It’s Just Money, right?

So, all my life, I’ve noticed that I’ve combined the best and worst of my families. I can be incredibly tight-fisted with money, and then I’ll go bonkers and spend like there’s no tomorrow on which to worry. So, I’ve recently been more on the latter end of things. For instance, I’m sitting here typing this on my laptop in the middle of the living room floor. So, yes, I bought the laptop mentioned earlier, wireless router, etc. The latest purchase was a laptop desk, more to keep the laptop from getting it’s vents blocked up than anything else. I could tell sometimes when it sat on blankets, my lap, etc., that the vents were not fully open. I can tell the difference. It didn’t particularly get hot before, but now it’s quite cool.

And then there was the remote control over the weekend plus plants for the yard.

And fate or kismet seems to always bite me for these sprees. That would be the hot water heater that’s being installed tomorrow….

I came back from last evening’s walk and needed to water some plants. I had yet to turn on the supply to the faucet out back, so I went into my little utility shed attached to the rear of my townhouse to do so… and stepped in water… huh?? Oh great… Nothing huge, but the water heater was building a puddle. No idea how long as I don’t go in there very often. It’s been at least a month since I had cause to. Oh well… At least I noticed it before I woke up to no hot water for a shower and a back yard full of water.

I went to Lowe’s at lunch today and got things set up for the new water heater to be installed. Had some small hope that I wouldn’t have to be home for it, but no dice. Plus I have to have an expansion tank put in to get me to code… I had heard as much from a neighbor who had to replace their water heater last year. Joy… The price escalates from there, of course.

My boss and his boss both asked me why I didn’t do it myself… Okay, now, I tend to be handy. I’ve put in tile floors in my bath and repaired the one in the kitchen. I’ve done my share of painting, some small carpentry type work, etc. I’ll install ceiling fans, and do some light electrical. But for whatever reason, I draw the line at large heavy objects that can explode (my water heater is gas). One is like major do-it-yourself guy and he kept persisting until I pointed out that I could either take off part of tomorrow and pay someone to do it, or take off three days to do it myself. He suddenly opted for my route!

So, one other thing that came today along with my laptop desk is a new cd that I ordered from Amazon at the same time. I finally broke down and got James Blunt’s Back to Bedlam. I had somehow not heard of him before my visit to Italy. While in Sorrento, we had some cable channels. The only ones that had any English were the music channels. While Brandy would defer to watching something in Italian, I preferred my reminders of home. Okay, so he’s British, it’s the language I’m speaking of. And thus, I kept hearing “You’re Beautiful” and “Goodbye My Lover” with some frequency. I’d already heard them a few times in Rome as I meandered about. But now I had an artist name to place with it. There was also an Italian song I somewhat liked but unfortunately I didn’t keep up with the artist name and now can’t even recall the melody. But finally, I decided that this was a good album and a reminder of my trip through music. Have enjoyed the album so far. Heart felt lyrics, up tempo music.

Now I just have to figure out where I’m putting all the CD’s I’ve gotten in the past few months. Mid last year during my purge, I sold off a pile of CD’s I had not listened to in ages and had no desire to anymore. Still no regret, so I think it was a safe move. But I’ve more than replaced them since then.

I do listen to music more in the MP3 state these days than on CD, but I still can’t get myself to just buy the MP3’s. I want my CD’s. I want that little piece of plastic. I don’t feel like I own it otherwise. I know that’s antiquated, but that’s still where I am now. I’m sure eventually I’ll be used to the idea of having some mass storage device where all my music lives.

Oh well, time to go dream of a shiny pretty water heater that lives in a dark hole I never visit. I’ll enjoy the hot water (and hopefully a little savings on my gas bill), but it’s still not a fun purchase.