The TTC Ate My $126 or 126 More Reasons to Hate the TTC

Well, technically the vending machine at the TTC selling passes ate my money.

$%@#^@*$!##$!%@$!!!!!!!!!!

And what did the person at the gate do?

Lie to me.

Am I Too Old to Be Angsty?

When I hear good music I question my existence.

I wonder what I am doing with my life.

Yes, I feel like I am wasting it- that I should be doing something “bigger”, something that means something, feeling anything other than emptiness, bitterness and being angry at everyone and everything- especially myself.

What am I listening to?

Mistaken for Strangers by The National.

Anthropologie Black Friday Postmortem & Afterglow

Anthropologie had their first Black Friday sale ever last weekend.

Danger ,Will Robinson!

Post Black Friday Savings Strategy or How I Will Mitigate My Guilt

 I indulged in a bit of shopping therapy over this past Black Friday weekend (does that even make sense?).

My justification? I “saved” a lot of money- but is it a savings if you don’t actually SAVE it?

Mindful Consumption or My Message to the 99%

A friend forwarded a link to a story about a family challenging themselves not to buy anything new for a year. She sent it with “You’ll love this…” on the subject line and she was right.

I think it is a great challenge because it makes you think about how you consume. Most of us spend mindlessly- ending up with piles of crap we will never use or wear. Why do you think storage units have become such a growth industry over the last 15 to 20 years?

A Near Six Year Sentence

In 30 days, I will have been employed by this company for six years.

Holy crap!

I knew this ignominious distinction was coming up but it only hit me now how fast it was approaching.

Am I being melodramatic?

I initially turned down a full-time position but relented when a three month contract came up. I didn’t want to be trapped but I figured I had nothing to lose with a defined end date.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha….

Famous last thoughts.

Save the Economy or Save Yourself

There was a panel discussion a few months ago concerning the state of the economy and Peter Mansbridge asked each panelist for one recommendation for someone who had a little money at their disposal. They had to pick something specific.

The big union guy said to buy a Canadian-made car. Of course he would. Funny but a car (any car) costs more than what I would put in the category of “a little money.”

The next pundit also advocated spending the money- though she would have recommended saving some if she could.

The next advocated saving with the qualifier that the fear of recession is the very thing that could bring it about. If money stops flowing, big problems (not dissimilar to what happened when big banks stopped lending to each other in 2008) could result.

The last, Amanda Lang, expanded on the third comment but said the majority of people will ignore common sense advice so her recommendation is to save yourself and save the money.

I love it.

Save yourself!!

I laughed out loud.

When Things Go to Hell, People Get Ugly

I was thrown under the bus a few years ago and I was completely oblivious until it was too late.

Call me naïve.

But my suspicion is it is happening again. I don’t have concrete proof but the daggers sticking out of my back would seem to be a pretty good indication something is afoot.

Giving Myself Permission to Live a Little

I was in Hamburg this time last week to spend time with family.

Both my mom and I were slightly incapacitated by sticker shock. There were a few random items that were cheaper than in Toronto (plain yogurt, booze, a good group deal on public transport after 9am) but everything else was either the same price but in Euros or more than five times the price (before the conversion to Canadian dollars!!!)

I know we shouldn’t compare apples with Euro apples but it is a tough thing to do when frugality is ingrained in us- my mom even more so than me!