Summer Odds and Ends

It's the hot, hot days of summer. Can’t say this is my favorite time of year, but I will say sometimes the evenings can be nice. I walked to get my mail the other evening and it was still warm, but a little breeze had the air smelling like the canyon and camping and that was nice. Trying to look on the bright side and not wish away my days to cooler weather. I have some time off this week so I’m going to take advantage of the cooler mornings to get outside a bit. I have vacation to use up so I don’t lose it so I’ve spread it out to use up over the rest of the year. 

Not much else going on. I’m still reading a bunch of web comics and my actual book count is probably going to end up low this year. I’ve finished 39 books so far, which is still more than 1 per week (so far) and the caveat applies that I’m doing a lot of re-reading that isn’t counted, which is normal. I’ve haven’t checked so I don’t know for sure, but I feel like my book buying has fallen drastically this year. I’ve still purchased half of the books I’ve read but most of those have been ebooks. I’ve read some good stuff this year, but it’s still a struggle to find books that really keep my interest so I usually fall back on web comics. I’m realizing that even my book reading goes in cycles though so I’m not worried about it. I still love to read and my home library still makes me happy.

 

I made myself finish up a bunch of perfume samples so I could buy more. LOL I’ve been gravitating towards more retro/cologne smelling things lately. That is strange for me. I still like the fresh/floral stuff, but the slightly spicy/woody is also appealing to me now. And I just found one that ends in a very pretty rose, and I’ve never really liked rose before. It felt old fashioned somehow but I’m really liking some old fashioned things now. I’m sure that will also change and next year I’ll be into something else. I still have way too much perfume (regular bottles and samples) but I don’t care. I can’t wear all of it in every season and I like having new stuff to try. 

I’ve been spending tons of money… too much, really, so I think I’ll stop for a while and start saving instead. I don’t need to buy things and probably need to talk myself into doing another purge of all kinds of things I’m not using or wearing any longer. So yeah, it’s just normal life. 

Cars and Decisions

I read this thing in a book, that said something like the coin toss doesn’t lie. Used to make decisions, you have a split second of either Yes! That’s what I want or Oh! I don’t think so types of feelings and then you know what to do.

I had one of those moments last week. I’ve been laughing for a year now that the next big thing to break would be the last straw and I’d be getting a new car. Then my car died on the way home from work. I realized right there that I absolutely did not want to make my car buying decision on the spur of the moment and I actually wasn’t ready to get a new car. My sis and bro-in-law helped me get it towed to a mechanic so they could tell me what was wrong. As I was waiting, the amount I was willing to spend to get it fixed kept increasing. Turns out, I needed a new fuel pump and $1297.00 later my car is up and running again with just the normal weird sounds its been making for a year. It’s not really a good time to buy a car right now; there are still problems lingering from the pandemic. Plus, I’d like to get one more year out of it if I can.  I have a plan in place now for when I do buy a new car. Hopefully, it doesn’t have to happen at a moment’s notice. I already have money saved up for a nice down payment on something fairly new, so that will keep increasing while I wait. I have a few ideas of what I want to test drive, and I have a payment calculator app on my phone. LOL I’m ready now. I still don’t want to do it yet, but this experience showed me how I really feel. That little Mazda and I have been through a lot over the years.