Good news! I’ve survived my first week back at work (despite coming home to this epic public transport clusterfuck)! I’ve veered between wondering how I would ever cope again, to feeling something along the lines of ‘this is what I was meant to do’, thankfully finishing out Friday on that more positive note.
It’s strange to see how quickly some things have changed (shops and houses disappearing, being replaced by others) and how others have stayed static.
As I said last week, the part I’m struggling most with is the air. Give me dry, polluted international city air over fresh, pollinated NZ air any day if it means the end of this respiratory misery. Sheesh.
Thankfully, I’ve been sheltered a little from sticker shock, as I’m staying with my parents till we find a place to live. (That said, we did go to the supermarket today and spent the entire time griping at the price of literally everything we saw.) This is weird for me, as I moved out at 17 and never looked back. I had a lightbulb moment, however, when we were all out to dinner and happened to run into some of my mother’s friends at the restaurant. How she gushed about having me back in the country, newly married, and her friends’ responses – all along the lines of how nice it was to see the family together again. And you know what? It IS surprisingly nice. I’m glad T has been pushing me to make more of an effort, and I am super grateful to them for helping us out and easing the transition.
While I wait for the latest Scandal episode to buffer, here’s my picks of the interwebs for you this week.
Her Every Cent Counts interviews a 31 year old programmer with no formal education who has amassed $943k in net worth
A reminder not to sacrifice relationships in pursuit of your dream, at Married with Luggage
Blonde on a Budget shares the biggest lie she ever told herself
Budget and the Beach confesses to being a teenage shoplifter
At Make a Living Writing: why idiots make good freelance writers
The Asian Pear voices a lot of my own thoughts about personal finance blogs
I would never attend Burning Man (wayyyy too hot out in the desert) but was glued to this post about what it’s really like
Thanks to Funny About Money, I might start using conditioner as a bathroom cleaner
Finally, I thought this LinkedIn post on why you should avoid saying ‘you’re welcome’ was intriguing. It’s such an instinctive thing, and here we all say it reflexively – but I noticed in the States that a brisk ‘of course’, ‘sure’ ,’mmhmm’ or even just a silent nod of acknowledgement was more par for the course. (Service staff excepted, of course)
Happy weekends!
