Birthday Blues
30/04/11 07:37
I played down the birthday business this year. Just couldn't get into it. I left cards unopened. I left calls unreturned. I did my best to pretend not to be interested when the family wanted me to open the presents they had bought for me. Even after opening the presents, I couldn't muster an iota of interest or excitement. What is that all about? I'm just as happy, truth be told, if my birthday goes by unnoticed. If I had to admit to feeling jubilation of any kind, it was that that bastard Casey Abrams got booted off American Idol on my birthday. I couldn't have been happier. He should have gone long ago. I can't even remember if I'm in the habit of sending cards to sisters one and all who also have birthdays in the month of April. I did send Denise an e-mail but it was short and to the point. Her response was equally abbreviated. Maybe it is just that kind of year. We're all feeling overwhelmed by events beyond our control. We all have too much on our plates. Too much to do and too little time. It doesn't help that gas prices are closing in on $4 a gallon. I think, at least for me, taking that trip to Florida may have put me over the top. And now, I just can't catch up. You can see it in the piles of clothes on the floor next to my bed; the grass that needs mowing; the kitchen that needs a good cleaning; the garage that needs a good sweeping; the fence that needs mending; and the list goes on. I just want to go fishing, drop my line overboard, and wait for the jig to be up. I don't need the strawberry shortcake that my darling wife has promised me this weekend but will put my game face on and eat my birthday cake like a birthday boy should.
If I have to point to one success this past week it would be that I successfully shut down Facebook. Evan has this very nasty habit that is generational in nature and epidemic in its proportions in that if he is on the computer doing work he simply cannot resist the temptation to log on to Facebook. Those few seconds turn into minutes and the next thing you know he has turned his attention away from his schoolwork and it just never gets done. If it does get done one is never quite certain that he couldn't have done a better and more thorough job if he had kept his eye on the task at hand and stayed away from Facebook. So I took matters into my own hands and hacked my router to filter out the Facebook site. Funny thing is, Evan is not annoyed and in a funny sort of way I can imagine that he feels that I am doing him a favor. It may take a little getting used to but he is holding up pretty well under the circumstances. Just to prove that I am not totally bereft of benevolence, I turn it back on during the weekends so he can do whatever he does on line. That would be, talking to the babes; parrying with his chums; making plans for the weekend; speaking in code so the parents don't find out about the drugs, sex, and rock'n roll; and god only knows what else. While we're on the subject of distractions, it's worthwhile noting that our Playstation died recently. While I need just such a device for streaming video to the TV, we will have to find a suitable alternative. Evan spends far too much time on shoot em'up types of games that don't agree with his mother or I. It is she, in fact, that insisted that we not replace the device. I'm on board with that plan. Ev seems to have moved on to other interests and has stopped asking the obvious question. I'm not convinced that the replacement activities are any better but they are at least out of sight.
I keep wanting to make a note or two about Evan and his frugality. Specifically, I'm talking about his attitudes about money. He doesn't like to spend it and he resists any ideas we have about buying things for him. If it costs money, he is resistant to getting it. I like the idea that he is a saver and not a spender but I'm not entirely sure where he gets that from. He doesn't want us to buy clothes for him and wears one, maybe two, pair of pants to school. He broke the glass on his iPhone recently and despite my offer to get him an upgrade I think he is just doing without it. Why? Because it costs money. Maybe he thinks we don't have any money because our house is smaller that the average house here in town and he perceives that as money issue. Not to be trite, but we just can't seem to move him off the dime when it comes to spending money. When he starts making his own money, I'm guessing that he will be a good saver. I'm guessing that he will be conservative in his risk-taking and may well not take risks appropriate to young men his age. That is to say, he may not be entrepreneurial enough to make hay while the sun shines; he may not invent a better mousetrap; he may not challenge himself to climb the corporate ladder; he may not do the things men need to do to further their lot in life. That is not to say that I want to see him win and lose multiple fortunes during his lifetime but I do want to see him achieve success however he defines it. I just worry sometimes that this frugality I see in him when it comes to spending money may well extend to other aspects of his personality. It just seems a little too crampy to me. You know what I mean, jelly bean?
If I have to point to one success this past week it would be that I successfully shut down Facebook. Evan has this very nasty habit that is generational in nature and epidemic in its proportions in that if he is on the computer doing work he simply cannot resist the temptation to log on to Facebook. Those few seconds turn into minutes and the next thing you know he has turned his attention away from his schoolwork and it just never gets done. If it does get done one is never quite certain that he couldn't have done a better and more thorough job if he had kept his eye on the task at hand and stayed away from Facebook. So I took matters into my own hands and hacked my router to filter out the Facebook site. Funny thing is, Evan is not annoyed and in a funny sort of way I can imagine that he feels that I am doing him a favor. It may take a little getting used to but he is holding up pretty well under the circumstances. Just to prove that I am not totally bereft of benevolence, I turn it back on during the weekends so he can do whatever he does on line. That would be, talking to the babes; parrying with his chums; making plans for the weekend; speaking in code so the parents don't find out about the drugs, sex, and rock'n roll; and god only knows what else. While we're on the subject of distractions, it's worthwhile noting that our Playstation died recently. While I need just such a device for streaming video to the TV, we will have to find a suitable alternative. Evan spends far too much time on shoot em'up types of games that don't agree with his mother or I. It is she, in fact, that insisted that we not replace the device. I'm on board with that plan. Ev seems to have moved on to other interests and has stopped asking the obvious question. I'm not convinced that the replacement activities are any better but they are at least out of sight.
I keep wanting to make a note or two about Evan and his frugality. Specifically, I'm talking about his attitudes about money. He doesn't like to spend it and he resists any ideas we have about buying things for him. If it costs money, he is resistant to getting it. I like the idea that he is a saver and not a spender but I'm not entirely sure where he gets that from. He doesn't want us to buy clothes for him and wears one, maybe two, pair of pants to school. He broke the glass on his iPhone recently and despite my offer to get him an upgrade I think he is just doing without it. Why? Because it costs money. Maybe he thinks we don't have any money because our house is smaller that the average house here in town and he perceives that as money issue. Not to be trite, but we just can't seem to move him off the dime when it comes to spending money. When he starts making his own money, I'm guessing that he will be a good saver. I'm guessing that he will be conservative in his risk-taking and may well not take risks appropriate to young men his age. That is to say, he may not be entrepreneurial enough to make hay while the sun shines; he may not invent a better mousetrap; he may not challenge himself to climb the corporate ladder; he may not do the things men need to do to further their lot in life. That is not to say that I want to see him win and lose multiple fortunes during his lifetime but I do want to see him achieve success however he defines it. I just worry sometimes that this frugality I see in him when it comes to spending money may well extend to other aspects of his personality. It just seems a little too crampy to me. You know what I mean, jelly bean?