Wasting Away
I rented one of those “Rug Doctor” rug-cleaning machines from the supermarket today: $26.95 plus $12.95 for the cleaning solution. Was it worth it?
The water that came out of the thing afterwards was filthy and I guess the rug looks less drab than it did before I started, but I’m skeptical that I really got my money’s worth. For the same amount of cash, I could have bought a half-gallon of Jim Beam and then wouldn’t have worried about whether the floor was clean or not at all.
At the bike swap today, I bought two Shimano Mega-range cassettes for six bucks apiece; that’s not bad; I’ve paid as much as twenty dollars for one in the past, and I think they retail for even more than that. Still, they’ll probably sit in my parts bin for years; I may end up getting rid of them myself at an even cheaper price at some future bicycle garage sale.
I don’t like wasting money, but I go through these periods—like this—where it just seems the stuff just pours through my fingers like sand; apparently, I’m doing my part to keep the economy in recovery, whether I mean to or not.
And then there’s just stupid waste: library fines, late fees for my business license, finance charges on my credit card I could have avoided.
It’s just tiresome, annoying, and makes me sick of being a grownup. Oh, for the days when all I needed was $11.99 for three LPs at—what was that hippie record shop called—“The People’s Store?”
I bought a lottery ticket even though the jackpot’s less than the odds of winning, a bad bet to be sure, but I probably won’t mind if I manage to hit the $93 million dollar jackpot.
I don’t really think that it’s my destiny in life to win the lottery, although I know I’d be a good winner; I’m already pretty good at wasting money.
The water that came out of the thing afterwards was filthy and I guess the rug looks less drab than it did before I started, but I’m skeptical that I really got my money’s worth. For the same amount of cash, I could have bought a half-gallon of Jim Beam and then wouldn’t have worried about whether the floor was clean or not at all.
At the bike swap today, I bought two Shimano Mega-range cassettes for six bucks apiece; that’s not bad; I’ve paid as much as twenty dollars for one in the past, and I think they retail for even more than that. Still, they’ll probably sit in my parts bin for years; I may end up getting rid of them myself at an even cheaper price at some future bicycle garage sale.
I don’t like wasting money, but I go through these periods—like this—where it just seems the stuff just pours through my fingers like sand; apparently, I’m doing my part to keep the economy in recovery, whether I mean to or not.
And then there’s just stupid waste: library fines, late fees for my business license, finance charges on my credit card I could have avoided.
It’s just tiresome, annoying, and makes me sick of being a grownup. Oh, for the days when all I needed was $11.99 for three LPs at—what was that hippie record shop called—“The People’s Store?”
I bought a lottery ticket even though the jackpot’s less than the odds of winning, a bad bet to be sure, but I probably won’t mind if I manage to hit the $93 million dollar jackpot.
I don’t really think that it’s my destiny in life to win the lottery, although I know I’d be a good winner; I’m already pretty good at wasting money.
posted by Professor Dave at 6:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home