It Was Bound to Happen

Tonight we had dinner with friends downtown.  Having driven directly from work, I pulled up on one of the many busy streets of Chicago, did my little pay for parking sticker thing and was on my merry way.  Until, of course, we returned to the car about 2 hours later and saw this.

Ah, yes.  Our first official "Welcome to the City now give us money" letter from the Mayor.  As someone who is quite proud of her sign-reading ability, I'm ashamed to admit that apparently in my rush to park, I had missed the sign (above the pay for parking sign) that told me I couldn't park on the street from 4pm-6pm.

DANG IT!!!!!!

Looking over the ticket, things didn't look good.    $60 price tag.  (Also, sidenote, I noticed that the states of license plates printed on the ticket are "other," which you write in, OR Illinois- duh, Iowa- nearby, Michigan- even closer, Indiana- practically the same place, Ohio- midwest, Wisconsin- cheese is a Chicago favorite, and....TEXAS???   Of all the 44 other states to choose from, you print TEXAS???  What does this say about Texas drivers?  Geez!)  

But then I looked a little bit closer.

Look at that blessed, blessed "other" box.

Do you see it?  Can you make out those letters?  C...A.  CA.  California.  I DO NOT HAVE CALIFORNIA TAGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (There's no way to mistake that for a D and a C is there?  I mean I'm not going crazy, am I?  Unless the guy was dyslexic?  I know, I don't think so either.)

So as far as I'm concerned- and I am concerned- we're off the hook.  Sure, a tiny, itsy bitsy bit of my conscience thinks, "Well, I should probably still pay the ticket."  Granted, the other 99% is saying "HELL NO" much louder.  I mean, if we don't get a ticket in the mail, we can just chalk it up to "ticketing error" right?  I mean does the city of Chicago REALLY need our $60?  I'm pretty sure the producers of "Transformers III" are contributing enough to cover my little piece...

Our Newest Challenge

We can't claim the name Hyde Park HEROES if we don't awesomely take on challenges, right? RIGHT! So our newest self-inflicted challenge? Living on a budget.

I know, I've written about budgets before. Multiple times, actually. But now we're taking it to a whole new level. Not just "track what you spend" but "take out only a certain amount of cash every 2 weeks and only use that." And yes, there's this stuff called "cash" and "coins" that are not made out of plastic, are considered legal tender and have pictures of dead white guys on them. It's the wave of the future, I tell ya! Who comes up with this stuff?!

So the plan now is to see how well we can do with this set amount of cash. It means actually thinking before plopping down a couple hundred for new clothes (actually, I can't remember the last time I did that) or having multiple dinners out. And we're not doing this because we're dangerously in debt or because we think credit cards are completely evil- though they're most definitely NOT your friends. We're doing it because, as I've said before, we believe that how we spend our money matters. Consciously choosing to take only a certain amount out and using only that means thinking more seriously about where it's going. It means building in, even if just for another second or two, a pause and a reflection. "Is this what I want to spend my money on? How does it reflect what I support and believe?"

It's most certainly not going to be easy. It's not a lot of money. And I do quite enjoy spending money on non-necessities (this is not to say we are cutting all non-necessities, but we will be spending less on them). It's a challenge that we believe will make us live more responsibly and will make us better stewards of what's entrusted to us. Let's see what happens.

They've Probably Got Something for That

Last night, M and I ventured once again to Chinatown. And let me here pause and rail against the Chinatown of DC. DC, you know I love ya. But really? Writing "Starbucks" in Chinese does NOT a Chinatown make. Or Urban Outfitters for that matter. And certainly not Ann Taylor Loft.

The thing about Chicago's Chinatown that is so thrilling is that one, it actually appears (to someone who has never been to China) to be somewhat authentic to at least a small piece of daily life in China (minus the millions of people, but, whatev.) Secondly, nearly every other store is some sort of weird "pickled or dried stuff in a jar" sort of store. Doesn't that just make it feel more real? I submit that it does.

And so, of course, we went into a few of the stores. And we saw items such as this.

Those are dragon balls. Giggle, giggle.

Sorry, I can't help it.

But. Wouldn't you think they would be...

Ahem.

Anyway.

These, according to the looked-slightly-out-of-it-but-probably-a-very-nice woman, are good for weight loss. Thanks for pointing that out, ma'am. In fact, she said, this tea squeezes the fat out of you. Well in that case, please, give me a couple pounds of this magical treatment. Only problem...one ounce of this stuff costs $7.50. For those of you who aren't math majors, that's a whopping $120 per pound. Um....one ounce will suffice, thanks. I'll ration.

The crazy part is that these beautiful balls (sorry, I'm still giggling) aren't even close to the weirdest or most expensive things in the store. There were, of course, dried shark fins that cost over $400 a pound. And according to the internets, shark fins do all sorts of things from lowering your cholesterol, to making you happier to giving you mercury poisoning. Fun stuff! And there was ginseng everywhere, which is good for, well, I'll let Wikipedia tell you (and why did they have so much of this stuff?!). Or maybe you would be interested in the dried oysters or scallops, and their, shall we say, pungent aroma. Then there were the HUGE mushrooms- I'm not kidding when I say they were at least a foot in diameter- or the whale flipper in the glass case. God only knows what else was in that crazy store. (Because many of the signs were only written in Chinese, and I'm assuming God knows Chinese, so He would know.)

But my favorite? Oh my favorite. By far. And crap, why didn't I get a picture of it?

Sea cucumber.

I will spare you the details of what this lovely little thing looks like (because seriously, it's worse than the Washington Monument). But, like ginseng, these bad boys were everywhere. And coming in at about $50 a pound for the small, dried ones, quite a good buy. Apparently sea cucumbers are not only a delicacy in some Mediterranean countries, it's also good for lowering high blood pressure, treating disorders of the kidneys and reproductive organs, reducing arthritis pain, possibly HIV therapy and a whole host of other things. It's a miracle underwater plant/animal thingy, people! A miracle drug! Patent it now!

So whatever ails you, it's good to know that Chinatown is the place to go. (That should be their public television ad!) Because, let's face it, our medicine might as well be made in China.

Everything else already is.

The B Word. Take Two.

Again, not THAT B word. Or the bad one, either.

This one: budget. Everyone's favorite topic!!

Let me just say, if you're on a budget, you really, really shouldn't be getting this magazine. As we are. (Don't worry, we got it for free. And yes, it's really free, even though when people say "it's free" it's normally not. Trust me.)

If you love travel (check) and culture (check) but have very little money at the moment (check, check), the LAST thing you need to be looking at is a magazine about travel. I don't care if it has the title "Budget" in it. Because I'll promise you something. You will want to take every, single trip they mention in the magazine. Of COURSE I want to hike some unknown mountain in the Amazon (are there mountains in the Amazon?) And the Taj Mahal on your cover?? ARE YOU PLAYING WITH MY HEARTSTRINGS, BUDGET TRAVEL? "DREAM TRIPS"?????? AAAAHHHHHH!

Just a few days ago, I was thinking how thankful I am that M and I have both been able to travel pretty extensively (me more so, but with the name change, all my passport stamps are gone). And then what shows up in our mailbox? This little gem. Awesome. Way to feed the addiction.

I fundamentally believe that I am who I am today because of my experiences traveling and living abroad. From an early age, I remember that every summer we would take a family vacation somewhere. Boston. New York City. Alaska. California. Italy (that was a spring trip but, whatever). And always Florida. My thoughts, convictions and beliefs are in many ways shaped by those I have traveled and worked with around the globe. M and I want our children (and I promise I will let you know in person or on the phone when that blessed day comes rather than hearing it first on the family blog) to experience different cultures, around America and beyond. I especially believe its important for those who claim the Christian faith to see what that faith looks like outside of the often-biased walls of the American church. Obviously travel can become an unhealthy obsession, and often feeds (especially my generation's) angst against settling down, picking up responsibility and, well, growing up. But it also provides lessons that are best learned over a shared cup of Indian chai or an unidentifiable Rwandan carbohydrate brick. These are things I want our children to experience. These are things that I want to continue to experience. Just as I never want to lose sight of the reality of the lives of those who have a different experience than I do in this country, I also never want to lose sight of the reality of the lives of those who have a different experience than I do around the world.

So about those around-the-world tickets...

Comcast Math

So I've written before about my pure, unadulterated hatred of Comcast. (See below. I don't know how to link to it). I know, I know, we could choose to not have cable and get internet from someone else. But it's just so much work, you know? And I would rather just whine.

M and I decided that, because our "six month promotional rate" was about to double to a three-digit bill, we would contact Comcast and cancel our cable. Besides, I watch WAY too much HGTV and, according to M, "trash" on Bravo. I'm sorry, I find Millionaire Matchmaker an amazing anthropologic study of our society and relationships.

Since they make it impossible to cancel online, that meant the ever-dreaded phone call. I dialed the number and, after choosing the "If you are thinking about dropping your service button" (I'm not THINKING people, I'm DOING), a very sweet older lady came on the phone.

Me: "Hi, we currently have cable and internet and would like to cancel our cable."

Her: "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that (and she actually sounded like she was. Where do they get these people??) Is there any specific reason?"

Me: "Well, I think it's robbery that we pay so much for a service when we have no other choices in cable and only one or two in internet providers. It's a monopoly, ma'am. Or at least an oligopoly." (Or something along those lines)

Her: "I understand. Well let me take a look at your account and see what I can do."

Me: "Uh, well, we really just want to cancel it."

Her: "Ok, hold please."

Intermission of, not kidding, at least seven minutes. I think they do that in the hopes that you'll get fed up and just hang up.

Her: "Hello, ma'am. I'm back! Would you like to add phone service?"

Me: "What? No! I want to cancel my damn cable!!!"

Her: "Ok, well, if you were to cancel your cable, your bill just for the internet would be $70. If you decide, instead, to take up another six months of our promotional offer, we could make your bill for cable and internet $77, inclusive."

Me: "Cable internet costs $70?"

Her: "Plus tax."

Me: "So we can KEEP our cable and our internet, and pay approximately the same price as we would for just internet."

Her: "Well. Yes."

Me: "Since I don't even want to get into a discussion about your apparently very large profit margin on each and every service that you supply, we'll just keep the cable. And in the meantime, look for internet that is much, much cheaper. Somewhere. Hopefully."

Her: "Great! And thanks for choosing Comcast!"

Me: "But I DIDN'T choose Comcast! You guys-"

Her: "Click."

I'm still trying to figure out who won here: me or Comcast?

I'm betting on Comcast.

You do the math

One of the things about M being a student at the University is that he has to prove that he has healthcare or else pay for insurance out of pocket.

It can't be that much, right?

Wrong.

The cost of insuring both M and myself through the University for a total of just over 3 months is $1,854.00. Yes, that's over $500 a month. For health only, ie not dental. I know, because we just got a bill for it.

The "cost" of my insurance coming out of my paycheck for better coverage is about $100 a month, and includes dental.

Am I the only one who thinks that's crazy?

Should this really cost $260?

I understand it's cute. But $260? And I understand that it's "designer" (Judy Ross). But $260?

How is that an acceptable price for a PILLOW???? Which you can't even put your head on. Or breathe on it, either. Or look at it the wrong way.