A time to scrimp and a time to spend

So, about that crate… My crates aren’t milk crates, they’re wooden crates with both the top and bottom open - no good for transporting milk, but marginally useful as shelves. Right now the green crates are concealing my beige plastic crates, which are also not milkcrates but the sorts of plastic crates you buy in college instead of stealing milkcrates. The milk confusion arose from the paint I used, milk paint from The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co. Those who don’t know what color bayberry green is can look at their color chart.

Milk paint is non-toxic and doesn’t stink up your apartment, even in the winter with the kitchen window barely cracked open. I just made the happy discovery that the blah beige crates could be concealed inside the exciting green crates this weekend, and now I’ve reduced the general crate-count in my apartment, leaving more room for the rocking chair.

The rocking chair has been a floor-space problem ever since I dragged it in off the front sidewalk. The crates are also Garbage Nouveau, as are the low bookshelves. There’s also a large selection of Post-Veronica chairs, and the remainder of my decor is Late American Thrift Shop.

The point being, I’m cheap. I don’t even have a TV or a stereo, just a couple of boom boxes that date back to when they were called boom boxes. No VCR, no microwave, no cable. The only piece of furniture I bought new was a set of black wire bookshelves to match the black metal Garbage Nouveau rocking chair, unless you consider the Powerbook a piece of furniture. (The lamp was provided by Veronica.)

So yes, my furniture was discarded by other people, but it’s still nice. If it’s not nice, I paint it green and then it’s nice. I’m also picky about food - you won’t catch me cooking store-brand pasta. Barilla is the brand for me. You only live once, and there’s no excuse for anything less than the genuine Italian article.

So it never ceases to surprise me when people complain about their PC’s. I don’t mean people (like me) who get paid to work with PC’s - I mean non-geeks who buy these things and bring them into their homes and sit in front of them for large chunks of their free time. If you don’t like PC’s, or if you can’t get them to run stable, then you should get a Mac. You only live once, and you shouldn’t be wasting your time fighting with your computer, or retyping the last hour’s work that it crashed and burned. In the long run, the aggravation is just not worth the (apparent) savings. If you’re really all that poor, buy a used mac. The virtual thrift-shop is open.

Life is short. Switch.

4 Responses to “A time to scrimp and a time to spend”

  1. mike hollihan Says:

    Marry me. :-)

    My whole apartment is second-hand, hand-down, or street find; except for some black metal racks. I do have a TV but it’s only 13″, and I have a stereo but it’s a boombox plugged into a yardsale amp. My recliner is tan corduroy from the Salvation Army. Bought my first microwave in 15 years a couple of months ago.

    Clearly, we are meant to be. ;-)

    (I’m kidding, OK! No stalker weirdness, just admiration.)

  2. Jemima Says:

    But do you have a mac?

  3. mike hollihan Says:

    Errr…dang. So close. I have an eMachine given to me by a friend, running Win98. But this Spring I’m hoping to build my own and install RedHat Linux! Can we be friends? ;-)

  4. Jemima Says:

    Talk to me when you’ve moved up to FreeBSD.