waiting for that "rainy day" to happen.  Just the way I was raised.  I often wondered if it was worth it, then my job and 1000 others was ended last Sept at age 56.  After going into crisis mode, I came to the realization that this is why I saved all these years and I was well prepared for this.  It was nice to have so many options and not have to panic. I couldn't give any better advice to someone than to live ones life with the assumption they will lose their job at least once.

One other thing you might look into, and this depends on your credit rating and ability to handle credit cards, is to play the credit card initial offering game.  I get new credit cards at least every 3 months.  Sometimes I take out additional cards in my daughters name.  Getting $100 for spending $500 in 3 months is pretty typical.  I've gotten up to $650 for spending $3000 in 3 months before.  Every 2 years, I take out a chase card that gives me enough holiday in points for 3-4 free nights for spending around $3000.  I usually give those to my daughter since I don't stay in hotels much.  My credit rating has never taken a hit for doing this.  I'm still doing it even though I don't have much of an income.  I don't think they even verify the income so I'm still putting down what I used to make.

 

When I'm not in the middle of trying to reach the amount needed for an into off, it pays to have multiple cards:
I use a visa that pays 2% on groceries and 3% on gas, then use a capital one paying 1.5% on everything else.  Juggling the right card for the right purchase can pay off.  Just some thoughts.

[Sloth the Enduring]

7 hours ago, Marauder said:

It's not easy, but I can honestly tell you that getting away from the paycheck to paycheck life is a huge stress reducer.  I will never go back.  It took a good year of pretty strict budgeting, but a miraculous thing happens when you pare down the unnecessary expenses and start saving...  You realize you never needed that crap anyway and you sleep better at night knowing very little can come in and take you out financially.  

 

I totally get what you're saying and I agree, but I can't stop thinking that I need these steel dice and countless bike parts.  Maybe it'll get better with time. 

I also need the black chrome ones. 

 

6 hours ago, peelout said:

Sorry to hear about your job issues.  Hope it turns out OK.

I've lived my entire life living below my means waiting for that "rainy day" to happen.  Just the way I was raised.  I often wondered if it was worth it, then my job and 1000 others was ended last Sept at age 56.  After going into crisis mode, I came to the realization that this is why I saved all these years and I was well prepared for this.  It was nice to have so many options and not have to panic. I couldn't give any better advice to someone than to live ones life with the assumption they will lose their job at least once.

One other thing you might look into, and this depends on your credit rating and ability to handle credit cards, is to play the credit card initial offering game.  I get new credit cards at least every 3 months.  Sometimes I take out additional cards in my daughters name.  Getting $100 for spending $500 in 3 months is pretty typical.  I've gotten up to $650 for spending $3000 in 3 months before.  Every 2 years, I take out a chase card that gives me enough holiday in points for 3-4 free nights for spending around $3000.  I usually give those to my daughter since I don't stay in hotels much.  My credit rating has never taken a hit for doing this.  I'm still doing it even though I don't have much of an income.  I don't think they even verify the income so I'm still putting down what I used to make.

 

When I'm not in the middle of trying to reach the amount needed for an into off, it pays to have multiple cards:
I use a visa that pays 2% on groceries and 3% on gas, then use a capital one paying 1.5% on everything else.  Juggling the right card for the right purchase can pay off.  Just some thoughts.

 

Hah.  I've been reading about your credit card shenanigans with interest.  That would never work for me, I'm not very good about tracking details and I'd end up paying the big yearly fee. What I was thinking was a Target Red Card for 5% there and an REI card for everywhere else. But like I said, that is going to wait until I pay off the cards I have now so that I use them and pay them off. 

[peelout]

6 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

 

I totally get what you're saying and I agree, but I can't stop thinking that I need these steel dice and countless bike parts.  Maybe it'll get better with time. 

I also need the black chrome ones. 

 

 

Hah.  I've been reading about your credit card shenanigans with interest.  That would never work for me, I'm not very good about tracking details and I'd end up paying the big yearly fee. What I was thinking was a Target Red Card for 5% there and an REI card for everywhere else. But like I said, that is going to wait until I pay off the cards I have now so that I use them and pay them off. 

How about a free transfer to a card that won't charge interest for 21months?  Just transfer, don't use it, but make payments.  All at 0% interest.  No yearly fee.  Interest free is the fastest way to payoff CC debt.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/the-best-credit-cards?utm_source=goog&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=cc_mktg_paid_120115_beta&utm_term=%2Bbalance %2Bcard %2Btransfer&utm_content=ta&mktg_hline=4001&mktg_body=1050&mktg_place=5&gclid=CLGywverqtICFU-AaQods0YC6w#balanceTransfer

[Sloth the Enduring]

2/24/17 Friday

 

Everything did turn out okay with the job.  The principal came up to me and said, "You know I think very highly of you, but I'm going to have to write a letter for your file and I'll give to you on Monday."  That was what I was originally expecting, but I got worried when I wasn't hearing anything.  Like I said, I worry and whine too much.  It's a known fault. This is a big stress relief. 

 

I was out yesterday, I guess it was insane. The sub left an apology for the "eye wash incident" but didn't elaborate. I was afraid to ask.

 

I have a mild case of Slothboy's plague.  I spent most of the afterwork time napping. I plan on going to bed again soon.  

 

Training: no.

Eating: on point.  My weight has dropped below 170# (77 kg).  When I catch my reflection out of the corner of my eye I see my mom's face when she was skinny from cancer.  It's disconcerting. I consider 165-170# (75-77 kg) to be my mountain bike racing weight.  It's where I've had the best balance of power and endurance.  Now I Just need to firm up the flab.

Money: Checkbook balanced.

Spent $14 on 3 graphic novels for my classroom library.  I ordered these a while ago from Scholastic Books through the English teacher.  I forgot about them and they finally went through. 

[Marauder]

Yay for only getting a note in your permanent record!!  

 

 Seriously though, glad it's off your mind. 

[Mrs Van]

2 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I was out yesterday, I guess it was insane. The sub left an apology for the "eye wash incident" but didn't elaborate. I was afraid to ask.

Oh my! Ja, rather don't ask

Glad that the principal finally came to talk to you, and you're calmer now.

Woot! Woot! on the weight loss, but sorry about the sad memory. Things will go better now. Good that you checked that check book. *thumbs up*

[deftona]

I'm really glad you have closure on this now and that it wasn't as bad as you were beginning to imagine. 

[peelout]

10 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

2/24/17 Friday

 

Everything did turn out okay with the job.

I think the incident was "M".  You either murdered a student (probably they deserved it) or smeared mayonaisse on them.  I think you need to develop a No M habit.  lol

 

Glad to hear its over.  But sticking to your original plan regarding finances would still be a good idea.  The rainy day always cometh.  And you don't need fancy dice.

[maegs]

Glad to hear everything turned out ok at work, it can't be easy for internet-robot-Nigerian-princes to find work these days  

[Sloth the Enduring]

22 hours ago, peelout said:

How about a free transfer to a card that won't charge interest for 21months?  Just transfer, don't use it, but make payments.  All at 0% interest.  No yearly fee.  Interest free is the fastest way to payoff CC debt.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/the-best-credit-cards?utm_source=goog&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=cc_mktg_paid_120115_beta&utm_term=%2Bbalance %2Bcard %2Btransfer&utm_content=ta&mktg_hline=4001&mktg_body=1050&mktg_place=5&gclid=CLGywverqtICFU-AaQods0YC6w#balanceTransfer

 

That is solid advice. Thanks for the link.  If I keep paying what I'm paying I should have it paid off in 21 payments. I could pay it off quicker I can avoid temptation like shiny dice. 

 

21 hours ago, Marauder said:

Yay for only getting a note in your permanent record!!  

 

 Seriously though, glad it's off your mind. 

 

Hah.  Thanks. This is the first negative mark on my record in 20 years.  I hope they don't start paying attention to me now. 

 

19 hours ago, elizevdmerwe said:

Oh my! Ja, rather don't ask

Glad that the principal finally came to talk to you, and you're calmer now.

Woot! Woot! on the weight loss, but sorry about the sad memory. Things will go better now. Good that you checked that check book. *thumbs up*

 

Thanks.  I'm pretty sciencey, but I'm also pretty sure I have ghosts in my house. 

 

17 hours ago, deftona said:

I'm really glad you have closure on this now and that it wasn't as bad as you were beginning to imagine. 

 

Thanks.

 

11 hours ago, peelout said:

I think the incident was "M".  You either murdered a student (probably they deserved it) or smeared mayonaisse on them.  I think you need to develop a No M habit.  lol

 

Glad to hear its over.  But sticking to your original plan regarding finances would still be a good idea.  The rainy day always cometh.  And you don't need fancy dice.

 

Actually it was smoking Meth in the staff lounge. It settles down my ADD.

 

I'll be sticking to the austerity measures, but those dice are shiny and chrome. They're hard to resist. 

 

10 hours ago, maegs said:

Glad to hear everything turned out ok at work, it can't be easy for internet-robot-Nigerian-princes to find work these days  

 

Thanks.

 

[Sloth the Enduring]

2-25-17 Saturday

 

It was a pretty good day.  After I took Slothgirl to circus I stayed home with Slothboy while the rest went to Star Wars Day at the science museum. They came back with lots of cool Star Wars crafts.  They brought me back a Commander Cody trading card from the 501st Legion so I wouldn't be too jealous. 

 

 I ended up taking a five hour nap.  Slothboy said he watched TV for a while, but when we lost reception (antenna TV and a stucco house) he took a nap too.  He woke me up at 4:00 for ice cream. He still sickly, right after dinner he put himself to bed and fell asleep.  

 

I found out today that the slothlings have their circus classes spread out among all of the different shows.  In between April 24 and May 4 they'll be in all 12 different shows. We were really hoping that they'd be compacted and we'd only have to go in between three or four shows. 

 

After I finally woke up I rented a floor sander and started attacking the bedroom floor. Hopefully I'll have it done tomorrow, but it looks like there will be a lot more hand scraping than I anticipated. 

 

Training: DDP Energy.

Eating: No. I was hangry; I ate a nutty bar at circus.  First sweet in 56 days. It wasn't as good as I hoped, it tasted plasticy. 

Spending: Checkbook, including credit cards, balanced. Renting the floor sander and buying all the needed supplies was about $300, quite a bit more than I thought it would be. I was going to buy cider on the way home; I saved money by not and deciding to have a Kombucha cocktail instead. 

[Mrs Van]

5 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Thanks.  I'm pretty sciencey, but I'm also pretty sure I have ghosts in my house.

A lot of people who believe in ghosts will tell you it is a science thing...

Good going on the bedroom renovation. Good luck with the sanding.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

12 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Eating: No. I was hangry; I ate a nutty bar at circus.  First sweet in 56 days. It wasn't as good as I hoped, it tasted plasticy. 

They always do after you haven't been eating sweets for a while. It helped turned me into a dessert snob. I'd look at something and say, "That just doesn't taste good enough to be worth it."

Or if I was actually feeling tempted I'd turn the snob dial up to eleven and pretend to be too snobby to eat it, that seemed to help some too.

[peelout]

Oh what the hell, heres a sloth video.

 

[Yasha92]

They always do after you haven't been eating sweets for a while. It helped turned me into a dessert snob. I'd look at something and say, "That just doesn't taste good enough to be worth it."

Or if I was actually feeling tempted I'd turn the snob dial up to eleven and pretend to be too snobby to eat it, that seemed to help some too.

 

My stingy brain always goes 'but I paaaaid for it' or alternatively 'but it was freeeeee'. I've started asking myself would I pay $3 to NOT put on the half kilo from eating it? or if it's free how much in gym membership it would cost to get rid of it? That usually works, or the good ol "it's not worth the calories" which Mr and I started saying ironically and somewhere along the way it turned serious...

[Mrs Van]

12 hours ago, peelout said:

Oh what the hell, heres a sloth video.

 

Shame, he or she wanted to be with the person taking the video! Too cute.

[Sloth the Enduring]

On February 26, 2017 at 2:10 AM, elizevdmerwe said:

A lot of people who believe in ghosts will tell you it is a science thing...

Good going on the bedroom renovation. Good luck with the sanding.

 

But actual science people won't. 

 

Thanks. Sanding went well, but it took a long time. 

 

On February 26, 2017 at 8:56 AM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

They always do after you haven't been eating sweets for a while. It helped turned me into a dessert snob. I'd look at something and say, "That just doesn't taste good enough to be worth it."

Or if I was actually feeling tempted I'd turn the snob dial up to eleven and pretend to be too snobby to eat it, that seemed to help some too.

 

I'm already a beer, bike, and cider snob, if I'm going to be anymore snobby I'm going to need a better job and proper grammar. 

 

On February 26, 2017 at 11:57 AM, peelout said:

Oh what the hell, heres a sloth video.

 

 

Dude, that was cute. 

 

21 hours ago, Yasha92 said:

 

My stingy brain always goes 'but I paaaaid for it' or alternatively 'but it was freeeeee'. I've started asking myself would I pay $3 to NOT put on the half kilo from eating it? or if it's free how much in gym membership it would cost to get rid of it? That usually works, or the good ol "it's not worth the calories" which Mr and I started saying ironically and somewhere along the way it turned serious...

 

Free doughnuts are worth half a kilo easy.

 

12 hours ago, elizevdmerwe said:

Shame, he or she wanted to be with the person taking the video! Too cute.

 

[Sloth the Enduring]

 

 

2/26/17 Sunday

 

 

I slept in a bit and spent the entirety of the day either sanding, scraping, or applying finish. Mrs. Sloth was having a day, so I somehow also had to referee the kids. It was hard. The floor doesn't look that good. I used a water based finish on the advice of the rental guy and it raised the grain.  I should have done my own research beforehand or stuck with what I know.  

 

 

Sofie was adopted.  She's a sweet dog, but I thought we'd have her for a long time because she barks and growls at strangers, but someone was willing to put the time in to get to know her. We have a week or two off from foster dogs and then we'll get what has to be her sister/aunt or mother/cousin or aunt/grandma or daughter/cousin from the same busted puppy mill. 

 

 

Training: No.

 

 

Eating: 1 day clean.  Weight is back above 170, it must have been that Nutty Bar.

 

 

Spending: No money spent, accounts balanced. 

 

 

 

[Yasha92]

Curse you nutty baaaaar!!! *shakes fist at the sky*

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Xena]

It looks like you're balancing your checkbook daily or in real time. Are you going to keep doing it that way, or maybe do something regular but less frequent? (weekly?).
 

Great news about resolution of the disciplinary action at school. Relief to move past it!

[Big_Show]

Not sure how balancing a checkbook works, but if it takes similar effort to tracking everything in YNAB then I empathise with you.