March 21, 2005 :: Another reader poll

Hypothetical scenario:

Let's say I am slowly redecorating and remodeling my house, at the rate of a room a year. Let's say I choose and buy some paint, tile & accessories for my bathroom this year, but I don't really start the work except for a little painting. Let's say I then find a shower curtain that I just have to have, except that it doesn't match anything else I already spent money on. Let's say I then decide to re-redecorate the entire bathroom around the shower curtain.

Am I crazy?

Footnote (added 3/22/2004 9:50am)
I'm not talking about myself here... this is a hypothetical about someone else.

posted by Rainmayun at 10:31 AM -

March 18, 2005 :: Really, I'm not

A friend called me yesterday to tell me she was pregnant. Although she swears she had no expectations about my response and she was just sharing news, I feel like I was supposed to say I'm happy for her. I'm not though.

See, although she didn't say who the father is, I know who it is. She has had a very on-again/off-again relationship with this guy, and he's something of an asshole. By any measure, not the sort of guy you want to father your children. On top of this, she swore to me several months back that she was done with him. I guess he's still around, and now he's going to be around for at least 18 years, and probably for the rest of their natural lives, really, in some form or another. This definitely isn't a good development for her, and I doubt it will be good for the child to have his/her mother and father with such an acrimonious relationship. It's probably not even good for the child to have such an asshole for a father, and a mother with such bad judgment, but I am proof that this situation can be survived.

So I was honest with her. I didn't bluntly vent everything, but I let her know I felt ambivalent about it. She knows I don't sugarcoat things with my friends. She seemed to take it in stride, but I still feel like this might be a rift in our relationship. Oh well... some grow, some die, others grow in their place.

posted by Rainmayun at 4:56 PM -

March 07, 2005 :: Outsmarted by my car

Over a year ago, my car started showing signs of its age. I bought it new in 2000, and it has served me well. But as the miles pack on, it's clear that the car, she ain't what she used to be. The brake light began staying on after I released the emergency brake, for a while. I thought I would check it out. I asked the dealer customer service rep when I took it in for the 60,000 mile checkup if the brakes were alright. He replied that since the tech didn't write anything, there must be at least 30% of the front pads left, and more on the back (since it's a front heavy front wheel drive car). He said it was probably a fault in the emergency brake sensor. I also consulted my most car-savvy friend (PhD engineering candidate at MIT) and he also said it was probably the sensor. I felt more relaxed, and continued to drive my car, being slightly more sparing on the brakes.

A couple of weeks ago, my wheels started squealing. Now there's 82,000 miles on the car, so I figured the brakes were due. It sounded like a wounded animal when I put it in reverse, and even just driving along it made scraping sounds. I knew I was due for some bad news. Saturday, Midas told me I'd scraped up my rotors somewhat, but they could be resurfaced and salvaged. The bad news? The bill was $600 (instead of the $300 I was praying for, admittedly with no basis in reality).

Now my brakes are good as new, and as an additional bonus, the brake light doesn't stay on anymore. Turns out my car was trying to tell me I needed to get my brakes done...

posted by Rainmayun at 9:42 AM -