Hello!
I was thinking to myself how I needed to figure out what type of hardcore BIFL rain jackets I should be looking at and so of course this is the first place I visit. and then I started poking around. and then I figured I should update.
Not too much new in my world. My kitty cat had cancer and I had to put her down much, much earlier than I ever expected (sad face x 100000) but I managed to convince BF to adopt a NEW KITTY
She is four so I hope to have her for a while. I still have a little friend
and she is so worth it to me. BF's ex wife decided she wanted the dogs so, assuming she is not as flaky as normal, they are gone. We miss them but are free of their burden.
I am mainly focusing on fitness and health the last 6 mo or so. Mostly vegan nowadays and lifting weights and running, sucked it up and hired a personal trainer ($25/session, how can I lose?! heh) I haven't been working as much lately so my income is down. Somehow I don't care too much. It's finally getting into my head how I have an 18-30 year emergency fund. Nothing about my situation is urgent. If I need money I'll get it. I don't need money right now, so I don't care.
I've learned I can only focus on one major pursuit at a time. Before it was ERE, then my business, now getting into a good health groove.
I've earned 230,000 united frequent flyer miles through credit card sign ups and buying things on those CCs and reselling merchandise at a profit on Amazon.com so I will probably go to Europe this summer first class
Gonna hit hotel points next maybe, or just do hostels, couch surfing, idk, we'll see.
Hey I actually made some bucket list progress! I forgot I even wrote one down a few entries ago. I've met some like minded people and have board game meetups every now and then
And I'm going to Florida next mo to meet some friends/business network associates and so that may inspire me to rebrand my business and make a few bux. or do something else, or expand reselling to be more profit driven rather than miles driven. The tiny house thing is still on my mind from time to time but not toooo much anymore. I think what I would do is buy a normal rental house on large lot, and then build an "accessory dwelling unit" on that lot - aka tiny house but maybe not by tiny house standards, it would have a foundation probably, maybe make it a little bigger, city water, etc and live there and rent out the actual house. Turns out I really like the idea of flush toilets.
And the other options just pale in comparison. But I'm not taking any action to make this reality right now. Have some fitness related goals I'm trying to hit first.
I am probably going to legally qualify for medicaid next year so we'll see how that goes. I have NOT enjoyed the administrative burden of Obamacare AT ALL - in the end they said that I had to expose my entire business ledger to them for them to continue providing me with a subsidy. I blew them off and now I get these bills from my health co saying I owe them like $1600 (presumably the state took the money back) but then when I call them, they say I owe them $7. I have spent, no joke, 120 hours on the phone since last October trying to sort this shit out. Nope. Nope. Nope. I am going to do my tax return, get that insurance mess sorted out, get the medicaid I can now legally get, and fuck them all. And now with my piss poor tax return, I am going to finally qualify for my damn Obama free phone. yay. that the nsa can promptly spy on me, but whatever, they spy on us all, so not like it makes a difference.
My new hobby: Fantasy Football. It turns out I am either super lucky, good at this, or not facing stiff enough competition, or a combination, because in both of my leagues I am in the championship. It's a nice free hobby, perhaps even mildly a money maker, right now I stand to win $168 if I win the league that had a buy-in. And even if it didn't end that way - the $20 buy in sure provided a lot of entertainment. I'll play again next year. If I get sucked in as much or more, idk maybe try to get hired on as an ad hoc analyst or freelance at one of these fake football sites or create a niche site.
So - NEW bucket list (for me to rediscover in the future sometime)
1) Meet some more health goals: do an unassisted pullup, 5k in under 30 min, get my body fat even lower - maybe verify visually that I do have an ab or two
2) Make it to Europe: See Norway, probably parts of Switzerland, Italy, Austria, possibly British Isles or at least part of them, making the most of trains, stopovers, and open jaws on these 230k united miles
3) I want my faction to own my neighborhood in Ingress, even if it's only for an hour. It's basically a 5 mile circuit. It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine.
4) Do all kinds of DIY work around here: Repair a kitchen chair, add trim to the kitchen ceilings and floors, tile the kitchen floor, replace some kitchen storage with a more functional piece of furniture, maybe plant a few plants in the front yard and clean up the backyard to make it a cool place to hang out now that I don't have to worry about the dogs tearing it all up.
5) Maybe troll CL for some free furniture that might be an upgrade to what we have. Thinking a leather couch would be good, a night stand, maybe some wall decor.
6) Play fantasy football again next year - maybe commish a league. If I can get 9 other EREers in we could do an 10 or 12 team ERE league
I would be fair, promise. Yay free hobbies!
7) Find more people that like board games and maybe find some more girlfriends who like to dance. I miss dancing.
8) Maybe this year - while I'm in FL, I revamp and rebrand my business, let it just kind of tread water for a while, and spend the rest of my time just doing what I feel like not worrying about money - just try to find flow and passion, and see how that looks at the end of next year. I think about getting a job from time to time, even applied for some, but honestly, I like not having a job right now, and I don't need one, I am doing okay money wise, so... I'm thinking... I might be a hobo again for a while.
9) I should try to read a book per month, and alternate between personal improvement and for-fun fiction. I used to read CONSTANTLY and now I never read - too busy working or just spending time with my boyfriend. I should make room in my life for more reading.
That's all I can think of