Another first is upon us! We, the members of the Florida Kauffman Family Household (version 2.2**), are intimately familiar with the warm air blowing in the summer phenomenon. Having air conditioning in Florida is like having a public defender when you are falsely accused of a crime and you’re dead broke; you know you need it but you wouldn’t trust it any further than you could carry…
I am sitting in a car dealership. I am buying my fourth car. Number one: The Civic. Number two: The Lemon (you may also know it as the Saturn). Number three: The CRV. Number four: The Coupe.
There are enough false smiles and hair products to fill… well, a new car dealership. It is just another Monday afternoon in a new car showroom. Cheryl, ever the shrewd wheeler and dealer, got us a free…
Money. The answer to people’s prayers. The root of great despair. Who, over the age of 12, hasn’t worried about money once and a while? The Kauffman household (v. 2.0) is capping an unprecedented outflow year with another major purchase. With the recent passing of The Civic, we find ourselves one car short in a two car household. Later today we will be filling that void with The Coupe.
Our family has suffered another automotive casualty. This time it’s old faithful. On Friday, the check engine light came on. On Saturday, we had it checked out. Later Saturday, we found out it had a multitude of serious problems. Even later on Saturday, we decided to replace it. Even LATER on Saturday, we had a tentative deal to buy a two door Civic coupe. On Sunday, we got a call from the…
There is a debate raging in my own mind. I am one of the least ambitious people I know. Combine that with an expensive taste in computers and you get a train wreck of budgetary proportions. Then out of the blue comes a promotional opportunity. One of the quirks in state government is that people are not singled out for promotion based on merit. Instead, promotions are applied for like a new…
“I was thinking that I would go ahead and spend the money for a Clearwater rec. card so Beth can continue her swim lessons.”
Sarcastically: “Will that leave enough money for a new computer?”
Seriously: “Yeah, I think so.”
Stunned: “…”
My wife and I share a bond that has never been stronger.
Did I mention that there is a new computer sitting in…
We are back on the air after some technical difficulties this evening. They say that when you run your own web server, you can’t blame anyone else for your site problems. Well, one of our poor old iMacs bit the dust right in front of me this evening. It happened just as I was walking in the door, coming home from work. The monitor flashed, an electrical “hissing” noise rose from…
I am faced with a serious dilemma. I was given some cold, hard cash for my birthday. As dilemmas go, this one doesn’t sound too bad so far. It’s not getting money that is so bad, but deciding what to do with it. I am torn between prudent, responsible choices and … well … not so prudent or responsible choices. On the one hand we have necessary items. Clothing, debt relief…
Have you ever put off doing something for five years, then got up in the morning and decided, “I’m going to do that today.”? We were printing our tee-shirts – “I survived the dog days of summer, 1998” – when I told Cheryl that I would run some speaker wire behind the wall. (No, we weren’t really printing tee-shirts.)
Imagine a lazy summer day, five…
I can’t wait to hear from our AC guy. We’re waiting for a call back to set up an appointment for our “free” estimate. How big of them. Our air conditioner is blowing warm air. It’s 07/and we’re right smack in the middle of the northern hemisphere, so this is not a good thing. Since we would really rather it blow cold air this time of year, it’s pretty much…