One More :p in Book Seven: Reconstruction 2020

Would it be horribly sacrilegious and cruel if I were to state that “What I’m giving up for Lent is my marriage”?

I’m… trying not to be irresponsible with my money. Now is NOT a time to be free with finances as, in truth, I don’t know how much I’ll exactly have when everything is over. This is an important thing to remember. HOWEVER… I just backed my first Kickstarter Campaign because.... shit, some things are worth it. So I put money towards a Board Game that looked too amazing not to support. THEN the website said, “What about this one?” And… yeah. I have NOT put money towards it yet… but I really want to. Like… will probably flip a bunch of coins and then just back the project anyway.

Here’s the push/pull on that.
Board Games equal fun and entertainment and the opportunity to socialize! Excellent board games are complicated to create, difficult to get off the ground, and tough to promote. So it makes ALL SORTS OF SENSE that a guy like me would want to back amazing board games. :D

Except… a guy like me doesn’t exactly have people to play them. My brother and his best friend play board games… but they aren’t the type to come visit me nor are they the type to be open to playing a board game I’ve brought for them. They want to play my brother’s games and that’s about it.
Which leaves me with MBFITWW (one other dude and one that mostly wants to watch Anime when we hang out). Or my friends from Des Moines… who usually come for “a handful of hours” and go home… amounting to no time to play anything more complicated than Cards Against Humanity or Munchkin. Not to mention, they’ve come up exactly twice since I moved from Des Moines in June of 2018.
There’s the DnD Group, I suppose. But half of them are moving to a different county and the other half is Victoria and Remus.

I suppose I could put some kind of ad in the local paper or team up with the coffee shop to try to do a Board Game Event a few times a year. Something to consider. But… that could be risky. Though… maybe it’s time I started living a bit more risk… riskily… riskier… more riskier doesn’t sound right. Is “riskily” an honest word? Man, it happened again. Some words are like that, I suppose.

ANYWAY… this is the way of things with me sometimes.
I want to fund Kickstarter Board Game Campaigns for games I would desperately love to play. But… is it worth hundreds of dollars?
I want to purchase video games I would desperately love to play. But… considering my schedule, responsibilities, and playing habits.... is it worth it?
I want to replace most of my wardrobe for Business Suits and Business Shirts that are in good shape and properly tailored… but as the worn and ill-fitting clothing still fits and isn’t too terrible… wouldn’t it be worthwhile to save more before doing some serious clothes shopping?

But then I find myself waiting. This is why Kickstarter is brilliant to have “end dates” on their campaigns. The RPG IN A BOX is done raising money in 3 days. So I feel more pressed to go ahead and pull the trigger there. Whereas video games… bah. I won’t play it for months anyway, let it come down in price and if I’m still interested- I can reconsider it later. Whereas clothes… bah. I’ve got enough clothes to last for now, I can save up some more money and keep my clothes in good condition. There’s at least another 2 to 3 years in my wardrobe as it stands!

But then I also start to consider the rather exorbitant cost of the Japan Trip if it is still on. And the gutting feeling of “OH SHIT, MY MONEY!” when this divorce gets underway and finalized. As a child I was very concerned about money. It was my ability to save it up for a singular specific purpose that first made me feel my dad was proud of me. I wanted to purchase something, I would create a plan to make sure I could save and earn and afford it; then I would buy it. He found this good. But as I got older and my needs remained small while my incoming grew, there was less need for fiscal conservancy. A $60 video game once or twice a year was nothing when compared to a full time job’s wages. Throw in bills, rent, and the like… I may not be saving oodles but I’m living well beneath my means. That has lasted me. Even lately as my needs very slightly exceed my means, I felt no fear. There were no major concerns that would not be manageable. But now… as I consider the glut of funds I’m likely to depart with due to these martial issues… I find my financial anxiety rising again. The kind of “funding anxiety” that threatens to turn me into a grumpy and bitter miser. Something that I cannot allow to happen, while simultaneously, must embrace in a fashion.

Perhaps that is what I can view as the Lenten season descends. Maximize financial efficiency. Which would thus go: splurge a bit today. Purchase the good food and the good drink; fund that second Kick Starter Board Game. Then as March begins… let no penny go unaccounted for. Develop a strong and enduring sense of where every cent goes. Structure a budget surrounding these things and bring it all to within your current means. Examine Martha’s spending and speak with her about some contractual amount she would accept as a final termination amount. Begin the process in earnest to develop intelligent budgeting.

It is unfortunate. As emotionally cumbersome as this entire process has been and will continue to be… the practical elements are equally cumbersome.

In a similar but entirely different vein… I received my Jury Trial schedule for April!
Holy fucking shit balls, Batman!
All of these are scheduled Jury Trials scheduled for the SAME DAY
Felony Domestic Assault
Aggravated Domestic Assault
Felony Domestic Assault
Serious Assault
Aggravated Domestic Assault
Felony Domestic Assault
Serious Animal Abuse
Aggravated Domestic Assault
Aggravated Assault
Aggravated Harassment

So… ten jury trials scheduled for the exact same day. 4 of which ABSOLUTELY DEMAND a trial. So… March is going to be interesting… trying to manage that kind of schedule. When you consider that I also have other trials on March 12 and several Magistrate Court and Juvenile Court matters. Ooooh boy. Bring on March!!

After I finish posting memes… I’m going to return a Traffic Case phone call (you all know how much I love doing that) (sarcasm)… and then work on my March Calendar. The uh… March Calendar thing is more problematic than you might think. We have a case management program that has a calendar application. In a perfect world, I should be able to select any date on the calendar, and then review all the cases for that date. We do not live in a perfect world. I can usually get through about 4 or 5 cases before the program starts to delay. If I wait for about ten minutes or more, then it clears up. Until the next time it happens. And then it doesn’t clear up after ten minutes. Then I have to reboot the entire program. Which, as you can imagine, is a pain in the ass. So there we go for the rest of my afternoon. A Traffic Ticket Phone Call and wrestling with a Computer Program to try to force the program to tell me exactly how busy and screwed I’m likely to be this month!