Kitkowskiland!

I have maxed out on my vacation time.  That is, I have officially accrued so much vacation from not taking regular vacations/days off that I have maxed out (approx 20 days). That doesn’t include one bonus swing day I have, or the 6 days I’ll accrue from working the holidays.

I guess that shows how much I love this job. Which is bizarre, cause this kind of thing never happened before. I even took off two weeks this year (some time back in Feb, then in August).

First, look! Futuristic Jackets. I would like one of everything, plz. I have a new health goal: Get in shape enough so that I can easily wear pretty much everything in this catalog. I love independent fashion. Anyone know of any other cool sites or links?

Second: We put a downpayment on a new car. This is the first new car I’ve ever bought. It should arrive in a few weeks (it’s really a popular/scarce model in the area). Honda Fit, Sport model, Red.

It was a weird experience, buying a car. We did lots of research and test driving, went to a few dealers (including an agent at Leith Honda who was a total mutation of a shark AND a badger), and locked down on one in the area. It’s also refreshing to be able to buy a car with cash, it’s like doing the “Matrix Neo back-dive” away from debt. But we might take out a loan of a small portion of the price ($3k or something) and pay it off in 2-3 months, just so we have more reserves in the bank.

In any case, it’ll pretty much be Orie’s primary car (we’ll finally be a 2 Car Family, after living with one car for about 7-8 years). I’ll still drive the Civic (and later, if that dies in a few years, I’ll probably get a Toyota Yaris). But I’m totally going to pimp her ride out with Hello Kitty decals and stuffed animals in the rear window.

Third: Right after we came home from the dealers, we realized that our TV (which is larger than life, but I got a sweet deal on it a few years back from a co-worker) was broken. Doesn’t switch on.

On one hand, it probably will cost $100 or so to fit it. On the other hand, the TV takes three large men to lift and carry. It is just too damn big. I was hoping it would last a few years so that I could eventually get a flat panel, primarily as a remote PC monitor, and sometimes use it for DVDs and the Playstation. Instead, I’ll probably list it for free on Craigslist, and borrow a friend’s small TV for a few years.
We went to Furnitureland South again looking for some lamps, and instead fell in love with a Creative Elegance bedframe that will be ours in a few years. FLS doesn’t really do lamps in the style we are looking for.

Ahhh, stuff.