Today was one of those errand and maintenance running days. I spent a lot of it trying to figure out why my slowly dying laptop computer will no longer allow me to hook up to the marvelous "dial-up" internet we are so lucky to still be using on the atoll. It claims that my internal modem is already connected (not true) or that it is not configured properly, but all diagnostic checks say it is connected and configured properly. I knew it was about time for a new computer, and I was simply waiting to head back to the states in a couple of weeks to purchase one, so I guess the decision has definitely been made for me now. When I was at the height of my confusion and frustration at trying to figure out the computer, I moved on to a new task and headed "downtown" for a few errands with my son.
We checked mail, and I picked up a few cooking utensils, a beach chair, and a power strip to hook up the new printer my finance ordered for us. Meanwhile, my son decided how he wanted to spend some of his money, which ended up being a new Wii game. I enjoy teaching him the value of money. When it comes time to buy something, he doesn't hesitate to ask me for it, but if he is told he needs to spend his own money, all of a sudden, everything becomes a much bigger deal, and he deliberates for quite a long time before being able to decide on just one thing. It's a useful lesson, and because of that, I don't mind the bit of whining and complaining because I know he is learning from it. It has also spurred him to get on board with the new chore chart I set up for him. I will provide him with an allowance each week with the amount of money given out to be determined by the number of chores he does each day. So far, he's taking me up on the offer. We'll see how long it lasts.
When we go to the store and spend money together, I always further the lesson by letting my son know how much of my hard earned cash went to the local stores for just basic household necessisities while we are shopping to give him an idea of how much "life" costs. Unfortunately, I am still surprised sometimes at how much I seem to still be "missing" in my new house. Of course, initially, I had to spend quite a bit of money to get it set up, but almost every weekend, I find something else I didn't have and need to get. I guess I don't really "need" these things, but they are the everyday luxeries that make life easier, like the dishwashwer I was lucky enough to be gifted by a dear friend. There's need, and then there's want. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the two when you get used to having something "extra," and then it's hard to let it go, like my computer and internet connection.
I am slightly embarrassed that I am so dependent on it for checking e-mail, paying bills, keeping up with posting for this blog. I usually write out each day's entry on a Word file, and then simply cut and paste to the blog site, but I realized I can't even do that anymore because of the defunct internet connection. I can write it up, but I can't email it to myself at work, which is where I have my only other way to connect, and I can't save it to a thumb drive because we are not alllowed to use those on work computers. I even tried to save it to a recordable CD, but my poor, old computer has given up on me. It doesn't want to do that for me either. I am thankful for the years I had with it. I used it "back in the day" to teach college classes online when traveling with my babies back and forth from the states to the islands on "stress breaks" and vacations, and I took it with me when I moved out of my house and into a BQ for 3 years, and now it's traveled with me into my new home with the boys, and I can't even remember how many years I've had it. It's provided that connection to the outside world, so I can't really complain. So, Monday errands turned into Monday lessons about want and need and the cost of life, so I'd say that's a pretty successful day as is any day in which you learn something that you can apply to your life to make it better or easier in the future.
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