Protect me

2003-05-26 - 10:51 a.m.

Recently I've been having hankerings for a lot of stuff. I'm not usually too much of a stuff person, but recently I've really had the urge to go out and spend some money. Too bad I don't have any money...

I don't watch much TV, and the TV that I do watch is almost exclusively stuff I have taped so I can fast-forward through the commercials. But thanks to Ali, who apparently does watch TV, I have found out that Circuit City is having a CD sale in which they are selling all their CDs for $9.99. Ok, now I'm hitting Circuit City on the way home for sure. I've really been wanting to buy the "Rent" CD. Back in junior high I told Mary, my best friend of the time, that someday before I die I want to see a Broadway Show. She responded by giving me a taped copy of the "Rent" soundtrack. I popped it in my stereo and immediately hated it. It's a long soundtrack, taking up two tapes. I didn't listen to much of the first tape and never listened to the second tape at all. Those tapes went on the shelf, moved with me to several dorm rooms and an apartment, and then back home again before last month when I finally saw that Broadway show and attempted to find those tapes once again. Unfortunately, I can only find the second one which starts at Angel's death. It's sort of funny because the rest of the tape is filled up with old Matchbox 20 songs and I never knew it. I guess that was Mary trying to expand my horizons back then. But anyway, I've been listening to the end of the soundtrack over and over again and I really wish I could find the first tape. So instead, maybe I'll head over to Circuit City and buy the CD. I don't know if they'll have it and I sort of doubt it'll be included in the sale considering the fact that it is a 2 CD set, but I'll certainly find out this afternoon.

I've also had a hankering for a new PDA. My old PDA died several months ago. It's been so long I don't even remember when it was, although I could probably find out by reading back through this journal...ah yes, it died back in February and I talked about it here. At any rate, a few weeks ago I finally got around to packing it up and sending it back to the company. They say they will give me a Best Buy voucher equal in worth to the original price of my PDA with which I can buy anything my heart desires at Best Buy. Of course the first thing that comes to mind is a replacement PDA. I'm not sure I need one, considering the fact that I've been living for several months without one and managing just fine. But on the other hand, take a gander at this. I want it! It comes with a digital camera, I can expand it to play mp3s, it has a cool color screen, and other stuff too. The fellow on my CCU team right now has one of these and it's really nice. I thought anything with a camera in it would be cumbersome, but it's not at all. Neato! Plus I found this which is a promotion that Palm is putting on right now. They say all you have to do is send them in your old PDA and they will give you $50. Yes, I sent mine to Best Buy, but I have one that I had before that one. I guess I don't have a very good track record with PDAs. But I have my very first PDA sitting dead in a box under my desk and I could send that one in. See? There are good things that come from being a packrat!

Ok, the next thing I want is a little more extravagant. I'm thinking maybe I'll get it when I buy my new truck (and therefore not anytime soon). What is it, you ask? It is XM Radio. This would be especially nice if I moved somewhere like Quincy that is in the middle of mountains and gets no reception.

But speaking of Quincy, I'm still undecided about what to do with myself after residency. When I went to Asilomar last week I was heartened to discover that contrary to the way it seems here, lots of residents are in the same undecided boat that I'm in. And there are so many jobs out there. I basically just have to pick where I want to live and what I want to do and I can do it. Of course pay and scheduling can be issues. For example, I've been noticing that in Oregon and Washington they don't pay squat. True the cost of living in those areas is generally less, but still. I know the cost of living in Seattle is more than in Sacramento and their per diem jobs pay around $20 less per hour than the per diem jobs here. But I had an idea. What if I worked relief for a while? Relief agencies pay well wherever you work and they have flexible schedules. Plus you can travel around if you want to. If I did that then I would get to check out different areas and meet lots of new people before I finally made a decision and settled down. I'm liking the sound of that. The biggest pain in the butt would be getting licensed in other states.