A Night at the Opera

I'm fooling you with this post. Opera as an art form is lovely; I have yet to attend one, but I plan to do so one day. But this post focuses on the Opera web browser. Opera has been around for a while. It is used in a mini-format on many smartphones. I hate Internet Explorer. I use it at work only under duress. It takes forever to load (both on startup and loading web pages) and as is the case with most computer users, I prefer browsers to load quickly, particularly when I'm paying for DSL. I've been using Google Chrome a lot, but it has been behaving oddly lately. I downloaded Opera, and off I went. The pages load quickly, and the browser has a minimum of toolbars to maximize screen space. I'd recommend Opera if you haven't checked it out. There may be some websites that don't work well with Opera, just as there are those that don't work well with Firefox or Chrome or Safari. 

Life in Fab-Euless!

Can I just say this? I'm loving the new place. Karen and I are having a high old time in Fab-Euless. I can't claim credit for the pun on Euless, the charming burg where I now reside. There's a sign posted outside the rental office that proclaims that the apartment complex won an award from some city commerce office about best landscaping or something like that. But they used the word Fab-Euless and it has stuck. Before moving here, I was familiar only with the less-fresh parts of Euless, but I've discovered that I'm in a quite lovely area of town. We're in the Bear Creek area where there are lots of parks and lots of beautiful TREES. And the best part of all: my work commute has been cut in half!

One thing that I'm working hard on is getting my finances under control. When I was with my ex, he did the finances because he seemed to manage that better than I did. However, when I moved here and started adding up credit card balances and payments, I noticed the total was stratospheric. There was no way I'd be able to make those payments. I really didn't have a good grasp on what my financial picture was like, and I can't blame Jeff for that. What happened, I think, is that we went from a dual-income couple to a single-income couple, and we didn't make the necessary adjustments. And I didn't know what the hell was going on. But I can't cry over that now; it would be pointless. The problem has to be fixed. And I've taken definite steps to do that. I'm taking charge of my life again, and I feel empowered. Jeff was very controlling in many ways, and I should have spoken up, put my foot down, or whatever so the insanity could have been brought to a halt. 

Fortunately, I'm surrounded by people now who value living a simpler life. My roommate Karen has been living on a tight budget for years and can squeeze a nickel until the buffalo poops, as the saying goes. My parents have lived simply for years and therefore they were able to adjust to their retirement and reduced income with little or no drama. Life just continues for them and they are better off than many others. And finally, my sweet love Robert has shown me how it doesn't matter what we do or where we go, we're doing okay as long as we can spend time together and enjoy loving each other. Would he rather go to a trendy restaurant and spend $150 on dinner or eat at a local favorite for $20? The local favorite would probably win unless it's a special occasion and we have the money. Karen and I buy our groceries at SuperTarget or a SuperWalmart because, quite simply, we can get the items cheaper. We also supplement our purchases at stores like Dollar Tree and Dollar General. And I'm really thinking hard about every dollar I spend and asking myself if I really need to spend the money and if I'm spending it the best way I can. Why spend $6 for a toilet brush when I can get one for a dollar?