The Addison Cafe

Gold. It comprises the vast majority of jewelry, is the highest medal awarded at the Olympics, and is the official standard of monetary exchange in most countries. People have fought for it, stolen it, mined for it, and been consumed by the thought of it since the beginning of humanity. (I have always wondered why gold was deemed the most “valuable”. Imagine if it were dirt or wood that some guy 6000 years ago deemed as precious instead of gold).

On a separate note (these are related, I promise), my co-worker’s dog recently passed away. Another co-worker’s dog isn’t doing too well, and yesterday morning I got a call from my wife that our dog was suffering from things I shouldn’t describe in a blog. Shinobi (my pup) will be ok, but during an ordeal like that it makes you think. What if he did pass away? It changes the way you see things when you run into a situation like that.

Back to gold.  As much as we strive for gold, or money, or big bank accounts or good interest rates, there are things (obviously) that more important. Yes, we all have to have money. We need to pay bills, invest in our futures, food, shelter, and clothing yadda yadda yadda. But a memory, feeling, or relationship can trump any amount of money. Btw, I know several people who have spent thousands on vet bills to try and save their pet. Would you spend 5,000 to buy a dog? Probably not. Would you spend 5,000 to try save your family’s companion of 10 years? Probably.

It wasn’t fun watching my dog get sick and worrying about him (I am at home as I write this making sure he is doing better), but it was a good reminder for me to take a break from the race of trying to get ahead financially and just enjoy the things I am blessed to have today.

Some things are worth more than gold.

We all have bad days from time to time. Or as it is referred to in the movie “OfficeSpace”, we get a “case of the Mondays”. Whether it’s at work, home, or somewhere else, every once in a while a day turns bad and we have to figure out what we are going to do about it.

Most people have a plan of attack for situations such as these: Starbucks.  Heck, for a lot of us we think, “why wait for a bad day? Why not be pro-active and get Starbucks on the way to work. That would be the responsible thing to do”. And yes, it would be if it makes you a more pleasant person to be around; your family and co-workers will be thanking you. But Starbucks isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for people. Some need a coveted Diet Coke with lime, or pizza for dinner when they get home or lunch at their favorite restaurant. 

The bottom line is that most people have something to rescue them from their woes.  The problem is that our caffeinated band-aid costs us 3 bucks a pop (or whatever your treat costs) and over a course of a year that can add up.  If you are a true addict and have one a day you will spend over a thousand a year. Just for the sake of round numbers, if you take home 50k a year, you are spending 2% of your income on coffee alone.

Now I am not here to judge who spends what on coffee (I too am guilty of bowing down to the corporate monster :::cough::: tall mocha with whip :::cough:::). I am just merely pointing out that our emotional pacifiers can really make a financial dent over time.  What do you “need” in order to have a good day? Is it worth the cost?

Lazy. That’s what we are. And it costs us a lot of money in a lot of ways (as I have shared in some of my other posts).  One seemingly small way we succumb to laziness is whenever we happen to be in a parking lot. It’s like entering a magical zone that sucks the life out of a person; everyone instantly turns angry and impatient. For whatever reason, most people can’t stand parking in the first open space they see. Instead, they will drive around and around waiting for a “close” spot to open. And the time it takes to find a “close” spot is almost always longer than the time it would take to walk the difference.

Personally, I like to park and walk. By taking an open spot towards the back of the lot, people are less likely to hit your car, you save money on gas, and you get more exercise (even though those are all in small quantities). I thought my “park and walk” plan was foolproof until a couple of weeks ago…

A co-worker and I set off to get some Starbucks in order to ensure a productive afternoon. I found an open spot several blocks away and snagged it. We got out and were walking along enjoying the California sun when I felt a raindrop hit my head. I looked up and after getting half way through the thought, “but I don’t seen any rain clou…” I realized there is only one thing that can hit your head that doesn’t come from clouds. Chocolate sprinkles. Apparently some bird had finished digesting its morning scone scavenged from the sidewalk and decided that it was as good a time as any to make room for the next one. I did my best to wash my hair in the bathroom sink at Starbucks, but nothing could wash away that “violated” feeling I had for the rest of the day.

Will I park closer next time? Doubtful. Will I be more paranoid now? Absolutely.  How about you? Park and walk, or drive endless circles waiting for the perfect spot?

WhapWhapWhapWhap…that was the sound my car started making while my wife and I were driving 70mph down the highway last Saturday. I instantly pulled over as visions of repair bills went through my mind. It turns out a 1 inch thick strip of rubber had gotten ripped off my front tire and was hitting the underside of the car ever time the wheel turned. The irony? I was on my way to get NEW TIRES FOR THE CAR. Sweet. Couldn’t make it another 10 miles, could ya car? So I busted out the puke yellow donut from the trunk and feebly attempted to take off the front tire (with the sorry excuse for a tire iron it came with). I do pushups and pull-ups at home, but apparently not enough; I couldn’t budge a single lug nut. Way to be a man in front of the wife; even the dog looked a little let down. So I did 2 things: called AAA and continually checked the mirror hoping a cop would see my hazard lights and stop…

Long story short, since I have been too cheap to buy AAA (it’s not that expensive either), they said they could sign me up as a new member but in the state of California they don’t provide same day service. “Would I still like to open an account right now?” they asked. Uh, NO.

Plan B: I finally saw a cop approaching and….cool, he blew by me at like 80mph. However, he pulled over half a mile down the road at another stranded vehicle and got out to help them. Crossing my fingers that the tire wouldn’t blow, I turned the car on and drove down the shoulder and parked almost blocking him in between me and the other car. After simply asking for help to get my tire off, he looked at me and said, “Uh, there is a tow truck on the way for this other guy, he can probably help you.” Thank you civil servant. After basically explaining that I just needed his help for 1 minute to get the dumb tire off and making it clear “no” wasn’t an acceptable answer, he grunted and said he thought he had something in his trunk that could help me out. I waited expecting to see some super techy tire remover thingy when lo, he pulls out a tire iron. So that was his magical “something” that might be able to help me. The good news is he got the tire off, but he had to literally jump up and down on the tire iron, which semi-restored my masculinity since he wasn’t able to do it with his bare hands either. In the end, I was able to make my tire appointment with 5 minutes to spare (lousy pun) and I didn’t have to pay a tow truck.

The moral of the story: Sometimes in the name of “saving money” it is easy to be a cheapskate and not buy practical necessities (like AAA). Did I mention that was the THIRD time in 7 months that I could have used AAA? Saving money is good, but sometimes it is better to spend it than to take a gamble.

All day at work I dreaded going home because of the chore that awaited me. I had made up my mind and knew there was no turning back now. Yet the thought of doing it was so daunting that when I got home I did what any responsible person would do; I fell asleep on the bed while “getting ready”. I woke up half an hour later dazed with the dog passed out on my arm and his gooey bone stuck to my neck. How cute. But I knew I must still gather the strength to do the impossible. I knew I must go for a run. Was I a man or a…a…lazy man? (please, nobody answer that; especially my wife).  Why is exercise SO HARD?! What’s so bad about running anyways? Most of us are fine going for a walk, and it’s just like walking…except faster and in short shorts (hopefully not basketball-in-the-80’s short).

We seem to be willing to do anything to get in shape…except exercise. Slimming soap, diet patches, thigh master, electronic shock thingies that do nothing except make our fat jiggle at hyper speed; even diet sunglasses (seriously…they have blue shades so when you look at your food it will look less appealing thus decreasing your appetite. See the top ten weirdest diet plans here)

We know exercise makes us feel better, look better, have more energy, and live longer, yet we don’t do it. We all want to do it, and pretty much everyone has 30 minutes to spare at least every other day, but we would rather tell ourselves “tomorrow” while we slowly atrophy into our couch cushions. Well there is one other reason to exercise that might motivate you…it saves money. How? Well people who don’t exercise end up with more health problems later in life (surprise!).  Decayed health over time costs more in prescriptions, surgery, time away from work, co-pays, etc. Not to mention the fact that you don’t feel good and have to work extra hard to catch up to where your body should be.

So the money saving tip of the day is: Work out. Even if you have to buy nice Nike’s, Gatorade, an iPod, fashionable sweatbands and a gym membership, it will probably save you a lot of money in the long run (pardon the pun).