Time to take a quick break

I'm waiting on someone from our serials jobber (librarianese for a corporation that orders all our magazines for us in one fell swoop so I don't have to chase errant subscriptions) to call me back, so I thought I'd update.

Friday I went to Zabet's for dinner, laundry, and Josie and the Pussycats. The movie was better than I thought it would be, although I was a big fan of the cartoon (I never kept up with the comic), and I was sort of disappointed with Alex & Alexandra's roles.

Saturday it was off to the Heart Walk at 8:30 am on a blustery, freezing, rainy morning--basically the worst weather we could have had, short of ice. It was very disorganised. If I had driven myself I think I would have turned around and gone home when those of us who arrived early (we were told to get there at 9, but since most of us had pre-registered, we wound up waiting around for an hour) who were trying to stay warm inside were told that this was a "VIP-only" area for people who had raised over $250 each. I understand that they were worried about running out of food, but it was also the only place to stay warm at the baseball park. We finally wound up huddling in the women's room (all except for the one poor guy with us), which was still open air but at least sheltered from the wind. When we finally did get to line up for the walk, they spent several minutes giving away prizes, etc. It seemed overly-commercial/merchandised. I know they need corporate sponsors, and I guess prizes encourage people to go out and get more donations, but it really turned me off. I prefer the laid-back nature of the AIDS walk. Don't get me wrong, the American Heart Association is a wonderful charity, but I was less than impressed with the local effort. Still, I think they met the goal.

The high point of the walk for me? Getting to pet an English mastiff. I've always wanted to see one up close. It was such a big baby. :)

I filed my taxes and it turns out I'm getting about $350 back, which is nice. I also sent a third-and-hopefully-last application for a consolidation loan for my student loans. I have had terrible luck with this--in the year-and-a-half the Department of Education and I have been playing this back-and-forth game where I do the application, and loans get transferred to another agency, or signed papers to allow interaction with the IRS get lost in the black hole of bureaucracy, only to be replaced with another about the time the whole thing expires. And my signature is only good for a short period of time, so by the time I realise there's a problem I have to send another. This time I'm sending it all at once, all in paper form (I had done one on the web thinking that would help, and that made things worse). So, at least they should get it all or none. Unfortunately certified mail doesn't do well since there's no person it's going to. But that may be just as well, since I've talked to one person on the phone only to find out when I called the next week that that person no longer works there. There has got to be an easier way to do this. Still, keep your fingers crossed for me. A consolidation loan would save me mega-amounts of money on a day-to-day basis, anyway and allow for a longer repayment. That would take care of the majority of my debt--taking twenty-eight small loans down to two larger ones (at a ridiculously low interest rate), ergo get everything in place to help revitalise my credit. After all, someday I really do want a house of my own (although I'd settle for a dependable car).