The Echoes of Absence

As you've probably noticed, I'm posting a lot less regularly these days. This is due to real life deciding to happen in a meaningful way again. Which is good, but means i have less time to put in here.... i'll post when I can. I'm declaring Soot and Starlight to be (officially) on hiatus for the forseeable, though. My apologies to everyone in the game. :(
 
REgretfully, it looks like I shall be sleeping today (23/10/2008) for a fair bit of hours and then work is likely going to be busy... so... no more posts from me today and tonight, I suspect.
 
Said he had some family drama two weeks ago, never heard of him since.


Hope he's alright.
 
Conference next week, fortifying my position at work now. The hotel says they have internet access, so I'll probably be able to make some contact during the week.
 
I'm going to be out of it for the next few weeks; I have to work on two separate and unrelated papers simultaneously, as well as do a project for my epidemiology class. As such, don't wait up too long for me in games I'm playing in; I'll try to make posts, but I can't be sure I'll be able to. If I have to disappear entirely, I'll let y'all know.
 
History major, anthropology minor. Only an undergrad; too far in debt to think about grad school for a decade or so. (Ah, America.)
 
Word to the wise on being in debt.If you long-standing bills like car payments, loans, etc. pay them every two week. You do not have to pay more, but you pay off bills faster due to reduced interest, and in the case of cars you pay more towards the principle of the car. And all in all it helps increase your credit score that much more.


I have plenty of tips and advice for those with low incomes in order to ease up on the bills and work around with groceries from experience if interested.
 
As a music major who eventually hopes to work the NY scene as a professional musician, I'll need all the help I can get. Shoot.
 
Well the paying bi-weekly on bills is actually a lot bigger than most people realize. I found out because I wa studying, on my own, to increase my financial future and the advantages there-in. By paying bi-weekly you are actually only paying for half the interest you would normally pay per month. This in turn means you will owe less and improve your credit score. In addition by doing so, especially on loans, you pay the interest and the usual payment faster because you focus on paying the principle more so than the interest.


And whenever you have the option it is a good idea to set up automatic payments through your bank. Set them up to pay every 2 weeks. This provides the benefits of not worrying about the bills, or forgetting to pay because it will be done for you. So if you do not see the money in your account, because it is "spoken" for, you basically get to focus on the money that you have left without a worry about bills. Trust me, this is much more important and worthwhile then you may imagine from a psycological standpoint. Hardly a chance to go "oops, I meant to pay that and bought this instead. Crap." You will be responsible with little to no effort, which creditors notice, especially through your credit score.


Ultimately this leads you to paying off the bill without a thought or effort and killing it off faster than you would've before. Not to mention it's nice to go to the mailbox and see the letter stating complete pay-off of said bill.


Food: Ramen in your best damned friend in the world. Even more so, so are canned veggies, or frozen, and ground beef (if not a vegan.) Combine that with a spice selection... Something that will confuse many friends... and you will end up with tasty, cheap, and filling meals.


Buy only for one person and fill your friedge and especially your freezer. Fast food adds up too damned fast. $5 can easily buy 2 pounds of ground beef, 20 or more packets of ramen, and a couple of cans of vegetables. Which that could easily be turned into about 8 or more servings for a single person. Think about it.


Get yourself a Brita, or whatever brand, water filter and pitcher. The water tastes great, replacement filter cost a bit at times but each last a couple of months. This will save you from buying so many bottles of bottled water. And buy a water bottle you like and fill it up for the day for you. Not to mention filling your body with water keeps you hydrated, increases metabolism, purifies your body, and helps keep energy levels up.


And also, above all, keep your cupboard stocked with a small supply of canned fruits, fruit cups, etc., candy, or some other assorted sweets. You may not be a big sweets person, but having it around for those times you get those cravings will save you from Ben n Jerries, or other fast food purchases. Not to mention having a piece of candy or fruit after a meal tends to signal the brain that meal time is done and finishes those cravings. Trust me, they will get you on occasion.


Get out once a day to walk around somewhere or another. This gets you exposure fresh air, at least more so than that in your apartment, and reminds you to appreciate the world around you a little more. And do wander every once in a while where other people are present. You don't have to socialize directly with any of them, but you are still socializing and keeping your connection to the world at large. This is more important than most realize. Doing so helps give you perspective to many things happening in your life, gives you sounding boards for your thoughts and questions, and reduces your chances of dementia. Yes, left alone with your own thoughts and nobody else's for prolonged periods of weeks or more can lead to dementia. This hinders you and limits your own potential.


Realize that failure to some degree is inevitable. It might be spilled milk, broken equipment, or even a half-ass pick-up line. Be glad that it happens on occasion. Without failure or stress/pressure we fail to learn because we do not have anything to learn to adapt to. And if something does get fucked up know when you honestly cannot do anything to rectify the situation. If there isn't more that can be done by you or through you then move on until you will be able to. If you do not you hinder both yourself and possibly others with energy that could be directed at getting something done. Stress when you need to. Don't stress when there is no use for it. Otherwise it is like spending money on something that you have no use for and get nothing out of. There are other bills that could use that money, so why not put it there instead?


Once a week or more watch the news, listen to current events, check out things on the web involving the world at large. Too many people have the world pass them by because they are not even aware that it was there in the first place. Not to mention by doing so you stay connected to the world, understand various references and jokes, and understand underlying reasons for tensions, worry, and anger. If you do not believe me then look to those people who live their lives cooped up with just their video games, books, or research that later try to interact with others. It tends to be a sad sight and they tend to be limited to those of like mind. That, and well, who knows what cool things may be out there, or hell on TV to keep your sanity intact. :D


Just some of many points, with the last one being a recommendation as I was that person for a little bit because I got bored with TV and was only checking my fave sites online. Talk about feeling and seeming clueless when trying to hang out with some of my coworkers and friends. Not to mention people look at you with shock and annoyance when you happen to make a joke about a state for example while not realizing it has just been hit by a major disaster recently. You get the idea. ;)
 
Wow. Words to live by.


Just a note about the Ramen: most Ramen packets have something like 60% of your suggested sodium intake in a day. Lots of spice mixes have salt in them as well. High sodium intake can lead to hypertension, which is a fairly good predictor of cardiovascular disease (which isn't cheap at all). While most "eat this and stop cancer!" type advice changes your disease risk from 0.001% to 0.0005% or something after extreme life changes, cardiovascular disease is very prevalent, a leading killer and disabler (from the CDC "About 9.4% of all white men, 7.1% of black men, and 5.6% of Mexican American men live with coronary heart disease" in the U.S.).


So basically, I'm not saying don't eat Ramen. Just don't eat Ramen more than once a day, and when you do eat Ramen try not to eat anything else overly salty that day like chips, burgers, fries with salt on them, ect.


That is unless you're some kind of hardcore athlete, in which case you need tons of everything.
 
You've never wondered why there was a "back to main page" upfront and clicked on it just to see what it hid ? :shock:
 
Coyotekin said:
Well the paying bi-weekly on bills is actually a lot bigger than most people realize. I found out because I wa studying, on my own, to increase my financial future and the advantages there-in. By paying bi-weekly you are actually only paying for half the interest you would normally pay per month. This in turn means you will owe less and improve your credit score. In addition by doing so, especially on loans, you pay the interest and the usual payment faster because you focus on paying the principle more so than the interest.
And whenever you have the option it is a good idea to set up automatic payments through your bank. Set them up to pay every 2 weeks. This provides the benefits of not worrying about the bills, or forgetting to pay because it will be done for you. So if you do not see the money in your account, because it is "spoken" for, you basically get to focus on the money that you have left without a worry about bills. Trust me, this is much more important and worthwhile then you may imagine from a psycological standpoint. Hardly a chance to go "oops, I meant to pay that and bought this instead. Crap." You will be responsible with little to no effort, which creditors notice, especially through your credit score.


Ultimately this leads you to paying off the bill without a thought or effort and killing it off faster than you would've before. Not to mention it's nice to go to the mailbox and see the letter stating complete pay-off of said bill.
Click to expand...
This is all great, thanks. The rest of it is pretty much stuff I already do (except I probably spend a little more on food, though only because I really try to eat healthy), but still good to read as a reminder. Words of wisdom for sure. :)
 
:takes a bow: As for the ramen, if you don't drink all of the broth you are not taking in all of the sodium. Otherwise look towards boxes of pasta, rice and then some. Rice is easy to make. For every part rice cook in two parts water. There ya go. ;)
 
Yeah, I've been just buying whole wheat pasta by the box, cans of tomato sauce (to make pasta sauce from with spices), and multiple-packaged lean chicken breasts (usually around $5 for 6). Haven't really had much rice, but that's mainly because I can't seem to find any whole-grain stuff. I kinda Ramen'd myself out back when I used to backpack a lot, so I rarely touch the stuff nowadays.
 
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