Saturday, February 10, 2018

Senseless Updates About Snow, Property, and Running

Snow Day:

I got a snow day off from work so I spent the day with Baby Noisewater. Chicago got around a foot of snow on Friday, and it's still coming down on Saturday. Not much on the agenda on a snow day other than a snow journey, so I bundled the little guy up and outside we went. It's hard for him to walk in boots, which led to him falling face first into snow. He didn't even cry. His freezing face didn't even effect his mood. In fact, he was greeting strangers on the street by saying, "Hi." and then warning them, "coooooold." That's his version of small-talk banter with the neighbors.

"Hi! Coooold!"
Condo

It looks like the Noisewaters will be closing on a condo very soon and staying in the fine city of Chicago. Not only will I be a homeowner for the first time, but I'm pretty excited about some things that often escape me in shitty apartments such as in an unit washer/dryer, a dishwasher, a spare bedroom, and my very own parking space. I know these amenities come standard to a lot of you, but this is some high class baller-ass shit to a guy like me. Scrubbing dishes all these years has made me very humble, and it's time to finally kick back and relax.

I told you all a few posts ago that we have been making an extra effort to save money, and one way we are doing this is to use a Google Docs spreadsheet to log in everything that we spend for a month. I highly recommend trying this out to make yourself more self-conscious of all the junk you buy that you don't need. When you find yourself in the checkout aisle eyeballing that Payday candy bar, you suddenly think, "Do I really want to log that $2.12 into the spreadsheet?" Also, you and your spouse will be keeping each other accountable. It's not uncommon after telling your spouse about an expenditure to hear in return, "Did you put in on the sheet?" It actually works. Try it out for a month and come on back to leave in the comments how it worked out for you.


Marathon:

I also let you guys know a few posts ago that I was signing up for the Chicago Marathon that will take place in October. Actually, it's 238 days, 19 hours, 42 minutes, and 10 seconds away. Well, I got in! No backing out now. This will be my second one, and I'm a hell of a lot older now. I'm sort of training early, helping my buddy Night Train who has his first marathon in the Spring in California. His program calls for a long slow run every Sunday, which is perfect because I'm slower than he is. This Sunday is supposed to be a 12-miler, but with this snow we might go with the treadmills. It's pretty boring on the machines, but you can watch basketball, talk to your partner next to you, and the ones we use have courses with little TV screens showing you running your route in different locations complete with little facts along the way. Last week I chose running up and down the Haleakalā volcano in Hawaii because I sort of did that in Hawaii on my Honeymoon. Some dudes picked us up in a van at like 4AM to drive us up the volcano, we watched the sun come up appearing to be coming up through the mouth of the volcano like it was giving birth to the sun , and then we coasted down on bikes. Then we had the whole day beginning having already done all that awesome shit. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Watching on the little screen at the gym wasn't quite as amazing, but at least it reminded me of a good time.

Hey, that's all I got, friends. Sorry nothing mind-blowing or eye-opening today. Just updates on the little life I lead. Leave a comment if you gave this a read and maybe I'll say something super in return.

5 comments:

LL Cool Joe said...

I think that spreadsheet would cause major arguments between my partner and I! We'd be rowing over a bag of mint imperials.

And great news about the condo. Not having to wash dishes every day is one of life's big joys.

Exile on Pain Street said...

It's not how many lines an actor gets. It's how they're delivered. Did he *mean* Hi and Cold?

Owning property is the way to go. Congrats. Paying rent is like setting money on fire. Get that equity, man!

Godspeed to you. I don't even like driving 12 miles much less running 12 miles.

Mr. Shife said...

Congrats, man. Awesome to hear that Dr. Noisewater and the family are moving on up. Enjoy that marathon training. I will just be over here getting fat and drinking beers on the couch watching the Bulls in tank mode.

Kono said...

Baby Noisewater has a swankier cap than i do, did you mark that Timberland hat on the spreadsheet? lol!! and i get you about the amenities thing man, for years i was the same way, street parking and hand washing dishes and lugging shit to the laundromat, only to go to the bar next store and then scramble back for your clothes before they get locked up for the night... my spreadsheet would only have columns for vinyl, books, and of course weed.
Now quit reading and start training Daniel-son, 289 days will be here before you know it.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

Cool Joe: I seriously think about the dish washer every time I'm washing dishes now. I'm thinking, "Okay, only have to do this shit like 40 more times . . ."

Exile: True. Baby Noiswater has a good delivery. He says cold like he's warning people. And hot too. I shudder to think how much rent I have paid. I seriously put my one landlords kids to school, I was there that long.

Shife: Tank mode, yes. But NEXT season could be fun with 2 first round picks plus Dunne and Lauri. You should come out to Chicago for a game sometime!!

Kono: The booze on the spreadsheet really makes you feel like a loser. "I'm drinking away my son's college fund!!! I'm a deadbeat dad like in the movies! But maybe that will make my kid tough . . . Hahaha. Vinyl has to be done every once in a while. It's vinyl therapy, and I usually hit the bargain bin and come home with like 3 records for 10 bucks. Has to be done for sanity's sake.