Ring It Up
Dec. 30th, 2008 09:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eggwardsChristmas was a quiet affair here. I never did get totally in the spirit and neither Chris nor I were really wanting to spend a lot on each other. Chris also went out to California for a few days to be with his family. He returned on Christmas Day and I cooked up a big pot of chili for the two of us. I think this kicks off our attempt to cook more for ourselves and try to save some money.
In the saving money category we went out to the mall Sunday, and I think people have decided to stay away, which was good. There's only one store in our local mall that carries my size, and that's Dillards. Despite being told that retailers have slashed prices to try to get people to buy, Dillards didn't seem to follow the trend, at least not for the big boys sizes. Chris was looking for a new coat and didn't quite find what he wanted. Macys selection was terrible and for some reason they don't have the big-boy love at all. What's up with that?
One thing we did finally do was buy our wedding bands. We had made some attempts to check out some stores, but apparently trying to buy jewelry at retail stores is just a giant rip-off. We went to Robbins Bros., a specialist on wedding rings here in town and totally felt that we were being sold a car. Would you like floormats with your rings? That will be an extra charge of several hundred dollars. The salesman there wanted to give us drinks and sell us something a lot more than what we were expecting. It was ridiculous.
Let's face it, wedding bands shouldn't cost as much as women's rings with diamonds and all. It's a symbol, not necessarily an investment. Right now I don't have the money for a big investment and I don't want to go into debt. If we want something more extravagant several years from now, we can do that later. I personally want to get out of debt, and maybe look at things like a house. Jewelry isn't my main worry.
Well, we finally found a ring we liked that was made of tungsten. It's great, meets my requirement of being inexpensive, and is what we wanted in looks and color, etc. It will be nice to have them before the state of California decides whether we stay married, officially or not.
Work has been interesting these last few weeks. Call volume has quieted a bit, but I had to work Saturday and it was quite busy. I know the next few weeks will be very busy, especially as the new statements come out and people learn that they lost a lot over the last few weeks.
Work has already started reducing our lunches from an hour to thirty minutes, which really makes me mad. I really do need that time to decompress. I'd rather come to work earlier, or stay later than have my lunch cut short.
I've been watching a little more football lately, with the bowls and the NFL playoffs coming. I'm glad the at Cowboys are out of the playoffs because I think their owner, Jerry Jones is an idiot and needs to be slapped in the face and told he doesn't know what he is doing. The man spends a lot of money on talented people, but doesn't understand that they are all cancers to team unity and success. The man gets what he deserves. I wish he would sell the team - a wish I've had since he bought the team, but not one I'm likely to see.
Otherwise in the small, means nothing bowl games, I'm rooting for the Rice Owls tonight in the Texas Bowl. The Owls have been underdogs for years. They have always been the smart school in a league that was too strong for them. This year they almost won the conference and they beat my Alma Mater for the Bayou Bucket.
Speaking of the alma Mater, the Houston Cougars play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl tomorrow. I'm rooting for Air Force. I think UH puts far to much money and emphasis on the football program, a program that always loses money. The school would do better, and be more competitive if they moved down to Div II A, but no. They must keep going on playing Div IA and being a middle of the pack team in an awful conference. The School sent out an email begging alumni to attend this game as the school can lose money if the tickets aren't sold. In the same email they said that UH would be looking for it's first bowl game win in 28 years - not a good way to sell the team!
i think the end of the year has sent me into an introspective mood.
In the saving money category we went out to the mall Sunday, and I think people have decided to stay away, which was good. There's only one store in our local mall that carries my size, and that's Dillards. Despite being told that retailers have slashed prices to try to get people to buy, Dillards didn't seem to follow the trend, at least not for the big boys sizes. Chris was looking for a new coat and didn't quite find what he wanted. Macys selection was terrible and for some reason they don't have the big-boy love at all. What's up with that?
One thing we did finally do was buy our wedding bands. We had made some attempts to check out some stores, but apparently trying to buy jewelry at retail stores is just a giant rip-off. We went to Robbins Bros., a specialist on wedding rings here in town and totally felt that we were being sold a car. Would you like floormats with your rings? That will be an extra charge of several hundred dollars. The salesman there wanted to give us drinks and sell us something a lot more than what we were expecting. It was ridiculous.
Let's face it, wedding bands shouldn't cost as much as women's rings with diamonds and all. It's a symbol, not necessarily an investment. Right now I don't have the money for a big investment and I don't want to go into debt. If we want something more extravagant several years from now, we can do that later. I personally want to get out of debt, and maybe look at things like a house. Jewelry isn't my main worry.
Well, we finally found a ring we liked that was made of tungsten. It's great, meets my requirement of being inexpensive, and is what we wanted in looks and color, etc. It will be nice to have them before the state of California decides whether we stay married, officially or not.
Work has been interesting these last few weeks. Call volume has quieted a bit, but I had to work Saturday and it was quite busy. I know the next few weeks will be very busy, especially as the new statements come out and people learn that they lost a lot over the last few weeks.
Work has already started reducing our lunches from an hour to thirty minutes, which really makes me mad. I really do need that time to decompress. I'd rather come to work earlier, or stay later than have my lunch cut short.
I've been watching a little more football lately, with the bowls and the NFL playoffs coming. I'm glad the at Cowboys are out of the playoffs because I think their owner, Jerry Jones is an idiot and needs to be slapped in the face and told he doesn't know what he is doing. The man spends a lot of money on talented people, but doesn't understand that they are all cancers to team unity and success. The man gets what he deserves. I wish he would sell the team - a wish I've had since he bought the team, but not one I'm likely to see.
Otherwise in the small, means nothing bowl games, I'm rooting for the Rice Owls tonight in the Texas Bowl. The Owls have been underdogs for years. They have always been the smart school in a league that was too strong for them. This year they almost won the conference and they beat my Alma Mater for the Bayou Bucket.
Speaking of the alma Mater, the Houston Cougars play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl tomorrow. I'm rooting for Air Force. I think UH puts far to much money and emphasis on the football program, a program that always loses money. The school would do better, and be more competitive if they moved down to Div II A, but no. They must keep going on playing Div IA and being a middle of the pack team in an awful conference. The School sent out an email begging alumni to attend this game as the school can lose money if the tickets aren't sold. In the same email they said that UH would be looking for it's first bowl game win in 28 years - not a good way to sell the team!
i think the end of the year has sent me into an introspective mood.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-12-30 03:48 pm (UTC)I can also smell the up-sale coming with the floormats.
intropsective can be good
no subject
Date: 2008-12-31 05:21 am (UTC)I wanted a ring, but like George foreman and Mufflers, I wasn't going to pay a lot for it. Luckily we found a good alternative.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-31 05:17 am (UTC)Here's what we got. It's an 8mm ring.
Re: football
Date: 2008-12-31 01:11 am (UTC)Re: football
Date: 2008-12-31 06:05 am (UTC)I find following the teams kind of fun, but I really can't sit down and actually watch a full game - it's too long and too boring. They need to take all of the clock stoppers (including some of the commercials), and the game would be more interesting.
Re: football
Date: 2008-12-31 07:24 am (UTC)Damn commercial breaks.
Heck, even the 3 or 4 CFL games I attended in Toronto were quicker (by 7-15 minutes).
I guess if I was even a competent athlete, I might enjoy it more. For me, it has a lot to do with stats, geography and, of course, the linemen.... ;-)
Rings
Date: 2009-01-02 06:27 am (UTC)Congrats on the nuptuals; it was great seeing you both last night!