EricTabone.com: November 2007 Archives

Hola, muchachos! Que pasa?

The fact that Christmas has been thrown up all over our country well before Thanksgiving this year means that it's quickly encroaching upon the greatest holiday of them all: Halloween. Thankfully, places like Starbucks have explicit and separate hue mandates, that places the orange explosion clearly in October and the red explosion after that. We can only hope this unspoken treaty with its customers holds, because it's us - the little people - that suffer in the end.

Looking inward, ho!

Cats
There was interesting turn of events this week with the boys in black. Early in the week, Biscuit lost a tooth. Thankfully we were informed of this by their vet, Dr. Ryan, well in advance of the first drop, else we scatter around the apartment like loons, crying out, "our cats are collapsing! our cats are collapsing!". (It's happened before.) And yes, of course we saved it, it's rad. I would have made a necklace out of it if it were longer than 4 mm.

A day or so later, I wake up, feed them, pour my coffee, and give time for my eyes to fully open and my brain to shift into second. 40 seconds later, the average time it takes for these vacuums to inhale a full can of food, they scamper over to me to thank-rub, and pointlessly whine (we're still trying to figure this one out). Standing next to each other, I notice: neither has a white whisker. Up to that point, the only way to differentiate them was with Baker's sharp white whisker. Dr. Ryan didn't warn us of this, but I had had a hunch. So now the free ride is over, and we rely on personality differences alone. Surprisingly, this isn't as hard as we has assumed: Biscuit is the one who gallops at you in bed to curl up close and spoon and purr, and Baker is the one that lunges at Biscuit's neck and feasts.

Humans
More of the same this week. Overflowing buckets of praise for the missus, with some super-late nights sprinkled in, and a personal day off on Friday. Seemingly endless frustration for the mister, with some super-late nights sprinkled in, and no personal days. Thank all that is holy that the next 7 days are more time off than on. The feast with which we gives thanks will be most leveraged in aught-seven.

We now tread onto more delicate matters, of the pecuniary. Without getting into such detail as to bloggily (new word!) outline our joint assets and liabilities, it would be safe to say that 2007 was an expensive year. For the first time, I've been carrying a certain amount of debt on my credit card, which, while manageable, is not entirely comfortable. There is no one to blame but myself; the secret birthday gift, for example, is entirely my own doing. On the positive side, the only real drawback - other than that infernal APR - is my own personal credit rating, which was in the "stellar to galactic" range when we moved into 123 Awesome Street in 2006. I would assume it's now only in the "terrestrial" range. No other investments or spendings have suffered; our house down-payment investments have stayed 100% on-track every month, as have my IRA payments, and the year will come to a close with a spirit of the holiday season festively on-par with all years prior.

Reckless spending? Maybe. But within reason, and not without prioritization. However, the repercussions of 2007, the Year of the Pricey Pig, will be felt long into 2008, the Year of the Burrowing, Debt-paying Rat. Sacrifices will be made: our only vacation will be spent in March when we travel to the great orange state of Arizona, but not likely to Paris which was high on the missus' wish-list. (However, there are talks of another trip in 2009. A trip to a land of mystery and hilarity. A trip to end all trips.)

Now, we decided long ago to celebrate this year's birth of other peoples' Lord (or death, I forget which) by finally upgrading our 135-year old gamma-ray machine with a super-sleek HD model that will serve many purposes. This new member of our ever-expanding family has been saved for, smartly, and will be a-purchased some time soon.

But, lo! What is this?

Amber hath taken a liking - nay, a lurving - to a certain string instrument-themed vijja game! And upon overcoming his digital mechanic failures to intensely and viciously rock on Medium, Eric doth lurve said game as well? But a shiny new console would be required! And, like the TV, 123 Awesome Street's most current iteration of vijja game technology is woefully inadequate to serve the purposes of such experiences (as well as Eric's other long-held, dark and secret desire).

A deeper plunge into our already-retarded financial state is the only option, but this ...itch... she burns! So let it be known that before this solar-centric revolution is over, the residents of 123 Awesome Street will plunge, plunge, plunge into the deepest, darkest corners of this land known as Black Friday, and will emerge scathed, bruised, and belittled, but victorious. Wounds will be mended at an infirmary of button mashing and thumb-plucking, through the Great Debt Repayment of Aught-Eight. Reputations, however, will forever be tarnished, as we are branded consumerists, our scarlet letter not an 'A' but a diamond-plated dollar sign on a 24k gold chain, that cannot be removed.

Reviews
No Country For Old Men (4/5) Eric: "Had to blow through it before seeing the movie. Haven't seen it yet, but if it's anything like this, it should be real good-like."
Breach (3.5/5) Amber: "Good, but a little too Hollywood." Eric: "Only furthered my intense dislike of Laura Linney. But Chris Cooper = gold, as always."

November 2007 Archives

November 2007 Archives

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