insured

You know what is really great? Having good health insurance.

I know I've been harping on this (over and over) since I began the Journey of What I Want to Do with My Life two years ago, but it's amazing how having money helps you save money.

For example: 

A year ago, I needed new contacts. I didn't have vision insurance, so I bought a C0stC0 membership and had my eyes checked there. It cost me about $265 (plus the $55 membership) to have the exam and get 18 contacts (12 for one eye, 6 for the other, based on what I had left over from before). 

This week, I paid $53 for an eye exam and 24 contacts. I already have the membership, but I didn't need it, because insurance covered the whole cost of the contacts - they never asked for the card - and it is only the actual contacts that are purchased from C0stC0. The eye doctor is independent.

I'm going to remember this lesson. I'm not going to forget. Those of us who already have get even more, and those without anything have to spend more because they are poor. It's mind-boggling how unfair it is.

brains

When I got my new job and told people that I was about to start commuting 2-2.5 hours a day, just about the universal reaction was, "podcasts." (There were occasional exceptions along the lines of, "books on tape," or "that sounds awful." Actually, most of them started with, "that sounds awful," and progressed to "podcasts," or "books on tape.")

The truth is that I don't mind driving. And I never intended to listen to podcasts or books on tape. If I'm going to read a book, I want to see the words. I'm much more a visual person than an auditory person. If I listen to a book on tape, I suspect that I will zone out and miss a large section and have to rewind. (I know, we don't rewind anymore. I'll have to go back, however we say that now.) I might as well just read the book and catch the whole thing.

I listened to music and jammed along in my car for six weeks. 

And then, on impulse, I switched from music to NPR last week.

So basically I'm smarter now than I was a week ago. My brain is being trained in listening, and I know all the things there are to know that are going on in the world. Brains.