31 degrees this morning, walk 38:49 minutes
Took a video of the Sonic and video bulletin board this morning during my walk. Hopefully they will turn out and illustrate just how bad it is. I am amazed that any city or even a County with rudimentary planning and zoning would allow such an intrusion on a residential area.
Thinking about the high cost of “services” versus the relatively low cost of physical items and how we (or at least I) view them.
A routine meal for two even at almost any restaurant will easily cost $30, by the time you consider the meal, coffee, tea or a soft drink and a tip. That is just a routine meal without anything special.
A small scratch on a car can cost $700 to fix (this is the actual figure from at least 8 years ago, although the scratch was never fixed, at least by us!), a routine plumber call can easily cost $200.
Not to mention medical bills, especially medical bills which appear to have to relationship to the actual services provided or even explanation as to why they are being charged!
Yet, when it comes to buy a physical item, we tend to gasp and hesitate when something that is permanent cost a comparable amount! For example, walking shoes, eyeglasses (that affect you almost every walking moment), clothes, computers etc.
Then cost of this is nothing but a blip compared to a medical bill etc.!
I guess it is just a different way of looking at things.
Of course, one aspect is that is you buy a physical item, than you have to take care of it, it becomes something you have to make room in your life for.
That brings up another thought. Why is it so hard to dispose of something that actually is of little or no value? I am not talking about sentimental value even.
In many cases, the costs of keeping something far exceeds the cost of just throwing it away (or donating) and buying a new one if (and when) you need one!
Of course, shoes and clothes are obvious candidates as are items such as low cost furniture, office items I no longer use, inexpensive cameras, computer equipment, watches etc. that are basically obsolete etc.
I have hauled around stuff for years that I should have just said if I ever need it again, it is cheaper and a lot easier to just buy it again!. Not only that, but improvements will have been made and it will probably be a lot better quality!
I occasionally think of something permanent as “a restaurant meal” I can skip if I need to etc.
Anyway, these are random thoughts during my early morning exercise!
I actually got to thinking about that because my walking shoes are almost 50% of their expected life, and almost 85% the expected life of a “normal” pair of shoes. I was thinking since the difference was $30, as long as the shoes actually last the expected life, it was well worth the extra money.
Of course, whether they are actually worth the extra money or not, also depends on how well I like them. Fortunately, I like them a lot.
That’s it for now, Monday December 6, 2015
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