I’m going to make a Jason Parx blog post now. Please set aside the next 3 hours of your life.

I’ll go in chronological order over interesting events from the last two weeks. First up is something that I’m very proud of.

Right before the 4th of July a hose on top of the water heater cracked and started spraying water. In my fear I called Mike Diamond plumber. They quoted me $321 to replace the hose, which I later learned was a $10 part and a 20 minute job to fix. Total they wanted over $2000 to replace the entire water heater. Luckily my dad has done that before. The next day we headed out to All-American and bought a new water heater and hoses all for only $462. A few hours later it was installed. That’s a quality savings of over $1500. Boo yah. Not only did we save money, but I got to spend time with my father and learn something from him. Who knew a broken water heater could be such a good thing.

A few days later I had the pleasure of hosting a bachelor party for my brother. It was a pretty mellow affair, but I think everyone had a good time. I was again blessed to spend time with my family and this time be able to do something special for them. The wedding is this Sunday and I’m looking forward to it. This is a picture from our rock-paper-scissors tournament.

This next entry is a frustrating one. The weekend of the bachelor party we purchased a new 2007 Camry.

You’re probably wondering how this could be frustrating. I’ll keep it short and post links for people that want more info, but the main idea is this: The car makes me motion sick. I get car sick very easily as a passenger, and this is due to unexpected accelerating and decellerating. I have never in my life though gotten sick while I was driving, because I can fully anticipate the motion of the car as I press the gas or brake pedals. Unfortunately the Camry has some peculiar behaviors that take away my ability to predict acceleration and decelleration. Unfortunately a 10 minute test drive didn’t make me nauseous, and I would never have thought it could be a problem. If you’d like to read more about these behaviors read here and here. I’ve driven the car 300 miles, and every time I drive it I end up nauseous. Ultimately it looks like we’ll be selling the car and finding something else. We’ll end up losing money, but that’s a better alternative than being motion sick every time I drive it for the next 10-15 years. The next challenge is finding something that doesn’t exhibit these behaviors.

On to more positive experiences, this last weekend we went to Seaworld with Stacie’s Girl Scout troop. The troop is dissolving and this was their last big trip. We got to spend the night in front of the Beluga Whale and Polar Bear exhibits. Super cool. Here’s my best picture from the trip.

And finally my last picture is the least exciting of the five, but it’s not my fault that it came last chronologically. We rented the Rug Doctor from Stater Bros. to clean our downstairs carpet. Every now and then the dog likes to pee on it, and over the last two years it’s built up a few spots. It did a super awesome job too.

That’s about it for now. I will be heading off to Taco Bell pretty soon here to eat with Luna, and I might visit a Honda dealer to test drive a Civic. I hope you’ve enjoyed my Jasso style post. I certainly have.

I’m going to go watch the movie DOOM. It will probably have lots of blowing up of things, a bad story line, and I will love it all because I’m too tired too think. There are many things of which I could rant about right now: idiots burning down buildings because of a cartoon, the idiot that scratched up the "don’t pay more than this amount" sign outside the taco bell drive-thru, or how the "teacher readiness" busy work is still not over as I now begin student teaching. I am too tired to rant about any of those, so all they will warrant at this time is a mention.

Thank you to everyone that came over yesterday. The game was pretty boring, but it’s always fun to spend time with the people you care about.

For the first time, probably since 10th grade, I made a lunch today. During my prep I went to Stater Bros. and picked up all the essentials. Some good deli meats, sliced muenster and provolone cheese, spicy brown mustard, a head of lettuce, french rolls, lime and chili fritos, and some mountain dew. I’m in the middle of a 10 day sub job at West, and so far I’ve been living off of Taco Bell. So am I saving any money?

The food I bought will last me six days, and totaled just over $20. My average meal at Taco Bell is only $3.50, which for six days would be $21. Not much of a savings there. However, if I were to branch out from Taco Bell my lunch could easily be $6 at say Subway. Six days of Subway would be $36, almost twice as much as my “bag” lunch. Maybe it is worth it.

So for the past month I’ve been an extremely good saver of money. For the first time in a long time my credit card bill is barely over $100, and that’s primarily from buying gas. Recently however there has been a temptation: World of Warcraft! Kurtis and Kevin have both been playing it, and it sounds like too much fun to pass up.

The problem though is that $50 is a big expense, so where is the money going to come from? I’ve got a wedding ring, honeymoon, and HDTV to save up for…how could I possibly afford it? By taking a fast from fast food. Everytime I would usually eat fast food, or have the urge to buy a snack, I will resist and eat at home. For the next two weeks or so I will document my fast food resistance savings. When it adds up to $50 we have success!

11/30
Ate leftover pizza instead of McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets. $2.16
Passed on buying a soda at CSULB (oooh it was tempting). $1.25
12/1
Skipped my usual pre-staff meeting Sobe. $2.00
Made Mac and Cheese at home instead of Mambo Grill. $6.00
Got a High Schooler to buy me dinner (go Andie!). $1.50
12/2
Ate pizza rolls at home instead of Jack in the Box. $5.00
12/3
Pizza rolls and fishsticks instead of Taco Bell. $3.45
12/5
Ate top ramen at home instead of fast food. $5.00
12/6
Ate leftover pizza instead of Subway. $5.00
12/7
Ate leftover pizza again instead of fast food. $5.00
Mac ‘n Cheese instead of Chicken Nuggets. $2.16
12/12
Parents bought me lunch after church! $5.00
Had a PoT PiE at home instead of Jack in the Box. $5.00
___________
Total Saved: $48.52