Moneh

Money's been on my mind, of late.

Yesterday, we went to the drive-up ATM at the local bank, and in back-and-forthing the car (I can't reach all of the buttons for both a deposit (left side/right side) and withdrawal (right side/keypad) and PIN (keypad) because the Prius is low and my left arm doesn't rotate all the way any more. (I wanted the Inspector Gadget model upper arm replacement, but my insurance wouldn't pay for that.) In doing so, I bashed the outer side of the shroud that covers the mirror. (Why exactly thats hard plastic instead of hard rubber, I don't know. Bet its a cost saving thing.) I didn't do major damage, but a piece at the bottom left corner got taken off, plus some along the inner edge. I priced what it might cost, and its around four hundred dollars if they have to replace the whole damn thing. So I went back, found the major chunks, and I'm going to try to superglue them back on. As I'm not particularly handy anyway, and I usually superglue more than I really wanted to, I'm going to have to be very careful doing this.

Also, the shenanigans in the stock market have me concerned. Most of the funds where we have money are down since the last time we looked, at the end of September. Its not a major hit -- about 1.1 percent of our net worth -- but I'm somewhat of a worrier. As a result, I decided to cancel the PC that we'd ordered. I think I would have accepted it anyway -- I'd really like a new one -- but the idiots at Dell sent me a note saying it would not ship until December 26, so when I was quivering about whether to or not, that tipped me over, and I said Cancel It. Whereupon they said, Oh, it shipped yesterday. Hell with it. I have emotionally disengaged from this shiny new gimmick. Apparently, I have to accept the shipment, get a return order, and ship it back -- which is what I will do. My wife is very nice; she said she knows that I use the laptop all the time, so if I wanted to get it anyway, I could -- but right now, money means more to me than the laptop.

And last night my wife showed me a blouse she'd bought from a woman who sells clothing for one of those sell-from-home chains. It's pretty nice. Its not exactly the same as the one I bought for her from Ann Taylor -- but it is the same general style. Argh.... I think if I could easily return it, too, I would -- but which of those boxes is it? And it is pretty nice. And she's worth it. ( Funny thing. I'm perfectly willing to get nothing for Christmas, but I always like to get things for her. It surprises me that she feels the same way about me! ) Okay, I guess it stays.

But for the rest of it, this consumers going to pull his head in for a while.