|
|
1:43 pm - Wed 2/19/03 Tues 2/18/03 9:20 pm The phone lines have been pretty screwed up the past couple days. Lots of static on the line, and I either can't get online, or else I get online and lose the connection within a few minutes. It's very frustrating. And it reminds me, once again, of just how addicted I am to this whole computer business; Anytime something happens to break the connection between man and machine, I feel downright bereft. It's kind of pathetic, really... My last night of freedom...Tomorrow, it's back to work. Of course, I'm not ready to go back, but since there's no good alternatives leaping to mind...it's back to work I go (I often wonder exactly how long a vacation I'd need before I actually wanted to go back to work. My guess would be about a month. Longer--much longer-- if I had an acting project to occupy my time). When it rained the first two days of my vacation, with more rain predicted, I was feeling pretty lonesome and stir-crazy by the end of that 48 hours. But the rain subsided, the sun came out, and aside from a serious bout of insomnia the past couple days (I've been waking up within a few hours of going to bed), this has been, by and large, a good time to be me. (I actually thought I'd be going back to work today, but when I called to check on my schedule Sunday, I found out they've got me working Wednesday through Sunday. But anyway...) Wed 2/19/03 around 1:00 pm Just did something kind of novel--I went to a nearby 99-cent store (That's not the "novel" part), where I bought toiletries (We're still not to the "novel" part yet), and...I didn't need any toiletries (And there's your "novelty"!). For awhile, I've thought I should be making use of the 99-cent stores that are all around me, and couldn't understand why I wasn't. Then suddenly, it hit me; I only buy things like toiletries when I run out, or am about to run out. And if I wait till I have to buy toothpaste/deodorant/whatever, it's just going to go on my grocery list, and then I end up buying deodorant at Ralphs for $2.29 (That was the cheapest I could find on sale last time I had the need), when I could up smelling just as fragrant for 99 cents. (I believe the 99-cent store nearest me is the one I just got back from, on Vermont and 8th street.) I think whether I could make still more use of the 99-cent store will require further study; There'd be a tempation to buy things you wouldn't ordinarily buy anyway because they're "only" 99 cents ("Chocolate-covered cabbage balls! And only 99 cents! How can I pass these up?"), but I imagine if I went with a "normal" grocery list in hand, I might be able to get at least some cheap "staples". Another thing I did recently that I thought was kind of interesting...I got a library card. I know--in one sense, it seems very "coals to Newcastle"-ish, seeing as how I work in a bookstore and all--but it makes a lot of big, money-saving sense; It's somewhere for me to go when I want to get out of the house but don't want to spend money, it's somewhere where I can check out videos and dvds and cds (And even books, I understand), there are computers there (In the event I'm ever "between computers", and still want to do the e-mail/Diaryland thing) and maybe most importantly, it's me being around books without that annoying work/customer- service dynamic getting in the way. But the overriding thing is that it's me trying to help myself. The next time I whine in Diaryland about my lack of funds, I don't want to be brought up short when someone says "But what are you trying to do about it"? Well, like the last entry, this feels more like an "entry fragment" than anything else. But I'm out of time here--I want to lie down a bit before w-o-r-k--so a full-on, no-holds-barred entry will have to wait till tomorrow.
0 comments so far 
|