Unusual Optimism

I'm feeling pretty optimistic today--weirdly so.

To completely fix the dents in my car would be >$1k, yet my default thought was "how great that my dents are sufficiently minor that the inconvenience of just living with them doesn't even come close to being a $1000 detriment to my life."

To get a sort of half-repair done on the huge one (they'll pound it out, but not refinish it) will cost $200. Whenever something costs $200, I compare it to my most recent, indulgent $200 purchase (my Kindle (with 3G, without ads)).

Yet, I found it just as easy to think, "How great that my favorite device can be purchased for less than the cost of a crummy-looking dent repair!" as it was to think "what a shame that I have to spend as much as I spent on my favorite device on a crummy-looking dent repair"

Perhaps it's the nice weather.

Unusual Optimism

I'm feeling pretty optimistic today--weirdly so.

To completely fix the dents in my car would be >$1k, yet my default thought was "how great that my dents are sufficiently minor that the inconvenience of just living with them doesn't even come close to a $1000 detriment to my life."

To get a sort of half-repair done on the huge one will cost $200, yet my thought was "That's the cost of one Kindle (with 3G, no ads). How great that my favorite device can be purchased for less than the cost of a crummy-looking dent repair!"

It's going to be a long time before I can talk about cricket and not sound like an idiot

Here's a paragraph I read here:

Such was the clarity of Strauss's strokeplay and the passivity of India's attack, at 280 for 2 in the 43rd over, England were cruising towards an extraordinary triumph. However a late intervention, sparked by a reverse-swinging Zaheer Khan, left them clawing for breath as a silenced Chinnaswamy stadium rediscovered its roar, and when the requirement shot up beyond two runs a ball, there seemed no way back into the contest. However, a ballsy volley of sixes from England's lower order hauled them back from the brink, and with two runs needed from the final delivery of the match, Graeme Swann drilled Munaf Patel to cover to salvage a share of the spoils.

Going in I thought that just knowing that cricket involved bats and wickets would be enough to follow the story. After reading this paragraph six times and still being confused (and wondering if perhaps the author was putting up nonsense that sounded like he was talking about a sport), I think I'm going to bone up on my cricket vocabulary (still, I like the writing overall--it's kind of colorful or whatever).