syllana - Plinky Answers

Describe how you'd spend $1,000

2009-01-28T11:24:17-06:00

Why would I spend it? When I was a kid and someone like my aunt gave me $20 on an occasion, she's ask, "What are you going to do with the money?". I was confused by the question, even then. What "do"? I'd likely put the money in the bank to keep/have or use as needed for living. When financial security is a goal, that goal means having money. To me, it seems that some people are allergic to money and think money is to spend ASAP. My goal is to use/spend 50% or less of what comes in.

$1,000 is not a lot of money. It's less than purchasing health insurance for this household for one month, which we don't do and would be crazy to do. It is about the cost of rent, utilities, internet, cable and phones for a month.

If our needs were covered and we wanted some gadget, we'd consider about $300 of it spendable.

If I could tame a wild animal

2009-01-25T14:30:06-06:00

I signed up at Plinky and have been using the prompts, though I am not necessarily very good at simply answering the question. I'm not going to pick a wild animal to keep as a pet today, but will make it a MaggieMae update. She has her wild moments, but at 13 years, she does show some signs of aging. She can't jump very high, needs help to get in the car, and apparently her bladder has become weaker. She was developing the bad habit of peeing on the carpet during the night, and I was about ready to buy dog diapers. I have a nice carpet cleaner, but got tired of using it 3 times a week, so I did some research and found dog diapers and medications. The diapers would be another expense, but I would do that if I really had to. The medications, I found, can be deadly. And my friend who belongs to dog-lover groups said that there are actually people who "put down" their dogs when this happens. Not something I could imagine doing. This dog is a family member, and like a child.

I decided a couple of weeks ago to experiment with limiting her water intake, since she likes to drink it at night. At the same time, I wanted her to drink enough before the cut-off point, so I give her her FreshPet Select treat between 4:30 and 5:30 pm, which makes her thirsty. I pull the water at 6 pm. Last call for going outside is 10 pm. Then there was the problem that she was becoming accustomed to getting out of her bed in the bedroom at 2 am or so, going into the living room and peeing. I could hear her get out of bed, so I'd yell at her to get back into the bedroom lest she be put in the "den" - which is her airline carrier. She listened, obeyed and we've killed the habit. This combination has worked! Hooray! Sleeping in the den was an option as well, but I would rather not restrict her unnecessarily. So all's well once again, and if the carpet is wet it is because I just shampooed it.

Adulthood reared its ugly head?

2009-01-24T13:36:38-06:00

I think it was when I was no longer carded for buying alcohol, and that didn't happen until I was over 30. It was frankly disappointing.

When I get home, I kick my shoes off

2009-01-23T23:55:06-06:00

I don't like shoes. In fact, I wear sandals most of the time and consider them shoes. As soon as I've taken the dog out, I take them off, along with my vest or jacket. There's no reason to change clothes, unless there's a reason. Another thing I do when I get home from anywhere is wash my hands. I do everything I can to avoid contagious illness, not only because being sick is not fun, but because there is no guaranteed access to quality medical care in this country. Americans can't afford to be sick, and members of this household are no exception.