Category: Daily Life

I'll start with a brief disclaimer that this post is not sponsored or intended to promote any specific products.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about purses. I have never been the sort of person who will notice your handbag or be impressed if you have a nice one. I have a vague awareness of what the fancy brands are, but I can't imagine spending the money to actually own one of them. The nicest bag I have ever purchased is this one:

This bag was how people recognized me the last time I went to a BlogHer Conference. I liked it so much that I bought another one just like it once it started to wear out.

Cross-body bags were my thing for quite a while, but I've discovered something much more freeing: something my friend Toast refers to as my "purse coat."

A few years back, I bought myself an 18-pocket trench coat made by SCOTTeVEST. ThinkGeek had them for sale in black or red and although the red was tempting, I chose black because I didn't want to run around dressed like Carmen Sandiego.

At the time, I figured I'd use all the features for stowing electronics. However, the more mundane pockets have proven to be the most useful. Last fall I established a system that let me ditch my purse and wallet altogether and I haven't gone back. Here's how I load up the more important pockets of my purse coat:

• ID Pocket – Driver's license, credit card, debit card, Costco card and health insurance card.
• Shallow zipper pocket – Cash and coins.

I'll pause a moment here to admit that it's a little inconvenient to unbutton my coat and wave it open like someone selling knockoff watches on the street every time I need to access money or cards. I still maintain that it's better than dragging a bag around on my shoulder, though. Let's continue:

• Left-hand breast pocket – Cell phone. Unfortunately, upgrading to an iPhone 7 means that my phone is a little too big to fit securely beneath the velcro fastener at the top of the pocket, so my phone falls out if I'm not careful.
• Right-hand breast pocket – Car key. Since my car has push-button start, I never have to take the key out; I just have to have my coat with me when I need to drive somewhere.
• Left outside pocket (magnet clasp) – Keys to my dad's place. Key to an office where I sometimes work part-time. Egg-shaped lip balm. Tiny dental floss container.
• Right outside pocket (magnet clasp) – House keys, plus an extra front door key and bottle opener affixed to a stretchy keyring that's part of the coat. Kleenex. Grocery list, if applicable. This pocket also has an elastic band in it that will hold a water bottle upright, so it's great for smuggling beverages. Allegedly.
• There's also a pocket with a glasses cleaning cloth attached, but I have a hard time remembering which pocket it is.

You may be asking, "Isn't it a little cold for your purse coat this time of year?" Why, yes! Yes it is. Fortunately, I have a big, fluffy coat that happens to fit over the purse coat. It makes me look like a grizzly bear, but that's the case whether or not it's worn over another coat.

Okay, great. Well, what about when it's 100°F next summer? Yeah, that's where this all falls down. However, I am so on board with the whole not-carrying-a-purse thing that I have recently acquired an inexpensive pair of boots with a wallet compartment:

The boots won't carry me into the summer either, but at least they provide another purse-free option. Eventually I may have to start carrying a bag of some sort again, but I'm doing everything possible to forestall that day.

I'm not much for new year's resolutions, but 2017 has not exactly been a picnic, so it feels like a good time to put out a list of some things I don't just hope for in 2018, but really NEED. You never know who might have a connection that would be helpful. I'll start with the biggie and work my way down from there.

A Job

I got laid off from my last “real job” near the end of 2016. In the meantime, I've been doing freelance writing, I spent several months in a retail/customer service job (which I quit because it turns out I don't enjoy an environment where most of the employees get yelled at a lot), and I've picked up extra cash performing with two bands. Heck, I've made money blowing up balloons. I am not at all picky about what I do to make a living at this point. 

All I need is this chair…

Thank goodness I've managed to buy generously subsidized health insurance through the ACA up to now, but I do not feel at all confident that I'll continue to be so lucky. Therefore, my primary requirements for employment include affordable health insurance benefits and enough take-home pay to cover my relatively modest bills. So if you know of anything, let me know.

Some Home Repairs

One of the problems with living on a very tight budget is that when things break around the house, they tend to stay broken for a while. Then more things break, and the list keeps getting longer with no end in sight. So I'm looking for recommendations for people who can fix some of these issues without bankrupting me.

Right now, the most pressing problem we're having is with our garage doors. Mine just refuses to open with a remote. Period. The button on the wall works fine, but the remotes have all given up. My husband's garage door is getting stuck halfway whenever he tries to open or close it. He can only get it to go where it needs to go by getting out and pushing or pulling. If it were still reasonably warm outside, that would be less of a problem, but at 6°F…

Second on the repair list is my dishwasher. Dr. Google tells me it has a faulty fill valve which is preventing it from taking in enough water. It's something I could theoretically replace myself, but I am hesitant to root around in there and potentially break something permanently. In the meantime, I have to toss in a pitcher of water at the beginning of each cycle. Sigh.

Entertainment

Last but certainly not least, our (only) television has chosen now to start crapping out. It's a plasma screen TV and we've had it for a long time, so it's not a surprise that it's finally wearing out – it's just very poor timing. So far it's still possible to get it to come on and work properly after a few turning-it-off-and-on-again cycles, but sooner or later it's going to shuffle off this mortal coil. Then how will I finish binge watching “Supernatural”? This one isn't an ask because there's nothing to be done, but if I can take care of the steady job thing, I'll be able to afford a new TV without guilt.

Perspective

In most ways, I'm still incredibly fortunate. My health is decent, our house is safe and warm and filled with snuggly pets, my car is fairly new and reliable (yes, I have a car payment, but you know) and I have plenty to eat. Still, it's time for me to jump into a new chapter of my life and address a few things that went by the wayside in the past year. I'm ready!

I am not a big fan of shopping. Truth is, I've been putting off a trip to the grocery store for so long that today's breakfast is probably going to be tea and stale tortilla chips. However, I do enjoy a good bargain, so I made a special point of hitting my favorite thrift store earlier this week (yes, I have a favorite thrift store) and it definitely paid off.

My most impressive score was a like-new Icebreaker hoodie made from merino wool for $5.99. I could tell it was a decent-quality piece when I spotted it on the rack, but until I looked up the brand when I got home, I didn't realize I'd probably saved upwards of $130 off retail. 

Even more personally satisfying was the crockpot lid I got for 99¢ that turned out to fit my crockpot perfectly. It doesn't match, but hey, 99¢! Also, the original lid was plastic and this one is glass, so it feels like an upgrade. Behold!

The lid for that crockpot was lost a number of years ago after I took it to a potluck at work. (Seriously, who throws away a crockpot lid?!)

Since then, I've just covered it with a plate whenever I needed to use it, because there's no use letting a perfectly good crockpot go to waste. I should also mention that I bought that particular appliance in 1993 when I moved into my first apartment, so we have history together.

Now it's all ready for hot chocolate or spiced cider for my holiday festivities. I think there may be some steel-cut oatmeal in my future as well. Oh, the possibilities!

Thrifty shopping is the best shopping. Do I remember how much my last Amazon binge cost? No, but I do know that my pig-shaped Williams-Sonoma cutting board cost me 5¢ at a garage sale. A nickel! That may be even better than the bread machine I bought for $5 at another garage sale. 

Today's the day I need to start my holiday baking, so I'll be making my way to the grocery store once I digest those tortilla chips. In the spirit of thriftiness, I think I'll flip through the grocery store sales circulars while I drink my tea. Maybe someone will have a sale on chocolate chips and butter…

One of the delights of getting older (she said sarcastically) is discovering new ways in which your body can break down on you.

My current experience is a prime example. Over the past couple of weeks, my jaw had been so tightly clenched that it was giving me headaches and an earache on the side that was the most affected. It took a massage and a trip to the chiropractor to set it right.

Apparently, all the clenching and grinding of my teeth caused the filling in one of my back molars to come loose and then come out. Now that I think back, I can say with reasonable assurance that it happened on Friday night while I was eating pizza with my nephew.

I didn't really start to notice that there was a problem until the next morning, when I discovered that heat, cold and sweets made it really twinge. At first I thought I'd cracked my tooth, but a look in the mirror revealed the actual problem.

Of course, there's nothing you can really do about something like that over a weekend. I called my dentist's office and left a message, so I'm hoping I can get an appointment on Monday to get fixed back up.  They'd listed an emergency number on the voicemail greeting, but I wouldn't call this an emergency. It's inconvenient and I'm getting tired of chewing everything on the other side, but I'll survive just fine until they can squeeze me in for a new filling.

If you need me, I'll be over here half-enjoying a meal of something soft and lukewarm.

Today I had the alarm company come out because the keypad that we use 99% of the time to turn the alarm on and off was getting really difficult to press. Our system dates back to when the company was still Brinks. Now it's ADT and I understand the company was just acquired by another alarm company, so we'll see where that all ends up.

The upshot of my conversation with the service guy is that our system is ancient (we had it put in around 1997) and there are no replacement keypads to be had. Because we had another rarely-used keypad in a different part of the house, he recommended that we just swap them. He also offered to clean out the bad one as much as possible to make it more functional.

That all worked out pretty well and now we have an almost-new keypad in the kitchen (seriously, it still has the plastic film over the display after all these years) and a better-than-it-was version upstairs. Best of all, the service call was free.

Once that remedy exhausts itself, it'll be time to have a new alarm system installed.

Because we've lived in this house for almost 21 years, I'm finding more and more things like that keypad that either need to be fixed now or will soon.

The hot water heater is a shining example. I'm pretty sure we bought it a year or two before the alarm system, which makes it super old for a hot water heater. I'm sure it's part of the reason all our faucet aerators are choked with tiny mineral pebbles. Yet, it still heats the water and sends it to the sinks and shower in a reasonable amount of time, so I'm not going to get ahead of myself.

Then there's the washing machine. I've been threatening to replace it for years because it not only deposits clumps of lint randomly all over our clean clothes, but it's now rusting inside, which means it will leave rust spots on light-colored clothing unless you remove the loads immediately after the last spin cycle concludes.

I'm not completely neglectful of our home maintenance. We just had the guttering on the back of the house replaced and the downspouts relocated to where they won't send water directly into the garage and basement every time it rains. That's been a problem for years and I'm almost looking forward to our next rainstorm to see if it did the trick.

My first priority in the next six years or so is to get the house paid off. Without a mortgage payment, I'll be able to afford lots of different home repairs and improvements. In the meantime, the to-do list can just keep growing.

Yesterday was the twelfth anniversary of my starting this blog. The fact that I couldn't be arsed to write a post that day probably tells you everything you need to know about my current dedication to blogging.

I'm not shutting down the blog any time in the foreseeable future, but it's clear that my personal blogging era has come and gone. I'm also probably through with blogging conferences, but I won't say that for sure because they're still a great reason to go see my bloggy friends.

Even if I only post once in a great while, the fact remains that blogging has had an enormous impact on my life. It's introduced me to people all over the world who are wonderful and fascinating and nice. It's taken me to places I would never have visited otherwise. It's the reason I'm part of many of the social media groups where I spend most of my time now.

So here's to Average Jane, the blog and the social media persona that has served me so well. Let's see if my 13th year holds some interesting new luck.

Photo credit: dpotera

I have an unfortunate tendency to put up with minor and easily fixable annoyances for far too long. Case in point: this computer.

One of my RAM chips went bad a while back—it's probably been seven months or more by now. I have a circa 2007 iMac that can only handle a total of 4GB of RAM on its two RAM chips, so with the bad chip gone, I was limping along on 2GB.

That was halfway workable at first until I needed a new printer. With the new printer came an updated operating system which needed a minimum of 2GB of RAM to operate at all. 

The feeling of elation at being able to print again was greatly diminished by the fact that my computer was as slow as molasses…in January…on the moon.

It was so bad that I sometimes couldn't even wake the computer up from the screen saver without jiggling the mouse and then walking away for a while to give it time to recover. Finally, it decided that Facebook was more of a resource hog than it could afford, so it started loading only one page of news feed results and refusing to show me my pending notifications. Facebook is where I hang out in my spare time, so that could not stand.

Fortunately, I am in the midst of a transformation right now. I belong to a private Facebook group (see!) that is dedicated to retrieving our lives and homes from the chaos, mess, clutter and inefficiencies that we have allowed to take over. Everyone checks in weekly if not more often, and it's been amazing how great it is just having the support of other people who also tend to let things go too long.

My primary project with this group so far has been to make my home office more functional. I've started by trying to physically clean up the room, but I decided it was also time to get my computer back to good working order. I finally had a little extra money and I went online and bought 4GB of RAM (I figured it might be worthwhile to start with two fresh chips and keep a spare for later in case one goes bad again).

I installed it when I got home from work today and it is glorious. As in: I no longer want to throw my computer out the window.

Next on the agenda is to finish clearing out the actual mess in my office, but I have a good head start already. You should have seen the enormous box of paper I took to a local recycling event for shredding!

I have some other home cleanup and repair projects in the works right now as well, starting with getting some truly scary electrical stuff in my attic up to code. That happens tomorrow morning.

Sometimes life just kind of gets in its own way, I think. It's been good to sit back, set goals and make incremental progress. It took me a while to get this far, but I'm not turning back.