Archive - 26 March 1999

Hey, I think I've officially been journalling for two months now. Cool!

Yesterday at lunch, Matt and Jeremy and I were talking about whether we would work if we didn't have to. Matt and I fell solidly into the No category. Jeremy - workaholic that he is - said he probably would. I guess some people just can't stand not having something to do. Not that I'd be bored. If I didn't have to work, that would imply I had plenty of money. If I had plenty of money, I can think of a lot of things I'd want to do. Travel. Set up my own darkroom. Go back to school and take all those classes I was afraid to take the first time around because they sounded hard enough to hurt my GPA. It was sortof like the oft-held discussion: What would you do if you won the lottery?

I was thinking about it in the shower this morning, too. But you know what I'd probably really do, if I never had to worry about money? Buy lots of presents. I love giving people presents. I don't much like trying to think of what to get someone, but every so often I'll see something and think, "Oh, I bet Ralph would love this!" (Not really Ralph. I don't know anyone named Ralph. It was just an example.) Don't get me wrong, I'd buy things for myself, too. And contribute to charities. But I love to give my friends and family presents. If I never had to worry about money, I'd always be buying things for other people.

I'd hire a landscaping company to bring my parents some real dirt for their mostly-clay yard. (You laugh. My mom has said for years that if she ever won the lottery, the first thing she'd buy would be dirt.) I'd buy Matt a top of the line, fully loaded computer. And I'd get us an iMac, too, because I think they're cute. I'd make sure my brother and his fiancée have exactly the sort of wedding they've always dreamed of. I'd make sure Matt's brother and sister get through college without having to worry about the loans that Matt had. (Matt says he'd set them up through their PhDs if that's what they wanted. I don't know that I'd do that - tuition, sure, but not living expenses. I think it was good for me to learn how to live on less than $10K a year.)

Just thinking about it is exciting. I won't even try to list all of my ideas here. It's just thrilling to even consider being able to do so much.

But, alas, while I make a very comfortable living, I'm hardly wealthy.

Matt and I are going to Christiansburg this weekend to visit our friends Jen and Brian Kenney. Eat some good food, dye some Easter eggs, tell some fun stories, do a little gaming. If we manage to get ahold of them, we might try to get together with my brother and his fiancee for lunch or something. We're leaving the office early today because we have a stack of errands to run before we head out of town, and because we want to leave as early as possible to see our friends. Leaving work early is always good, too. ::grin::

So, it looks like it's going to be a good day, and a good weekend (except for all the driving and having to scramble a bit to get the weekend chores done when we get back on Sunday.) But I'm looking forward to it.

Life is good.