On a journey to the heart of darkness and futility.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Crappy Holidays
As happens every year about this time, my car insurance come due at the first of December. Paying it is not a problem, but I hate the timing as it takes that money away from my holiday gift shopping. To make up the difference I usually have to put some things on my credit card, which I hate as much as paying my insurance.
With my pay day falling on the last day of November, I used my lunch hour to take care of two unpleasant tasks at once: dropping off a payment at my insurance agent's office and another monthly installment on my braces at my orthodontist. I won't say how much money was paid out, but it was a chunk of change. Planning my route in advance, I headed to my orthodontist's office first. As I got close to his office I had a strange sense of deju vu all over again. The last time I went to his office on my lunch hour I encountered a family being dispossessed from their home. This time was no different, except for the day, as I again encountered a family being dispossessed from their home. I dropped off my payment and headed to my insurance agent's office. When I got there, I jokingly told him that the money I was paying him was taking away from my buying presents for my daughter. It then occurred to me that my budget could take the pain, at least I could pay my expenses and have some money left over to go Christmas shopping. That was likely not the case with the family being dispossessed just around the corner.
If I stop to think about it, I'm very lucky and very fortunate at where I am in my life right now. I have a wife, a daughter, a home...things I wasn't sure I'd ever have in my life just a decade ago. I have a number of good and reliable friends. I like my job, the people I work with, and enjoy the responsibilities I'm entrusted with each day. I indulged my love of photography and created an account on Flickr. In the past few months I've made a number of contacts through that who are good people whom also share a love of photography. It's also challenged me to learn my camera and what it's capable of so I can take better, more technically demanding pictures.
So this holiday season I'm not going to bitch about having to pay my car insurance. All things considered, it could be worse. Just ask the family who was dispossessed from their home last week. Or the parents of a student at the university where I work who just had to bury their 22 year old son who died from a bacterial infection last week as well.
With my pay day falling on the last day of November, I used my lunch hour to take care of two unpleasant tasks at once: dropping off a payment at my insurance agent's office and another monthly installment on my braces at my orthodontist. I won't say how much money was paid out, but it was a chunk of change. Planning my route in advance, I headed to my orthodontist's office first. As I got close to his office I had a strange sense of deju vu all over again. The last time I went to his office on my lunch hour I encountered a family being dispossessed from their home. This time was no different, except for the day, as I again encountered a family being dispossessed from their home. I dropped off my payment and headed to my insurance agent's office. When I got there, I jokingly told him that the money I was paying him was taking away from my buying presents for my daughter. It then occurred to me that my budget could take the pain, at least I could pay my expenses and have some money left over to go Christmas shopping. That was likely not the case with the family being dispossessed just around the corner.
If I stop to think about it, I'm very lucky and very fortunate at where I am in my life right now. I have a wife, a daughter, a home...things I wasn't sure I'd ever have in my life just a decade ago. I have a number of good and reliable friends. I like my job, the people I work with, and enjoy the responsibilities I'm entrusted with each day. I indulged my love of photography and created an account on Flickr. In the past few months I've made a number of contacts through that who are good people whom also share a love of photography. It's also challenged me to learn my camera and what it's capable of so I can take better, more technically demanding pictures.
So this holiday season I'm not going to bitch about having to pay my car insurance. All things considered, it could be worse. Just ask the family who was dispossessed from their home last week. Or the parents of a student at the university where I work who just had to bury their 22 year old son who died from a bacterial infection last week as well.
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