(Nearly) Open Thread, February 22 2012

What's the best dollar/pound/euro/small unit of currency you ever spent?

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Comments

[Froborr]

Any of the ones I didn't.

I just had my supervisor walk in and tell me, "I can't give you details, and I don't want to scare you, but I really hope your resume is up to date. And if I were you, I'd start circulating it sooner rather than later." She went on to say she's getting hers out as well.

[hapax]

Omigosh, Froborr, that's terrifying.

I hope this turns out to be nothing.

[Mmy]

@Froborr: Oh crap. Really. Horror story. Ouch.

[Izzy]

Oh, Jesus, Froborr. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[MercuryBlue]

Hope everything works out for you, Froborr.

Probably the best money I ever spent was getting my ears pierced. This was not my idea. I keep wanting to write my roomie who talked me into it and tell her she created a monster. (She probably knows this already, she's bought jewelry from me, but still.)

[Kit Whitfield]

Ai, Froborr! Hope this turns out well for you!

Best pound I spent may have been this Christmas; I stopped into a charity shop and picked up a 'pop-pop piano' (basically a toy where you press one of three keys and some balls rattle inside a transparent dome) as a cheapo gift for my little boy. Gave it to him on Christmas day. He didn't stop pressing the buttons for about twenty minutes - which, by the standards of a one-year-old, is equivalent to about four hours adult time. Wouldn't be distracted from it. Still plays with it happily. I am very grateful to whoever donated that to charity!

[hapax]

Best dollar I ever spent?

Probably the one that went to the combination bottle-and-can-opener I bought (on my best friend's advice) before I spent a summer noodling about Europe on the cheap.

I cannot tell you how often I was spared from reenacting the scene in Three Men in a Boat and the tin of pineapple.

(Same friend also advised cramming plastic bags -- every size from sandwich baggies to garbage bags -- into every available spare corner of the duffel bag. "You'll use 'em all," she said.

And I did.)

[sarah]

Good luck, Froborr!

[automaticdoor]

Good luck, Froborr! :/

Not my native currency, but the best pound I ever spent was on this pair of 1-pound sunglasses I got at Primark in London that I wore for three years. I am still sad about the untimely demise of those sunglasses.

[Laiima]

About 5 years ago, I started a practice of making lists of things I'd learned at a job I was about to leave. That gave me a way of not just appreciating new knowledge (and potentially using that to update my resume), but at least in some cases, discovering that maybe I really was emotionally ready to move on. I don't tend to stay anywhere very long, though, so I have a lot of experience with transitions.

Good luck with whatever happens Froborr.

[Laiima]

Off-topic: I know that cjmr is off-board for Lent, but does anyone else remember a thread a few weeks where cjmr said she was going to be in DC in early June, and wanted to meet up with Slacktivites? Because at that time, I said I'd be interested, and I would be, but that was a day that I had a bunch of tabs open on lots of threads, and then I lost track of which thread that was, when I turned off my PC, so I couldn't go back and see if anything was decided.

[Mmy]

@Laiima: That was on the Gentrification post. The comment you are looking for is probably around
here

[Nenya]

Froborr: oh no! I hope it is just a scare, and that if not, things will sync for you job-wise soonest. *hugs*

The best dollar I spent recently was probably the teal and tan soup bowl I got at the dollar store last summer: I use it several times a week, and it's far more durable than I would have expected for el cheapo dollar store china. Plus it's got quite a pretty pattern on it, understated but not boring.

The best ten dollars I've spent was probably my black wool winter coat that I got at Value Village. It's on its third winter now, and amazingly warm, and stylish too! But probably worth $200 new.

The best $200 I ever spent was on tickets back to Canada from the US after nearly four years which it is only a slight exaggeration to say felt like exile. (Three years home again, on March 10, and I still sometimes stop in the street and stare around me in shock that I actually made it home. There were times I thought I wouldn't.)

[Laiima]

It was probably 15 years ago that I spent $8-10 at our grocery store on sunglasses that wrap around my prescription glasses, blocking out glare from all directions (the kind you see elderly people wearing after cataract surgery). As I've gotten older, I've gotten much more sensitive to sunlight, so I wear the one pair of dark green ones all the time. Recently I looked into buying a spare pair, in case they were to break or get lost, and the company (not too far from us, in PA) sadly does not make this style anymore. So I have to hope that they last for a very long time...

[Laiima]

My earlier comment, thanking mmy, apparently didn't post? @mmy, thanks very much!

I could meet up with sarah and/or whoever else during the day of March 14, but I probably can't get to DC before around lunchtime.

[Mmy]

@Laiima: you weren't even in the spamtrap!! I had the same thing happen to me today on Patheos -- I even saw the post briefly on the board...and then it disappeared.

Glad to be able to help.

[storiteller]

Laiima, there were actually two different dates. Sarah could meet up on March 14 for lunch, which I might be able to do, but could be difficult. Cmjr wanted to meet up for dinner in June, so I think she'll be back on the board before then to organize.

[Giles]

I'm pretty sure the best units of currency I've spent or will spend have been on charity. It has to be the right charity though, but that's a long story - a very long story. One that pretty much starts "What is truth?"...

[Froborr]

Best expenditure I ever made? Assuming we are ruling out spending on life necessities, I think my best purchase was the hundred bucks or so I spent on membership in the dating website where I met Viga.

[Laiima]

If it doesn't have to be a tiny expenditure, I vote for the $300 it cost me to legally change my name 20 years ago. The peace of mind and creativity engendered have been priceless.

[Lonespark]

Ohhh, this is a good question, and it is awesome to read everybody's answers.

I'll have to think about it more.

[Amaryllis]

Okay, Typepad, what's with you? Do you send things to the spam trap after you post them? Do you change your mind after the fact, suffer from buyer's remorse or something?

[Amaryllis]

Oh. It occurs to me that TBAT shouldn't bother to comb through the spam trap for me.

All I said was:

- Good luck, Froborr.

- thrift-shop duck boots. Ten winters' worth of dry feet for a couple of dollars.

[Mmy]

@Amaryllis: :) actually looked for you and didn't find anything but I could have missed it. The spam rate has been up, quite noticeably, in the last few weeks. And much of it is massively long "comments" that are nothing but come-on links to pages that are probably virus ridden.

The strangest thing is that these very long comments (often over 1000 words long) will arrive repetitively every few minutes to the same posts.

I wouldn't be willing to swear each is identical since I have no intention of reading through each of them.

[Amaryllis, spamflagging at 09:16]

TBAT?! What was that?! Get it out of here!

(Alos, thanks, Mmy. Should have put that in the original, but I don't think too well in the mornings. :( )

[Rakka]

That doesn't sound too good, Froborr. I hope things go well for you and others there.

My best spent euros? Lasik surgery, no two questions about it. Possibly the course fees for Kuggomskolan for second place, they compete with an iron making course in Sweden I went to with friends. Making iron with medieval methods, in small funnel foundry with treaded bellows, and good company, that was amazing and I wouldn't trade if for anything.
But there's no single (or bunch of!) physical item the loss of which would piss me off more than a "well, bugger that" level, whereas my eyesight returning to its former non-glory would be so annoying. I got it as soon as I had a certain 6 months of actual pay for doing my thesis. I still use glasses when driving because it's more pleasant to be able to read traffic sign from afar than just from close moderate distance, but that's for comfort, not necessity. But going from -10 to -0.5 diopters and being able to see without glasses was just priceless.

[Rakka]

Also, has anyone heard from Pthalo recently, or have I just missed posts? The winter has hit central Europe pretty hard. I wish they're OK.

[The Board Administration Team]

@Rakka: Also, has anyone heard from Pthalo recently, or have I just missed posts? The winter has hit central Europe pretty hard. I wish they're OK.

Pthalo has, for personal reasons that cannot be disclosed, had to stop posting on the Internet. We wish them the best of luck and trust that the community will respect their privacy.

[Sixwing]

Froborr, I hope everything turns out well! What an awful thing. D:

[Froborr]

Thanks all for the commiseration and good wishes, it means a lot to me.

[Rakka]

TBAT, thanks for the info. I hope everything goes well for them, too.

[Literata]

Hugs to all, especially Froborr. Again, I know I'm only on sporadically right now, but if folks are gathering near DC, I'd love to join you if I can. Email me, maybe, please?

Best dollars: the ones I'm spending on a pedicure for Mom tomorrow. She's recovering from surgery pretty well, and every step towards feeling better - more like herself and less like a "patient" - is a valuable one.

[kisekileia]

My sympathy to Froborr. That would be extremely scary.

Some of my best spent dollars were $8 for an absolutely beautiful scarf that is covered in rainbow (but not clashing or garish) flowers. I bought it right before my university graduation ceremony as a small gift to myself, and it's become one of my very favourite items of clothing. The colours absolutely delight me, and it goes with a lot of different things.

[Nenya]

Good news about your mum, Literata!

And yes, a lot of my best-spent money has been on activities with friends. I'm perpetually broke and will often worry if I can squeeze something out of my budget, only to forget, years later, what it did or did not cost (even if it meant me eating ramen the next week) because of the good memories.

[Nenya]

Also: If you think your comment has gone through, check to see that you are not just on the CAPTCHA/preview page!! This keeps happening to me. It looks the same until you scroll down!

[Kit Whitfield]

Glad to hear your mum is recovering well, Literata. I'm sending good thoughts your way...

[Ross]

So, everyone's hopefully heard by now, but Maryland passed a marriage equality bill. It's a big step and good news, though I've got a sinking feeling that it won't pan out. The bill doesn't take effect until 2013, giving opponents plenty of time to gather the needed signatures to put it to a referendum on the November ballot. And as we all know, if the voters get to decide who gets civil rights, marriage would be defined as being between one man and one woman of the same race, only white landowning men would be allowed to vote, and Maryland would be the only state that allowed catholics to vote.

But what I thought was interesting was something the president of the state senate (who opposes marriage equality, but took steps to ensure that the vote happened) said:

"Am I on the wrong side of history?" Miller asked. "As a historian, there is no doubt about it. But I understand that and I'll deal with that in my own mind. I believe marriage is between a husband and a wife, and that is why I voted the way I did," Miller said.

That's kind of delightfully honest of him. The one thing I've never been able to get my mind around is how bigots deal with the idea of history. Do they somehow imagine that, despite the fact that THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED, someday people will look back and think "Thank god we never gave civil rights to THAT disenfranchised group. Dodged a bullet there!"?

Maybe someone with better history skills than mine can correct me on this, but has there EVER been a time when a group of people were fighting for their rights, and the defeat of that group went down in history as a good thing? Have there been times when we taught our children "But back then, people were even starting to think that group X were *human beings, deserving of rights*. Thank god we know better now, that they're just demihuman savages!"? I may have weird blinders because of where I stand in history. If I'd been taking high school history back at the turn of the century, woudl they have taught me "And then there was a movement to give women the vote. But they got shut down by heroic men who protected our civilization fron the ruination that would have come from failing to oppress women sufficiently"?

[Kit Whitfield]

TW: self-justifing child abusers. I'm putting the whole post in ROT13, since it contains some very disturbing material.

Maybe someone with better history skills than mine can correct me on this, but has there EVER been a time when a group of people were fighting for their rights, and the defeat of that group went down in history as a good thing? Have there been times when we taught our children "But back then, people were even starting to think that group X were *human beings, deserving of rights*. Thank god we know better now, that they're just demihuman savages!"?

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[Will Wildman]

Maybe someone with better history skills than mine can correct me on this, but has there EVER been a time when a group of people were fighting for their rights, and the defeat of that group went down in history as a good thing?

Depends on what you consider 'down in history', I imagine. There are still people who will argue that women being allowed to vote was a terrible idea - one of them* posted extensively on the subject back before the Patheos split. So if one manages to believe that the overwhelming shift of popular opinion is also on the wrong side of history, one can probably remain consistent on the issues for at least the rest of their life.

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Good luck to Froborr, and cheers for Literata and mom.

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I wish I could get down to DC (nice place) for a meetup, but the middle of the week in the middle of March is definitely not possible for me. I am looking to take a trip somewhere in the nearish future; location remains as yet undecided.

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I can't actually think of a small purchase that's made a huge difference to me - the best things have either required a serious pile of cash (substantial travel expenses in order to meet with long-distance friends) or been completely free (drop by a NaNo event and hello new best friend). If there was ever a small expenditure on my part that made a big difference to someone else, I doubt I thought about it much; mostly I have to argue other people into ever allowing me to spend my excess cash on them.

[Will Wildman]

Forgot my own footnote.

*There is a certain internet archetype that I mentally think of as The Last Yeti. They are weary of the modern world and how things have changed from the glorious days of the past, but they have accepted that the decline is inevitable and the majority is unlike them. Thus they sigh and watch the sunset of their once-great civilisation, and wax eloquent about the wisdom of their lost people.

[Mmy]

@Will Wildman: I think an argument can be made that much of the "voter suppression" legislation being enacted in various parts of the United States are attempts to "roll back" rights that have been enjoyed or codify the informal "non granting" of rights.

And I did feel, while living in the US, that the rights accorded to me as a legal resident were progressively being rolled back and that roll back was approved of by most Americans. Indeed it was applauded by many. So those who were fighting for "basic" American rights to be extended to everyone living in the country have been, in large part legislatively, rolled back to massive popular approval.

And many Americans today not only defend the decision to intern "Japanese Americans" in concentration camps for the duration of the Second World War they have even suggested that similar treatment be accorded to other "suspect" groups of Americans.

[MercuryBlue]

And many Americans today not only defend the decision to intern "Japanese Americans" in concentration camps for the duration of the Second World War they have even suggested that similar treatment be accorded to other "suspect" groups of Americans.

can't hear you la la la

(Which is it this time? Anybody who looks Muslim?)

[sarah]

@Will: Come to Philly in the spring! It's actually pretty nice in May.

[Literata]

Historically, the emancipation of European Jews happened in fits and starts, and then there was WW II, so I'd definitely say it's possible.

[Mmy]

Right now there are people in the United States who once could not vote (because of things such as poll tests) and then won the right to vote. And now that right to vote is being rolled back because new regulations are being put in place that demand of them pieces of ID that they were never asked to produce before over decades of going to the polls.

[MercuryBlue]

Because of "voter fraud". I've seen, though damned if I know where or I'd find it for y'all, a graphic that indicates that we have plenty of transparency requirements for slot machines but none or next to none for voting machines. Five too many votes in a district because of no photo ID for voters? Who cares, unless the district was won by under ten votes. But voting machine fraud, that worries me.