Worth the wait.

Go to your local Barnes & Noble and pick up a copy of the July/August edition of Running Times magazine, and on Page 22, you'll see this:

It reads:

"Dial in Your Pace

In contrast to expensive, high-tech workout accessories such as heart rate monitors and GPS-based mileage tracking watches, Michael Pollard, a USATF-certified coach in Colorado Springs, has developed an effective training tool that's decidedly low-tech and affordable. The Original Pace Wheel ($16.95) is a circular cardboard calculator that uses an individual's recent race effort or a predicted time from 800m to marathon to calculate five key training paces: aerobic base phase, marathon race pace, lactate threshold development, VO2 max development and running economy intervals. Want to train for a sub-3:00 marathon? Spin the dial to determine the appropriate paces for each of the five zones. The Original Pace Wheel works with established training plans, and it has the stamp of approval of Troy Engle, the chair of USATF's Coaching Education. For more details or to purchase, go to pacewheel.com."

I couldn't have paid for such good advertising (no seriously, I have no budget for such things).

One income...

No wonder one-income families are so rare these days. We thought we could move into the district where I teach. But we can't afford it.

If you're supposed to spend less than 30% of your monthly pay on your mortgage, how do people buy houses in the first place? A $160k home with a 30-year mortgage and 6% interest is about $1150 a month. That means you've got to be bringing home at least $3800 a month!

I've got a master's degree, and 8 years on the job, and I won't be there for a while.

This sucks...now I've got to tell my realtor that, well, after all, we won't be needing your help because we can't afford it. I should have been a realtor. 3% commission on each house you help someone buy or sell could add up pretty quickly.