The Antagonist In Our Story (KJ)

KJ — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:13:52 +0000

We have just about sold all of our electronics. I’ve sent hundreds of emails and we’ve burned through nearly all of our AT&T rollover minutes trying to give people directions to our house, so they can pick stuff up. During these last couple of weeks, I’ve seen electronics that cost us $2000+ sell for less than $600. I was so fed up with all of it! Then today “he” spoke to us. He whispered voodoo into our ears and we were instantly hypnotized. “He” doesn’t want us to show our kids the world. He wants to throw us off our path of conservation and adventure.

“He” is Steve Jobs. It’s true. He unveiled the new iPhone today in his keynote speech and I just drooled the entire time. I have to be cool and uninterested when CM is raving about the latest and greatest product from Apple, but as soon as he turns his back I’m trying to figure out how we can fit it into our budget! Yesterday my phone was fine, but today it’s grossly deficient and I need a new one. Or so I think. To make matters worse, the new iPhone costs half of what we paid for ours in December. This is a prime example for why we need to buckle down and buy used.

What scares me is how will I be able to convince my children that new isn’t always better if I don’t practice it myself? Living in an RV will definitely keep us from buying a lot of new stuff. It will hopefully make us, as one fellow Craigslister put it, “aware of what we bring into our space”. So much of product marketing is built around making you feel like you’re missing something and then selling you a product that will fill that void and thus make you whole. That pattern/cycle has been etched into my brain. My hope is that this time in the RV will help me create new patterns that don’t involve buying things to make me feel better.

Step 1: Admit You Have a Problem (KJ)

KJ — Sat, 31 May 2008 13:35:58 +0000

My entire computer is gone and I feel empty. It’s lame, but true. All these people from Craigslist kept writing me questions about its specs and when could they pick it up. I told CM it was the equivalent of other women writing me about my husband and I was forced to say, “Yeah, you should really sleep with him. He’s great. He’s gonna rock your world.” Seriously? Yeah, seriously.

That computer is MY BABY! I know the old saying, “You can’t take it with you when you go.” But at least when you “go” you don’t have to see the empty computer desk taunting you. This morning CM is at the grocery store. I’m tempted to pack up the kids and head straight to the Apple store for a bigger, better computer and ditch this whole RV’ing thing. Then I tabbed over to a browser window I had opened yesterday and I saw this:

I want to show my kids places like these.

….Or maybe I can just set it as my wallpaper on my shiny new 30″ cinema display and my kids can “see” it every day!

“I have shamed myself….”

2 Adults 2 Kids » apple

The Antagonist In Our Story (KJ)

Step 1: Admit You Have a Problem (KJ)