A bumper sticker I saw today: A woman’s place is in the House . . . and the Senate.

I found a sample net worth calculator on one of the personal finance blogs I read, so I played with plunking numbers into a spreadsheet and reading the results to the spouse. He mostly seemed interested in how we could spend the net worth. I’m mostly interested in how to make the net worth grow (meaning, save! save! save!). Mmmm, spreadsheets (that are supposed to be spreadsheets, as opposed to those that really ought to be a database).

7 days and 12 hours until I get to lie on the beach, swim, eat lots of shave ice (the spouse says I have to do this), and relax. We started packing today. Thank you to two certain people for the loan of the suitcases (to bring back lots of goodies). I now own surf shoes (i.e. sandals with backs), a bikini (can’t believe I gave in and gave in to the spouse on that one, but I think he would have taken the cat instead, if I’d refused), and snorkel gear. The spouse says people spend money in preparation for spending money and they call this whole thing a “vacation.”? At least I’m going to get coffee out of this. A trip to a coffee plantation in fact. I’ll bring back some to share. Now to contribute to the IRA to make up for frittering away so much money.

Why did you charge me $338 for a simple office visit . . . and charge me $115 for an office visit? Last year’s annual physical cost only $120ish. I’ve been grumbling about this doctor’s bill for at least a week,? so I finally called up the billing department . . . and was told I had to talk to the doctor’s nurse. So I called the nurse; she had no idea what I was talking about. I applaud her good customer service: she offered to research the charge in question and call me back. And she called me back the same day. Turns out the data entry office billed me for someone else’s ulcer procedure/visit. I’m much less grumpy about the situation now that I’ve been promised a reversal on my bill and for my insurance. And, I don’t have an ulcer.