I check my credit rating every November. It always pays to keep track of it. The last time I checked, my FICO score was 715. A bit low because of a black mark that I have, and I have to wait until 2008 for it to disappear… However, I had $350.00 sent to a collections agency by ADT alarms for an account that should have been canceled. However, they made an error on the issuing of a new contract, and failed to cancel the old contract. Since my name was also connected with the original contract, they sent the supposed “outstanding” amount to collections. And the first I heard about it was from the collections agency - about an account that was no longer mine!

After months of effort and phone calls, I managed to finally get that account removed from collections. The collections people “suggested” I pay the $350, which I refused, because it was an error first off, and secondly, that would have had zero effect on my credit rating! Thus I fought it. Today I confirmed that it was in fact removed, and my credit rating jumped up from 715 in November, to 743 as of today. I am just shy of the 750 mark, and I eventually want to stay above 800. A number of people think I am a bit silly tracking my credit rating like this, but just a few points adds up to thousands and thousands of dollars on a mortgage. In fact, with my new rating, I should be able to get a rate that is lower than what I got originally, even though the prime rate is higher than when I got my mortgage.

Of course, I am now about to take on massive levels of debt in order to finance a second home - and I have been approved for the second mortgage, which really surprised me. So I am taking some significant financial risks doing this, but I am getting closer to my goals. That does not mean of course that it is not worrisome. However, at least living out of a real home as opposed to a motel room will be nice when I finally achieve that.

I am back at a Motel in Victoria, the commute was killing both me and my car. On the upside, I managed to tear through a large number of books. I recently got through: A history of the Nazi Party (lecture), The search for intelligent life in the universe (lecture), the early writings of Abraham Lincoln (lecture), Eragon (fiction), and Eldest (fiction). I went through a few more, but I cannot remember them at this time.

On the downside, the lack of exercise has been taking a big toll on me. In this picture:

I weigh 220 lbs. That was in June of last year. I have lost 30 lbs. That is what happens when you don’t go to the gym or train at all due to a hellish commute. Sure, losing weight is not something most would complain about, except in my case it has been losing muscle mass and general fitness! However, being at the motel now, I get free passes to the phoenix gym, and I have my running gear and mountain biking gear in Victoria now, so I can start getting back into shape. I am also looking at joining one of the kayaking clubs and getting back into racing.

On the finance front, I have been approved for another mortgage, so it looks like I should have no trouble buying a house in Victoria. Of course, the downside is the huge debt load I am about to take on in doing so. I have to take out an equity loan on my current home (selling it is a very bad idea, it puts me in a horrible tax position) and that changes the terms of my mortgage, and adds a huge amount to the monthly payments. But, I should be able to scrape by and get a place in Victoria by doing this. Still, it is a bit scary. I have already been around to look at houses in the Victoria area, but it seems like it is going to be a challenge to find a place where I can really work the numbers in this market. Still, I should be able to get fairly close to my goals.

I was back in the Okanagan over the holidays staying at my Mom’s place. It was good to be back there and see family as well. As my mother is taking care of Daisy, I had not seen her in months. I thought she was going to explode when she saw me. I have never seen her so excited. She followed me everywhere throughout the house. She was practically glued to me the entire time.

I barely recognized her though, as her hair is much longer, and she looks much more silver now than she did before.

For Christmas, I got some ski passes to Apex, and I spent 3 days up there getting back into telemark form. My legs hurt something fierce after the first two days. And one guy on the telemarktips forum said that: “Telemarking is Norwegian for ‘oh holy god, my legs are on fire!’” I would say that is just about right.

In other news, my entire yard is going to be dug up tomorrow, and my water main for my house will have to be replaced. That is not going to be pleasant. At least the leak in the water main is not as bad as I had thought, but the line still needs replacing.