Chaos Attraction

Liar, Liar

2003-07-16, 11:05 p.m.

My coworker today was passing around a petition to sign for a ballot measure that would (a) lower the percentage of people needed to pass a budget, and (b) take away pay permanently from the so-called lawmakers if they don't make deadline. I am all for it, and signing made me feel a bit better. Yay, politics.

Incidentally, we did manage to get my important documents and programs off the old computer just before it crashed entirely today- it won't turn on for more than five minutes before dying now. Dave says it's a zombie. Though we have come up with a way to salvage the modem problem. Apparently if I disconnect my DSL service only, then resign up for a year, I can get it for $30/month plus free $100 modem. Woo! Course, the sucky thing is that it's going to take at least a month to get it back. Oh well, if Hill moves out soon I'll only have to fight her for dialup for two weeks.

I don't normally think of myself as much of a liar. About ninety percent of the time I'm very honest, and the other ten percent I'm lying about fairly trivial, unproveable things such as "I have to go home during lunch instead of going to the staff picnic because uh, I have to wait for a plumber."

You see, knowing my parents, I never thought they'd offer to get me a computer at this point in my life. For the last few years, they've been all "pay for big things yourself, but we'll buy you groceries if you need it." Which is understandable. Hence why I went off and got a laptop on my own.

So, in one of those Big Moments of Irony today, she e-mails me at work and I'm telling her about how it's seriously D.Y.I.N.G., and she's finally convinced enough to...offer to buy me a computer. If I pay her back, that is.

I've been pondering the dilemma all day: I am going to need some more money if possible. And I could, say, tell Mom to give me the money, then tell her that I got a computer (i.e. this one), then I've got a nice little loan to float me by until the bad times stop, plus technically she has bought me a computer.

Or alternately, she cold give me the money for a computer, and I could very well buy another one with her money, and have one laptop go to Dave. He's willing to put off getting his car to run with the unemployment money to pay me for a laptop in installments (plus of late he keeps offering me rent money if I need it in the future). But if I go with this option, I'm still "originally" broke from buying the first one and that's kinda scary, plus I can't explain to Mom where that money went.

She seemed more amenable to the idea of a refurbished laptop than she has been before- one of her bosses has one and loves it. I had Dave explain the concept to her. Alas, he told her "with rebates, refurbished costs essentially the same as new!", so now she wants me to get a brand new one. Or more like "Well, you might as well get all the bells and whistles all at once." Can't quite argue with that. She said to let her know how much for whatever I want to get and she'll dump it into my bank account.

Knowing my mother, I suspect she'll want a receipt sometime...

I am not sure what to do, exactly.


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