My friend Joy pointed out to me that the comments weren’t working. Turned out that when Johannes installed a security-code checker to thwart comment spam, that affected all the blogs on this server. Nice. Anyway, the problem is fixed now. The only problem is that yes, now you have to enter a security code to post a comment. Sorry about the trouble.

…is super cool! It has little lessons and quizzes afterwards, and if you do well on the quizzes you can collect points and get stuff. Quick, easy, and fun–check it out!

I’ve been thinking a lot about investing lately. I talked to my dad about it over Christmas vacation, and I just finished reading “Rich Dad, Poor Dad“. Talking with my dad was very inspiring. At that time I made the decision to learn more about the process and actually invest some money. The “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” book was also very inspiring, although I doubt I’ll be putting into practice too many of the ideas Kiyosaki uses for himself. Rather, what the book impressed on me was that knowledge of the domain is key to being able to invest successfully. That and that the middle class tends to invest in liabilities and thinks of them as assets (e.g. their homes). So, yet another reason to avoid buying a car, which is nothing but a liability.

Even though I’ve done the finances for Johannes and myself pretty much since we’ve been married, I’ve never really been interested in money–especially not stuff like investing and stocks. Johannes’s experience with his Systek stock and my experience with the Opera stock really turned me off that kind of thing. Kiyosaki’s book has made me think about those experiences in a new light, however, and Dad’s input has convinced me of the importance and value of investing. I was always put off by the amount of time he used to spend in the library or at home poring over prospectuses, though. Hmmm. I don’t know how involved I want to get in this yet, but I do know I want to learn more about the process itself. Next I’m going to read Peter Lynch’s “Beating the Street“.

Well, primarily because I need to start writing. I’ve already got a blog specifically for my thesis, and I will continue to update that one as I have anything to report. But my problem now is that I need to get into the pattern of writing–writing anything at all. I’ve done enough background readnig on my thesis that I definitely have enough information to start writing, but I’m not good at actually sitting down and doing it. So, I’m going to try to keep a personal blog. Don’t expect anything terribly interesting here, mostly just rants about what’s currently annoying me or just stuff I’m thinking about. Feel free to coment–it will encourage me to write!

I’ve done something differently this time–I’m actually writing stuff in the blog before I even touch the layout. Maybe I won’t even touch the layout! I always focus on the layout and never get around to the content. Since the purpose of this blog is just to write–something, anything!!–the layout should wait.

Wish me luck! I am not one who likes to write.

Just in case I forget:

1. Rots my teeth.
2. Turns my teeth yellow.
3. Ruins my sleep.
4. Too many empty calories.
5. Might give me diabetes.
6. Bad for my digestion.
7. Makes my heart beat too fast.
8. Expensive.
9. A pain in the ass to carry up all the stairs into our apartment.

I’ve been quite good about not drinking coke lately. I was drinking enough to make up around a third of my daily calories for quite a while, until I thought of the above list. When I was in the US, I managed to stop drinking it by default and only drink it when I actually wanted it instead. I never forced myself to not drink anycoke, as I figured that was a recipe for disaster. Or failure, at least. In the US it was easy, because I could just grab a bottle of water or have juice instead.

When I got back to Norway, things were bad again for a little while–I started drinking coke again like I had before. Bottled water isn’t available here just to have at home–to expensive, and not really packaged properly. The juice here isn’t very good either. It’s not available in concentrate, so the last two items in my list above still apply. Most juice here isn’t even very good, anyway. And there’s no lemonade to speak of, and lemonade is my favorite.

I don’t know what’s changed now, but somehow it seems like I’ve managed to kick the habit, finally. I have allowed myself to have coke when I want it, but I’m finding that isn’t terribly often. I don’t want to drink any after, say, 4 PM, in order to preserve my sleep. That means that I don’t order it at restaurants anymore, which is great, since a pint costs about 35 kroner, or about $5.50. And no, that isn’t a typo. I’m drinking a LOT more water instead. The water that comes out of the tap here is delicious, thankfully. Now all the big water glasses are dirty all the time. I had a sip of Johannes’s coke the other day, and it was actually quite unappealing. Weird! I used to be totally addicted to the stuff.

Tonight, however, I got a pizza for dinner instead of cooking. I also got a half liter bottle of coke to go along with the pizza. (That has been one of my primary reasons for always having coke around–there are some things that simply must be accompanied by coke.) It was good, I enjoyed it, I had a big glass of water alongside the meal like always. Problem was that I got sick immediately after. Yes, boys and girls, caffeine causes diarrhea, didn’t you know? I didn’t, not ’til relatively recently. Funny that nobody told me about that fact when I was seeing a doctor for my damned IBS 12 years ago!

Anyway, hence the list. Just to remind myself why I finally decided to try to get that sticky monkey off my back.