What does 100 dollars by ya? Dish racks or shirts, take your pick

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, it's been a while. Sue me. I shouldn't even be here tonight because if you are looking for anything cohesive and funny, well, you've come to the wrong place baby. I am just pooped out and can't really think of anything to focus on, so basically, this will be a point form list of anything new I can think of.

-- Anyway, life's just been busy. Mrs. JT is still on the picket line, which zaps all of her energy. However, I have a feeling she'll be back at work by the middle of the week. We'll see if I am right or not.

-- Margo emailed me today and told me she was selling all of this stuff of hers on this used stuff website. So, I went and looked at her wares, and she is apparently selling a dish rack for 80 dollars. EIGHTY DOLLARS. I am not making this up. So if that is what she is selling it used, God only knows what it was new. Now, call me cheap, but isn't a dish rack just a dish rack? So, I must admit that I had some good old fashioned ribbing set for her, sort of like my sister who always says "oh, it must be nice to..." blah blah blah (and to which I always think in my head "oh, it must be nice to spend your money on cigarettes instead of buying what you want", but that's a whole other story). However, I got to thinking that I cannot talk, because, you know, there are just odd things we all spend money on that make others shake their heads. I'll share some of these with you, and so you too can think "motherfucker is crazy" about me, just as I did with darling Margo today.
The first thing that came to mind was this god-awful fucking shirt I bought one Boxing Day. It wasn't even nice. This was back about 10 years ago, when I was a starving student and really could have used the money for other things, but no - I'm not that simple. So, anyway, I was in Dockside, and they had this "Sale" on these shirts. I think they were Nautica or something, and they were sort of, I don't know, fleece-like, and were yellow, blue, and red - a panel of each color in a vertical stripe, with a blue color, and Nautica or whatever written bolding on the back. I don't know why I thought I had to have it, but on the shelf it was all cool. It was originally priced at something like 140 smackeroos for some reason, and was marked down to 80-something I think, and with tax it was basically 100 dollars. And I bought it. And wore it like 4 times. They sure as hell didn't scrimp on the fleece thickness, and I would sweat like a motherfucker in it. After a few hours of wearing it, I resembled someone who was training for a tri-athalon and decided it would be a lark to wear street clothes whilst working out, after finishing a healthy dose of curry. Of course, you didn't have to worry about your deodorant failing you, because the fleece was so thick, it felt like I was sewn into that hairshirt more snugly than a pair of shorts on Richard Simmons.
I finally parted with the thing last year - I kept saying "I have to keep it, it cost 100 dollars" and my rational wife would reply "it's not in style now, and it wasn't back then, so......"
Conversely, a wiser purchase for me was my "Billboard Hot 100 Charts of the 80s" book, which is what it says it is - it shows every Billboard weekly Hot 1oo chart for the entire decade exactly as it appeared. And that's it. I have always been obsessed with the charts of the 70s and 80s, which is something I don't admit to, because it's one of my quirks that makes me sound weird, but damn baby, I can still, 20 some years later, recite you peak chart positions for many songs, tell you many big movers, tell you songs that took a long time to catch on, and answer loads of chart trivia. This book was out of print for a long time, and whenever it was on ebay would be jacked up way high. But, lucky me, they reprinted it, and it came out again last winter. I think all told the book was 100 dollars, including tax and shipping. Crazy?? Well, I have it right beside me at the moment. It makes for great toilet reading, and bedtime reading, and I love it. I read it all the time, and it was well worth the money. So, it may seem crazy to you, but it was worth every cent, and way smarter than that damn fleece heatbox with all the yellow.....
I've also spent money on cds in the past that would freak people out. I've dished out chunks of money for boxed sets, like Elton John, Rod Stewart, Carly Simon, the Motown Compilations, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zep, Stevie Nicks, Clapton, etc. I also remember everyone gasping about 20 years ago, when I was in the states and paid 30 dollars USD for Fleetwood Mac Live (which wasn't in Canada then). I loved that album because it contained Fireflies, which I love (download it, you'll love it too, really, just do it), and so it was worth it.
I have also spent 300 dollars on teeth whitening from my dentist, as a present to myself for quitting smoking. It was well worth it, although I need to start again as they are yellowing again from all the coffee and tea I drink. Frivolous money? Yes. But well worth it. And think of the waste of money smoking was. "Hey, let's give the government and big tobacco 12 dollars each day or two so I can contribute to my own death from an illness that will probably be completely hellish and will put my loved ones in caregiver situations and leave them alone and traumatize them!" AWESOME! Money well spent indeed.

Anyway, there are a couple more I am thinking of, but I really have to get to bed. I'll give you them later.

Remind me to fill you all in on the funny Liquidation World purchases we made - including the Pepsodent from Chile!

Talk soon,
xo
JT