At 1:34 Eastern Time today the Dow-Jones average had sunk 338 points, which is about 100 points an hour. I already don’t have dental or vision insurance and now my MD has dropped out of the insurance plan as well. I discovered this after and not before this year’s visit and the related routine tests.
So, there went much more than what I would have spent on the life jacket I must have if I am to avoid being ticketed by the game warden as I pull my pirogue out across the great bayou for the sake of my health and sanity. I am going to go and buy a life jacket anyway.
Meanwhile I have discovered new shoe desires and these are them: one, two. I am very tempted to just give in and press purchase except: I need a desk and there is a good one available for $300 cash, and I need a chair, so I think I should just use the shoes I have and remember that there always will be shoes. What do you think of these matters?
To me it just seems that there is no actual way to control the costs of things, one must simply work more hours. I am sanguine to some degree because of having spent all that time in Latin America in the eighties and nineties, and because I predicted then that this crisis would be here now. So what do you say? Desk? Chair? Shoes?
At one time I would have considered these necessities for work and not thought twice, but that was when our health benefits were real, the university still had travel funding, we still got raises, and the library still acquired books. Now there will be car maintenance, and homeowner’s coverage no longer applies to damage from named storms; I believe all answers are just no.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
A desk is mostly for cosmetic reasons so I would put that last on my list, and get a decent one when I have money. I spend a significant time on a computer, and my body will break down if I don’t have decent lumbar support. A chair directly impacts the quality of my life so that comes first. The really good ones don’t come cheap so I’d save up. In fact, you can trawl craigslist for lightly used embody, humanscale, steelcase leap, or aeron chairs (that’s what I did). Lots of people selling luxury items in this shitty economy.
Craigslist is a great idea for a chair — but no need for a chair without a desk!
What I now have in my possession is the life jacket: like this in blue and green, pretty good: http://www.landfallnavigation.com/sospenders.html … although now I realize I could have had a belt pack.
I forgot for a few minutes that I also want a bicycle. Who knows how to prioritize, I say desk then chair. But isn’t it amazing all the job benefits we’ve lost?!
P.S. There will be no shoes! All the old shoes are now at repair and this is enough! But I am having fun on Craigslist, it has a bicycle, even! 🙂