Rando Thoughts October 09

Haven't had one of these in some time.

So

Here we go.

Sometimes when I am petting my dog I expect her to look up at me and say, "Thanks."

Or something more than that. But just a couple words because, you know, an entire sentence might be a little too much to take on at that point.

I imagine myself freaking out. Dancing around the room. Going to grab my camera to record some video of her talking. Although I think it would be awesome and we'd probably become super famous millionaires from all the publicity, I kind of like the amount of non-talking she does. Even though her bark is enough to drive me mad.

That reminds me of the news I watched in Florida this past weekend. They showed a dog who could read. I didn't get it. Or, I was trying to figure out a way that the owner could've trained the dog to read without really reading. Like if he had the flash cards in the same order every time. Or if he was making secret gestures or changing his body language every time he changed a card. Because dogs can pick up on stuff like that. They have to. They can't talk. Or read. Yet.

My cousin emailed me this link. I try to do my part to help out with the environment. I hardly ever consume anything (cause I'm cheap). I don't drink bottled waters. I recycle even though they don't do curbside pick up here. Yes, I have to bring my recycling all the way to the local recycling center here. After letting it pile up for 2 weeks it's usually time to bring it in.

But seeing this kind of stuff is heart breaking. I know I shouldn't care, heck I ate probably an entire chicken today - but these birds were free. Not like farm raised animals who are going to be killed regardless.

I see stuff like this and think, "It's useless. We're screwed." But then I wonder if one of my theories about the human race will become true. If we'll start to decay as a species instead of evolving. And because of the decay there will be less of us, therefore less consumption. Throw in the whole drive for leaner, more efficient processes = less jobs = less money to buy food = war possibly? Probably not - they'll probably be some talking head on TV pounding the table about the "resiliency of the human race". See how I changed those last two words there? Because in the future it'll be different. A little.

I saw my senior manager and her husband at the grocery store this evening. And it was kind of odd seeing as how I was just busting my arse for her a couple hours prior. It was almost like seeing your teacher at the grocery store. Kind of awkward...but not as bad. It's easy to run in to coworkers out here because they take over half of the property that we're currently living in.

As we walked out of the grocery store I was thinking, "I wonder where those two stand in their circle of friends and family?" Being a senior manager at one of the largest companies in the world is definitely going to have it's perks. And her husband works there too. She's already talked to me about her 401k cause I had shared that I had an interest in finance related things. So I know where she stands there (and I'll leave the readers hanging on for something that I won't publish) but I don't know how she stands socially.

I mean, from what I've seen she's really given up a lot of her life/soul in to this company - and I see it in my wife's mother too. Both women sticking with their jobs for over 20 years - companies that have paid for their lives, but at the same times have taken a majority of it away from them. Terrible to think about it that way but...I do.

Anyway, I couldn't help but look at them in the grocery store and almost see a 30 year reflection of the wife and me. Would that be us in 28 years? Are they happy? Obviously they're still together so they must have done something right.

But every story is different. And the best I can do is take the good from other relationships and try to apply it and leave out the rest.

I'm getting no sleep. I feel like I nap every night. Usually I get 6 hours a night of sleep and that's "good enough". I like to get 7. But now I'm getting 5 at most, sometimes 4. Because I'm still trying to live my "pre-overtime" life outside of work, fitting in all my standard activities (blogging *cough*) while working all day.

I am always told, "You can't keep burning the candles on both ends."

It's, "I can't" never did anything. It's "did" that did it.

Probably screwed that up, because I always do.

I am struggling with buying this Garmin GPS. Why? Because it's almost late October. Which means November is coming up. Which means that Black Friday/ridiculous holiday deals are almost here.

But here's the problem: We have family coming in for Thanksgiving. We'll "need" the GPS by the time they get here. ("Need" is in quotations because we've lived without it this far, so why do I need it now? Ugh...)

We drove across the country with a borrowed GPS - one not as cool as this one, but still pretty awesome. And it made life a little bit easier. I was skeptical at first, but after it got us to 3 destinations properly (without any crazy u-turns) I trusted it.

So...to put it in list form:

Pros: "Need" to drive around (for vacations, back across the country)
Saves time/paper by not needing to print up directions anymore
Saves time by not getting lost anymore after reading said printed directions
Saves anger/frustration from getting lost (which happens about 10% of the time - e.g. really lost and having to ask directions)
Gives us the ability to find healthier options/more interesting for food on road trips instead of just going to the nearest McDonalds.

Cons: Money. Always the money. Can I buy this cheaper in a month?
MSN direct services is free for 3 months after puchase. Wouldn't I want this service on the drive home from Charleston to Seattle? If yes, shouldn't I wait until at least December (assuming we go home in February?)
I've lived so long without one, why purchase one now?
A better one will always be coming out 2-3 years from now and I'll be wishing I had a new one which = more $$$
Sometimes the voices in the GPS are annoying/they don't have any funny ones (for free).
More distractions in the car = higher probability of accidents.

Seriously. I have been thinking about making this purchase for a month. This is how painful it is to be me in regards to spending on something I don't need.

That's it for now. Time to brush my teeth and get my 4 and a half hours of sleep. Usually when I write this fast I miss key words in my writing so...yeah.