Truck repairs cost only $300.00. That was just exactly how much extra money I had from this paycheck. I am now completely broke. But they fixed not only the window motor, but the broken door lock AND the sagging headlight (for free), so may I add my huzzahs to sillymagpie's comments about the awesomeness of Stanley's Service Center, one of the finest service centers in Phoenix (when I was looking up their phone number this morning to ask if they did electronic repairs, I noted that they had across-the-board 5-star reviews from users). They also washed the truck and threw out the trash. Great guys.

The pay raises were handed down. They were FAR less than our supervisor was hoping for -- but as I assured him, we ARE getting them this year, so yay. And mine is hardly shabby, even though smaller than last year (and because I'm past the halfway point in my pay grade, I get more bonus cash and less merit increase), it's still considerable; of course, my supervisor does focus strongly on giving the money to those who deserve it, and while I know that my raise came at the expense of someone else's, I say... hey. This is an EASY job. If you slack, then you lose. I deserve it.

One thing about riding the bus is that I get a chance to read. Every time I read a book by Steven Brust, I am struck again by just how freaking GOOD a writer he is. Now I think I will knuckle down and read all of the Jhereg books (honestly, I don't know why it's taken me this long to start reading them -- I think it's just been procrastination coupled with "other things to read" and then being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers... I'm starting at the end via the beginning, with the "history" books... so good. So really good).

Lunch was delicious and fun - all the usual tailgate stuff, burgers and chips and really good salsa and little dill pickles and potato salad and delicious ambrosia salad; my cookies were cheered by all and I have some left, so yay. One note about said recipe (a new one), is that they didn't indicate parchment or greased cookie sheets, and there was some amount of stickage in getting them pried off. Next time, parchment.

Now I'm wishing I hadn't spent money on some useless stuff last week... ah, well, I'll pull through. Fortunately, third paycheck of the month had a little extra in it, so... and then by the end of February the raise will kick in. I'll crawl along. At least Fry's had Coke on sale last week, so I'm well stocked on THAT necessity.

Because my beloved truck does not grok that I HAVE no extra money at the moment and cannot fix her. The driver's side window came down to allow me to key out of the garage this afternoon, and then would not come back up. It goes up about two inches and then the little window-raising motor goes gkgkgkgkgkgkgkgkgkgkgkgk. ARGH!!! And it's still danged cold (for Phoenix, I know, I know, laugh at me). So I wrapped up the window with saran wrap until I can figure out if a mechanic can fix this, or if I have to *shiver* go to the dealer (who will laugh at me some more, with my 20-year-old truck with all manner of usually minor cosmetic problems only a Chevy dealer/restorer could fix).

This does mean that when I key into and out of the garage at work, I'll have to pull up to the gate and open the door to reach out. *sigh* I hope it DOESN'T rain for a while...

On the other hand, I have been keeping up my workouts, and this morning the scale tells me I'm back at my "wedding weight," 166. Now I can just go back to that "I need to lose about 25-30 pounds" I was at before October. Let's see if I can do it, this time.

Of course, tomorrow is the Tailgate Party to celebrate the Cardinals going to the Super Bowl -- even non-fans are feeling this one, just because, you know, OMG, the CARDINALS?!? I'm making oatmeal cookies, on the theory that at least they have oatmeal in them. *g* A lot of places in town are giving away stuff this weekend if you show up wearing Cardinal colors. It's bizarro world...

Last night's LOST = awesome freaky and weird.

I do wish that there was some way to fit an equalizer into an iPod, so that I don't have to turn it WAY up to hear Bon Jovi, Meat Loaf, Spinal Tap, Elton John, and Billy Joel, only to be BLASTED out of my seat when the next song up is Dwight Yoakam, Dale Watson, Cross Canadian Ragweed, or Roger Wallace (and don't ask me why the rock & roll is so quiet and the country music is so loud; I can't figure that out -- all the CDs were ripped from pretty much the same CD player). The only songs that stay at a constant level are, go figure, the ones I bought from the iTunes store.

Urg.

Yesterday I was an environmentally conscious good dooby and took the bus to work (also because I don't really like driving without a spare tire). Meant to do the same today, but turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. I could have made the bus if I had thrown on my clothes and raced out the door, but decided oh, well... I'll risk driving today and get on the bus tomorrow. Two days a week will help a little. I want to get to where I'm doing that more, but I waver between the saving money/saving gas/environment aspect and the fact that I like convenience AND I can't work out if I don't drive (I also can't work out if I sleep late, but I was up later than usual last night, too--a side effect of getting home about two hours later than normal).

ETA: By "work out" I mean "go to the gym." I CAN exercise at home, the trouble is, I don't. I figured it out where I could get to the gym, work out, and THEN catch the bus, but I don't think they like having people leave their cars in the gym parking lot all day... and I'd have to get there right at 5, when they open, to finish and catch the 6:15 bus (to get me to work by 7:45 -- yeah).

ANYWAY, since I missed LJ time yesterday, I have to toss out a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY to cornerofmadness and, just in case, an early HAPPY BIRTHDAY to fenchurche!!!

I almost forgot I was making yogurt cheese in the other fridge (we kept our old fridge after the remodel and put it out on the back porch); I popped out to put some sodas in there and found my cheese, completely dried of whey, so I brought it in and mixed it up with herbs to make dip (it's an Alton Brown rip - scoop about a cup of yogurt into cheesecloth on a strainer and let drain for a few hours--not necessarily the 48 I left it there for--then mix in herbs. In this case, I went with garlic, dried onion, salt, pepper, and dill--not measured, just to taste. It makes some of the Best Dip Ever).

It's that lovely time of year when the cherries and blueberries are cheap, plentiful, and delicious; my two favorite fruits, I think, really. Yum! But it is oppressively hot in Phoenix right now; it was 109 coming home, although they said the hot point yesterday was 113. I believe it -- either the 44 bus didn't have air at all or it just couldn't keep things cool yesterday. I stopped at Costco to pick up my prescription and Barb met me there, so we shopped a little and she gave me a ride home. She made guacamole last night, but it's for her office, so I doubt I'll get any.

We're having a "Heritage Food Day" on Friday -- the only thing I could think of was Irish Soda Bread (I'm aware there's more to Irish cooking, but I'm also thinking of ease of bringing to work and my essential laziness). We're almost out of flour, though.