Through the years I have spent countless amounts of money buying stuff for my children with no true regret for the expenditure. In fact, I usually have very little problem spending money on other people, but as soon as I spend money on myself I begin to regret it. In fact, more often than not I have to talk myself into keeping the item.
Take for instance this past Friday. For the past week or so, I have been trying to get a wireless data card to work in the back of beyond area in which I live. Now in defense of Sprint's Overdrive it was very nifty and it is probably not it's fault that it couldn't find a signal, but that still didn't solve my problem. Well long story short, I took the Overdrive back to Best Buy where the people in the Mobile department were great. They refunded my money and reinstated my upgrade for that phone line. Yes, this is very unusual especially when one takes into consideration the notoriously unhelpful customer service for which Best Buy is well know for.
So I was feeling so good about that encounter that I looked around in the computer area. I had been considering purchasing a HP through an online program I have access to at work and wanted to see how close to the price Best Buy could get. Well they didn't have the HP I was looking at but they did have a very nice Toshiba Satellite A660. Well roughly $850 later I walk out of Best Buy with the laptop, a case and a wireless HP printer, copier, scanner.
One would think that this would be enough wouldn't one? Well no not for this intrepid buyer. You see I still had the problem of being able to access Internet in the back of beyond. All of the techy people at Sprint said that since I used to get good service when I was able to tether my Blackberry (evil cell phone companies, they don't let you do this anymore) that I should be able to get service with an Evo. Of course, Evo's are like gold and nobody has them in stock. Sprint has figured away around that. In their full service stores, they are allowing customer to pre-pay for the phone and then when "your" phone comes in they call. Of course the price is a little higher, but that will be another debate when the phone comes in. The guy at the store assured me that the phone would be at the store in less than a week. I'm guessing that I will get a call on Thursday (see technically less than a week).
So now, I have spent way more money than I intended and am not feeling all that great about it. When I got home, I had all but decided to return the laptop. I wasn't even going to take it out of the box. After talking to a few people I realized, one "Hey, I deserve it" and two "Hey, I don't really own the computer I use (it's a loaner from work). What the heck am I going to do if they ask for the computer back? Also, really if I didn't buy the computer, odds are that one of my children would have some sort of emergency and there would go that money. So yes, I do have buyers remorse and yes, I'm still not completely happy that I spent this kind of money but I'm trying to convince myself that I should be happy about having these cool new toys because really I probably do deserve to spend money on myself with out too many regrets.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
There is a silver lining....
When things are going badly in your life, someone will inevitably say “Every cloud has a silver lining. Look for that silver lining.” Usually at that point, you just want to punch them in face and tell them to “Shut the $*@& up!” But again, it is all about stopping for a second and taking a deep breath, because really most things are going to be all right.
To keep my sanity, I like to think that everything happens for a reason. Last week I was trying to assist my infirm father out of the house and to my car so I could take him to his doctor’s appointment. Well anything and everything that could go wrong did. I eventually called his doctor and told them that there was no way that we would be able to make his 9:30am appointment. They were very nice and rescheduled it for that afternoon. I was taking a deep breath and trying to prepare myself for the fact that I was going to have to try this whole thing in another two hours when not 15 minutes after I got off the phone the doctor’s office called back. Apparently, the doctor had an emergency and was cancelling all of her appointments. That was when I realized that the Universe was putting all of these obstacles in my path for a reason. It knew that if I had made it to the doctor’s office after all of that drama, they would have called the cops on my behind because of the fit I would have thrown when told that the doctor wasn’t even there (lol)!
I have three children, all boys, and my middle son, Sean, never seems to catch a break. Well recently his luck has slowly been improving (knock on wood and Lord, I hope I don’t jinx him). I was FB chatting with him yesterday while I was on hold with Best Buy trying to get a new phone. I was very excited because it looked like I was going to get the ever elusive Evo! Sean had been phone tagging with the HR office where he had applied for a job, hoping that it would be good news. When suddenly disaster strikes on my end and I am told that the Best Buy’s system had froze, of course, when it was all over they had sold out of the phones before I could purchase mine. Sean in the meantime had sucked all of my luck away from me and got the job he had applied for. Yes, I am happy for him but am still convinced it is only because he had sucked all of my luck away from me.
Now of course I was completely bummed for the remainder of that afternoon. I come into work this morning and was telling my coworker, Erma, the trials and tribulations of yesterday. She couldn’t understand why this phone was so important, until I explained to her that it was my only hope for Internet connection because I live in the back of beyond. She smirks at me and says that all she has to do it sit down in front of her computer and turn it on because she has DSL. On that note, I stick my tongue out and leave. I go back to my desk and call another store. To my surprise they told me that I could get the elusive phone if I came in and preorder/pay for the phone. Before the end of this day, the phone will be mine. OK I actually will have to wait about a week, but, yes, it will be mine! *rubbing hands together*
The moral of this long convoluted blog: Every cloud does have a silver lining. But remember with every good moral there is a warning: Remember those silver lined clouds are storm clouds and you might just get rained on before you realize any good from the silver lining.
To keep my sanity, I like to think that everything happens for a reason. Last week I was trying to assist my infirm father out of the house and to my car so I could take him to his doctor’s appointment. Well anything and everything that could go wrong did. I eventually called his doctor and told them that there was no way that we would be able to make his 9:30am appointment. They were very nice and rescheduled it for that afternoon. I was taking a deep breath and trying to prepare myself for the fact that I was going to have to try this whole thing in another two hours when not 15 minutes after I got off the phone the doctor’s office called back. Apparently, the doctor had an emergency and was cancelling all of her appointments. That was when I realized that the Universe was putting all of these obstacles in my path for a reason. It knew that if I had made it to the doctor’s office after all of that drama, they would have called the cops on my behind because of the fit I would have thrown when told that the doctor wasn’t even there (lol)!
I have three children, all boys, and my middle son, Sean, never seems to catch a break. Well recently his luck has slowly been improving (knock on wood and Lord, I hope I don’t jinx him). I was FB chatting with him yesterday while I was on hold with Best Buy trying to get a new phone. I was very excited because it looked like I was going to get the ever elusive Evo! Sean had been phone tagging with the HR office where he had applied for a job, hoping that it would be good news. When suddenly disaster strikes on my end and I am told that the Best Buy’s system had froze, of course, when it was all over they had sold out of the phones before I could purchase mine. Sean in the meantime had sucked all of my luck away from me and got the job he had applied for. Yes, I am happy for him but am still convinced it is only because he had sucked all of my luck away from me.
Now of course I was completely bummed for the remainder of that afternoon. I come into work this morning and was telling my coworker, Erma, the trials and tribulations of yesterday. She couldn’t understand why this phone was so important, until I explained to her that it was my only hope for Internet connection because I live in the back of beyond. She smirks at me and says that all she has to do it sit down in front of her computer and turn it on because she has DSL. On that note, I stick my tongue out and leave. I go back to my desk and call another store. To my surprise they told me that I could get the elusive phone if I came in and preorder/pay for the phone. Before the end of this day, the phone will be mine. OK I actually will have to wait about a week, but, yes, it will be mine! *rubbing hands together*
The moral of this long convoluted blog: Every cloud does have a silver lining. But remember with every good moral there is a warning: Remember those silver lined clouds are storm clouds and you might just get rained on before you realize any good from the silver lining.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
As God is my witness...
So there I was last night sitting in the kitchen holding my Sprint Overdrive data card in my hand, shaking it in the air while I cried out “Why, oh why, will you just not work the way I need you to!!!” When suddenly I flash back 20 years and I am standing in my sister’s bathroom, squeezing my contact in my finger, shaking my hand in the air while I cried out “You $#*%$^& piece of plastic, why, oh why, will you just not go into my eye!!!!”
Now of course, the contact usually took forever to go into my eye and the stupid data card just plain refused to work last night which brings home a very important point to me; I am not a patient person. Oh I try to be a patient person, in fact on a regular basis I convince myself that I am in fact a very patient person. But really I’m not. I constantly have to remind myself to just breathe and to refrain as much as possible from screaming irrational inanities at the poor innocent people and pieces of equipment that just plain refuse to do things at the pace I deem appropriate.
But really, sometimes we all just need our Scarlett O’Hara moments where we just shake our hand in the air while we cry out “As God is my witness, I will never go hungry again!”
Now of course, the contact usually took forever to go into my eye and the stupid data card just plain refused to work last night which brings home a very important point to me; I am not a patient person. Oh I try to be a patient person, in fact on a regular basis I convince myself that I am in fact a very patient person. But really I’m not. I constantly have to remind myself to just breathe and to refrain as much as possible from screaming irrational inanities at the poor innocent people and pieces of equipment that just plain refuse to do things at the pace I deem appropriate.
But really, sometimes we all just need our Scarlett O’Hara moments where we just shake our hand in the air while we cry out “As God is my witness, I will never go hungry again!”
Monday, August 2, 2010
First day up....
So, I've kinda sort of created a blog. I decided to call this blog Rose Colored Glasses because some of my most favorite people tend to look through life with Rose Colored Glasses and I have often envied them that ability. One of my life goals is to begin to let things go and to look at life through Rose Colored Glasses.
Eventually, I will be putting up photos of family and other stuff, but I have to set that up with Picasa (wow this blogging is more complicated than I thought).
Today, is my first day back to work in awhile, as I have been taking care of the parents and already in just a few minutes I leave to do some more parental care taking things. One of my main goals today was to get the paperwork for FMLA. I found out that I went into the negative on leave and I need to get the paperwork so HR can make it official. I now have to take all this paperwork to various doctors and bring it back to work.
A little bit a go, I was talking with my boss/coworker and our conversation got me to thinking about my Grandmother, Helen Rogers. Grandma was a remarkable woman. Her mother died when she was a young girl and she helped take care of her sisters and brothers. She and my grandfather supported their young family and many other family members through the Great Depression, she had six children and lived long enough to see all of her children grow up, grandchildren and even great grandchildren be born. But what I remember most about her is her resilience of spirit. I can remember her telling me "Now Kathy, don't worry because God will only give your as much as He knows you can handle". I remember laughing at her and saying that I think God and I should have had a conversation first about what I really could handle. Grandma was the matriarch of our family and it is in moments like this morning that I remember how much she was loved and how much we all truly miss her.
Eventually, I will be putting up photos of family and other stuff, but I have to set that up with Picasa (wow this blogging is more complicated than I thought).
Today, is my first day back to work in awhile, as I have been taking care of the parents and already in just a few minutes I leave to do some more parental care taking things. One of my main goals today was to get the paperwork for FMLA. I found out that I went into the negative on leave and I need to get the paperwork so HR can make it official. I now have to take all this paperwork to various doctors and bring it back to work.
A little bit a go, I was talking with my boss/coworker and our conversation got me to thinking about my Grandmother, Helen Rogers. Grandma was a remarkable woman. Her mother died when she was a young girl and she helped take care of her sisters and brothers. She and my grandfather supported their young family and many other family members through the Great Depression, she had six children and lived long enough to see all of her children grow up, grandchildren and even great grandchildren be born. But what I remember most about her is her resilience of spirit. I can remember her telling me "Now Kathy, don't worry because God will only give your as much as He knows you can handle". I remember laughing at her and saying that I think God and I should have had a conversation first about what I really could handle. Grandma was the matriarch of our family and it is in moments like this morning that I remember how much she was loved and how much we all truly miss her.
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