These Are (A Matter of Privilege) Troubled Times

1) Not to complain about my communal living situation, but it isn't all sunshine and roses in our household these days.

Last week, I did a little budget reconsideration. Turns out that the amount of money I had budgeted for food every month was about half of what I have actually been spending. Between random lunches out, trips to the convenience store to get bottled water, and my twice weekly trips to Caribou Coffee for a cup of java and a scone (yummy!), my food budget had soared out of control. No wonder I have no money for my monthly shopping spree!

So I made up a list of every damn meal for the next week and went to the grocery store to get every possible item I would need. Rather than go the c-store four times a week and spend a dollar each time getting water, I bought a 16-pack of water for $4. Rather than eating lunch out, I will make a huge pot of vegetable soup and eat it for five meals (yes, it's planned for FIVE meals). No trips to Caribou allowed. I will have lots of tea and toast.

Okay, this is great, but back to the problem of communal living. I share a side-by-side fridge with three other adults. We don't share food, except for the occasional nicking of someone's milk, usually to be used as a cream for coffee or tea. I have access to one shelf all my own and a crisper for fruits and vegetables that is shared. The freezer is currently broken. When I first began this crusade to cut my food budget, I never took this lack of space into consideration. The fridge is close to bursting. And I'm taking a bit of advantage of the fact that my roommates won't actually confront me on my excessive use of the shared space.

2) A couple of months ago, I talked to a friend who lives in another state by phone. We talked for a while and suddenly she burst out, "oh, no!! We've been talking for over twenty minutes! Your long distance bill!"

Huh?

Oh, yeah. You landline people.

But my privileged world of communications has recently reached a stumbling block. My cell phone is flaking out on me. It's screen goes blank, it randomly turns itself off, and it clearly is possessed by the devil.

I wish I had a landline, unpossessed by the devil.

3) Oh, yeah, I have a pesky dissertation to write. Damn it.