Periodically I review where I've come along to the goals I've set for myself. I've been thinking about these things lately.

Unfortunately, work has dominated only too much lately. I had made it my goal to find a new job before the year was out. It doesn't look like that's going to happen.

Big Loser Hugshyhermit.

For a long time, it seemed as though there was an insurmountable revolving door of problems, each dependent on another. Why look for a new job if Duplex was not complete? How can I work on the house without money to pay for things? And what about those massive credit card debts? I need a new job! (And so on.)

So for the past few months I made the decision to concentrate on the debt payoff and the projects at the duplex, paying cash, and I'm happy to report some progress! Two weeks ago, the kitchen was finished!

It looks fantastic! (Come back to see photo inserted here.)

I was able to get many supplies on sale and used a coworker to help. There's still some finishing work to do, such as caulking the joints and a final coat of paint, but it's done and paid for! Dishes no longer pile up in the laundry tub and the microwave has been cleaned and brought back into use.

Next step: The bathroom. (Many of the supplies are purchased and wait patiently in the basement.)

And when the bathroom is done, the duplex is 'for-sale' ready. Three to six months, perhaps?

Going over the budgeting and financing, I had to shudder. I've lived paycheck to paycheck this year. (Tomorrow is pay-day; I have $3.55 in the bank.)

But the results, I keep telling myself, have been immense. I calculate I paid off about $17,000 in debt this year; about $32,000 since January '04, the date I moved back to Dayton and began this financial diet.

I owe about $28,000 still (and this figure now adds in Honda, which I had excluded from previous debt calculations).

So, that leaves the work 'problem'.

Since mid-September, it has been one emergency, one five-alarm fire, after another. Like this week -- this week I have two major projects due on Friday. I brought one home tonight and just finished as far as I could without my work PC.

Being busy is no excuse for not working harder to find something different, something fulfilling. And maybe during the month of December I can do more what I was doing earlier this year - setting up 'informational interviews'. When I worked on those in the Spring and Summer, they were extremely successful, if not because there were no jobs available, but because they were dry-run interviews, true fact-finding about whether I'd like working in other departments of BIPC. And even if pathetic, small steps taken in the dreaded 'Networking' skill-development path.

What's next? Thinking about 'dating' again? ha ha ha ha