Wow so did I have a good time this weekend. Good times, let me count the ways.
Friday: Yea its a little think I like to call going to see the funny man. If you have never seen or heard of this guy (as I hadn’t) then you should check him out. Warning he is really really really really really dirty and crass. If thats your cup of tea check this out. I have to admit I laughed till my abs hurt. It was a great time.
Saturday: So you think to yourself funny man pretty much makes the weekend, BUT WAIT, there is so much more. Saturday was the culmination of a dream for me. Everyone who has ever gotten really in debt knows the mental anguish that that has on you. You think about it all the time, you worry about paying it off, its generally a no good time. That is why when you finally pay off that debt, it’s like the world is suddenly a glorious and fantastic place, a magical world of elves and unicorns. I now inhabit that world! Story time.
Once upon a time in a flat flat midwestern land, a small boy wanted to go to school. The only problem was this boy was broke as a joke, so broke that for the first semester of his modestly priced state school he was forced to foolishly borrow exceedingly large sums of money from Citibank. He was the first person in his family to really ever deal with this sort of thing, and he wasn’t very good at it. Lets just say that Citibank saw him coming. I was that boy.
In a kinder genteeler world I would be saying “thank you kind Citibank for loaning me the money to attain my education.” “A million blessings upon your head for allowing me the schooling that helped lift me up from poverty to just plain broke.” We don’t live in that world.
You would think with a name like “student assist loan” that what they were offering me was a “student loan” you know the kind you can consolidate, the kind you lock into a (at the time) super low interest rate, the kind that wont suddenly sky rocket to over 9.4% interest. If you thought that, you would be wrong.
So long story short, what started out as a modest loan soon blossomed into a mob like “the juice is running” situation in which I soon realized that if I didn’t bay this bad boy off, and soon, that it was going to be with me for a LONG time. A couple of months of rice and beans for dinner (every day) ramen for lunch (most days), and paying near 100% of my income to the bank = BAMN no more loans. TAKE THAT Citbiank!
Saturday night, surrounded by friends, I logged in for the last time to Citibanks online payment center and sent them the last of the money they will ever get from me. There was cheering, and much joy was had by all.
Sunday: With a Friday and Saturday like that you must assuredly be thinking that Sunday would be spent resting, well you would be so wrong! “This is madness” you would say, to which I would respond “no, THIS IS SPARTA (bike racing)”. Thats right Sunday was the premier of the Boston Boldsprints! Think indoor racing, think people pushing themselves to the limit of their skill, think potential vomiting, yes it was a fantastic night of awesome. Many many more pictures below the fold.