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He’s Feeling Better

Vince called today . . this conversation will confirm that he’s feeling better.

Vince: I’m concerned that inflation may be going up so if there’s anything you want to buy, you should consider getting it now. NO CRAFTS and nothing for the kitchen though.
Me: I could use a new winter coat. I never needed one in Texas and mine is pretty worn out.
Vince: You can knit sweaters.
Me: We need to replace the mattress set in Addie’s room. If ever one of us is sick and the other needs to sleep in a different bed, that mattress in Addie’s room is awful.
Vince: You could sleep downstairs!
Me: If you were sick, would you want me downstairs or right next to your room?
Vince: Well, I’m sick in Texas and you’re in MO so I guess I could live with you downstairs and me upstairs!
Me: Well, then I guess there’s nothing I can think of that we need to buy.

Then he said “We have plenty of pens and paper.” What? Is he thinking maybe the cost of pens is going sky high? Of all the things I was thinking about that we might need that would be affected by inflation, ink pens were not on my radar.

Then he said “We might think about getting a car.” I told him . . I don’t drive the one I have now enough to keep it running. I don’t want a new car yet. I really don’t. When I was driving from Texas to Missouri often, I would have felt more comfortable in a new car but now I mostly drive about 25 miles to meet Nicole halfway to get Addie. My car is just fine for that.

It’s hard for me to think about what I might want/need next week . . how can I think about a year or so down the road? I’ll think I have groceries for a month and someone shares a recipe and all of a sudden I want to go to the grocery store. Or I have craft supplies for a lifetime and someone shows something cute they’ve made and I want to try that so I have to buy all new hobby supplies.

My advice: Check your supply of ink pens and paper! 🙂

Seriously, my guess is that he just came across a case or two of paper and a pile of ink pens and he was more joking about not needing paper and pens ever but it was funny the way he said it when I was seriously trying to decide what we might need.

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Comments

    • I don’t know. After reading all the reviews on the various gas stoves, I’m kinda turned off about that idea. Of course, I’m not cooking as much with Vince not here so maybe once he’s back, I’ll get back to wanting a gas stove.

  7. That was a weird conversation – considering the backorder issues on lots of items, what you deem to be needed in a future time period may need to be ordered NOW! And you still may not get the item for a few months..

    Craft items and kitchen items – well, I can see not ordering craft items as long as Vince does not order his “craft” items. I’ll let the definition of “craft” be left to the buyer.

    Kitchen items – if Vince wants “nothing for the kitchen”, does that mean he does not want the basic food items since they do go into the kitchen? Words matter… I guess he wants to draw down on those food supplies.

    Sweaters vs coats – I have lived in many areas and I can attest that a sweater will not stand up to the wind chill factor of many places, if you are outside. A sweater may be ok indoors. A sweater in an emergency situation in the car in low temps and high winds will ensure that you are getting hypothermia. NOPE, not going to happen…And Vince is the one that gets cold, so no new coat for him!

    Mattress – well, what about you get sick and want to be on the main floor? Will Vince be ok with the bad Addie mattress or being downstairs and climbing up to take care of YOU??? Get a new mattress, after all, it might be several months before you can get it!

    Buy pens since the ones in Texas are probably going to be dry by the time they get to Missouri. Paper – well, who uses the stuff – you or VInce? It sounds like you use the iPad options for patterns and such. I bet he prints out more things than you do!

    I know you were talking in jest,maybe? I don’t know…just save the conversation for when Vince complains about not having something in the room that he is in…

    • We have enough of everything! We could go a long time without needing food, craft items . . we have a lot! We just moved it . . we know how much we have. As far as the coat, it was a new nicer coat that I needed. I have a dozen coats and Chad got me an outdoorsy type coat for Christmas. It’s warm and well insulated. I keep a heavy coat, hat, gloves and boots in my car during the winter. It’s not a super nice coat but it’s warm and durable. I always have that in the car during cold weather. There was a time when I would run to the store with just a sweatshirt but now, I think about what would happen if I had a flat tire, or an accident . . I don’t want to be outside shivering. I really searched thought hard and a mattress set and coat was all I could think of and the truth is . . if I seriously thought there was a need for either, I’d buy it tomorrow.

  8. So glad Vince is feeling better! You know he is because he is complaining about spending money! LOL

  9. Yeah, he’s feeling better. LOL I’m not going to worry about it. I’ll get what I need when I need it, and tighten the budget where I have to. I know I won’t be getting a raise any time. I haven’t had one since I retired in 2005. Before that, the only year there hadn’t been a raise in retirement was one year during WWII. Go figure!

  10. He thinks it is time for a new car. He may not be wrong. We traded in our 12 y/o GMC Acadia in July, with 80,000+ miles on it. Great car. But, living in the desert, things dry up. Our car was always garaged. But the leather was started to dry and crack. No major problems. Tires were close to needing to be replaced. $1400 at least. Battery cost over $200. We find living here in the desert, 12 years is time to sell a car. We had 2 cars. Both were 12 yrs old. One only had 11,000 miles on it. DH drove it to the golf course and barber and Lowe’s or the Depot a few times. So, when we were down to one car, we figured it was time for a new one. We leased it to try out leasing as we do not drive much in a year. We leased a GMC Acadia, 2020, It had 3,500 miles on it. They used it to drive customers home after dropping off their car. My DH is 82 and I am 75. Have no idea how many years we will drive. We still drive to Lake Tahoe yearly (except this year). Also we drive to San Diego a few times each year. Other than that, just around town. Our other car choice would have been a Toyota Highlander. We like a SUV as we no longer have a truck. We just thought it was a good time as the economy is going to change big time, taxes are going to go way up etc. I would think if you need a car in the next 2-4 years, it might be a wise time to buy.

    • Living back in MO near the kids, we don’t drive enough to justify a new car. Plus, insurance and personal property taxes are more so it just isn’t something I care about at all. We have a great mechanic here and anything that goes wrong, I know he can fix for a reasonable price. So, there’s not going to be a vehicle purchase in our near future.

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