Now that Citigroup has become the latest financial institution to go running to the Feds for a rescue, I've decided not to take any chances with the ThankYou™ points that I've accumulated with their rewards program and I'm cashing them out for a $375 credit on my next statement. I'd rather take what I have now and run than wait around to see if Citi will still honor the rewards program in the coming months.

So what are our intentions for the upcoming credit? You'd think that we'd use it for basic needs like groceries or household items, but you'd be wrong. Selina and I are going to be sitting outside of Wal-Mart shivering this Friday morning as we to try and get one of the 32" Samsung HDTVs that will be available for $498 ($540 after taxes). With that $375 credit from Citi, we are looking at snagging an LCD television for about $165.

Why use it towards a TV, especially with Selina being unemployed? Back in July we put off getting a 42" LCD TV because we wanted to save our money and wait until Black Friday to see what we could get ourselves as a Christmas gift. We've been looking forward to it ever since -- well, until the calamity with LIM struck at the end of October. Our hopes of finally having a new TV were all but dashed. With the ThankYou™ points, we can at least partly reclaim our dream.

Sure, it's not the 42" TV that we originally wanted back in July (when we were both employed) nor is it 1080p (it's only 720p), but it's the best we can do considering the situation we are in.

Never in my life have I been so glad to see Oklahoma win -- and boy, they really put an ass-whooping on Texas Tech and sent them back to Lubbock with their tails between their legs. Don't cry, Raider fans...at least you still have the Buddy Holly Museum. Hahaha.

I don't care what anyone says, we're in a goddamn recession. Every day it's more bad news -- if it's not another layoff announcement, it's the stock market taking a dump on the trading floor (we've apparently fallen to the lowest level in 11 years). And then there's the mess with the auto industry that feels like a tidal wave looming on the horizon. I personally think that no matter what the government does, they are screwed. I say that we let them sink or swim -- no use throwing taxpayer money at a problem that is only going to get worse. And the fact that the CEOs of the Big Three flew in their $20,000-a-pop company jets to beg for money just irks me.

As we head into the end of the 3rd week of Selina's unemployment, I know that it's starting to wear on her. She's applied to at least a dozen postings but hasn't heard so much as a peep from any of them. Well, there was that phone interview through the temp agency for the statistical job in Georgetown, but we are not really counting that one because it was with the temp agency, not the company itself. We've had to make a few sacrifices, but thankfully all our bills are still covered by my paycheck (with some to spare). I feel bad that she has to sit around the house all day hoping that the phone will ring with a job offer. Man, it's got to be tough on her. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make everything better...

After not checking my 401K status for about two months, I finally took a peak at the carnage a few minutes ago...and holy hell, it's a good thing that I'm not getting ready to retire any time soon. According to the little "Personal Rate of Return" calculator, I have a year-to-date PRoR of -41%, whatever the heck that means. To put it into perspective, I've lost more then what I've contributed this year. Disheartening, but you have to look at the long term instead of the short -- with the stock prices falling, my bi-weekly contributions are actually picking up some bargain-basement deals that should pay off in the future.

Well, at least gas prices are back below $2.00 a gallon -- feels good to be able to fill up my car for under $20 again.

Selina and I were driving through a parking lot the other day looking for a spot when a set of reverse lights towards the front of the aisle caught my eye. I was all like, "Wow, that's a primo spot...must be my lucky day!" I drive up, turn my signal light on and wait for the person to start backing out. After about 10 seconds, the lights turn off. What the hell? I just passed up a not-so-primo spot in order to get this one. Arg. We turned the corner and noticed that no one was in the driver seat. Now I'm really confused. We parked in the not-so-primo spot and walked into the store.

We finished up, checked out and were walking through the parking lot back to the car when the phantom GMC turned its reverse lights on again. OK, now it's just picking on me. As I sit there wondering what was going on, some guy walks up and gets in. Then it hit me: the remote keyless entry. Damn those bastards at GMC that thought it would be a fantastic idea to turn on the reverse lights when locking/unlocking the vehicle. I understand that people enjoy the convenience of having a halo of light to make them feel all warm and safe when walking back to their vehicles, but surely they would have considered the confusion it would cause in parking lots. I think it's stupid to activate the lights everytime the keyless entry is used -- why not put a separate button on there? Geez...

Yesterday Selina and I woke up bright and early to participate in the Komen Race For The Cure. We signed up for the timed event again this year; in fact, we will probably never go back to doing the non-timed event ever again. It's just too much of a hassle trying to navigate through the sea of people who do the non-timed walk/run. I always feel like I'm going to knock someone's grandma down or run over a baby in a stroller. Not my idea of a good run.

Anyway, we didn't have a chance to train as much as we wanted to this year, so my time went from last year's 27:19 to 28:16. A little disappointed that I didn't improve, but it wasn't a significant difference in time. I have to thank the 12-year-old boy that tried passing me up on the last 1/8 of a mile that forced me to break into a sprint in order to keep him from beating me across the line. I showed him who the boss was -- then promptly proceeded to the nearest shady spot to die of exhaustion.