Bleeding Money

It is common superstition that bad things happen in threes, right? Both our washer and dryer were having problems so I called our trusted repairman to take a look. He told us something I was not expecting to hear -- that both appliances were really pieces of crap. We moved into our house three years ago and kept the appliances that were already there since they were newer than our old ones, which were very old but had held up well.

The bad news: we need both a new washer and dryer. It seems like I am hemorrhaging money in four figures in just about everything lately. Any bets on which appliance will be the third to go?

An Abrupt Change

Some of you may remember that I have been on sabbatical leave from my job for the early part of 2010. While the leave has been great, it has also allowed me the opportunity to slip into some nasty habits. I have been spending way too much time online with poker, blogging, chat boards, facebook, puttering around ...

When I need to make changes in my life, I have found one of the best ways for me personally is the rapid about-face. So, my plan is ... starting today: keep my butt off my laptop! I can't go cold turkey, but I will stop getting online as much and start getting back to other productive and necessary functions that I have been letting slide.

So no, please don't read too much into this or speculate about a deeper problem or concern. I have just gotten lazy. It is time to get myself back on track.

I told my wife about my new conviction this morning. When telling her, however, I asked her to cover her face with her blanket. I did not want to see the smirk on her face. I believe you can find her expression online if you google "shit eating grin." She is probably surprised that I came to this decision all on my own. Men can actually figure things out sometimes.