The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: stuff

  • Out I Shall Get

    The minute my boyfriend passed away, my landlady decided that even though I only rent 1/3rd the square footage (and now presumably would be using much less electricity), I should now pay 2/3rds of the electric bill. When I said that this was unfair, she told me that maybe someday I’d grow up (I’m 49)…

  • The Gift of Friendship

    I watched my laptop hit the floor and I heard it break. I stood there for a minute, not wanting to actually open it up and look, wanting to hold on to a few more seconds of being a person who had a computer, and knowing I was about to become a person who didn’t…

  • Am I the Exception or the Rule?

    I saw a commercial for a department store recently, and their main message was that they sell designer products at department store prices. It was all about save, save, save. And then they showed the price tag on a purse. $149.99. I nearly plotzed. Seriously. It was close. That’s a savings? I cannot imagine a…

  • The Futility of Accumulation

    I long to have one of those minimalist homes with wide expanses of floor space and no tchotchkes to dust or arrange. No clutter. No collections. I want to be able to move all my stuff from one house to the next in just one or two carloads. I often look around at the mess…

  • Why I Hate Shopping at Walmart

    I do my level best to avoid Walmart at all times, but it’s insidious. It’s like a cancer upon the landscape. Sometimes you just can’t find what you’re looking for anywhere else. When that happens, I take a deep breath, try to center myself, and head to that debauched temple of crass consumerism to do…

  • Bob Cratchit is my Hero

    When I walked in the door today, two of my coworkers were engaged in a bit of a shouting match. It was about the temperature. One felt it was too hot, the other felt it was just right, and what ensued was a battle royal, despite the fact that one of them would be leaving…