Money and computers.
I was reminded today of this recent Ask MetaFilter discussion about the maximum amount of money you feel comfortable spending without discussing it with your partner. At the time I read it, I remember thinking that most of the couples sounded really strict and uptight. The Snook and I have never really had money-management issues between us. We have separate bank accounts along with a joint business account, but I don’t think of the money as belonging to either one of us specifically. Last year I was the regular breadwinner so the rent came out of my account, and now that he’s the sugar daddy he’s paying it. When we go to the grocery store, whoever has their wallet handy pays. Bills get paid online out of whatever account works best. It works out for us. I’ve asked him on several occasions if he’s comfortable with our system and he claims he’s totally happy with it. So maybe it’ll come back to bite us in the ass someday, but for now I can’t imagine doing it any other way.
But getting back to the real issue, the reason I was reminded of the discussion is that I got an SMS from the Snook today at work that said, “So I got us some of that sweet sweet storage and also $1300 worth of upgrades for my PC. Any time you want to order that G5…” And you know what? I didn’t bat an eye. The storage is for our home-made TiVo, so he knew I’d be cool with that. And I know he hasn’t upgraded his computer in ages so that’s fine by me too. Of course, I did take advantage of his pseudo-guilt long enough to order myself one of these babies (17″ Superdrive with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, AppleCare, and iSight). Woohoo! Only “three to four” weeks to wait now. I’m so excited. My computer is going to be so tomorrow. Anybody want to buy a broken-down iBook? 🙂
miftik
September 12, 2004 — 12:38 am
Can you stand the wait? I don’t know if I could.
Before my husband and I were married, we had individual accounts for about three months. Then it became a hassle if there was a problem with a deposit or check and he couldn’t get in to talk to someone. We ended up changing banks and getting a joint account so that I was able to handle a problem if there was a need.
As to spending money, we’re pretty much the same way. We both know how much money we have and we generally buy things if it makes sense to do so.
Dan
September 15, 2004 — 4:30 pm
How much for a broken iBook? You should sell it for parts. How big is your HD?
Kris
September 15, 2004 — 6:58 pm
Dan – are you serious? I was thinking of listing it on craigslist but I wasn’t sure anybody’d be interested. This is a 20GB 600MHz G3 with a combo drive (CD writer and DVD reader). I think the HD is about to fail though, which is one of the reasons I’m getting rid of it. You could always use it with an external HD though… 🙂
Dan
September 18, 2004 — 12:09 pm
Yeah I’ve got the 10 GB drive. Pretty weak, but not worth replacing I guess. What I really need is a new battery tho. My battery life is about 30 seconds. Literally. Also, I loaned the iBook to my sister for a couple of semesters, and now my keyboard has BO. It’s not quite human BO; it has a hint of plastic/chemical to it. I don’t even really know what to do with my old iBook. It still comes in handy sometimes. Luckily, I have the iBook version 1 rev before yours and as far as I know this rev doesn’t have that motherboard issue. So expect my laptop will live a long time, just in a less useful and pleasant-smelling fashion. Oh, and PS, random iTunes question: iTunes makes my computer crash. Like 100%, need to reboot, crash. I’ve had to stop using it. I think it has to do with Panther, which I just installed. Noticed any weirdness with crashes lately?