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Yesterday was Fun

January 13th, 2008 at 03:29 pm

We had a good day interesting. Yes, another drive to San Jose. But this time was well worth it. I figured it would cost about $300 to replace my windshield just going with the flow. But my dad, cheapie that he is, pointed out a real cheap place by his house. Swears by them. Except they were closed for a good week after the windshield cracked.

So we went by yesterday while in town and it was a whopping $150. Big Grin

Will just come out of the monthly budget. Not a biggie. & I was stressed about it!

I am so happy to get that fixed and to pay so little.

Of course on the way home we hit something on the freeway! It was one of those lawn mower bags. It was not good. I think the odds are good my car is okay. But it got lodged underneath the car. We pulled over and dh finagled it for a bit. But he is the smart one. He said, "why don't you back up?" Then it popped right out. The car seemed fine and we got home late. Today I'll look under it and make sure there is no obvious damage. All I could think is we just fixed the dang thing.

Well we did our good deed for the day. We got it off the road. At least no one else hit it. I told dh I preferred to hit it with the van than the subcompact. So as long as the car is okay...

Anyway, I have been realizing lately that there are a large number of benefits to being in the land of expensive. They keep popping up this last week or 2 or 3 and I am feeling less annoyed about the disadvantages of late. I think in a forum like this, seeing so many people live in more reasonable places, it is easy to start getting annoyed about all the downsides, and lose sight of the upside.

Cheap auto glass is one. Big Grin


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Well, we went to a fancy birthday party in San Jose yesterday. IT wasn't terribly fancy. It was actually rather low key, but they did have entertainment and about 30 guests (for a 2yo). The nice thing is all the guests had small kids and didn't last long. So us and the family stayed a little longer. The kids just had a BLAST. They have such a fun house.

This is dh's cousin. I am sure they would be easily labeled as the Joneses. But they are not. I don't know anyone our peer who has such a nice home in the area (who can afford it) and I would guess that they have the smallest mortgage. She started with a tiny condo, then a townhouse, then this home. I know she paid something in the $500-$600k range in a very similar neighborhood to when dh's sister paid $800k. The thing is his sister has 1200 square feet if lucky. This house has a nice backyard, & is a very tiny 3-bedroom. But it has an add-on so a family room and a master added on to it. They have some pretty decent square footage as a result. & I know most of that was bought with equity. They are just smart buyers. (I mean the house is a zillion years old, but that's what you get for 1/2 mil in the Bay Area).

Their house is filled to the brim with electronics and fancy things. But I mean, they wouldn't buy anything they couldn't pay cash for and I know she had saved a crazy amount down on the first condo she bought. They are just savers who make a lot of money. They don't have the crazy mortgages the rest of our peers do so they can enjoy those big incomes that much more. Of course I think they are crazy, LOL, because they both still work full-time, opposite schedules. But it seems to work for them. & if it works for them, so be it.

The thing that struck me about the party is most of the parents were OLD.

Anyway, around here in Sacramento, I know a LOT of young moms. Which is not very much the norm in the Bay Area. BEcause it is just too expensive! So up here it was always striking to me how many young parents were. Of course, on the flip side, know a lot of parents in their late 30s, early 40s. But they all look very young.

So yesterday, this party, I see a lot of older people. I figured it was just the different culture. These people can't afford to have kids until much later. I don't know if that was an accurate conclusion, but all I Could figure. None of these people would pass for 20s/30s. So I was pondering.

Anyway, one interesting conversation we had was that dh's aunt teaches for a community college. She was asking a lot of questions of BM because he is quite the brain. (YEs I have bragged about him before). So she was asking me if he knew combinations of 10. (5/5, 6/4, 7/3, etc.). Well, um, of course. She said, "If I asked him if there were 27 people in a room and 7 more people came in, how many would there be?" would he know the answer? I think, yes, of course. He's been on this math kick and he LOVES combination of #s. & adding and subtracting all that.

Anyway, she was asking because she teaches the lowest level math in community college (pre-algebra) and she has for a while. But she says the people coming through can not do BASIC math. We were discussing that and dh's family was kind of concluding that more dumb people are going to college. LOL. I chimed in and said we couldn't find any CPAs who could do basic problem solving skills. I think it is more of an age thing. The young people coming through are just not properly educated. I feel so blessed to be educated and to know that I will ensure my kids are educated. But apparently not everyone has that same leg up. I mean I am in the middle when it comes to home schooling. I am not going to homeschool my kids 24/7. Not my thing. I want them to open their horizons. I had so many wonderful teachers and experiences through the years; so much more than my parents could have given me. BUT just because I send them off to school doesn't mean I am going to put the responsibility 1000% on the school. Come on. I can't fathom why anyone would. But then you get college grads who can't do basic arithmetic. Yikes!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently a lot of parents aren't paying any attention. &/or don't have the skills to teach their kids. IT's just a sad state of society I think. Since when was education such a low priority. *sigh*

But I never really thought about the 2 before, but someone mentioned that no wonder people couldn't figure our basic personal finance. If they can't do basic arithmetic. I had never really thought about it, but I think it is a good point. They young particularly, seem to have a big disadvantage in that regard.

I also know a lot of it is because people rely so much on computers, somehow they miss the basics. But there isn't a lot you can do without the basics. Which is the frustration we find in our field. People just don't "get it" because they don't have the basic skills. You can't be a CPA if you don't understand algebra... For one. But we get these college grads who don't understand BASIC algebra... It seems to be the norm. We don't even really interview recent college grads any more.

I find that quite scary. So talking to dh's aunt was quite interesting. She said for her it was just the last few years things have changed, much as we have found at my work.

Anyway, we just drove home last night so it ended up being a long day. But the kids had a BLAST. Which is why we went; for them. & I am glad I got to sleep in my own bed and get some stuff done at home today. Phew.

1 Responses to “Yesterday was Fun”

  1. merch Says:
    1200321978

    I live outside Boston and everyone gets married in the mid thirties and then has kids. Everybody is too busy in their 20's making a buck for a 900 sq foot condo at 500k.

    Living out here, I always thought no one who was college educated had kids in there 20s. I mean you graduate HS, go to college, go to grad school, work, try to get ahead in your carer to afford a palce to live... Well, now your over 30. LOL.

    Boston's just a different place.

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