September 26, 2007

  • The Cost of Living When One is Intolerably Stupid

    So I chatted with one of my lovely friends from the Bay Area of California today.  His spouse now works at Google, and he is still baffled at my political beliefs.

    He’s proud to say that he has a new job, and a new house.  His newest house is 1800 square feet and cost him $1.5 million.  He has had to strip the asbestos tiles, gut the walls, rewire the house, and completely remodel it.

    My new house is 3500 square feet, and we’re only paying $281,000 for it.  The previous owner (a contractor who actually built the house and lived in it) has already remodeled everything, and is even paying for the lawn to be mowed, and the floors and carpets to be cleaned before we move in.  A true Southern gentleman.

    I laugh because people say, “Well, who would want to live in Texas?”  My colleagues who finished medical school and now practice in California are finding out exactly why, in terms of malpractice insurance and reimbursement rates.

    I’ve got a new house, and a new job with a guaranteed salary, and to top it off, I’m taking a two-week vacation to go sailing with family in Southern California and Minnesota.  This means I’ve accomplished almost all of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2007.

    I asked my proud friend if he’d like to join me on my sailing trip in California, and he goes, “Well, I only have one day of vacation saved up at my new job.”  And I understand.  It must be hard paying off a $1.5 million dollar house so that one can live in California but not even be able to spend time to go sailing there.

    And who does he blame for this?  Bush.  Of course.

    Thank God I married Matt.  If it weren’t for having him to talk to at the end of the day, I’d think that the human race is not salvageable.