Weekend Update

I've finally gotten all of my homework done. Now, don't misunderstand me -- it's not because I had so much of it. I was so unmotivated this week that I put it off until the last minute. I know that it shouldn't be that way, but that's how it went. All I can do now is vow to improve next week. It always takes me several weeks to really get into the groove of a semester.

Jeff has been making sweeping changes in his academic career. He's planning to pursue a double major of anthropology and history, focus on Russian as his foreign language of choice (building on his experience in the Army) and work to become a translator. He's so excited! Since he will be doing tons and tons of reading, especially once he starts on his history classes, he has started taking a class to help him with reading retention. The class meets at UNT on Sundays from 2:00-5:00. He had his first session today and he said it was a good class. It meets until October 12. Jeff will probably pursue a master's degree in history instead of information science.

I'm a bit disappointed with my class choices in the spring. Last spring was slim pickings as well. I suppose that's not too uncommon as you get closer to the end of a program, but most of the classes available for me to take are classes that I have already taken. I'm going to get creative and see if I can add classes from other programs to my degree plan. After all, I'd like to be well-rounded. And I'd still like to graduate in the Fall of 2009!

We were talking about cars today. We have a 2006 Mitsubishi Galant, and it has been a good car so far for us. We haven't had a single problem with it. All I've had to replace are the tires, and we're just about at the 60K mile mark. I know that Mitsubishis are supposed to be generally reliable cars, but their resale value is the pits. The question on our minds is: do we keep the Galant until it's paid off and have that act as Jeff's car, or do we trade in the Galant on another car and just buy Jeff a car when the time comes? I don't think we need to really make a decision on this until next year, since we will have had the car for four years, and we shouldn't be so upside down on it. My thought is that we trade in the Galant when we feel it's a good time and when we get a good deal and just buy Jeff another car when the time comes. Here's why: the Galant is on a 6-year note (I'll never repeat that mistake) and by the time it is paid off, we'll easily have over 120K miles on it. How much longer can it last? I put 20K miles a year on a car, since I drive about 80-90 miles per day just on my work commute, and it gets used for all our errands and any other car trips we have to make. I've liked having a Mitsubishi. The Galant drives well and is extremely roomy, and as I've said already, it has been a good car. And Mitsubishis have a good warranty. I'm still under my bumper-to-bumper warranty (though not for much longer) and I'm under the powertrain warranty until the 100K mark. I wonder if I should go for another Mitsubishi. I'll get a loyalty rebate that should counteract some of the poor resale value. Who knows? But we can make that decision later.

I hope everyone has a good week! I'm going to toddle off to bed here in a bit (I'm up late tonight) but it will be okay.