If you're interested in a more blow-by-blow account of my ever-so-exciting life (all three of you that read this), you're in luck! It is now available. I've succumbed to the latest social networking trend of Twitter. Twitter is basically answering, multiple times a day, the question "What are you doing?" According to the Twitter FAQ, my Mom may want to know that I skipped breakfast in favor of a latte (I did not skip breakfast today, for the record) and my friends may want to otherwise keep abreast of my quotidian rituals. It's so hard to say no to something that involves the word "quotidian."
My Twitter page.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Karma Part III
The $60ish refund from PG&E is not entirely mine. I was not living by myself at the time, but I was the one PG&E tracked down because my name was on the account. In order to pay it forward and ward off bad karma, once again, I used $30 of the refund to become a member of the Sierra Club.
Happy Earth Day, bitches!
Happy Earth Day, bitches!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Karma Part II
One of my major New Year's resolutions this year was to get my finances in order, pay off my credit cards, and start saving and planning for the future. So, I've been reading Suze Orman and the Washington Post financial advisor. Suze Orman has a mantra - respect of money will bring you more money. In her book, she convinced a woman to up her contribution to her retirement from 5% to 10%. Then, a month later, she got a raise in the middle of the year, even though she had never gotten a mid-year raise before. Suze Orman was not at all surprised - she says that she has witnessed this kind of money karma time and time again.
This year I've been much more respectful of money. I've been writing down every time I spend money on anything so I can get a good sense of where it's going and what I can afford, I've been eating out a lot less, and I've retired all but one credit card to my desk drawer (the one in the wallet is for emergencies only). Well, wouldn't you know it, today I got home and got something in the mail from PG&E. This was someone surprising given that I moved away from California almost four years ago. Panic immediately struck that I owed them money, but, as it turns out, it was a refund check because they owed me money! Karma? Maybe respect of money does bring you more money! It's only around $60, but it's something.
My electricity got turned off once my first year in California . . . I never got a bill because PG&E was accidentally sending it to the apartment upstairs. It didn't occur to me as odd to go four or five months without getting a bill because when I moved there in 2000, everyone was talking about how screwed up PG&E was and how many of their accounts were backlogged. Apparently, California's Consumer Protection division investigated and ordered PG&E to pay everyone back for unauthorized charges related to these backlogs and mix-ups.
As for my other karma issue . . . I still owe the universe $14. I've made charitable contributions during that time (to public radio, MS research, etc.) but these are causes I would have donated to anyway. I think to settle my debt with the universe, I'm going to donate $15 to the father of an old friend from high school who is running for Austin City Council. He's a wacky liberal in the best way and would probably be great, but it's not something that would normally cause me to immediately reach for my checkbook.
This year I've been much more respectful of money. I've been writing down every time I spend money on anything so I can get a good sense of where it's going and what I can afford, I've been eating out a lot less, and I've retired all but one credit card to my desk drawer (the one in the wallet is for emergencies only). Well, wouldn't you know it, today I got home and got something in the mail from PG&E. This was someone surprising given that I moved away from California almost four years ago. Panic immediately struck that I owed them money, but, as it turns out, it was a refund check because they owed me money! Karma? Maybe respect of money does bring you more money! It's only around $60, but it's something.
My electricity got turned off once my first year in California . . . I never got a bill because PG&E was accidentally sending it to the apartment upstairs. It didn't occur to me as odd to go four or five months without getting a bill because when I moved there in 2000, everyone was talking about how screwed up PG&E was and how many of their accounts were backlogged. Apparently, California's Consumer Protection division investigated and ordered PG&E to pay everyone back for unauthorized charges related to these backlogs and mix-ups.
As for my other karma issue . . . I still owe the universe $14. I've made charitable contributions during that time (to public radio, MS research, etc.) but these are causes I would have donated to anyway. I think to settle my debt with the universe, I'm going to donate $15 to the father of an old friend from high school who is running for Austin City Council. He's a wacky liberal in the best way and would probably be great, but it's not something that would normally cause me to immediately reach for my checkbook.
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