Budget Updates: In our efforts to continuously approve, Rob and I augmented our budget tracking to include a record of our amount over/under budget for each month. We also added a “now” column to record the actual amount in each savings and checking account just to stay aware of the bigger picture.
ART and Massage: I’ve been kind of on-and-off-again about massages; they seem to help by lower back issues but they’re a little expensive. To try to get back on track, I got a handful of one-a-month visits scheduled through summer. On the kind and helpful advice of one Colson, I also kicked myself into gear about finding a permanent solution to these nagging pain issues. After searching around for an ART provider I came across a PT in a sports medicine / gym facility and attended an eval session that really could not have gone better. She walked me through everything, sated my appetite for a high understanding of the issue and way in which we were going to tackle it, and her prescribed exercises assure me it’s being taken seriously. Also a bit expensive, but looks like I’ll be hitting that 2x a month for a little bit.
New Videos: I released a couple fun project videos in February: a Celeste video walkthrough of a difficult level and a montage of footage from all of my Florida Springs trips from the past several years. I probably need to commit to a little less editing and perfectionism for the actual ROI I get out of this, but I’m glad to have made both. Check ‘em out!
Car Maintenance: One of the larger goals I have this year is to get my 2010 Honda Fit all of its appropriate high-mileage (80k+) maintenance (and I’m still figuring out all that entails). This month I tackled some easy stuff: new engine and cabin air filters and a new battery.
Landscaping Refresh: I put a good bit of work into redoing the landscaping around the front and sides of the house in October 2014, but I haven’t really had to do much since then other than nips and tucks here and there. This winter we had a few freezes and it was enough to knock out most of the potted plants. We all spent a Sunday picking up several new plants (mostly crotons) and rearranged the original brick tree ring. I don’t know how long it’ll last, but it looks really nice right now!
New Dentist: The state dropped my normal dental insurance last year and forced me to choose a new provider. I made sure my current dentist was on the supported providers list and signed up during open enrollment. As soon as the new year kicked in, my current dentist dropped the plan. That launched me on a fun adventure of calling around, surfing a terrible provider listing, and finally finding a small family practice north of campus. Only, I couldn’t actually make an appointment until I called my insurance, “selected” them as my provider, and waited for them to fax a form to the dentist proving my eligibility to schedule an appointment. Insurance!
Misc. Updates: I did a lot of other random stuff last month!
- Platinumed Celeste
- Finished a campaign of Charterstone
- Visited Kennedy Space Center
- Rode bikes for around 15mi on the West Orange Trail
- Saw Black Panther
- Visited the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and the adjacent Marine Science Center
- Re-watched Ratatouille; still probably my favorite Pixar movie
- Purchased and played a bit of Dropmix
- Platinumed/100%ed Skyrim: Special Edition
Game Power Rankings 2018: I’m starting a silly idea in my monthlies. Rather than review or impression every game I play throughout the year, I’m going to slot each one into a basic top-to-bottom ranking based on my personal taste. They won’t all be new games and it won’t be every game I touch, but could be fun!
- Celeste
- Nier: Automata
- Into the Breach
- Monster Hunter World
- Shadow of the Colossus (2018)
- Adventures of Mana
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