Debt Reduction Alert: Anderson University

Paid AU my final $1,400 which I've owed since 2001. It was originally over $3,000. I have paved the way to re-enroll and finish that blasted Advance degree.

This was also the last of my lingering unpaid debts that we accumulated since 1994. Ten years is too long. Let's recap what we have conquered:

• Sandra's Visa ($3,000 balance, opened in college)
• my Discover card ($1,200 balance, opened in college)
• our SearsCharge ($1,100 balance, opened to buy our first PC in 1995)
• our GM MasterCard ($500ish, opened our first year of marriage)
• Anderson University
• MedCheck/Community Hospital collections (Ezra getting born)
• WFS Financial (Taurus loan) ($11,000 balance)
• Indiana Department of Revenue

Makes me want to throw up just thinking about it. So what's left?

• mortgage
• Taurus loan
• old-debt consolidation loan (three years to go!)
• original college loans

It's hard work, people. Avoid casual debt if you can. If you can't or didn't, read anything by Dave Ramsey or Larry Burkett. You can overcome.

A warm thanks to Lonnie and Aaron for everything.

$7 Screw + Free Character Assessment

Received this from an Amazon.com Seller after returning an item she listed incorrectly:

"what kind of a scammer are you? i received the cd in the mail today
CRACKED IN HALF! it was also opened by you, which means you didn't
care that it was the wrong version...you opened it and installed it
anyway. how am i supposed to resell this?"

I appealed to Amazon.com support, cited my 150-star rating on Ebay, and was promptly refunded.

Wouldn't have had time to read much of that Encyclopedia Britannica on CD anyway.

Debt Reduction Alert: Indiana Department of Revenue

Sent my last check to the Indiana Department of Revenue, $370. This was the last of an $1,800 error we made on our 1999 taxes. Huzzah!

Debt Reduction Alert: Refinanced Ford Taurus

We closed on the 2000 Taurus wagon refinancing with Madison Community Bank this week, paying almost $4,000 down. This reduced our payment from $377 per month to $145.

$377 per month. What were we thinking, exactly?

Unfortunate Name: Mary Dilda

Mary Dilda, aerobatic pilot, will fly at the 2004 Indianapolis Air Show.

The air show happens every August or September at Mount Comfort Airport. Rated PG -- but only because of very loud noises.

Do something scary every day

After planning for three full days, I dove in and installed JDEdwards ERP 8.0. Phase one only upgrades the Planner interface on the deployment server (i.e. it doesn't do anything to the iSeries server or the software development objects), but it is the first step to prepare the ERP system for our developers to start their testing and migration. "Installation Planner" and "Upgrade Workbench" come next.

Even though I was tense starting the process, it feels good to be out of the gate. When I'm scared, I tend to dwell on planning and CYAing, but now phase one is done and phase two planning can begin.

If we had outsourced the work I did today, it would have cost almost $4,500.

Hard Work vs. Soft

A perspective I share and struggle with many times each week. Plus, it reminds me of pumping nails out of Todd's roof back in March, which I liked very much.

Victor Rozek: What I Did on My Summer Vacation
http://www.midrangeserver.com/tfh/tfh071904-story04.html

Anderson Fly-In

Millenials Rising

This is the first survey that has truly excited me in a long time.

Surveys show the ’70s are over and kids have changed
By JAMES K. GLASSMAN, Guest Commentary
July 8, 2004 - The New Hampshire Union Leader

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=40424