Mysteriously, the NW creeps up. *quirked brow*

There was an inexplicable contribution to the retirement fund mid-July, but all my contributions should have ended the 3rd week of June. I find myself hoping there's a mystery paycheck to go with that extra $400. No such luck, but the overtime money from May and June did come in while I was in NYC. Vanguard's CS was stumped by the deposit as well, so we're just going to ignore it, I don't have the energy to track it down. Those two things account for the increase, despite the wild-eyed spending of this entire month.

Goals are still A) get a job, and failing that, B) stop spending so freely. But relax and have fun in the interim.

From here on out, I've only got modest travel plans since my routine revolves around networking and job hunting, with some time spent with friends I haven't seen very much in the last five years.

Decompression and detoxing is hard work! But completely worth it. In the last four weeks, I've only gotten angry twice, don't think I've ground my teeth once, am starting to sleep again, and my skin is vastly improved. My appetite, memory, navigational skills and sense of direction are all on the mend, too. Amazing! I should be freaking out over not having a job yet but I feel so much healthier that I'm just happy.

Long term spending: I have to plan to attend weddings in Australia and Greece in the next two years. Off the cuff estimates call for about $5000 in case I want (and can) make a real trip of each. I've already got my tickets for Comic Con 2010, too.

Would you rather spend $250 for two nights in a standard hotel, or redeem (all) 60,000 Hilton points and save the cash?

The points took six years to accumulate because I'm not focused on collecting hotel points right now, but it's currently only enough to only pay for, say, half a room in a desirable location like NYC or San Diego. In another six, assuming no difference in spending patterns, I could maybe get one room in a nice hotel, for a single night.




I was in a total bind for my interview yesterday, I needed a black bag and haven't had time this month to find and buy a good one.

Pros: 1. It was only $30. On an unemployed budget, that's doable.
2. It's not as shiny as in the picture, so less cheap looking.
3. It's very lightweight.
4. It's soft. Not Super Soft, but soft.
5. It's the right size for basic interview essentials with room left over for the suit jacket in hundred degree weather.
6. I already have it: I hate bag shopping so this could save me a lot of time and money.

Cons: 1. It's polyurethane so it's going to have a slightly plastic look on the handles and that looks disgusting when it breaks down
2. The front side zip pocket is surprisingly shallow
3. The bag is a little on the thing side (3 inches wide?)
4. It's very slouchy. Seems like the slouchiness would be less professional looking.
5. It's a mag-closure. I want my bags to be all things in all situations, and mag closure means it's not waterproof.
6. But still, quality is a question. [companion to Pro #6]

United was the first airline in my personal slate of airlines to institute a fairly draconian fee schedule for redeeming your Mileage Plus awards a couple years back. It was on a sliding scale of late-booking sin:

21 days out: free
7-14 days out: $50
0-7 days out: $75

Wonder why they've decided to stop doing it? Perhaps because they'll be making money on the baggage fees hand over fist anyway?

Whatever the reason, I'm glad. I'm nowhere near redeeming miles for another flight but I was getting tired of heaping all my airline love on just Southwest. Eons ago, United was my primary choice because they'd run all these great reduced miles-redemption promos, only charging 15K miles for short runs, and heaping bonus miles promotions in the increments of thousands on us. I miss those days.

It's no surprise to those who geek out with me regularly, but for those of you who don't (and there are many), I love David Mack.

It's 90% nostalgic love because his work is what brought me home to comics again. His work, the lyrical writing and the beautiful haunting art, made me remember why I loved reading comics before Marvel and DC went series crossover mad, and made me mad.

10% is active love: the man is really nice in person and has a great smile. I visit his booth multiple times every Con. He made my Con in 2003 when he remembered my name and recognized me from across the room after meeting me once, three months prior. No joke, he's really really nice.

For her 21st birthday, my lil cousin is receiving what I call the Mack Stack: a collection of all the Kabuki series, plus five sketch books he threw in free when I bought the rest of the books from him. All signed, all gorgeous beyond belief.

It's been years since I gave her a really good present because we've only recently come to the point where we share interests. She is now the age I was when I was introduced to David Mack's work, and while she won't come to the discovery with the same surprise and joy of reviving an old love, I hope she appreciates the complexity of the characters and world that he created, and enjoys his incredible experimentation with art styles.

I'd love to share some Kabuki love with my readers .... perhaps a signed sketch book giveaway?

On the financial front: I embarked on this collection project because we were browsing through the 50% off booths at Con, and I found great condition Vols 1, 4 and 6 for a total of $21. [Cover Price total: ~60] Bought the other three for full price from him directly for $51, and he gave me 5 sketch books which are usually $4/each. I prefer to give my money to the creators/vendors directly when I can afford to.

Stuff is a bit of an obsession for me.

Wasting money on stuff that doesn't do its job bothers me almost as much as wasting money does but sometimes I can't resist the gimmes. Shiny things - I like. When that happens, I try to follow a one-in, one-out policy but in such a small space, over-accumulation is much too easy. Ultimately, I've got to get better at rejecting or selecting because the time spent on making the purchase right, whether by return, exchange, or gifting, is getting to be a bit much.

Every week, I'll root out another box or corner, decide what objects are just collecting dust and start disposing. You'd think I'd have nothing left at this point, but alas, it's a never-ending project to pare down my possessions.

Most recently, the pile of things to Deal With consisted of:
1) A never used lock replacement set from Home Depot
2) A pair of flats from Target that failed miserably
3) Four Breyer horses in good condition, one still in the box
4) two pairs of shoes from Endless.com that I simply couldn't love
5) a couple stuffed animals
6) an old point and shoot camera [Lexio 70] that I stopped using years ago
7) a pile of old books that were sent my way for reading and disposal
8) a pair of running shoes, half a size too big
9) t-shirts from Con

I managed Items 1-3 before San Diego, getting ~$20 in merchandise credits from each store with surprisingly very little trouble, and gave the Breyers to a good friend whose daughter is just learning to walk. Her momma loves horses and is very excited to add to her daughter's future collection. I know that they were worth money but not enough to make it worth the trouble of trying to find buyers. They weren't valuable models, they were just to make me feel better about not having a horse of my own. Yep, definitely went through that girl loves horses stage but now I know they're too expensive.

(4) The shoes were taken to the UPS store for return and that should kick almost a hundred dollars back onto my credit card, and the (5) running shoes were finally exchanged for a better size. Free exchange! I even got my feet sized: they're 5.5 but you're supposed to go half a size larger for running shoes, and my right foot is freakish so it needs a shoe yet another half size larger. [If anyone wants to buy me running shoes, you now know that I need a size 6.5.]

At Con, I bought a hilariously inappropriate (9) t-shirt from these guys, and later realized that there is no way I can wear it in public. No matter how funny it is, I just can't think of a single time or place it'd be ok. Call me a prude if you must, I took the shirt back and asked them to give me a different one. There's no point in paying $18 for a shirt I'll only giggle over at home.

Looks like I'm just left with stuffed animals and books. The books will likely go into the paperbackswap pile that my friend manages, but what to do with the stuffeds? And the camera? I really don't want to set up an Ebay store for the camera.... Craigslist? Must overcome laziness factor!

Good mornin' all!

Most people have been up and about for hours, East Coast or West Coast, but this is my first morning post-freedom without any travel plans pending. That means a) waking up early and saying, "nope, goin' back to sleep" and b) having a short list of errands to run before sitting around and reading comic books from Con. Ahhh yes, summer vacation!

......

Or, ahhhh, unemployment! Hmph, that's not nearly as appealing.

As usual after a travel day, I couldn't sleep at a decent hour last night, so I had to stay up reading, cleaning and then eating random snacks. *smh* Stale donuts really aren't so bad, especially if they fulfill a craving. :)

So here's the short list:

1. Return the rental car.
2. Finally complete the Cal Jobs thing.
3. Mail off porting life insurance paperwork.
4. Discover where that mysterious retirement contribution on July 21st came from. [Might there also be a mystery check?? One may hope.]
5. Catch up on blogs, try to retrain my mind to write again.
6. Calculate total damages to travel fund.
7. Ship shoes for return to Endless.com. Thank goodness for generous return policies!
8. Search for jobs online.

Anything else?

Oh yes, and churn up the gift money for a friend's wedding present. I think I'm going to take the Thank You points premium hit and "pay" 7000 points for a $50 gift card. Worth it to me not to take that cash out of pocket after the spendiness of Comic Con, and I haven't been able to make up my mind about what to redeem for in over 18 months anyway.

There was the insta-rage lady at the newly open, already crumbly pizza joint in Chelsea. A brown paper bag and crumbs on the bench seat set off a tirade, one part speculating, two parts accusatory, regarding the probable lupine parentage of previous patrons. There was the bewilderingly affronted lady, forced to stop for our street crossing when she came to the intersection and stop sign. Evidently had it not been for our outrageous legal use of the crosswalk, she’d no intentions of stopping. And then there was the bellowing chess player on the top step at Union Square. Screaming and shaking his righteous fist at the sky, he refused to be judged by an unseen, unidentified, unprintable word of an unspeakable origin. This was the New York I expected: a raucous landscape textured by the terse, the taciturn, displaced, misplaced fear or anger. My most vivid memory of New York to date was an extremely hostile woman on the subway, shoving her way through the mass of transit passengers and cursing out my luggage. This fit my mental picture.

It wasn’t until 45 minutes after boarding my return flight to Los Angeles, 45 minutes of creeping along the tarmac with no real intent to take off, that the real New York really settled into my bones.

Entering the city, the strobelights of the brilliant, the driven, were blinding. Time and again I was told: New York is the best city in the world. The food, top flight theater, medical centers, art, music, everything here was the best. [It’s worth the rent!] Residents and transplants alike resonate with an instinctive fight to survive, thrive and endure. To create, produce, dominate. It’s dirty, rough, very rough on the senses of a tenderfoot. The incredible anonymity and isolation was evident in the straight-ahead stares of so many fellow pedestrians, alien glares and snips and bites of the yellow cab drivers. It’s a prizefighter’s city, in a way. Nothing here comes without sacrifice and ever higher prices. How much a sacrifice, and of what, remains a point of pride among those who live(d) there. This I felt to be a true challenge of surviving this city.

Truth be told, I harbored a lurking, nibbling away fear that on July 1st, I’d arrive and immediately wish myself away, discover that I desperately wanted a job in New York while desperately hated the city. On July 4th, I could hardly fathom how complete strangers, incomplete strangers and acquaintances could be almost uniformly gracious, welcoming and friendly. By July 6th, I’d tentatively accepted that this strange city was stranger still than I’d imagined. By July 7th, I’d gone so far as to ask a random lady, another subway rider for an assessment of my appearance pre-interview. I was that nervous. And she was that nice, to approve my get-up and wish me well.

After extending my stay, I pointed half a dozen strangers, tourists all, along their way. I discovered that the subway system was navigable and had only gotten completely turned around underground twice. The subterranean treks, in no small part thanks to dressing for extreme humidity, were endlessly amusing as I muttered directions to myself, gesturing as needed, blending all too well the mentally unstable denizens of the streets. I still haven’t got the subways and all the stops down, but I note for posterity that the entrance at 60th and Lexington as an easy alternative to 59th and Lex is a lie, while the 59th and Lex escalator qualifies as Mt. Kinley when it’s not working. During one of many thunderstorms the first week, fellow pedestrians similarly caught without umbrellas chatted easily about the weather and their interrupted days. Again, I cannot believe the number of people who asked me for assistance. I charged my phone three times a day, I was using the Google Maps and subway app so much.

Most of all, the personal and professional encounters during my stay were phenomenal. Despite my otherwise near hysterical insistence on anonymity, I don’t regret meeting up with fellow bloggers. To the contrary, they were highlights of my visit. Friends I’d gotten to know through months or years of correspondence were gracious hosts in every sense, offering their time generously and without hesitation. I’ve never been so flattered than when a highly placed professional judged, “After speaking with you for ten minutes, I would call you a leader, not just a manager.” Another acquaintance, fast becoming a friend and mentor, then topped that compliment the following week with, “You have a writer’s voice. You have potential.” Both individuals followed up their statements with recommendations and introductions to their professional networks, suggesting they weren’t just feeding me a line. And who am I to merit that kind of attention? Nobody to them, not before that day. Certainly I understand cronyism and nepotism, I’ve seen it many times in previous employers, but I must conclude that these are true scholars of the pay it forward philosophy. Good people to learn from in so many ways.

What’s that saying? "New York: if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere." Is it true? Perhaps.

I feel like I’m slowly coming back from a foreign country, that this New York of 2009 is intricate and exhausting. The city can really wring it out of you, but I’ve met so many genuinely nice, thoughtful, interesting friends in my short time here that I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ve learned to love the complexity at least a little bit.

It's been nearly a week and I still haven't mustered the courage to try and figure out how much this one's going to cost.

On the way home from the airport, a huge chunk of asphalt or rock popped up from the right lane, and smashed into the lower right corner of my car. I was fairly certain that it mostly hit the bottom of my car, but as we drove on, I could hear an ominous whistling. Upon close inspection, the object did hit the bottom of my car which is already *ahem* damaged and still unrepaired, but even worse! It's smashed the housing for my daytime running light. The bulb is fine, but the housing is completely destroyed.

Big. Fat. Sigh.

I'm not even going to deal with this until Comic-Con is over.

(still thinking about it, though....)

Central Park: The NY Philharmonic is playing free concerts in Central Park this summer, and I had the chance to attend Friday night. We were in the furthest back corner from the orchestra, but the acoustics were excellent and you could hear the music perfectly. It was a perfect summer evening, sitting on the blanket with girlfriends, wine, cheese, bread and jam. We were looking forward to the fireworks at the end, but the cloud cover burst and we were quickly drenched in a downpour. I failed to take a picture of the perfection. Flexo was there! I didn't see him. Er, I wouldn't know if I saw him, actually.

Pravda: Described as an underground Russian bar, I had the dubious pleasure of enjoying the strongest vodka martini of my life. At $14, I had more than my money’s worth well before I reached the halfway point, and was forced to order Speck with bread and cheese to stave off the embarrassment of passing out. Without a doubt, my single martini was stronger than the Limontini, White Russian and French Martinis ordered ‘round the table, combined. Naturally, I shared. Ambience: excellent. Memorable moment: while waiting in line for the two unisex washrooms, a dude in a striped shirt, texting, graciously waved us girls in ahead of him. Friend later speculated that that’s a decent potential conversation starter as it clearly generated good will. Confusion first, but good will that lasted.

East Village: On a mission to pick up goodies for the park excursion, I decided to hike south through the East Village and Lower East Side. Along the way, I discovered Pommes Frites, and a string of tiny little parks.

Bleeker/Carmine/6th Ave: Joe’s Famous Pizza. It only took two weeks, but I finally made it over there for a slice. Delicious. I have to hope that I’ve not been ruined for pizza elsewhere because I never believed that NY pizza was the epitome of pizzas…. Except it’s really really good. I love the really thin, light and chewy crusts. Surprisingly, I never went to town on an entire pie by myself. Really should have given that a go.

Rice to Riches: The rice pudding place that NY friend always takes newcomers to, and I tag along only so that I can collect their flying saucer like containers. I am that girl. Only worse, because who goes to shops where they won’t eat the food but want the containers? Weeeiird.

Friends: Two friends are entrepreneurs, and I materially benefited from our relationship: I tried on pretty clothing, none of which I took home, and I got to try on a pretty necklace that I did get to take home. Sparkly …..


Missed Opportunities: There’s an Edible Gardens thing going on in the Bronx, and I managed to miss it all. Also, I really wanted to go salsa dancing at one of those places that have a free lesson before they play the real stuff. If I’d paid an extra $356, I could have upgraded to First class and gotten my own personal media player. Totally worth it if I got to keep it, and it also transformed into a Netbook. And an EasyBake Oven.

*As previously Twittered, I am now officially weak sauce. I was incapable of lifting my carryon suitcase into the overhead bin. As in, I hoisted it halfway and failed miserably to complete the task. That Is Embarrassing. Yes, my friend called me the 80 pound girl with arthritis, but for heaven’s sake! It’s a joke! One, I weigh more than that and two, was almost always able to heave that ‘case ho (except that one time I way overpacked for winter in Italy and we were staying in a five story walk-up). I think that travelin’ friend has forgiven me for that ordeal.

* I get really easily bored on planes now. The flight attendants came through the cabin at least an hour before ETA offering “one more drink before we land?” and I bounced up out of my seat with an, “ooh! We’re landing??” Again: Embarrassing.

* Someone rationalized my talking to myself [out loud (in public)]: “Well, the rest of us have the pleasure of your conversation, I don’t see why you ought to deprive yourself. “ That’s sweet, but let’s be honest. After reading the above? How many of you would prefer not to be seen with me in public? It’s ok to be honest, I'd understand.

* There’s only so much socializing I can take. “But you’re in NEWYORK-you-can’t-stay-home!!” only works on me a few nights out of the week. I need quiet, productive time! I don’t know how those business students “network” [yes, no, that means party and drink] practically every night of the week. Columbia Business School is off my list of prospective schools.

* All about independence and tackling the challenges head on, but museums when you’re alone? Boring. Sorry. Just boring. Perhaps I need to perfect my talking-to-strangers skill?

* Food is always good.

Sitting in the cab, sweaty and frustrated over the thwartion of the subway, I wondered how much money I'd spent foolishly in NY.

The biggest hit was the cab fare to JFK: $52 after tip, plus $2.50 for a drink that I only half finished but desperately needed during that hour-long ride.

Aside from that, though, most stupid offenses were of the minor variety: $20 flats from Target that were Blister City, $8 for Blister Block which got me through 3 days of walking, $5 for two pairs of flip flops that I could have avoided spending if I'd just brought my trusty Rainbows.

Then there's the $56 of makeup from Sephora. If I'd only the prescience to realize that I'd shop there, I could have redeemed Sephora gift cards from Thank You points and avoided spending that out of pocket.

Total spending came to just under $550 for 18 days, or an average of $30/day, so you can either say I didn't spend much at all anyway, or that I managed to waste 20% of the total.

I returned home to a 10-inch stack of mail: unemployment claims forms, credit card fraud validation forms, a few bills I'd already seen online. A new credit card to replace the canceled one, instructions from the EDD to register for work on CalJOBS or else, porting forms for life insurance, the all important instructions for COBRA.

And a check for overtime in the amount of $800. I can't believe I'd forgotten about that! Speaking of forgetting things, I almost forget to add the rent check to the pile of envelopes to be sent out.

Depositing that check and a small wad of cash from my trip fends off the spectre of being a non-earner for another week or two; the lack of earned income bothers me at an intellectual level but it hasn't really hit me in the gut yet thanks to these little infusions of income. I'm still nervous about California coming through with unemployment but that remains a mostly nebulous fear; pretty sure I'd hear all about it post-haste if that were to fall apart.

I've waded through most of the forms by now, but there remains the life insurance porting and COBRA. The former requires a call to the benefits administrator before it can be completed and mailed: some genius decided to fill out all the "annual salary at time of termination" blanks with "$110,000." Wishful thinking on both our parts, pal.

The latter is just too much fine print to read tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Oh and the CalJOBS application. *sigh* I hate online forms that require the laborious filling in of text boxes and drop down menus. It's all on the resume!

Good grief!

A SBO friend relayed the story of a customer, Z, to me recently. Some months ago, Z purchased apparel as a gift to a gorgeous model-ish gal who decided that said apparel (and accessories) would become symbols of the success of their relationship.

If she decided to keep the gifts, they were on.

If she decided to return them, she was rejecting him.

Almost unsurprisingly, the chap received notice that the gifts were wending their way back to his possession, cultural differences cited as the reason for their failure as a couple. Though "disappointed," the fella already "has another girl in the works" and rattles off the names of the designers New Gal swoons over, adding the suggestion that he is perhaps in over his head.

I'll say! Then again, she's got good taste, as do I. ;) In dresses, not in men! Er .... her, not ... never mind. I'm just saying that, perhaps, if the best description of a potential partner you're able to provide is that of his or her labels, there's not much of a foundation for a strong relationship than one might hope.

Or am I the hopeless romantic here? Is this typical of the high-powered, big-money types of relationships?

It's been about a month in the making, but I've finally committed. My TradeKing account is open, funded, and I executed my first trade. You're reading the words of the proud owner of ten shares of KO. :)

Ohhh yeah, that's right. A whole ten shares. Because for a thousand dollars, I seemed to think I'd start a slightly diversified portfolio with two kinds of stocks with only two in mind to start. Further research revealed that whole thousand dollars still couldn't buy half a Berkshire Hathaway B class share. I should have just bought 20 shares of KO and been done with it. (Already with the hindsight, here.) If/when the price drops below $48 again, I'll go ahead and nab a few more.

To be honest, it's amusing that this first purchase is so exciting, but I can't help it. This is my first step on a (one hopes!) long investing journey of dividends, splits and income. This isn't a blog about hot stock tips or the latest investing tool, so you don't have to worry about that. It remains a blog about all things financially exciting and novel in my life, you can rest assured that the carrying on about rather mundane things such as saving money and creating growth income shall continue.

I may still be in NY right now, but I've been keeping up with tidbits of news about California, namely, the financial situation.

While discussing this with my friend, she asked who would be affected by the IOU situation and I wasn't really sure. My assumption was that state contractors and vendors would be, and that state employees would find their work hours affected as well as delayed paychecks. I'd forgotten that income tax returns would be IOUed as well, and Jonathan of My Money Blog, has received one of his very own.

That makes me wonder if unemployment will be protected from this issue, and for how long? If we're broke, we're broke. And I'll have to make some interesting changes to my projected budget for the next few months if nothing turns up on the job front!

What day is this? Is it Saturday? Again? Everyday would seem like Saturday if my friends weren't mostly working during the day.

Update update update ..... My gamut of interviews is over for now and now we wait and we see. I won't hear back until August about the most-wanted job but I've had good meetings with senior folks in the company and am now being totally Zen about this. If this is meant to be, it'll happen.

I had a wonderful walk in Central Park with MoneyMateKate, and a lovely dinner with another friend I was meeting for the first time today! Funny how this trip has turned into an opportunity to meet so many new friends or old acquaintances.

My tour of a friend's workplace turned up another set of informational interviews, and my resume is winging its way through another set of connections. It never fails to amaze me that people are willing to make that sort of recommendation based on knowing me for about five or ten minutes. Not that I'm not worth it! ;)

Oh, and I did extend my trip, at least until Tuesday. If the last round of meetings bears interview fruit, I have the freedom to extend again until just before Comic Con. Get this: my free ticket voucher from getting bumped from a flight allows me to change the dates of travel at will, for free.

And now, a little food porn to hold y'all over:

Retirement Savings	Roth IRA: $3,968 401(a): $7,498 403(b): $17,480 Total: $ 28,946 (27,540)
Emergency Savings	Catastrophe: $ 35,394 Problem Cushion: $ 1,000 Total: $ 36,394 (30,594)
Short Term Goals	Car Maintenance: $2,217 Insurance: $2,491 Travel/Con: $ 1,549 Taxes: $3,377 Moving: $3,980 Total: $ 13,614 (10,851)
Long Term Goals	House Down Payment: $102
Investments	TradeKing: $1,000 Prosper-ish Loan: $12,630 Personal Loan: $1,500 Savings Bond: $362 (current accrued value) Total: $ 15,492 (14,992)
Total Assets	Illiquid: $ 28,946 Semi-Liquid: $15,492 Liquid: $36,394 Expense Acct: $9,108 Goals Savings: $13,614 Total: $ 103,554 (93,517)
Debt and Liabilities	AX: $154 Chase: $46 Rent: $1360 Total: $ 1,550 (2,004)
Net Worth	$ 102,004 (91,513)

Happy Fourth of July!

This is cheating a wee little bit, late as it is, but I've been using mostly cash here, funded by the sale of the iPod, with a few credit card purchases so the numbers are fairly accurate.

Holy crapola. There's nothing like being a whole 2 grand over the six figure mark to make me want to stop spending RIGHT NOW. I'm going to take a moment and enjoy the fact I managed to hit those numbers before thumping down to earth with the realization that I've just applied for unemployment a couple days ago and I'm still in NYC with a belly to feed. Oh holy cow.

Being on vacation has turned my brain to mush: I constantly lose track of days, and haven't sent out my resume to the guy who requested it week before last. I've only been slightly connected via Twitter/phone and it's been really fun, but a little unsettling as well.

There's a bit of me that wants to extend this trip for another few days. $150 change fee.... a few more days of subway travel .... ??

Hey all!

I've got my feet up right now, sitting in my absent friend's living room watching NCIS. I still can't decide who I like best, other than Mark Harmon. Anyway, it's only been two days and I've about walked my hips off. Wednesday was spent wandering around Chinatown and Battery Park, yesterday was Midtown along the lower border of Central Park.

I'm resting up now in anticipation of touring lower Central Park later today. They were NOT kidding about those thunderstorms! I got caught out in about four of them, once without my umbrella because I lent it to another friend for an errand. Some guy actually laughed at me when I pulled in under an overhang, sopping wet, to rebag my tote bag. Can't say I blame him since I looked like a drowned rat and was laughing at myself.

It turns out, though, my flats from Target aren't in good shape after that torrential downpour. They were so waterlogged that I almost lost them running down the street a few times. Hehe. That was pretty funny, too. It turns out I should just have bought a cheap pair of flip flops instead of searching for the perfect pair of walking flats. Easily remedied with a short trip to Old Navy. It's just up the street!

Most of my meals are being photographed, so I'll share those pictures when I get back.

The other night, my phone rang. It was one of my best friends, let's call him Robin, asking if I was home. It was 9 pm, "sorry, I forgot to call you back in 'two hours'....!"

I had to laugh. We'd last talked at 11 am, and here he was calling me back the rest of the day later. I shook my head and told him to swing by. We ended up sitting outside chatting for hours. [I have multiple mosquito bites to remember it by.]

The subject of careers and jobs was high on the list of topics: goals, strategies, and reflections on our decisions. Another old friend, practically family, had made an off-hand comment about me that I shared with Robin that night: "You're going to turn into one of those SATC women. All career, no family."

Now, Robin's a thoughtful fellow. He looked at me and said, "you know? From the outside, people think that's where you're headed, and .... well, I always just thought you were like me."

He's done so well since we graduated from college, working for a school district and then striking out from that "safe" position to a private company three years after that. The calculated risk to grow his job description for a good bit more money, and a huge commute, panned out in a big way. Not only did he get out of a soon-to-melt-down sector, he asked for a major raise after six months, and despite initial balking, received it six months after that. He's taken on more responsibility, studying for certifications, and worked his butt off in pursuit of another significant raise soon.

"We care about our jobs and careers, and we're going to keep pushing ourselves, pushing for the next level, and the higher salary. But we're doing it because we're aiming for that point when we have stability and freedom, and we're ready to settle back and grow our families. People see me at work, and they keep asking, 'why are you working so hard, why don't you take a break?' They just don't see the bigger picture. We're reaching for the long-term, and we're going to take that break. But it'll be a heck of a different break than they're thinking of!"

His analysis and observations were pretty spot-on. It's not about the money so much as the expertise, the challenges we take on, and the resumes we build that will pave the way for us to make the choices we want in life. We're neither of us particularly genius or highly entrepreneurial. But in our own quiet ways, we're going to aim high, reach high and create some kind of stable lives for our families. And we'll know when enough is enough. Like Frugal Dad, we don't need a corner office or the outward trappings of success for the sake of having them. We have longer-reaching goals.

It never fails to amaze me how much we have in common so many years and disparate experiences later.

On Living Almost Large's post about the recession ruining friendships, Meg asked:

We DO need better friends. But how do you find them? We’ve been burned so many times! And we’re tired of expending so much energy and even money on these vampires.

I don't have any single answer to that, but as we get older, I understand how important it is to find and keep friends with the same values. Superficially, Robin and I are rather unlikely friends. He's devoutly religious, I'm completely not. He's a big earner and spender, I'm neither. He's unreservedly charming, physically adorable, a frat boy, and athletic beyond words. I'm pretty plain Jane with some alarming health limitations. But none of that really matters when it comes down to cases. What does matter is who you can sit on the front step with in the middle of the night, sharing any and everything.

is just not peachy. Even though both credit cards on this account have been in my possession, someone managed to get the number on June 24th, attempted a $1 charge on it 50 miles away, and then went to (gas station) town on it the next day in the amounts of $85 and $75.

This is the reason I use credit cards instead of debit. I'm not responsible for those charges, or I shouldn't be, anyway, and Chase has already closed that account and issued new cards. But I'm still ticked. I'll be without my primary use card for five business days, smack dab in the middle of my trip which is inconvenient but how the heck did someone get the whole card number? That's downright unsettling.

In any case, things seem to be well in hand for now. In ten business days, a set of Fraud Verification paperwork will need to be filled out and that should be the end of that. I hope.

As much a lightly-packing ninja I fancy myself, there are always some fantastic tips out in the blogworld that are worth repeating:

From the Unclutterer:

Plan your wardrobe around a limited color scheme and choose your neutral first. I typically choose EITHER black or brown, and then plan the rest of my clothing around two other colors such as blue and tan. This way I can mix, match, layer and create a bunch of different outfits without needing a ton of items.

Use your shoes as containers. I can get three pairs of socks and my sports bra into my sneakers! Mens’ dress shoes are roomy too, as are some ladies shoes. Plus when your shoes are stuffed it keeps them from getting crushed. Bonus!

From Ms. Minimalist herself, FB:

Pack properly
Put your liquids, gels and aerosols ALREADY stuffed into that tiny little plastic bag (you can reuse them, they don't care how new they look), and put it in the FRONT sections of your carry-on so you can easily grab them out and throw them into the bin before going through.

I have this down to an art now.

I also put my laptop in a section where it's easy to pull out and throw into the bin as well.

My main rules about packing are:
1. Bring only what you NEED. Only one "just-in-case" top is allowed, because I have been known to muss myself.
2. Bring only what you can carry. I'm pretty darned small, and can't expect to be helped by strangers, so if I can't bench it, I can't bring it.

For this nine-day trip, I'm going with browns/blues: two day dresses, two skirts, five tops. Also, two black dresses in case we go out or I go dancin', business suit, and pajamas. A towel is stuffed into my most lightweight purse that I'll use during the day, and the pair get packed into the carry-on suitcase, while the laptop goes into the backpack.

Five tops seems excessive, but I've been told to pack for hot and humid. I'd like to be a fresh smelling tourist, and I've got room to spare. As for shoes, I've got sneakers, the new pair of brown walking flats [pleaseplease be kind to my feet in NYC!], and one pair of sandals to go with the business suit and evening dresses. It's all pretty flexible, but not as minimalist as I would like.

Since my experience with packing tends to be business-oriented, we'll see how my business +vacation packing skills hold up.