Saving up is hard to do. I'm spending every dollar I have after the holidays to move Kelly here next week, then we have to move again in two months to a larger place. And I have more than a grand to pay in taxes. And I just got hospital & doctor bills totaling nearly three grand, with another five grand looming in possible medical bills. I don't even have a mortgage or kids yet and already I feel buried under life's expenses. I feel bad complaining when friends have worse debts and worse problems right now, but it still feels like I can't come up for air.


Ten Replies to Bill$

Amy Austin | January 25, 2008
In my best Bill Clinton tone, Scott... I feel your pain. ;-)

I know you want to move Kelly there as soon as possible -- I'm guessing the wheels are probably already irreversibly in motion -- but is there any reason why you couldn't/didn't plan your two moves simultaneously???

It's so scary how easy it is to be devastated by a hospital trip. I have been *very* lucky in that, as a military dependent, my emergency visit when I wrecked E's car didn't cost us a few grand. And ten years before that, when another crash/head injury put me in the ER, I was "lucky" enough to be unemployed! That way, I was covered as an "indigent" -- if I'd had even a minimum wage job, I'd have had another few thousand to pay!!!

This being the major issue that it is, part of me thinks that Michael Moore's latest will get the award... but I chose to go along with you on that one. I *might* feel differently if I'd actually seen it -- I don't know -- but I do think it's probably worth seeing, at least.

Oscars aside, I hope all this other crap will sort itself out in a way that lets you see the light at the end of the tunnel! Please let me know where/how you'd like to receive that donation I mentioned -- I was serious! -- by PayPal maybe? And I might very well be interested in setting up a site on your server, too -- "personally" at first, and then perhaps a bit down the road as a paying "business" guest. (I have a *whole lot* to learn about building a site first... can I choose any domain name that isn't "taken"??? I really am interested -- let me know!!!)

Denise Sawicki | January 25, 2008
It definitely sucks that all the things people *have* to pay for are so expensive... makes it difficult to justify buying anything just because one *wants* to. Or maybe that's just my twisted take on things. I feel for you.

Lori Lancaster | January 25, 2008
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Anna Gregoline | January 27, 2008
Even without kids, life's bills add up. I know you feel, Scott. That money pressure is the worse feeling in the world (debt consolidation was the best thing to happen to us - except for a future house payment, I never want to be in debt again - EVER). I'm sorry you're feeling that pressure. Soon Kelly will probably be working to help pay bills though, right?

Lori Lancaster | January 27, 2008
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Anna Gregoline | January 28, 2008
? Lori, honestly, I don't know why you think I'm antagonising you simply by speaking. I wasn't trying to fight with you at all. You're reading my words as snarky when none is intended, and I wish you would stop viewing me as your enemy. I thought we put this all behind us? I don't have any grudge against you.

Lori Lancaster | January 28, 2008
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Aaron Shurtleff | January 29, 2008
I totally second the donation idea! I would love to give back to the site in a more substantial way than annoying people with my bad Rock Block playing, and promising to make a few GOOs which never materialize (they're coming!).

But, seriously, (and not that I'm not serious about donating) I know what you mean (sort of...different bills, same results), and it gets more managable with time. It doesn't seem like that now, but you'll see.

Kelly Lee | January 29, 2008
Welcome to my life Scott...:P Though I'm in debt cause of college which did nothing for me, and no high paying jobs in Springfield. That last paycheck I'll get when Imovethough should help our problems I hope..it has two weeks plus my vacation balence.

Jackie Mason | February 2, 2008
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Logical Operator

The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »

Mars Needs Kitties

Thanks to Lori for sending me this: That gets me thinking: Do you think if people hadn't had the idea for crop circles until a decade later that the fad would have even happened? In this decade we have the tools on personal computers to fake images like this with photo-perfect results, and hoaxers could just distribute photos with the click of a mouse. Photos have been doctored for decades, of course, but now your grandma can do it, you know? Go »

The Revised Revised Revised Story

Last spring, This Modern World ran a great parody charting the decline of civil liberties in recent years, after the then-shocking revelation that the government was building a database of every call made in the country: (link) I was reminded of that over the weekend as the latest shocking revelation came out, that the FBI has vastly abused its new ability to request confidential information in the interest of national security (link), almost as if it was the next panel in the strip. Except I'm not laughing. Oh, what I'd have given to be the reporter at Alberto Gonzales's press conference this morning. Go »

Retrospection

If I recall the dates correctly, yesterday would have been my grandmother's 100th birthday. She lived to just shy of her 89th, despite a lifetime of chain smoking. I remember her as a sweet, generous woman who liked to laugh and teach me life's simple pleasures; a typical afternoon for us was playing crazy eights and baking cinnamon rolls. Go »

Thank You Netflix

I'm in the mood for some Law, followed immediately by some Order. Go »

401.8

Most people wouldn't find anything to celebrate in weighing four hundred pounds. But when you're above that and working your way down, and that number is as high as your scale will go, it's a good milestone to cross. I've weighed more than this for at least four years (how long I've had the scale), and it feels good to know that I've dropped whatever weight I've put on during that time. Go »

At Least It's Better Than Bra

You know what sucks, bro? Reading this article a couple of times and later discovering that "bro" has leaked into your everyday speech. Go »