March 2008 – akaemi.com
 

Month: March 2008

The husband and I were both cranky after getting home late (he from work, me from the Ford dealership), so we decided to go out to eat at one of Ashburn’s finer establishments.  That’s right, the Buffalo Wing Factory.

After enjoying our dinner, we were shocked with a bill for $11.42.  Because, well, we both ate dinner.  At a restaurant.  A sit-down restaurant with menus.  I even had a lemonade.  (shhhhh, don’t tell my dentist …)  Turns out, though, that the husband’s grilled cheese (which I was informed today is NOT a SANDWICH, I should call it a GRILLED CHEESE) came from the kid’s menu, and my wings were half-price, on account of it being Monday. 

So, if you’re looking for cheap eats, look no further than the buffalo wing factory on a Monday night.  Assuming you want wings.  Or a grilled cheese. 

In July, while on a mini-roadtrip with the sis, I discovered that my cruise control wasn’t working.  I made a mental note.  On my next oil change, I had them take a look, and they determined that I needed a new cruise control deactivation sensor – a part that they didn’t have in stock and would need to order.  (Trip 1 to the mechanic.)  They said if I’d call a few days ahead of when I next brought my car in, they could order the part.

So, early March, I decided I should get the cruise control fixed, on account of a mid-April roadtrip the husband and I are taking to celebrate year #4 of staying-married-ness.  I called a week ahead of time to make an appointment for an oil change and to get my cruise control fixed.  I TOLD the man they would need to order the part, that they should know which part, it should be in their system.  He told me they didn’t keep past service records AND that they could get ANY part same day.  Whatev, I knew he was lying through his teeth to me, the stupid li’l girl, but I figured I had the following Saturday free as well.  So I planned to take it in one Saturday for the oil change and for them to say, “oh, durrrrr, lemme order that part, it should be in by next week.”  So I took my car in for the oil change that Saturday.  (Trip 2 to the mechanic.)  And scheduled another visit for the following Saturday, after they realized they needed a part from Ford, and that it would take a few days to get it.

So I went back the following week.  They had ordered the part.  They were ready to install.  But, oh, it was the wrong part in the box.  Could I come back in a couple days?  (Trip 3 to the mechanic.)

So I went back one afternoon, after work.  I took off a little early to get there.  I forgot to pick up the car that evening, so I dropped the husband off at the mechanic the following morning on my way to work.  (It’s the car he drives.)  They got another mis-boxed part from Ford.  So the husband told them to shove it, that he’d find somebody else to fix it.  They didn’t care, and agreed that might be best.  (Trip 4 to the mechanic.)

I made an appointment with a Ford dealership, in the hopes that they would possibly have the part in stock.  I told them what I needed, but they said they’d want to check it out to figure it out for themselves.  I also had a long overdue recall on the car (the back latch sometimes flies open in a wreck, apparently), so I figured I’d have them fix that while they were at it.  The day arrived, they fixed the recall, but needed to order a part.  Could I come back next week?  (Trip 5 to the mechanic.)  I scheduled my next appointment.

I returned to the Ford dealership today, to finally get my cruise control fixed.  They replaced the faulty part.  And then they discovered there is ANOTHER part of the cruise control that is also broken.  Could I come back Friday?  They’ll give me a loaner and everything!  (Trip 6 to the mechanic.)

So, I will be returning on Friday.  For my 7th attempt at getting my cruise control fixed.  The road trip is April 10, so here’s hoping this one last part is all they need …

Fire pony, fire pony, I finally got my fire pony!

Years ago, the first time I ever laid eyes one, I had a conversation with the husband that went something like this:

Me: Wow!  How do I get a fire pony?!

The husband:  A what? 

Me:  A fire pony!  I just saw someone run by on a horse that was ON FIRE!

The husband:  Oh.  A felsteed?  You have to be a warlock to get one.

Me:  A warlock?  What’s a warlock?

The husband:  A warlock is one of the classes in wow.  You are a hunter.  You can’t get a felsteed.

Me:  Oh.  But you told me I could pick my mount when I got to 40.

The husband:  Yes …. within reason, though.  You can’t pick a felsteed.

Me:  Oh.  <pout>

But I rolled a warlock awhile back, and I finally got him to 40.  And now, I have my very own fire pony!

ahhhh, my own bed!

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We came home yesterday to find that the mold man had finally finished!  So we opened the box from Sleep Number that’s been sitting in our house for the last few days, and replaced our faulty mattress parts.  At least, I hope they were faulty – if not, our bed is not likely to last the full 20 years select comfort promises …

Our bed is just like new!  No more falling to the middle.  And it was such a wonderful sleep.  There’s nothing like a night on an air mattress, followed by a night on the sofa, followed by two nights in a recliner to make you truly appreciate the comfort of your own bed.

a lazy saturday

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So, today I’m supposed to be making my rock garden, finding a bathroom remodeler, organizing the basement, getting passport photos, and returning my faulty sleep number mattress topper.

But I don’t wanna.

So far today, I played some wow, eaten lunch, and spent a couple hours at the very crowded pet expo.  I’m thinking I might follow all that excitement with a nap, then perhaps watch the Lost, Jericho, and House on my tivo list.

I’m feeling a little guilty.  But not guilty enough to do anything on my original todo list.

I was supposed to get my house back tonight.  I was supposed to be able to resume my normal life.  And sleep in my bed.

But the mold man didn’t dehumidify the bathroom.  He thinks it’s my fault.  He thinks I went in and turned off his stupidly expensive machinery.

But I didn’t touch it. 

So they came and plugged in the dehumidifier.  And they will be back on Friday.  :'(

So two more nights in the basement.

At least I have my kitchen back.  And both the horrendously loud particle scrubbers are gone.

a letter from home

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10 years ago, my favorite high school English teacher wrote a book.  I bought a copy.  I had him sign it for me.  And then I put it on a shelf.

I went to college, and brought the book with me.

I graduated, moved to the other side of the country, and brought the book with me.

I bought a house.  And I put the book on my bookshelf.

All these years, I have been wary of reading the book.  Partly because Mr. LeMonds was a literary genius – and I didn’t want to find out any differently.  Also, the book is all about life in southwest Washington state – and, well, that was a place I was so desperate to escape.

I finally took the book off the shelf the other week, with the intent of reading it.  It isn’t a very thick book, so I figured I could finish it in an hour or two.

I discovered that not only is it signed, but Mr. LeMonds left a little note:  “No matter where you go, may this always be your letter from home.”  I’m sure he wrote the same thing in all the books he signed for students looking for a few brownie points, but that doesn’t make it any less meaningless.

As I read, I was relieved to find that yes, James LeMonds is quite the writer.  And he uses such big words.  (I do realize that I use exceptionally small words; my blog difficulty reading level is about 2nd grade.  So my definition of ‘big words’ really doesn’t mean much …)

As I read, I was flooded with all the good things that I left behind when I made my way out into the world.  As a teenager, all I could focus on was the things I wanted to get away from; and I’ve never really taken the chance to look back.

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, you can’t but help to have a connection to the land and to nature.  It’s everywhere.   Even in town, there’s trees everywhere.  And just outside of town, there are vast expanses of trees.  Acres and acres and acres of untouched, unexplored forests.  It is believable that there could be an undiscovered bigfoot in those trees.

I went hiking.  And camping.  And backpacking.  I volunteered to clear trails of debris; I volunteered to create new hiking trails.  Enjoying the outdoors was just something I did, it was something everyone did.  It was like breathing; it was a necessary part of life. 

Last summer, the husband and I didn’t take the opportunity to go camping.  Just a few weeks ago, I sent him a frantic IM:  “We HAVE TO HAVE HAVE TO go camping this summer!!”  I didn’t realize it till after I read Mr. LeMonds’ book, but I have a need to sleep among the trees.  To eat burnt sausage and raw pancakes cooked over a campstove.  And to hike down a trail just to hike right back up it.  It’s a connection that I miss; a connection that I now have to drive 2 hours away to find.

The Pacific Northwest is also the land of lumberjacks and paper mills.  There is conflict between those who need the land for their livelihood and those who demand that the land be preserved for future generations; but there is an understanding that, kept in check, they can be a part of that whole circle of life thing.

So, thank you Mr. LeMonds, for my letter from home.  Whenever I miss my trees, I’ll curl up my copy of South of Seattle.

dirty money

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So, I was thinking about all the free money I got to cover my college bills, and I realized that it was all, well, from people surrounded with controversy.

I got money from an ENeRgy cOmpaNy who stole peoples’ retirements.

I got money from a paper company who went to court for violating EPA standards.

I got money from the US government.

I got money from a senator who used to be a high-ranking KKK official.

And I got money from the Mormons.

So I guess if they were all hoping for me to turn into a polluting, livelihood stealing, racist conversative war-mongering torturer, well, then, they sure did waste their money on me …

paying for college

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I managed to make it through college without financial assistance from my folks.  The husband managed to make it through college without assistance from his folks.  We are both reasonably happy, reasonably successful, reasonably well-adjusted people.

In all my reading about financial matters, I keep running across articles about saving money for your kids’ college.  Start as soon as you have the baby!  they say.  Saving just $10-$12K a year with an 8% return will leave you with enough for 4 years at a public school (at 90K a year, youch).  I’ve read all kinds of articles about how parents are having to choose between retirement or paying their kids’ school bills.  To me it’s an easy choice:  401k.

I guess I’m just heartless, but I don’t feel like I owe my kids a college education.

I will be the first to admit, that I was a little lucky when it came to being able to pay my school bills.  As a Japanese American female, majoring in computer science, with good grades and even better test scores, I was what scholarship folks call “a good investment.”  Oh, and coming from middle-America with a moderate financial need didn’t hurt either. 

The husband got some good scholarships too, some based on merit, some on merit and financial need.  He took out a modest student loan.  And he got his degree.

So now here we are, with our degrees, in a very different world than the one we grew up in.

We are now in a world of entitlement, where ALL the kids in the local high schools drive nicer cars than anything I could have dreamed of when I was in high school.  Where all the kids take SAT prep courses.  (I took the SAT once; the $20 fee was not insignificant at the time.)  Where all the kids are counting on money from mummy and daddy to put them through college.

With the cost of school rising faster than the rate of inflation, it does seem that expecting scholarships and loans to cover the full cost of school might not be reasonable in 20 years.  And with our cushy white-collar jobs, our children won’t be eligible for anything need-based.

So how to balance out our desire to raise non-entitled children, while also not dooming them to a lifetime of paying back student loans?  We haven’t figured that out yet.  Good thing we don’t have kids yet …

no more please

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Being a grown up is something you spend years working toward. When you are 15 and burdened with curfews and not enough allowance, you dream of the day when you will be free.

I’ve been here for almost 10 years now. And its not nearly as fun as I had hoped it would be.

There’s bills. Mortgage, two types of phone, internet, tv, water, gas, electric, student loans, car loans. Everybody wants a piece of your pie.

There’s more chores than your folks ever made you do. You have to do all the dishes. And all the garbage-taking out. And all the kitty poo scooping. And all the lawn mowing. And all the grocery shopping. And all the cooking. And all the cleaning. And all the laundry. And all the appointment making. And all the animal feeding. And all the car maintenance. And all the house maintenance. Even if you have other people take care of the actual work, you have to find said people. And pay them.

There’s retirement planning. With the demise of pensions and possibly social security, you have to be diligent with 401ks and IRAs. You have to start young and make up a guess as to how much you’ll need, how much the return on your investments will be, and how much your salary will increase over the years.

There’s money management. Emergency funds, vacation funds, house maintenance funds, family travel funds (if you live in Virginia and have family in Washington state and Texas, you need a family travel fund …) You have to pay attention to how you spend your money in order to make sure you get to do all the things you want to do. Otherwise you’ll end up with 80 movie ticket stubs. And another year of not seeing your mom.

I guess it’s not really all so bad, but it sure seems that when it rains, it pours. I really can’t wait for this month to be over. And from the way things are going, probably next month, too …

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