(no subject)

I just edited and posted 46 pictures from my first day in Baltimore. Included in the set are such fun things as:

*A large fiberglass version of "His Master's Voice" (the old RCA logo with Nipper the dog and his phonograph) that once stood on the RCA building. I've had a soft spot in my heart for Nipper for years, so it was neat to see him!
*The 1930 Patterson Theatre.
*Some old Navy ships on the east side of the inner harbor that seem to have been there for a long time. The light makes really pretty stripes and waves on their hulls where it bounces up from the water.
*Several pictures of commercial shipping going on.
*A Mississippi-style riverboat called "The Black-Eyed Susan."
*Cobblestone Streets in Fell's Point with old streetcar rails left in them for, I assume, reasons of aesthetics and feelings of authenticity. They are in Fell's Point, a highly gentrified area that was once a rough sailors' hangout.
*Some shots of a sailing ship called "The Lady Baltimore," including a closeup of her golden eagle figurehead.
*A view of the city from the top of Federal Hill, a high point of land on the south side of the harbor.
Hopefully I can keep up my pace and post more Baltimore soon, as well as start on Chiapas! Anyway, I hope you enjoy them. Please let me know if you think they're neat!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stormdog42/sets/72157645278271506/

More ( behind the cut )

(no subject)

After getting back to Chicago at two in the morning on Saturday, I was exhausted. I still managed to get up at a reasonable hour in an attempt to day-shift though!
Danaeris dropped me off at Lisa's place to visit her for a bit and to retrieve my car. It was nice to see Lisa after being away for a week. We decided to go out and use a Groupon for some ice cream, then I'd drop her off at the train to get back home while I went back to Danae's place to load up my car.
Unfortunately, while I was expressing my angst over career plans in the context of the discussions I'd had at Penn State, worries about my car added to that angst significantly. There'd been a minor grinding noise upon accelerating from a stop, but it wasn't enough to be worrisome. Over the week I was gone, that noise became kind of horrifying. It is also accompanied by notable rolling resistance, especially backing up. So rather than enjoy visiting with Lisa for a while, I was stressy about my car and money and school plans. And getting hungry.
She was sweet and drove to Danae's place where I got a little food, instead of out for ice cream. That made me feel a bit better. I got packed up and left for Kenosha and, despite worries about a bearing failing and my wheel falling off, I made it home safely. I used the evening to get dinner and decompress, pointedly ignoring the fact that I really ought to be jacking my car up and looking at the wheel. Instead, I connected the 7-band equalizer I bought at an estate sale to my stereo, and installed my radios in my car, finally. And edited pictures of course.

Now, my head being more settled and together, I'm going to put some laundry in and figure out what's up with my car.

(no subject)

I scratched the hell out of a finger on my right hand, but have determined that very dead pads on my rear passenger wheel are causing the problem. As I spin the wheel, little flakes of metal grind off the rotor and fall out between the spokes of the alloy rim. That's exciting.

When you buy something online, it's always worth doing a Google search for discount codes. I got one for 35% off an online order from Advance Auto Parts, so I paid $63.98 for two rotors and pads instead of $99.97. I got slightly more expensive parts because I wanted ones that were in stock today, but I still paid less than I would have for all the cheaper stuff without the discount.

Timothy and I took a trip out. I picked up my car parts, dropped off a bunch of old clothes and an Xbox at Goodwill, went grocery shopping, then picked up pizza for lunch using a Groupon for Nick N' Willy's. They usually have one available that comes out to $6 a piece for two large single-topping pies, which makes two $3 meals for me!

In the meantime, I'm still working on laundry catch up, and in an hour or so, I'm heading over to Juan's place to use his tools to replace my brake pads so my car will be happy again.

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There are many ways I need to feel in control of things to avoid stress. While I was in Baltimore, especially near the end of the trip, I started feeling stressed about not having a sense of how much money I was spending as opposed to how much I should be spending, as opposed to how much was going for things like parking that Danae would be paying me back for at the end of the trip. Partly, it means I need to track money in a more immediate way while on trips.

But I'm also thinking seriously about two other fixes. I haven't had an actual budget for a long time, with expected or allowable expenditures by category. I think after I catch up on my ledger from this trip, I'm going to put one together. Second, and once that's done, I'm going to figure out how much to budget for myself on trips like this, then possibly have it with me in cash. I think those things will both let me relax more, both at home and while away.

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And on an unrelated topic, here's a picture of the beautiful cast-iron window decoration above the main entrance of the 1933-built Enoch Pratt Free Library Central Building in Baltimore.

(no subject)

One of the calipers on the car was seized up, so I made a second trip to the auto parts store for calipers. After seeing the price, I asked whether they'd hold on while I went home to make the order online with the 35% discount code. Not a problem.

I went back to Juan's place and made the order. Then I realized that the discount code dropped off my cart after logging in and there was no way to modify it. I called up customer service and they were nice enough to modify the order for me and add the discount code.

I went back to the parts store and they told me that the order I'd made was for two left calipers. Argh. They were not able to change the order. I asked if I could use a computer at the store to place a new one, and they let me use one of the machines at the service counter. They cancelled my previous order and I placed a new one, saving $50 (the maximum discount) off the $200 order. This is the first time buying the parts has been almost as hard as replacing them. And I must once again observe that cars are really expensive. And time consuming. I left for Juan's place at 4:30 and we weren't done with the installation of new rotors, pads, and calipers until 10:30 or so. I'm so sore and tired.

I'm probably going to drive to school tomorrow so I can return the old parts to get the core charge back, then go to my bank and deposit the cash Danae gave me to cover parking and things in Baltimore. Then I can finally sit down and catch up on money.