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When the going gets rough, just shop with somebody tough...
So, people have been cautioning me extensively that, when I get the settlement money for my insurance thing, I should be careful with it and not spend it carelessly.
Which, obviously. It helps somewhat that I dislike excess Stuff. I have set myself a budget for buying stuff I Want (which, to a large extent, consists of guitars and maybe a camera), and that is the entirety of that.
However, certain aspects of my character are revealed by exchanges like this:
Me: Oh, but I'll also be doing some clothes shopping.
Them: ... On most people, that might be cause for concern, but not you.
Me: Uh-huh. It probably helps that you know I won't enjoy it.
Because, as is well-known amongst people who know me well, I hate clothes shopping. I do it when I can't avoid it. But, if nothing else (and it may be nothing else), I shall be acquiring some new bras, because I'm not sure I have one that's less than ten years old, and my bras, they are dying. Which means I may be spending what I consider to be quite a lot of money on clothes, but it's clothes that are necessary. (Spare me your old-school bra-burning feminism; I wear bras for my benefit. Fulsome funbags such as mine are more comfortable when contained in the supportive embrace of well-structured cotton... but underwires can go to hell. I had one snap and draw blood once.)
Bearing in mind that I consider spending $200 on clothes "a lot of money". And I do not keep up with This Season's Fashions, I wear my clothes until they wear out.
Oh, hell, I need pyjama pants, too. I tore one pair recently. And I might buy a second pair of shoes. And get a dental checkup, I haven't seen a dentist in about five years I think. Maybe more. "I have no money" has been my excuse for avoiding a lot of things, perhaps.
In addition to my much-desired electric guitar, I'm planning to buy a 3/4 size guitar and maybe even a 1/2; partly so I can teach my friends' children to play guitar, if they want me to, and partly with the intention of volunteering at the children's hospital, and giving the kids there a chance to play a bit. Not sure whether to go electric or acoustic there - electric has the advantage of being a lot quieter (if you use headphones).
And since this money in part represents the wages I haven't been earning in the last couple of years, there's another not-technically-necessary expense I'm probably going to go through with: a trip to Britain. The long-awaited visit with my uncle and his family in England, then a trip to Scotland to visit the farm on which my ancestors have lived for the last 900-odd years, and perhaps pay my respects at the stone circle where my grandparents' ashes were scattered.
However, planning that is partly contingent on seeing whether a certain summer session unit is running at uni this year - it involves a trip to Europe to tramp around historical sites and dig through dusty half-forgotten archives. I'd love to do that course, so if it's running, I could combine the two, since I'd rather not make unnecessary trips halfway around the world.
Ways in which I am weird: if I go to England, I may skip visiting London at all. (Similarly, if I go to France, I have no real desire to go to Paris.) I was going to say I'd like to see if I can get my shoulder at least to a point where I could ride again, and then I remembered that if I go, I'll almost certainly be going in the northern winter, and, well... no. (Especially since I plan to spend quite a bit of time, if I can, in the Highlands of northern Scotland. If family lore is to be believed - and based on other knowledge, I suspect it is - it's really very cold there. My great-grandfather considered the electric blanket to be the pinnacle of human invention.)
It's just a shame I'm teetotal - it rather defeats the point of, say, visiting Genuine Scotch Distilleries and the like.
Advantages of Britain being the first foreign country I explore on my own: I speak the language, and they drive on the left side of the road. (Also, I have family in England and Scotland.)
Which, obviously. It helps somewhat that I dislike excess Stuff. I have set myself a budget for buying stuff I Want (which, to a large extent, consists of guitars and maybe a camera), and that is the entirety of that.
However, certain aspects of my character are revealed by exchanges like this:
Me: Oh, but I'll also be doing some clothes shopping.
Them: ... On most people, that might be cause for concern, but not you.
Me: Uh-huh. It probably helps that you know I won't enjoy it.
Because, as is well-known amongst people who know me well, I hate clothes shopping. I do it when I can't avoid it. But, if nothing else (and it may be nothing else), I shall be acquiring some new bras, because I'm not sure I have one that's less than ten years old, and my bras, they are dying. Which means I may be spending what I consider to be quite a lot of money on clothes, but it's clothes that are necessary. (Spare me your old-school bra-burning feminism; I wear bras for my benefit. Fulsome funbags such as mine are more comfortable when contained in the supportive embrace of well-structured cotton... but underwires can go to hell. I had one snap and draw blood once.)
Bearing in mind that I consider spending $200 on clothes "a lot of money". And I do not keep up with This Season's Fashions, I wear my clothes until they wear out.
Oh, hell, I need pyjama pants, too. I tore one pair recently. And I might buy a second pair of shoes. And get a dental checkup, I haven't seen a dentist in about five years I think. Maybe more. "I have no money" has been my excuse for avoiding a lot of things, perhaps.
In addition to my much-desired electric guitar, I'm planning to buy a 3/4 size guitar and maybe even a 1/2; partly so I can teach my friends' children to play guitar, if they want me to, and partly with the intention of volunteering at the children's hospital, and giving the kids there a chance to play a bit. Not sure whether to go electric or acoustic there - electric has the advantage of being a lot quieter (if you use headphones).
And since this money in part represents the wages I haven't been earning in the last couple of years, there's another not-technically-necessary expense I'm probably going to go through with: a trip to Britain. The long-awaited visit with my uncle and his family in England, then a trip to Scotland to visit the farm on which my ancestors have lived for the last 900-odd years, and perhaps pay my respects at the stone circle where my grandparents' ashes were scattered.
However, planning that is partly contingent on seeing whether a certain summer session unit is running at uni this year - it involves a trip to Europe to tramp around historical sites and dig through dusty half-forgotten archives. I'd love to do that course, so if it's running, I could combine the two, since I'd rather not make unnecessary trips halfway around the world.
Ways in which I am weird: if I go to England, I may skip visiting London at all. (Similarly, if I go to France, I have no real desire to go to Paris.) I was going to say I'd like to see if I can get my shoulder at least to a point where I could ride again, and then I remembered that if I go, I'll almost certainly be going in the northern winter, and, well... no. (Especially since I plan to spend quite a bit of time, if I can, in the Highlands of northern Scotland. If family lore is to be believed - and based on other knowledge, I suspect it is - it's really very cold there. My great-grandfather considered the electric blanket to be the pinnacle of human invention.)
It's just a shame I'm teetotal - it rather defeats the point of, say, visiting Genuine Scotch Distilleries and the like.
Advantages of Britain being the first foreign country I explore on my own: I speak the language, and they drive on the left side of the road. (Also, I have family in England and Scotland.)
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