Resolutions for 2009

Ah, the sound of fireworks is already popping a short distance from my house. I figured I would post my resolutions now before I go to bed. Unfortunately, I have work to do early in the morning at work, so I will not be able to ring the new year in with friends. Hope you like my resolutions. If you don't, too bad for you. Ha!

1. Start saving money from each paycheck, mostly to spend at Christmas

I thought about the idea to save up money all year to be able to buy presents for friends and family at Christmas. I've never been one that has been able to afford presents for anyone and that's something I would like to change. Perhaps this idea could also include any birthdays of friends and family any time in the year. And if I don't spend it all, I could let the money "roll over" as part of next year's savings. I kinda like the sound of that. I've been known to be impatient at times, but this is an official goal that has been made and I plan on sticking to it. Imagine if you saved $50 per paycheck and you get paid every other week:

26 paychecks * $50 = $1,300 at the end of the year

2. Buy a camera for the 365 Photo Project

Once I heard about the 365 Photo Project being led by Alison here on Blogspot, the thought tickled my mind for a while. I remembered how I used to love taking weird, random photos with my old camera (not top-notch, but quality by my standards) and would love to be able to do it again. Not only would I be able to take one photo a day, but I would be able to explain it and with a little imagination, possibly make it into a story. That sounds like some serious fun to me.

3. Drink less caffeine

As mentioned, I think drinking less caffeine is necessary for my health. For anyone that knows me, my caffeine intake amounts to one or two 20-ounce Mountain Dew drinks a day. It's usually just one, but the caffeine content of just one 20-ounce Mountain Dew is about 92mg[1]. Also, I believe I read somewhere that it only takes as little as 100mg of caffeine a day to get addicted. Sorry for the lack of reference on that fact. In any case, I have been pretty good health-wise with the minimal amount of caffeine and would like to cut it off altogether.

4. Write/blog more

Yes, I would like to write and/or blog more. Chances are kinda high that if I write more, I will be blogging more. Because I will have more content to write about and will end up posting it here anyway. Yes, the current problem is content to write about. This is not a major problem, but it's one I aim to fix. I believe I have something to share with the world and there's bound to be someone out there that will want to hear what I have to say.

5. Eat healthier

You heard right. Eating healthier is good for anyone. It doesn't mean I am trying to lose weight because I already know that I am skinny enough and have problems keeping my weight up. That is, despite the fact that I eat like a horse sometimes. I guess it all depends on what I am eating and not how much. I think I have already started working on this a little bit, but I think it's necessary to drop it on the list anyway.

5a. Eat out less

Eating out can get expensive, even for a young bachelor who has a little excess cash (also see #1). Among the affordability of the meals is the content of the food. Not all food cooked at a restaurant is necessary healthy for you. Take pizza for example: Umm, yeah. Enough said. I have been a bit of a slacker when it comes to getting groceries so that I don't spend so much on food by eating out. I will be aiming to fix this problem by simply buying groceries more often. Anybody else have that problem or am I alone in that boat?

5b. Eat more fruits and vegetables

I realize that the food I eat consists of meats, seafood, pastas, and cheeses. It's not that I don't eat fruits and vegetables, it's just that I don't eat them enough. Again, as I said in the one above, it just requires me to simply buy groceries plus buying fruits and vegetables. Simple, right?

I couldn't think of any more after the fifth one, so I decided to make that my official list of resolutions for the year 2009. I think this would be the first time I set out to actually make some real resolutions and I intend on keeping them all. Discipline, my friends. Discipline. Feel free to leave comments about my resolutions list. Happy New Year of 2009 to all! Stay safe!

Something special

As opposed to "Someone special", this is about Something special: my scooter. Sure, I bought it used and it currently has a couple of minor issues, which I thought were fixed tonight. It's mine. And it's my newest friend. I'm not sure if I will be naming it like a friend of mine named hers. We'll see.

Okay, so I know I sound crazy. This is not a new concept for me, but I digress. Through some very kind suggestions from a friend, I just returned from a certain local scooter shop and was very pleased with every aspect of my service experience. Thank you, Alison, for your recommendation! (Oh and Collin says Hi!)

So, I had the headlight and brake-light replaced, along with the spark-plug boot, electric starter and horn, and had an oil change done. It cost a little bit of money, but it is worth it in the end. I also got a pair of protective glasses and a lock that locks onto the front disc brakes.

Here's one of the cool aspects of the whole deal: If I had procrastinated like I thought about doing, I would have had to go to another shop due to the fact that they are going on vacation for two weeks and won't be open again until January 5th. I called them at around 5:00 pm and they close at 6:00 pm. They asked me if I could come ASAP. No hesitation on my part.

So they took care of everything that I asked about and I got out to my scooter to get ready to go. I put the key into the ignition and noticed that the plastic piece around the key hole is loose. Apparently it was glued on before and stopped adhering to the surface. Anyway, the guy replaced that one and the second one eventually popped off too. I'll probably procrastinate in getting that part fixed.

Also, I noticed that the right headlight works all the time, but now the left one doesn't work. It was the other way before I had them replace the headlight. And the lights are supposed to work at ALL times, but the right one burned out (low-beam) as I was riding down the road on my way home. I switched it to high-beam to get it to shine some light forward. This is something that is making me a little nervous. I'll have to take it to another shop or just replace the bulbs myself if it's simply a problem with the bulbs. If not, it may be an electrical problem within.

However, despite these two issues, all seem to be working as expected. I'll go fill up on gas soon, which will just about drain... my... change jar? Hahaha. Yeah, it'll be pretty cheap to fill it up, so I'm not concerned with that. Despite the obvious pros of riding a scooter, it can still be dangerous to ride one, especially in a college town as this one. Trust me when I say that I will not ride the scooter with just flip-flops, shorts, no helmet (or any combination of these three).

If I get the chance to borrow a camera or get one of my own, I will be able to take pictures and post them for you to see. One thing I have to note about the scooter is that it says the following in big letters on the scooter: "VIP"... So make sure to honk at the VIP when you see me! Lol.

Sincerely,
The VIP

Nothing special

I am sitting here alone at home on a day off of work. Nothing exciting going on, but I do feel like a happier person to know that the temperature is warming up a bit since the past week or so has brought cold mornings and mild afternoons. And the temperature in the mornings definitely affects my daily bike ride to work. For those that don't know, I live about 5 miles away from work and ride a bike both ways daily. I also find it harder to keep a consistent speed if I sit on the bike seat as I go along, so I rely heavily on standing up on the pedals and keeping a good pace. This obviously means a good cardiovascular work-out twice a day, being that it takes me about 30 minutes to trek the 5-mile distance.

I used to have a car. About two months ago, it died on me from overheating. That's probably some lack of care on my part, but it's just something to learn from at this point. So, for the past two months, I have been riding my bike to work and I hated it for probably the first two weeks. I still kind of hate it now, but I am more used to it and feel more physically fit than I probably did two months ago. I have also been looking into getting a scooter being that EVERYONE here has one. Two or three weeks ago, I tried to get financed on a new 2009 Yamaha Zuma (~$2,000) and was denied. So, I have been saving money since then (about $300 every other week).

As of last Wednesday, December 10th, I am now the owner of a decent used scooter. That purchase has actually put me in a state of being broke and hungry. I will only need to last until Friday (pay-day!) and everything will be alright. Also, I will be doing a few things for the scooter on Friday (or later), such as getting a new helmet, replace one of the headlight bulbs, replace the brake light bulb, have a scooter shop check out some minor details with the scooter, and get a parking decal. I think I might be okay without a decal as the place I want to park may not require a decal. I'll be finding that out soon, of course.

So, for today, I am sitting here listening to music and starting a new blog here on Blogger. They say it's the coolest place to blog at, so I thought I would try it out. If you're dropping by my blog site, leave a comment and I'll check out your blog as well. Thanks for visiting!