All Me?!

I went to Wal-Mart yesterday and, my goodness, that place is a more craptacular than I remembered. I won't elaborate since everyone already knows how horrible that place is and I don't think that I have anything new to add to popular opinion.

To it's credit, every once in awhile, I find some cool things there. And, every once in awhile, I'll ask someone where they got their cool whatever, and they will tell me Wal-Mart.

My trip to Wal-Mart was to lend advice and support during a shoe hunting expedition (not mine). While I did not see the cute moccasin like boat shoes that Michelle said she got (at least I think she said it was Wal-Mart) I did pick up the May issue of All You magazine so it wasn't a total loss.

I like All You magazine. It's "Ideas, Tips, and Life with a Reality Check"! It's geared towards the 30-40 something working mom but slightly more blue collar than, say the Redbook demographic. I like All You because it really understands their readers. The fashion, make up, and hair, never gets any trendier than TLC's What Not to Wear and the health, finance, relationship advice are akin to what you can find on MSN.com- only, not as sophisticated. The products they showcase are all sold in places that most people have access to (such as Wal-Mart... no surprise since it's a Wal-Mart owned magazine) and rarely exceed $20 for beauty, $50 for fashion, and $150 for gadgets. They understand that their readers are over-weight, mom's with bad hair, who goes out to malls wearing sweat pants, crocs, and, if feeling frisky, a bright, striped v-neck. They don't care about the details, they just want a simple, Idiot's Guide to life... and that's what this magazine tries to deliver.

I like the magazine because of its simple, blue collar nature. All the other magazines tells me that I need to dress better, make more money, be more cultured, have lots of hot sex, be a decorating maven,be in perfect health, and own the latest black berry or treo or whatever. All You tells me that wearing khakis is an achievement (as suppose to sweat pants I guess), 401(k) is all I need to be financially savy, and a cheery throw pillow will fix all decorating needs. And really, isn't that most of us?

Ooh... the main reason I like this magazine is its recipes. I'm looking forward to trying the Orange-Glazed Strawberry Cupcakes.

The only downside to this magazine is that it can only be purchased at Wal-Mart and it costs like $21 to subscribe. $21!! For a magazine that sells for $1.97! There are loads of coupons in there, however. The May issue has $33.90 worth of coupons. It's mostly stuff that I have zero interest in buying but $33.90 x 12 is $406.80. Out of approx. $406.80 in coupons, I'm sure I can re-coup my $21. Maybe I'll subscribe.

Magnets are Awesome!

David asked, "If you could have unlimited funds, what would you collect?" The rules were:
1) Fund can only be used to procure your collection.
2) You cannot sell your collection.

I said magnets with thermometers.

I've been collecting them for a few years now. I don't have a big collection but they're a bit hard to find. Besides, I don't want one unless it's from a place that either I, or someone I know, have been to. It makes it easy when someone asks, "Hey, I'm going to XYZ! What do you want me to get you?" I never want to ask for anything expensive, hard to get, or cumbersome to pack, so I tell them magnets with thermometers. Sometimes they get it wrong and I get just refrigerator magnets (without the thermometer). Those are cool too.

And, if I get to use my unlimited funds to procure my collection, that means money for traveling.

My goal is to get one from all 50 states. I have ways to go.

My second choice would be books. Books are pretty bad ass but I have no room to store them. Besides, books are everywhere so, to make it fun and interesting, I would have either restrict it to a genre, author, subject, etc. or to books I can read. Unfortunately, I don't read nearly has often as I used to so I can maintain that collection with the limited funds I have now.

I Has a Sad :(

Financially, I would like to accomplish three things in my life:

1) Retire with at least 2 million dollars.
2) Own and successfully maintain a modest home.
3) Have at least 6 months of emergency fund at all time.

Retirement is a must, especially since, at the moment, I'm not planning on having kids. It frightens me to think that I might be poor in my old age when I'm too old and frail to go out and get a a job. Who's going to take care of me?!?!?!?!?! Maybe I should pop out a kid... Then again, I saw on Today that now it costs something like $200K a year to raise a child to the age of 18, and that's not including camps and tutors and lessons and what not. That's over $10K a year! Much more prudent to sock that money away on a retirement fund, especially since there's always a chance that a kid will grow up to be a fuck up that hates my guts. I'm confident my retirement fund isn't going to deny me support 'cause I never loved it enough when it was a child or something. Not that I can afford to put $10K in my fund every year. Well, I can... but it'll be uncomfortable... and I really don't want to eat peanut butter sandwiches for lunch every day. Blech!

Home ownership isn't a must but would be very nice. There's a part of me that wants a home to show that I'm finally a fully functioning, responsible adult. To me, that's what grown ups do. Grown ups buy a house. I mainly want one for investment and a sense of financial security. If I get the good kind of loan, my mortgage payment will remain the same throughout the life of my loan. I would rather have a stable mortgage payment rather than rent that goes up every year. Regardless of it's rent or mortgage, I really don't want to be paying housing costs when I retire so I need to buy a house... soon.

Since my parents were self employed, they never had a steady source of income. Some months were awesome, other months sucked. Sometimes, when I was little, I would hear my parents stress about money which stressed me out to no end. They never shared their finances with me so I never knew how bad/good things really were. Maybe they were worse than I thought. Maybe they were better. When ever I heard them complain about business being slow, I would immediately freak out and assume the worst. Oh crap! We're poor! To me, worrying about money is the worst feeling in the world. It keeps me up and night and I start to feel panicky and helpless. In the past, I've just buried my head in the sand and figured that as long as I had enough to pay the bills, I'm good. Well, that's not good enough anymore and now it's very important that I have enough money socked away, at all times, to cover my ass if shit hits the fan and I'm completely SOL.

I feel that my goals are reasonable, attainable, and SMART (Specific, Manageable, something something Time table?). The thing that has me bummed is the realization that there is no fucking way I can meet all three making what I make now. Argh! Well, never say never... I mean, I know there's a family of like 9 out in Oklahoma or some place right now where the dad only makes slightly more than what I make and yet they have their huge house paid for, all 9 kids went to college, and the mom and dad have like $5 million saved up for retirement already or something. Well good for them! But you know what, realistically, I'm not going to can my own tomato sauce, air dry my laundry, and buy all my clothes from the thrift store.

I have a raise coming up soon but I know it's not going to much at all- I won't even notice it, that's how small it will be. The only way to make any real difference in my pay is to either move up or move out. I would like to move up but it's not like the opportunity is going to present itself just 'cause I want it to, you know? Besides, I work in a district with some very talented managers so if the opportunity does come up, I don't know that I would get it.

The sad reality is... if I want to make any real financial improvements, I need a new job. That sucks, that really sucks. I love my job. I love my store. I love everyone I work with. I love the company! Job satisfaction is important but I feel like I'm sacrificing the most profit-potential time of my life. I mean, I'm still (reasonably) young and have relatively few fixed costs. Everybody knows that the sooner you put money into retirement, the more it's going to be worth later on. It's the same deal with a house- kind of.

Argh! Why can't I hate my job like everyone else? It would make life so much easier if I did.

Nothing Better to Think About

I LOVE The Prodigy, I love them lots. I love them more each year, with each passing month. And, because I have no other deeper, meaningful, moral and ethical quandaries to mentally wrestle with, I've been questioning my conscience over this:

Is it okay for me to really like "Baby's Got a Temper" when the refrain is about how much they love rohypnol (aka "roofie")?

1) No! First off, the song is not about rape in the least bit. Secondly, lots of people like songs they don't agree with. Cannibal Corpse fans don't go out feasting on rotting baby flesh, right? Yes, some songs are loved for their lyrics but for the most part, it's more about the general mood of the song, you know? Right?

2) Yes! There's something very wrong about a song that glorifies date rape drug. Just because it's packaged in a catchy tune, doesn't make it okay. Oh, and how hypocritical is it to be all "Ew they suck!" about bands like ICP 'cause of their misogynistic lyrics and then like songs that sing about how much they love rohypnol? Very!

Because my soul is all in disarray over this, I did some research. First I watched the video- weird but nothing about gang raping anyone. Just too many shots of strippers milking cows and not enough of Liam Howlett looking hot jamming away on his Moog. Then I wikied rohypnol and found out that it's also used as a relaxant and to lessen anxiety... which totally makes sense in context of the song. I can now say, without any guilt, that I love "Baby's Got a Temper."


Oh Liam, and to think I questioned your geniosity! Please forgive me, divorce your wife, move State side, and marry me.

Definition

If you look up "bad ass"- this is what you'll see as the definition:

OMG!!! SO WANT!!

Let's all take a moment of silence to take in, and truly appreciate the beauty of this shoe...

I love mary janes. Something about that buckle going across the shoe... I think they're pretty fantastic. I used to love shoes in general but years and years of disappointment in not being able to find any cute shoes in my size has left me a bit jaded and apathetic about heels. There's no point in checking out the shoe department, they're not going to have my size. I have started to see more size 5 and 51/2 but they're still too big- which leads me to think that size inflations are now happening to shoes as well. I'm pretty sure my feet didn't shrink.

Really folks? Is anyone out there bragging about their size 6 feet? Oh wait, yes there are. I've known a few of them. Women can be so retarded at times.

Target's Xhileration line makes size 5's that fit, and for that I'm truly grateful. However, the line is geared towards teens so it's mostly ballet flats, slip on sneakers, and bland looking heels. Maybe it's a blessing I can't find my size. I really do love, love heels and if my size were more readily available- I think I'd be in a horrible financial shape (with an awesome shoe collection though).

The MJ shown above is a Salvadore Sapena Button Cuff Shoe. I got it off a website that's having a 50% off sale on some pretty bad ass shoes. It's a British site so everything's in pounds. I was a bit disappointed to find that it's a British site but than I realized that they probably won't have my size so then I didn't care.

Do I sound a bit bitter? Well I am.

Yum!

Koreans get a lot of their inspirations from Europe- fashion, animation, art, food, pronunciation, pretty much everything except pop culture and music. They are also very big on European pastry, particularly cakes and especially roll cakes. Korea, and Korean Towns like Annandale, are full of pastry shops. Oddly enough, these pastry shops are named after ancient Korean towns or dynasties.

Having never been to Europe, I don't know how they compare to real European pastries. Quite frankly, I don't care. It tastes supers fantastic and that's all that matters. The kind of cakes I grew up eating were light, slightly moist, with airy icings that were just a smidge denser than whipped cream. Best of all, they were not too sweet.

Even though their uber awesome roll cakes come wrapped in pretty cellophane that claims to be "Fresh Oven Baked" I have no doubt they were manufactured in some factory in China or Mexico or something. Still, they taste way better than Little Debbies.

Week Ending Update!

5 week month so the goal is 60%!

Beauty- 51% I've been using Bauche and Lomb contact lens stuff since the 6th grade. I've never thought twice about going genetic on everything except contact lens solution. Part of me always knew that the genetic stuff was just as good as the name brand, maybe better. Bauche and Lomb recalled some of their solution for causing blindess, Target brand hasn't (as far as I know). Still... I don't know... just couldn't do it. Until today. The Target brand costs, get this, 1/3 the price of the brand name. 1/3!!!

Clothes- 45% So I've been really into fashion blogs recently. Especially the ones where the blogger manages to pull off some bad ass hipster looks from stuff she found at thrift stores for like $2. This has:
1) made me hate everything I own 'cause they're LAME!
2) inspired me to be more creative with my outfit while simultaneously bumming me out 'cause I know that I don't have the skills and the confidence to pull together a BA outfit, and even if I did, I'm too lazy to shave my legs or wear anything that requires thought.
3) make me want to go thrifting.
I did go thrifting today but found nothing but racks of really lame, size 14 Kathie Lee crap. I've had some major thrifting scores in the past but now all the good stuff gets reserved for ebay sales or some crap.

Eating- 73%. Yikes! I guess I should go back to eating cereal for lunch.

Entertainment- 111%. I don't know if stationaries are considered entertainment but I didn't know where else to file it. I spent $15 on 2 pads and 2 stickers. Pads are becoming hard to find so I have to grab them when I can. I got the San-X pigs... and its Korean knock off.

Gas- 55%. So this time, my car only got like 25 MPG. Odd. I managed to go 14 days w/o re-fueling so I'm okay with that. I did a lot of driving today which I kind of regret now, but it's been awhile since I went joy riding and it was nice so...

Gift- 338%. Aside from my dad's big gift, I got my mom a sweater. She's my mom. When she asks for something, what am I going to do, say "no"?

Grocery- 136%. Yikes! I guess those Ben and Jerry's really adds up.

Household- 75%. I haven't bought anything since last week but I was over last week so...

I bonused in Feb. so hopefully, I'll get my Feb. bonus check this month. I got my Jan. bonus check this month so I'll probably get Feb's next month. Speaking of bonuses... We're doing AWESOME this month so- fingers crossed- I'll bonus this March as well. Three consecutive months of bonusing... Impressive! I don't think any store in our district has done it in a long time.

Tomorrow is Easter and even though I'm off, I still get paid, so my pay check will be bigger than usual, awesome!

And of course, it's a five week month which means I'll get three paychecks instead of two. So, even though it looks like March will be another month of budget busting, I should be able to exceed my savings goal with all the "extra" income.

Luna Chocolate Peppermint Stick

This is what I eat for breakfast every morning I open. Nordstrom sells them for $1.99 and that's how I got into them, but I quickly realized that both Target and Trader Joe's (and probably everywhere else except Nordstrom) sells them for half the price. A dollar isn't a bad price to pay for something that keeps me satisfied for a around three to four hours.

Normally, I hate energy bars. They either taste like sugary oatmealy crap or they are super sweet and tastes like hard, granola-y cookies. I don't know, I can't eat sweet things when I'm hungry, especially in the morning.

Luna Chocolate Peppermint Stick, however, are delicious! It's sweet, but not too sweet. It tastes like dessert- kind of, but doesn't make me sick on an empty stomach. It's also suppose to have all kinds of vitamins and what not that are good for women. It seriously is the wonder bar of energy bars.

Resistance Is Futile

I LOVE Star Trek Voyager.

Well, I LOVED Star Trek Voyager back in like '02 when it came on at 10pm on WB. Then it came on at 11pm... then 12am... and finally it got pushed back to 1am and that was just too late for me. Shortly after that, it disappeared! Poof! No channel carried it and the DVD box sets were like $120 per season! Ridiculous!

I seriously loved that show. It only came on Mon-Fri and weekends would actually sadden me 'cause I knew it would mean no Star Trek Voyager! Sniff.

Well I've now discovered that it comes on at 1am on Spike TV. It also comes on during random times through out the day. The easiest thing would be just to let Tivo figure it all out but I'm too lazy.

The Borgs are my favorite.

Oh it's great to watch the Voyager again! The memories! Sigh~

Four Steps of Proof

On Consumerist there was a rash of articles about mandatory receipt checking by retailers and the douchey self righteous assholes who decided to fight the system.

Three things:

1) Just show your receipt. Seriously dudes, this is not an argument for some slippery slope about Constitutional Rights or some other bull shit. You don't accomplish anything other than letting everyone know that you're a complete douche bag. You're not a hero! You're not fighting for anything! If you don't like it, just shut up and don't shop there anymore.

2) Retailers, managers, what the is wrong with you?! Really?! Really?!?!?!? Hello!!!! FOUR STEPS OF PROOF!!! (or five- depending on where you work) There's no fucking way that some door monkey can meet the four steps of proof, esp. in a place like Wal-Mart or Circuit City or Best Buy! Why would you open yourself up to a lawsuit like that?

I'm going to go to Wal-Mart and buy something... maybe an issue of All You magazine since I actually like that magazine and it's Wal-Mart exclusive (outside a subscription). I'm also going to bring in something (already paid for) that Wal-Mart also sells, like a Black and Decker iron. I'm going to proceed to walk out. The Door Monkey will ask for my receipt and BAM! I will gladly provide one and the following will take place:

Umm... M'am, the Black and Decker iron isn't on the receipt.
That's right, it's not... what 're you going to do about it? They will then proceed to call the Manager Monkey and or the LP Monkey. They will detain me, The Law will be called and I'll be all Prove it bitches! Prove I stole the iron! You can't! Where's your proof?! You don't have one!!! Defamation of character! Oh the STRESS! The MENTAL BURDEN!!! OMG I can't handle this! PUNITIVE DAMAGE! LAW SUIT!!! LAW SUIT!!! Compensate me so I won't sue your asses! Maybe a lifetime subscription to All You magazine. I like that magazine. They have good, easy recipes.

The above situation won't happen, however because:

3) The receipt checking is a very hollow gesture. Do you really think the Door Monkey is going to verify the receipt to the actual purchase? No! I can flash them any receipt and they will wave me on through.

It's unfortunate that a lot of lame people decides to steal. Receipt checking, however, will not prevent any career criminals from stealing. Opportunity is the number one reason people steal. With the exception of organized retail criminals, most people really don't walk into a place with the specific intent to steal. They wander around, browse, and eventually realize that no one's keeping an eye on them and decide to steal. If customers know, when they walk in, that the store checks receipts, they might never get the idea in their head to steal. So yes, in that regard, it is effective. It's really nothing to get all huffy about. If the consumer wants to get pissed at anyone, it should be the dumb asses who decides to shop lift.

I'm a Dork

Confession time:
I actually, kind of like those cheesy wolf/Indian/horse/eagle shirt that are sold in museum gift shops and truck stops. I like cheesy and I think they have a real potential to be the next ironic fashion statement (like the trucker hats). That's not to say I own any, mind you.

I also like fantasy and sci-fi books. I would read them more often but the characters have really stupid names that are impossible to pronounce, like Gyumkordfinx, or Triopu, or Mandlinalivery. It's hard to really get into a story when I'm constantly tripping over the names. Weird names also makes it hard for me to keep track of who's who... which is why I also don't enjoy foreign books.

So... given my like for fantasy/sci-fi and cheesy artwork, it's not surprising that I found these artworks to be... interesting. They inspire my imagination (ugh, that sounded really cheesy) and if there was a story behind it, I'd love to read it.

Provided the main characters are named Bob and Mary.

Are You Sure...

So my brother's trying to convince me that there is something wrong with washing my hands like 30 times a day- that it's not normal and I'm going to become Howie Mandel-ishly OCD and weird. Really? Really? 30x a day is a bit much? Really?!?!

No, seriously, really?

Of all people, I thought he would understand... Then I found out today that he doesn't wash his hands before a meal if utensils are involved and his hands are not expected to come in direct contact with his food. Et tu? Sigh~

30x a day is a guess... I lost count somewhere in the low 20s so... What ev. I think it's normal. Okay, slightly weird to a point where I wouldn't expect most people to be so diligent, but not so weird to a point where I think I'll be collecting my urine in glass jars and trying to fly a big ass plane or anything.

SkinnyJeans are Hot!!

I like skinny jeans on dudes. As long as they maintain a certain level of modesty, I think it's an awesome look. I don't know, something about it looks polished, pulled together, and slightly bad ass at the same time. It could be because I like skinny dudes and, only skinny dudes wear skinny jeans.

I salute you, you skinny jean wearing dudes! There are a lot of people out there who will stare, call you a fag, snigger, and tell you that the look is lame. Ignore them and wear it with pride! Regardless of if you rock them with an ironic faded slim fit tee, a button down under a v neck sweater, or band tee under a hoodie, you look awesome!

Week Ending Update

Since this is a five week month for me, the goal should be 40% to budget.
Beauty: 24%

Charity: Be careful not to do your "acts of righteousness" before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in fall. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.- Matthew 6:1-4

Clothes: 45%- Bogo 1/2 of novelty is coming up soon, and so is additional 50% off clearance. There is this cute dress on clearance and the only reason I haven't bought it is 'cause I know I will never wear it. I like dresses, I own dresses, I wish I wore dresses, but I don't.

Eating: 42%- Whoo hoo! Not bad!

Entertainment: 80%- I kind of want to buy the new Foxy Shazam CD but... well... I think I can still get it w/o going over the budget but I guess I'll wait closer till the end of the month.

Gas: 33%- I didn't even increase the budget to allow for the 5 week month so this is pretty cool. I still have half a tank left!

Gift: 230%- My dad's b-day is this month and we decided to go in and get him a new computer and monitor. It was a lot of money but my dad's really awesome so he deserves it.

Groceries: 95%- Augh... I don't know how I blew this so much. I have been buying a lot of ice cream but I don't think it's all Ben and Jerries (or is it...)

Household: 75%- I bought 2 sheets of stamps on line so that took a big chunk of the budget.

Unplanned: I finally got my January bonus check. It's not much but it's still helps! Oh, and I feel stupid but... I freaked a couple of days ago and decided that I had to know my FICO score from all three companies. Even though I knew my score was high, and even though I knew that I'm not planning on making big purchases (like a house) or taking out a loan, I still had to check. It was silly and it was probably a waste of money but on the major plus side... My FICO scores are fucking AWESOME!

I Think it's Cool

I wouldn't mind living here if the entire compound was mine.

MPG

According to the official government site (and who knew there were .gov sites about these things?) my car gets 26 MPG (city) and 34 MPG (highway). In real life my car performs a tad better. I found I average like 27.5 MPG in city. I have no idea what I get on highway since I rarely go on the highway and when I do, it's still stop and go traffic since I live in NoVa.

I know I could drive more fuel efficiently. I'm going to go for 28.5. Not because I think the 1 mile is going to make any real difference to my budget or the environment, or the economy, or what ev. I want to do it just to see if I can. I think I can.

Man, I'm struggling with gas prices as is with my fuel efficient car and 6 mile drive to work. With gas prices expected to hit $4 by spring, I can't imagine what it's like to drive an SUV with an hour long commute every day (like so many of the people in this area).

Oh, and if there's a .gov site about MPGs, why can't they have one for the legit free credit report site? I always forget which one's legit and which ones fool you into signing up for some bogus program.

Inflation!

So everyone is saying that food prices are going up. They've been saying this for awhile but I haven't seen any real increase in food prices. I have, however, noticed that packages are getting smaller, which is the same thing as inflation I guess.

Gas is at $3.15 a gallon now.

I have no doubt that soon, I will get a notice saying that I'll have to pay a few dollars more for my insurances.

I am getting a raise soon but I know it's not going to be much. Retail really isn't know for raises, I guess it breeds complacency. If I want more money, it'll have to be through changing jobs, promotions, or bonuses. Besides, I told myself that when I get a raise, I will increase my 401(k) contribution to 15%.

So I guess there's nothing to do but to be more vigilant about spending.

My Bag

This is my Emily the Strange tote bag from Hot Topic. I love red. I love tote bags. I LOVE cats. I love this bag. It's big enough to hold anything I would possibly need but not so big that it looks goofy on me (at least I don't think it does).

I went through a period where I wanted my purses to be investment pieces. I still covet expensive bags but I've since realized that they are too expensive considering what I make. I suppose I could save up for a nice one, and maybe I will, but I also like the disposable nature of cheap tote bags. Plus, at this point in my life, I would like to save my money for something a bit more important than bags.

There was a big, leather bag at Old Navy that I've been price stalking since I saw it. It was a part of their Riviera line which was back in January and everything else in their line got clearanced except for the one bag that I want. Finally, I figured the bag was missed on the clearance list (I used to work there, I know how it gets) so I finally asked someone and what do you know! On clearance for $29.99 (Reg. $50)! I had a gift card so I only had to pay $9 out of my pocket. Awesome!

It looks white in the picture but it's actually light grey. The picture also doesn't do the super cute big button justice since the pocket is slouching a bit. It's made of cheap, but soft, leather that smells like sued (it's not sued), which is a big bonus for me since I love the smell of sued. It's big enough to fit everything I need but not so deep that things get lost (which is my only problem with tote bags).

As much as I love tote bags, there's just something oh so very, very wonderful about slinging a big thing of leather on my shoulder. Oooh... soft leather~

I love leather.
I love leather a lot.
I love how leather looks. I love how it feels. I LOVE how it smells.

You Make Me Sick!

It would appear that the world is completely covered in a fine layer of fecal matter. This is an idea so gross that if I thought about it too long, I will throw up. I wash my hands compulsively. I wash my hands so often they are completely parched and dried up. My hands may look like that of an 80 year old, but I take immense comfort in knowing that they are clean.

And yes, I do consider myself a better person for being so vigilant. I see people leave public bathrooms without washing their hands. I see people sneezing and coughing into their hands. I see people grab the bottom of their shoes. I see people sitting down to eat without first washing their hands. I see all this and it grosses me out and it makes me think less of them. A part of me is thinks they are less evolved somehow but another part of me admire their bravery.

As gross as a fecal matter covered world may be, in developed countries, its not a health threat. Millions and billions of people go about not washing their hands like an OCD freak and they live long, healthy lives. However, I'm afraid to touch door knobs, shopping cart handles, and sit on public couches for the fear of not just fecal matter contact but human grossness in general. I carry handiwipes and wash my hands just for the sake of washing them if I feel I've gone too long without washing. I'm not as bad as Monk, but I can slowly see myself getting there (and sadly enough, I'm okay with the transformation). Hand washing makes me feel safe, which, I guess, means I'm afraid of something. Watching others grab mints off the hostess stand with complete disregard for the fact that all are infected with fecal matter... I kind of admire that cavalier, c'est la vie, what ev attitude.

The Consumerists has an article about how lemon wedges are a fecal matter time bomb waiting to go off. I had already decided stop making ghetto lemonades before I read the article. The picture of the fecal matter covered lemon just sealed the deal.

Purchase of the Month!

This month's Purchase of the Month was a hard choice between my clearanced Frederic Fekkai Glossing Cream and Professor Layton and the Curious Village. In the end, I had to go with Professor Layton.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a highly addictive DS game. It's a point and click action game centered around solving brain teasers. Having LOVED brain teasers as a kid, a lot of them seemed familiar though which made it a bit easier for me (though I still suffered mightily at the hands of the hard ones). I liked that the brain teasers were hard enough to be a real challenge but not frustratingly hard (with the exception of that damned text message one).

The art work is gorgeous. Everyone says it's reminiscent of French animation. The animation is really cute and just a wee bit creepy (or maybe it's the music- or the plot, or both).

So yeah, awesome game! I highly recommend it to everyone.

Ghost

"The best thing about life is knowing you put it together."
I love you Trent!

I swear there's a "satanic" girl on TV wearing a heartagram necklace. HIM isn't evil you silly ignorant TV people! Well, if you consider music suckage (though, 666 to My Heart is catchy, and I admit I own it...) brainwashing the youth, than yes, evil. Satanic, not. Dude, yeah! That's totally a heartagram! Oh people, the ignorance is quite annoying.

Anyway... Sorry, this isn't about HIM or the heartagram. This is about the musical geniosity that is Trent Reznor.

Trent released Ghost (Halo 26 for those of you keeping track) Monday night. I was on Diggs and I normally don't check the Upcoming page but something told me that night to check it out and I did and that's how I discovered the release of Ghost just minutes after it was posted.

OMG!!!!!!!

I would throw Davey under the bus for Trent if he asked me to.

I was a bit bummed upon finding out that all 36 tracks are instrumental. I do really like "A Warm Place" (well, as much as you can like a creepy, dark, depressing song that freaks you out and depresses the crap out of you) so I was still excited. So was the rest of the world, apparently, 'cause the site was down for like two days.

See, Trent is doing this whole "Fuck the RIAA and the record label" thing. He's completely independent now so he's giving his music away for free with the option to pay. He did the same thing for "The Inevitable Rise and Fall of Niggy Tardust", a collaboration he did with Saul Williams. With Niggy Tardust, you had the option to pay $5 or get it for free. With Ghost you have like 5 options:
1) get 9 tracks for free
2) down load the full version for $5
3) down load and and pre-order CD that comes with cool stuff for $10
4) down load and pre-order the special edition CD that comes with really cool stuff for $75
5) down load and pre-order the uber special edition CD that must come with unbelievably cool stuff since it's $300 each and all 2,500 copies are sold out, netting Trent $750,000 in less than three days! And that's just off the special edition CDs, no saying how much he made off option 2-4!

I'm not sure if I'm going to get it. This whole "downloading" thing didn't work out that well for me last time. I paid $5 for Niggy Tardust and the file was lost. I then downloaded it for free and it staid in my itunes for like a month than magically disappeared. Now you have to pay $5 for Niggy and I'm not sure if I want to pay $10 for an album that might disappear again, esp. when I'm sure that the copy still exists somewhere in my hard drive. I did make a physical copy but it skips all the way through every time I play it. Maybe it's my laptop?

I did think about pre-ordering the physical copy but what am I going to do with 2 hours of instrumental music? Meditate? I'm sure it's awesome but yeah... If I got it, it would be solely because it's Nine Inch Nails.

I have a feeling that this is an experiment to test the viability of his business model. I know he was disappointed with the outcome of Niggy Tardust so I guess he tweaked it a bit and decided to test it out. I've only listened to a sample of all the songs but from what little I've heard, they don't seem to be as well fleshed out as "A Warm Place". I'm not saying he slapped together some instrumental track to have something to test this model but... well, I guess that is kind of what I'm saying. Don't get me wrong! I drank the NIN Kool Aid back in the mid '90s and I will proclaim anything Trent put out to be a work of genius ('cause it is!) but... I'm just not that into instrumental mood music.

Well, now that it's been proven successful, I hope he comes out with a Year Zero sequel sometime soon. I will definitely be picking that up.

Next?

Wilson Leather and The Sharper Image have declared bankruptcy. Both are planning on closing all but like 100 stores. Wilson Leather said they're going to focus on name brand women's accessories.

Consumerists had an article from a Wilson Leather employee about their closing and man, it sounds rough. The company seemed so cruel and insensitive, it makes me wonder if the employee, and their manager, aren't just a bunch of dumb asses. When they upped the full time requirement to 35 hours instead of 32 (making several employees no longer benefit eligible) when I was at JCP, the store manager knew about it a month in advance and the lower level managers found out something like two weeks beforehand. We had a store wide meeting with a taped message from HQ and the CEO. Effected individuals each met with the SM to discuss options and were encouraged to call HR with any questions. All that for a 3 hour change in benefit elgibility, and that's how it should be. Closing a store before telling any of the employees? Really?

There's all this talk of recession and now you have all these stores closing. It's not just Wilson Leather and Sharper Image... lots of furniture stores in this area are closing. I guess that's no surprises since NoVa is super over saturated with furniture and home decor stores and we're in the middle of a housing melt down.

It makes me wonder if my job is in peril. I mean, those SI and WL people should've seen it coming right? I mean, as a manger, they should know their numbers, right? I imagine their numbers been sucking for awhile now. I mean, the article said the SM has been with the company for 14 years. Did she not see the writing on the wall? Maybe it's wrong for me to judge. Maybe the company have been blowing smoke up their asses.

Which, again, has me thinking about my job and my company. The numbers, for the company as a whole, aren't great, but they're not AUGH! I like what the Important Company People had to say about the state of the company. I feel they're aware of the opportunities and doing their best to get to where we want to be. Or... maybe they are all blowing smoke up our asses and they'll shut us down next week.

You're Welcome Mother Nature!

I live very close to a grocery store. Today, I decided to walk instead of drive. Partly because I was feeling tired and figured I needed to move a bit, get the blood circulating, etc. Partly 'cause someones been stealing my parking spot and I didn't want to lose it.

It's not technically my spot. My name's not on it, I don't own it but still! If I don't claim it by 6pm, that damn blue Acura is there. Strangely enough, it's always gone by like midnight... hmmm...

By car it takes me like a minute, by foot it took me like 20 minutes. I did take the long scenic route via the walking trail along the man made lake. I could have taken a much shorter route but I'd have to walk like right by the main road and safety aside, I didn't want people staring at me as I they drove by. I live in suburbs where everyone drives everywhere. The only people you see walking are a small gang of tweens and people with dogs.

Walking was fun. I've lived in that neighborhood for like 4 years now and I've never really seen the area. It's one thing to drive by a place every day, it's completely different to actually walk through an area. Believe it or not, I used to be quite the naturalist- well, about as naturalistic as you can get when you live in the suburbs and you're in elementary school... When I was little, I used to spend all my free time outside. I used to play in forest-y areas, sit in grass, climb boulders, roll down hills, dig the ground, play by creek, etc. I used to pick flowers and press them in my journal and dream of living a Anne of Green Gable and Little House on the Prairie life- you know, live off the land!

I wonder what happened?

Honestly, I don't see the advantages of walking vs. driving. It took me an hour! Not just that, my back was starting to hurt from carrying two bricks of cheese, a box of penne, and a carton of ice cream. I know that there are environmental and financial benefits to driving less but I don't think my minute drive to Giant is going to make a big impact. It's not like I need the exercise, I'm always moving at my job so I think I'm good there.

It's Your Fault

The Consumerist had an article awhile ago about Adam Shepard, a college grad who decided to live on the streets with just a duffel bag of stuff and $25. His goal was to test the American dream and end up with a home, a car, and $2,500 in savings. Without using his college degree or his connection, he went from homeless, broke, and unemployed to an employed car owner who lives in an apartment with $5K in savings in 10 months. $5K in 10 months!!! Impressive! He lived at shelters for awhile, ate Rice A Roni, and got a job as a day laborer, and eventually a mover.

Now, you would think that people would applaud him and find comfort in the fact that America is still a place where, with hard work, dedication, and a bit of sacrifice, you can still overcome poverty and make a comfortable life for yourself.

No!

Oh my goodness what the fuck is wrong with people? Most of the feedback on message boards have been negative, saying that he cheated somehow 'cause he was from a privileged middle class family so his mindset is different. They argued anyone could do what he did if they didn't have to deal with criminal records, cc debts, child support, day care cost, health care costs, etc. That its easier for him, a healthy man, than a women with three kids. People were arguing that the experiment was unrealistic because, when he started on the streets, he started with a blank slate (no record, no debt, etc.) where as most poor people have many things working against them.

I hate to sound all right winged, but really, that's complete bull shit. EVERYONE starts out with a clean slate. Okay, maybe not the ones born with disabilities, but you get the point. Any factors that work against someone are usually a direct result of their poor judgment (i.e. criminal record). The only exception that I can really think of is a medical emergency. If you get sick, and you don't have insurance, and you're poor... yeah, you're fucked.

I think people were just jealous that he could save up $5K in 10 months of limited income. There are people who make 6 figures who can't do that. Rather than admit that their failure to do s0 is the result of their lack of fiscal discipline, they'd rather poke holes in his experiment/message. You know what, if I fail to save up at least $5K in 10 months, it's 'cause I like buying things, not 'cause I'm a single, weak, minority women.

March Goals! Feb. Results!

I was 89% to plan (savings goal) in Feb. Not horrible.

I probably could have come in 95%-100% range but the last few days I went a little crazy and "splurged" on food and um... yeah, food, oh, and I bought my mom a lotion from Bath and Body Works.

I remember, a few years ago, I not so secretly snickered at Kristine 'cause she thought Friday's was kind of pricey. Now I'm the one thinking that Friday's is a bit pricey. I didn't "splurge" on Fridays though, exactly where is a long story.

It wasn't just food, there were other stuff. Nothing extravagant but nothing I needed. I just got a bit tired of being so freaking mindful about everything that I wanted to remember what it felt like to buy w/o really thinking. If it sounds like I went on a fun spree, yeah no. I did go over but not by much. That's why it's a bit frustrating, it was easily avoidable, I just kind of slipped.

Since I'm following the retail fiscal calender, March started yesterday. March should be interesting since it's a 5 week month. I've adjusted my budget by 25% but I'll be getting 3 paychecks w/in the fiscal month. I'm not yet sure how this is going to effect April since the rest of the world doesn't operate per a fiscal calendar. My biggest worry is that if I can't go 4 weeks w/o feeling a bit burnt out, how am I going to go 5? We'll see.

I've also decided not to carry over any overages except "Gift" since that's the only category where I spread the annual goal throughout the months.