I hope everyone took some time yesterday to watch history being made. I kept the TV on practically all day watching, and then just listening, to the day's events unfold.
The Son decided to miss part of his Spanish class in order to be able to watch Barack Obama take the oath of office, live, as it happened rather than watch a rerun on TV later in the day. To understand the significance of that decision one has to understand the mind of an Aspie; missing a class as fast-paced and challenging as high school Spanish and potentially getting behind in his studies is no laughing matter. Going late to anything, no matter socially-insignificant and no matter how much he doesn't even want to go, is a major-stress-inducing experience.
Apparently everything worked out okay. In fact, he received a few kudos and mewls of envy from various teachers yesterday who woulda' if they coulda'.
Thank goodness that the historical significance of the day was so incredibly monumental. An event any smaller would have been overshadowed by the huge expense and the huge purchase I had to shell out for yesterday.
The Husband's Impreza has been leaving very small but worrying (and annoying) drips of oil on the garage floor. Also, when I had new tires put on the car in November, I noticed wear patterns that indicated the car was out of alignment. I'd meant to take the car in for service over the holidays figuring that surviving with only one vehicle between the three of us might be easier when The Daughter wasn't in school. I never made the appointment. Then, last week while buying the new Outback I was ashamed to admit to the salesman, the same guy from whom we had purchased the Impreza, that even though it already had over 40,000 miles, we hadn't had it in for any servicing other than regular oil changes.
Since we temporarily have three vehicles at our disposal, I buckled down and made a servicing appointment. I chose the 30,000 servicing package as it's more comprehensive than the 45,000 package and I asked them to do an all-wheel alignment. [One of the facts of life when you buy a Subaru is that you always buy 4 tires at once and have to pay for all-wheel alignments instead of just front-wheel alignments.]
Luckily the oil leaks were due simply to the poorly installed or cheaply made oil filter. They fixed the problem and steam cleaned the oil off the engine. They also changed the car's air filter (not to be confused with the engine's air filter). This one filter's the air in the vehicle itself and, as luck and poor design will have it, the labor to change it is astronomical because one has to disassemble the glove box in order to access the filter. It was disgusting and filthy and I'm glad we had it done.
The printout results from the all-wheel alignment showed the the car was definintely out of alignment. Fixing that will definitely help improve the life expectancy of the new tires.
Anyway, the final bill was $653.55 but when I dropped it off on Monday night I asked if anyone had a coupon sitting around that we could apply. The tech I talked to said he didn't but maybe the guy I'd booked the appointment did. Next day when I was checking out I asked again about a coupon but the new tech, the one with whom I'd made the appointment, said he didn't have one either. Then we looked at the bill and noticed that $61.04 had been deducted on the "coupon/discount" line. I didn't know who to thank but I took it anyway. So my final total, put on my American Express Blue car which will net me an additional 1.5% cash back this February, was $609.94.
The day's huge purchase is a lot harder to justify. The Daughter's 17th birthday is approaching. I won't go into the emotions I experience at the thought of having a 17yo daughter; suffice it to say that my emotions are varied and, I think, fairly typical 
It just so happens that she has a huge crush on Joe Jonas [I have to admit, he's pretty cute] and is a huge fan of the Jonas Brothers in general [yeah, I don't so much understand that one but then she's 17 and I'm 44]. And, coincidence of all coincidences, their new 3D movie is coming out soon. It's not just coming out in the same month of her birth but it premieres on her birthday! Like any young girl caught up in pop culture with a crush on a cute celebrity she's interpreted that as some kind of sign from the heavens.
She's decided that what she wants for her birthday is to take all of her friends (many of whom have no real interest in the Jonas Brothers and would otherwise not be caught dead at a Jonas Brother's movie) to see the movie then back to our house for a pizza party/sleepover moviefest. I have to tell you I was much more open to the idea before I learned that the ticket price to this particular 3D concert movie is twice the price of a regular movie ticket. That's just nuts!
Honestly, I wasn't all that in favor of granting this particular birthday wish. After all, we recently shelled out a phenomenal amount of money for a surprise very-very-belated-hurry-celebrate-her-16th-before-she-turns-17 birthday pizza party. But The Husband, a huge softie especially when it comes to his baby girl, said we should go ahead and do it. The Daughter did offer to forfeit both her February cash allowance ($6 per week) and her February $100 non-cash-budget-category-only clothing and cosmetics allowance to help pay for the party/tickets.
I was clear that I required firm commitments from her friends before I'd shell out $15 per ticket; I don't want any no-shows. Last night she gave me a final headcount of 11 girls including herself. I'm not so cold-hearted as to agree to giving her this party and then risk disappointing her by waiting too long to obtain tickets so as soon as she had confirmed who could attend, I went online and bought the tickets through Fandango. After it was all said and done each ticket cost $16.50 (because of the $1.50 per ticket "convenience" fee). I could only buy 10 tickets at a time so I had to buy in two different blocks. Total applied to my American Express Blue card: $181.50.
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One Purchase, One Expense — Both Huge
I hope everyone took some time yesterday to watch history being made. I kept the TV on practically all day watching, and then just listening, to the day's events unfold.
The Son decided to miss part of his Spanish class in order to be able to watch Barack Obama take the oath of office, live, as it happened rather than watch a rerun on TV later in the day. To understand the significance of that decision one has to understand the mind of an Aspie; missing a class as fast-paced and challenging as high school Spanish and potentially getting behind in his studies is no laughing matter. Going late to anything, no matter socially-insignificant and no matter how much he doesn't even want to go, is a major-stress-inducing experience.
Apparently everything worked out okay. In fact, he received a few kudos and mewls of envy from various teachers yesterday who woulda' if they coulda'.
Thank goodness that the historical significance of the day was so incredibly monumental. An event any smaller would have been overshadowed by the huge expense and the huge purchase I had to shell out for yesterday.
The Husband's Impreza has been leaving very small but worrying (and annoying) drips of oil on the garage floor. Also, when I had new tires put on the car in November, I noticed wear patterns that indicated the car was out of alignment. I'd meant to take the car in for service over the holidays figuring that surviving with only one vehicle between the three of us might be easier when The Daughter wasn't in school. I never made the appointment. Then, last week while buying the new Outback I was ashamed to admit to the salesman, the same guy from whom we had purchased the Impreza, that even though it already had over 40,000 miles, we hadn't had it in for any servicing other than regular oil changes.
Since we temporarily have three vehicles at our disposal, I buckled down and made a servicing appointment. I chose the 30,000 servicing package as it's more comprehensive than the 45,000 package and I asked them to do an all-wheel alignment. [One of the facts of life when you buy a Subaru is that you always buy 4 tires at once and have to pay for all-wheel alignments instead of just front-wheel alignments.]
Luckily the oil leaks were due simply to the poorly installed or cheaply made oil filter. They fixed the problem and steam cleaned the oil off the engine. They also changed the car's air filter (not to be confused with the engine's air filter). This one filter's the air in the vehicle itself and, as luck and poor design will have it, the labor to change it is astronomical because one has to disassemble the glove box in order to access the filter. It was disgusting and filthy and I'm glad we had it done.
The printout results from the all-wheel alignment showed the the car was definintely out of alignment. Fixing that will definitely help improve the life expectancy of the new tires.
Anyway, the final bill was $653.55 but when I dropped it off on Monday night I asked if anyone had a coupon sitting around that we could apply. The tech I talked to said he didn't but maybe the guy I'd booked the appointment did. Next day when I was checking out I asked again about a coupon but the new tech, the one with whom I'd made the appointment, said he didn't have one either. Then we looked at the bill and noticed that $61.04 had been deducted on the "coupon/discount" line. I didn't know who to thank but I took it anyway. So my final total, put on my American Express Blue car which will net me an additional 1.5% cash back this February, was $609.94.
The day's huge purchase is a lot harder to justify. The Daughter's 17th birthday is approaching. I won't go into the emotions I experience at the thought of having a 17yo daughter; suffice it to say that my emotions are varied and, I think, fairly typical
It just so happens that she has a huge crush on Joe Jonas [I have to admit, he's pretty cute] and is a huge fan of the Jonas Brothers in general [yeah, I don't so much understand that one but then she's 17 and I'm 44]. And, coincidence of all coincidences, their new 3D movie is coming out soon. It's not just coming out in the same month of her birth but it premieres on her birthday! Like any young girl caught up in pop culture with a crush on a cute celebrity she's interpreted that as some kind of sign from the heavens.
She's decided that what she wants for her birthday is to take all of her friends (many of whom have no real interest in the Jonas Brothers and would otherwise not be caught dead at a Jonas Brother's movie) to see the movie then back to our house for a pizza party/sleepover moviefest. I have to tell you I was much more open to the idea before I learned that the ticket price to this particular 3D concert movie is twice the price of a regular movie ticket. That's just nuts!
Honestly, I wasn't all that in favor of granting this particular birthday wish. After all, we recently shelled out a phenomenal amount of money for a surprise very-very-belated-hurry-celebrate-her-16th-before-she-turns-17 birthday pizza party. But The Husband, a huge softie especially when it comes to his baby girl, said we should go ahead and do it. The Daughter did offer to forfeit both her February cash allowance ($6 per week) and her February $100 non-cash-budget-category-only clothing and cosmetics allowance to help pay for the party/tickets.
I was clear that I required firm commitments from her friends before I'd shell out $15 per ticket; I don't want any no-shows. Last night she gave me a final headcount of 11 girls including herself. I'm not so cold-hearted as to agree to giving her this party and then risk disappointing her by waiting too long to obtain tickets so as soon as she had confirmed who could attend, I went online and bought the tickets through Fandango. After it was all said and done each ticket cost $16.50 (because of the $1.50 per ticket "convenience" fee). I could only buy 10 tickets at a time so I had to buy in two different blocks. Total applied to my American Express Blue card: $181.50.
Related posts: