Sunday 29 April 2007

There are a number of things I've noticed recently, the biggest one probably being that I'm saving much more money because I don't drive anymore. Think of it- not only am I saving on the normal expenses like car payment, gas and insurance, I'm saving on the little things too. Like groceries. Instead of taking a shopping cart around the store, filling it with crap to stuff in my car, now I'm taking a basket and filling it with essentials only. I can only buy what I can walk home with.

I've also been working really hard lately, which means not a lot of time leftover for spending money on mindless crap like movies and random shopping. This month, I've managed to save $400usd! Which will help greatly when it comes to paying for Germany in June, and whatever I decide to do for Memorial Day weekend in May (currently taking suggestions).

Another thing I've noticed is social interactions. I've already had way more interaction with people at work here in England than I did in the States, but I find myself not being satisfied. I want more, and I want to meet more people. I'm still not about to go to a nightclub or a bar by myself, but... I also find that I'm not happy with myself when I fall into old patterns like worrying about people/things that aren't my responsibility, trying to fix things that aren't my problem, and feeling that little twinge of jealousy when people I know have been spending more time talking to each other than they have been talking to me. I remind myself that a) it was never my job to *fix* things in the first place, and b) i'm in England, some of these people are not. Some of these people also have more immediate problems. Me- not so many problems, when it comes down to it. So my goal is to not fall into my usual habits of "why arent' people talking to me" and trying to help when nobody wants it.

Some interesting notes on grocery stores here: there is no macaroni and cheese to be found. Yesterday, I really wanted my blue box of mac & cheese with the orange powder packet inside, but it's not to be found in Northampton. I will have to stock up on a trip to the States. The second thing I noticed- Spam fillets dipped in batter. Who the hell eats spam in the first place, and for battered fillets?!... Then there was the half an aisle devoted solely to baked beans. Weird... only four kinds of toothpaste in the supermarket, but half an aisle of baked beans. And then there's the hot dog thing. Tons of sausages, but no hot dogs. Unless you count canned, nearly full-size, hot dogs. But at least there's good ol' Heinz 57 ketchup in the glass bottle to put on them :-)

It looks gross and nasty outside (though not raining). I'm trying to convince myself that it would be a good thing for me to get dressed and actually do something today instead of sitting around... we shall see. I'll let you know what happens next time :-)