HHFC

I have a chart, but it's on my desktop PC which is turned off right now so I won't upload it to this diary.  Suffice to say, this week I reached my goal.  I went from 106.7kg (235lbs) to 95kg (209lbs) from December to now.  I remember people here taunting me about how I wouldn't be able to keep it off or how I just dropped a bunch in the first week but would plateau after that, and blah-blah.  Well suck on it.  I not only like my new style of eating, but certain things that were forbidden from my diet now taste bad to me or cause an adverse reaction when I eat them.  So, I see no reason to go back to eating like I was.  Plus, I'm about to begin phase two, which involves going to the gym.

Vehicles

We're having some trouble on the vehicles front.  My 4Runner is in the shop getting the AC fixed.  Fortunately, it is covered by the warranty so I'm paying $50 to have them replace the compressor and a sensor.

My wife's Corolla is also having problems.  It may just need a tune up, but I don't want to mess with it until we get mine back from the shop.  It's been acting like it's going to stall when idling, and as of last night, the AC light started blinking.  Her car is not under any warranty, as it's over 10 years old.  We're not in a position to buy a new one yet, so I'll just have to pay to fix it.

Visitors

My mom is visiting us right now, and my stepdad is arriving tomorrow.  It's going well so far, and on Friday we're going to San Antonio.  It's great having my mom here, we can finally catch up on some of the things we couldn't do (including a night out alone.)

A former co-worker from Atlanta is in town, so I'm going to invite him out tomorrow night along with some friends from work for a happy hour.  If you're in the Houston area and want to go have some beers and smoke a chicha with us, show up at Mary'z Lebanese restaurant tomorrow after work some time.  This is open to anyone, but the clocks and riceowlguy are the only ones I know of in town right now.

Work

Work is very hectic, and my increased responsibilities are almost overwhelming.  We really need more people, but my projects are being delayed which means I can't bring in any consultants yet.

Dentists

We've had some major dental problems with my wife.  It turns out that Texas is one of the easiest places for bad dentists to work without fear of lawsuits or legal repercussions, because the dental board actually takes the side of the dentist.  People on the state dental board who do the investigations also act as "consultants" to the dentists they are investigating, which basically means they are getting paid off.

So, for my wife, she has an operation on Saturday to fix a botched crown (which she should not have needed in the first place), after having a botched root canal fixed.  Next time we need dental care, we're going to Mexico.

United Health

So we got the results of the appeal to them, and it looks like we're going to owe some doctor around $1,500 because someone (whether the insurance company or my wife's OB/GYN) screwed up.  I'm considering refusing to pay anything, and just letting it go to collections.  I already got the house, and our next vehicle won't be a huge loan.

Debt

So after Christmas, the credit card situation was out of control.  As a result, instead of using my bonus to pay off my 4Runner, it will go towards paying off credit cards, as will my tax refund.  :-(

Sofia

So, my daughter got a package yesterday from the son of clock and Stacky.  The enclosed items are greatly appreciated and photos will be taken and posted on HuSi soon.  Until then, here's a recent photograph to tide you all over:

Heroes

I signed up for Netflix and we've been watching Heroes on it since we didn't catch it on TV and heard how good it is.  Well, it is a really good series.  It's no Battlestar Galactica, but it's close.  There are obvious plot-holes, such as why Hiro doesn't use his powers more often when it would be very obviously helpful, both in stopping time and in revering time slightly for do-overs.

Super Mario Galaxy

Unfortunately, I haven't played this in weeks.  It's still one of the best games for the Wii and I hope to play it again soon.

Super Tuesday

I think the results sucked.  Hillary Clinton has virtually no chance of winning a national election, being almost as divisive as Bush.  What also sucks is the fact that she is not ahead in legitimate delegates, but that the super delegates are putting their support behind her.  I understand the logic in creating the super delegate role, but in this case, it is being used to suppress the actual democratic process of picking a presidential candidate.  If Hillary wins because she has more of the super delegates but loses in the number of the normal delegates, I think the Democratic party will be pretty much ruined.  Markos and the people at dailykos like to talk about "crashing the gate", but super delegates present another barrier that will prevent Americans from being a part of the process.

Middle Eastern Internet Cuts

So I saw that the 5th undersea cable to the middle east has been cut in a little over a week now.  You almost never hear about these things being cut, now we're here with five being cut in a short period of time.  This is weird, and I can't come up with any reasons for this other than conspiracy theories.

Anyway, I think this is enough of a diary for now.  If the past is any indication, I'll post another diary in about a month.

Ciao!