Random thoughts and questions

2013 Secret Santas take note!

Sneezing while eating: my first boyfriend back in high school did this. He had a burning sensation all day in his face. Later he sneezed again, and out came a pickle slice. It was DISGUSTING. And kind of hilarious.

Today has been a "2 boxes of tissues" day and counting.

Chafing.

That's what vaseline is for, not tissues.

He was watching Short Circuit again.

In the "nose full of snot" way, but well played.

Not gonna lie, the toaster being a girl kinda ruined the movie for me.

I'm sorry, you must be thinking of a different Aaron.

<hugs you>

Sympathy like, man.

craving a burger from the kind of place where it looks seedy on the outside and it's kinda iffy on the inside but then you get that burger and it looks messy as fuck and you bite it and oh my god it's so juicy what's happening there are so many flavors happening right now i'm going to faint someone catch me

and then you wonder if you just experienced an orgasm from eating a burger and you re-evaluate your life.

fuck, man.

What's wrong with a burgergasm?

As part of my getting-well process, I want to be financially responsible. I downloaded my credit reports and am going to pay things off. (I have like 6 things, all under $500, all from 4+ years ago when I was too afraid to open my mail to see that I had bills.) Then I will open a secured credit card at my bank. Wish me luck.

If you do that, get it in writing that your bank reports the secured credit card to all three major credit reporting agencies, otherwise it's useless to you. Remember that your credit score will take a small hit from getting the card (bank will need to run a hard inquiry on your credit report).

Thanks for the advice. I need it. :D

arrietty was painfully disappointing.
partially because of the REALLY BAD DUB, WOW WHAT ARE EMOTIONS, partially because it didn't really...touch me like other movies, partially because i do not like the music that was tossed in.

According to the wife, my poor little almost 12 year old girl comes out of the orthodontist with tears in her eyes, NOT because she has to get braces, but because she sees the cost, realizes they are expensive and wonders what Daddy is going to say. I am going with the theory that I have instilled in her the importance of a dollar as opposed to giving her a complex.

Give her the complex, she'll be in a better financial situation than 99% of her peers for the rest of her life.

Don't give her the complex; an over-emphasis on the emotional value of money leads to short-term decisions with significant long-term net financial negatives.

...see, coming from someone who grew up rich, I can't take this seriously. It's okay to teach her to value money.

Valuing money is fine. But having a complex about money one way or the other means making stupid decisions, rafts of stupid decisions.

(Also, that was perilously close to personal, and let's not go there, because if there are any two people in this world who can tear each other apart on this matter, it's me and you. :D )

Agreed. So. Uh. Redirect to the cute animal thread, anyone?

Day six of this goddamn cough, day two of floods of snot. I guess it's time to talk to a doctor?

Though they're just going to say "it's bronchitis, drink lots of tea and get used to being miserable for a couple more weeks".

Mmmmm, the importance of money. It's okay to see the price of something frivolous and decide "Hey, maybe this isn't worth all of the money these people are asking me. My old phone works just fine!"
But when the kid starts crying? Time to have a lil' sitdown about how it's okay to spend that much sometimes, especially if it's in regards to dental health. Not trying to say what to do or anything, just what I would do. C:

i know what it is like to grow up with that "but it's too expensive to spend money on it's okay i'm fine" hanging over your head and idk it might just be me but it didn't end too well.

Now if they break up, it's on you.

Sounds like the perfect opportunity to explain that some things are worth investing in, like superficial beauty norms.

It's a fine line between "respecting money" and "stressing about money". Your daughter is likely worried because she doesn't have all the information she needs to put the braces cost into context. She just sees a big number after a dollar sign and the only framework she has is "that's a lot of money". She doesn't know what kind of coverage you might have from dental insurance, or what kind of payment plan you could work out, or even how much you make in a year and your ability to budget for this kind of thing. Not that I'm expecting you to let your kid in on all your financial details, but I think this is a great opportunity to talk about how to draw up a budget.

If only Tyjenks had an accountant in the family...

I have lived paycheck to paycheck my whole life. Mom borrowed money for Christmases and we got school clothes once a year. Sears Toughskins, bitches!! Dad was just a cheap bastard who did the bare minimum the court require as far as child support. No alimony. So I definitely grew up with a minor complex. I definitely complain about the cost of things and I guess I remind them often about how much some things cost so that they treat them appropriately. A Nintendo DS and iPod come to mind. Two things that, relative to what I received growing up, would have been extravagances that my friends had. So when they treat things that are relatively expensive in a cavalier fashion, I am quick to point out to them that all things are not easily replaceable or disposable.

Funny, semi-related story: We got a family iPad this year. Insanity. If we had not received cash for presents we would not have gotten it. We certainly did not need it and the money could have gone 100 other places. I sat in the car with this same daughter with the iStore app opened on my phone and the order pulled up with my finger hovering over the "Place Order" button. I knew I was going to get it, but it was sort of a joke about how I couldn't bring myself to press the button since it was so costly. My daughter reached over and forced my finger down and it was done. My younger daughter and I joked and told my wife that the eldest MADE us buy it. Anyway, this alone is a single example that we had fun with, but kids take all of it in and accumulate their thoughts and feelings and you don't always realize how it is affecting them until something like this happens.

Raising the kiddies, it is definitely a fine line you walk when you want them to understand the value of a dollar, but not worry them about it. This daughter is also very sensitive and is a thinker. So I was really only a little surprised that she got upset. I definitely felt a pang of guilt for making her think it is something she should worry about. The biggest lesson she will learn today is that you should be concerned about what things cost, but there are certain things that are just the cost of doing business in the world and this is one. So while I did dread this bill coming, it was never something that was optional. I had braces and I like my straight teeth and the correction of my overbite. Unfortunately, she inherited my teeth....in a jar...by her nightstand.

You do know that if a child's teeth are growing in crooked, braces are pretty important to stop them from having some pretty serious jaw problems, right? Because I'd hate to think you're going Nute on us and holding on to terrible uninformed beliefs.

I may have just been lucky in my dad's orthodontist pick, but when I saw one he made it clear that because mouth was too small and I needed to have teeth pulled I could get braces and they would fill in the gaps perfectly, but I didn't strictly need them and my teeth would eventually do most of the work themselves.

Nute had braces for most of his early teens and agrees with making kids wear braces. Because if I had awkward formative years, why should anyone else be happy? LIFE IS PAIN, HIGHNESS! Anyone who says differently has never been to an orthodontist.

Suck it up, dilettante, I had headgear. In middle school.

I had ALL THE THINGS on my teeth, and I had permanent teeth extracted just to be able to get braces in the first place. Headgear, retainers, palatal expander, the works. It was awful and I can't begin to imagine how much it cost my parents, but I'm glad our family could afford to have it done at the time because that shit was wack.

Tyjenks, you're a good dad. Don't ever think differently.

I never had braces! Or glasses. Suck it, nerds!

I instinctively started to get out my lunch money for you.