I let PiC pick my new phone because he wasn’t really picking for me – he was picking his future phone. I have to learn to use whatever phones we get first so that I can troubleshoot them because I am IT, and I don’t much care about which phones we use as long as they’re functional and not Apple, now. (I refuse to give Apple any more money on principle. I find their confession to throttling older phones, and their excuse, to be fishy. Also, I HATE iTunes and iCloud and all the proprietary, frustrating as all get out software, and Apple ID, with a hot fiery passion and never want to have to see it again. Ever.)
Then again, since he inherits my now “old” phone which has quite a lot of use left in it, I’m destined to spend a few more years with them.
He was debating the Google Pixel and the Samsung Galaxy, and I decided in favor of the Pixel 2 since I would like the option to go to Project Fi in the future to save on monthly costs. We’re still getting service from T-Mobile but we’re paying more than I want to for cell service.
I don’t like buying new phones but it was originally to give us some flexibility as to our phone plans earlier on. Now, while I’m happy to sell our old phones, I am doubtful about buying used/refurbished – what if we get a lemon? Transferring phones is already a colossal PITA buying new, is buying used another layer of risk? Maybe no more than it is with a car which we DO believe in buying used.
I need to hunt down a verified reliable source for refurbished phones for the future. This time we simply didn’t have the luxury of waiting because his phone suddenly made the acquaintance of a large rock with extreme force and prejudice. Actual chunks of the screen were falling out when he got home from that run. Given the choice, I’d prefer that he temporarily lost it again but clearly the choice wasn’t mine.
Quick review: The phone is fine, though too big for my hands, but I HATE the Android WordPress app. It’s so bad that I’ve stopped blogging on it so that’s going to seriously slow down or cut into my blogging.
We recently took on a young lady rescue, to Seamus’s mild chagrin, and my heart’s delight. I’m pretty sure we needed a second dog but the first few months will be tough because no one gets Seamus AND an easy new dog in the same lifetime.
Even Seamus’s first months with us were hard. He was learning the ropes of our household and I was battling his allergies: hives, broken skin, rashes, bathing three times a week, steroids which means 6 walks a day, and one (terribly embarrassing for him) accident in the house because he couldn’t wake me for a walk in time. Those demanding weeks and all his maintenance since then has been totally worth because he’s a lovebug, has perfect manners, coparents JB, and protects zir from all comers. He was and still is a big help to me during my tough days, helping me get up and around during pregnancy and during flare ups, and supporting me through the days when people aren’t around. I don’t expect quite the same from her but it would be a good idea to train her like a helper dog as much as I’m able.
Suffice it to say, new pup has a tough act to follow. But we have lots of training planned, plus lots of patience and persistence. For my own sanity, I have told myself to give her two months to start showing real improvement and the ability to fit in. That’s about how long I can maintain all training all the time mode, and I need the reminder that a perfect dog isn’t achieved in 3 days.
This made me laugh: how comparison is the theft of joy, experimental monkey style. This is how I am with salaries in my own field so in some ways I have to force myself to stop looking at what other people are getting paid other than to set a benchmark for myself to reach. Otherwise, I still maintain that social media is what you make of it. I don’t spend time on social media that makes me compare myself unfavorably to a limited snapshot of another person’s life. This is why long form blogging will always be the best for me. And let’s be honest, Twitter is right up there. Twitter and my tweeps have kept us fed, literally, when I couldn’t dredge up the brainpower to figure out what to make for dinner.
We’re finally getting winter weather hereabouts, and the Sierras are getting snowpack! As a drought state, as much as I don’t enjoy slogging through the wet, I eagerly watch weather reports every winter hoping we’ll get enough snow and rain to refill our reservoirs.
“It’s a strange phenomenon, but millionaires swear that the more they give, the more will come back to them.“: 2018 is all about 6 and 8. For the first time in my life, I’m going to trust more in the belief that giving back, as the right thing to do with our good fortune, will work out for us in the end, and focus less on keeping the numbers under our strict control. This is a fuzzy sort of thought I’ve never had before and I hope it pans out.
Tanja’s after my ultra risk averse heart with the side hustle year now that that they’ve retired.
Didn’t science say that sharing your goals makes you accountable more likely to complete them? Trello’s got several reasons why sharing goals might be counterproductive. I haven’t pinpointed exactly why that’s how it works for me but I usually don’t share too many goals ahead of doing a good amount of work on them first to ensure that I will follow through. When I prematurely share, I never start. Is that you?
I’ve been subsisting off Kindle First and borrowing from Amazon for months because my Kindle is broken and I haven’t found a replacement yet but we finally made some time to get to the library and get our new library cards. SHEER BLISS!
I’ve been reading up a storm, and losing sleep at night, which coincides with some massive pain flares that make me lose sleep anyway so at least I wasn’t bored. The bad thing is that my phone is too heavy during those flares too, so it’s being bored or hurting my hands a bit more.
The Birdwoman’s Palate, Laksmi Pamuntjak
(free Kindle First book) I didn’t know what to expect but I saw “food” in the blurb and hopped right on it. It did not disappoint. The translation was excellent, the prose was straightforward and imminently readable, the food coverage made me want to visit Indonesia for two weeks. It’s never been on my list before but it is now!
We tried tax loss harvesting in 2017 and I’m pretty sure I did it wrong in retrospect. I’m not sure if we’ll be trying tax gain harvesting any time soon but just in case you want to know, J Savvy talks about how he did it.
A dramatic story of dodging the FUBAR bullet (Part 1 and Part 2)
There’s a lingering thought that one of these days, I’m going to do something worth selling so I keep reading these articles on selling and pitches to tuck the knowledge away. I’m mulling over what kind of parenting article might be worth pitching to a magazine but nothing has bubbled to the surface yet.
I mentally categorize our money like Jim’s Time Capsules. It helps me decide each priority and what to do with them.
Recently, I pondered whether this blog serves a real purpose outside of being a personal money venue and a bit of therapy when my family is being my family. It definitely serves a personal need, but I also spend precious hours on blogging every week and I regularly assess if how I spend my time and money is appropriately aligned to my priorities.
A friend offhandedly joked that of all people, I should be best placed to analyze the cost-benefit of blogging in comparison to formal therapy. As it happens, as a good human who doesn’t want her boundless depths of rage with her estranged family to spill onto her beloved family, formal therapy seemed called for. I scheduled a few sessions with a therapist to help me work through the issues raised by the Dad issues.
Our first appointment was an intake session. This appointment was to go over the background of my issues, share what services she could provide, figure out what I was looking for (I don’t know … stop being so angry?), and assess whether I was in crisis.
Neither of us thought I was in crisis but there’s also a better than even chance I was doing therapy wrong because the therapist thinks I’m dealing really well with a “shitty situation” (her words) and that this much rage is normal. She pointed out that the definition of dealing well included: not self sabotaging, taking logical steps to protect myself and my family, facing the truth now that I’ve heard it and acting appropriately to enforce boundaries.
What I read
Recently, I pondered whether this blog serves a real purpose outside of being a personal money venue and a bit of therapy when my family is being my family. It definitely serves a personal need, but I also spend precious hours on blogging every week and I regularly assess if how I spend my time and money is appropriately aligned to my priorities.