Hate: Tight Wads

I recently did a pricing overhaul on my tuition services. I raised the price by 50%, anticipating that people wouldn't want to continue with my services, I wrote in a clause on the notice saying that I would understand if they ceased tuition at the end of the last billing period before the price increase. Only one parent cancelled my services, which is pretty good. But the way that she did it (asking for a discount even though it was a price rise) reminded me of times in my life when I've shaken my head at people who are so unwilling to part with their money, yet expect the same quality of service/ product as a more expensive counterpart. No, that's not how the world works. Most of the time you get what you pay for.

These are some experiences I've had with tight wads:

1. When I worked at a Mexican fast-food place that shall remain unnamed, I used to get customers coming to browse the menu and walking away with the conclusion that they didn't want to eat this because it was "too much". I always thought: fair enough, but there's no point in telling me that because I can't do anything about it. The funniest incident I had in regards to people thinking the food at this place cost too much, was when a guy came and looked at the menu, and said that $12.95 was too much, and then he went next door to a similar place and saw that they wanted $14.95. He came back to us and said "I've just seen their prices, and I think I will pay $12.95". You idiot.

2. I used to be friends with a person who would think a lot about money. They were never shy about declaring how much money they had saved up over the years, it was a lot, enough to be envious of. But the way they lauded it over people didn't make you at all envious in the end. They would always say that they had x amount saved up and that they could buy a house right now. Everyone who was hit  with these comments always wondered in their heads: 'then why don't you???' They were always counting favours that they did for people and expecting favours back. When it came down to it, this 'friend' was all about material things and measuring friendship with 'favours'. A fucking idiot if I'd ever met one.

I'm not saying that I'm not a tight wad myself. At times I'm a penny pincher. But never to the extent that I will try to bargain down something that is a set price, or worse, bargain at a thrift charity store. If I want something, I get it; if I want to give my friends something, I give it. I never expect anything in return. To live like that, always expecting the best in return, is no way to function. It'll only lead to headache and crying over spilt milk. What a pity that some people see this as the only way.

To all you tight wads out there: fuck you.

Love: A Good Redhead

This post isn't about the matches, or the women. Rather, I'd like to pay homage to redheaded men! Whilst watching 2 Broke Girls, the episode where Max runs into an Irish one-night stand she had in prison, I realised that redheaded men have attractive qualities too.

2 Broke Girls, 'And the One Night Stands'

Reminiscing about all the old TV shows I used to watch (yes, I've concluded that I've spent my whole life watching television) I realised that a lot of good-looking actors in them were redheaded men. So, here's to them! (Enjoy!)

In order of me noticing them:

New York's Finest, Jason Wiles. Best known for: Bosco in Third Watch.

 

Seth Green. Best known for: Oz in Buffy the Vampire Slayer; voice of Chris in Family Guy. 

Eric Stoltz. Best known for: films in the 80s and 90s.

Kevin McKidd. Best known for: Dr. Owen Hunt in Grey's Anatomy. 

   Eddie Redmayne. Best known for: a bunch of Indie movies and Burberry ads.

 Tom Hiddleston. Best known for: Loki in Thor and The Avengers.

Zack Ward. Best known for: some b-grade movies and guest roles in popular TV shows.

Brian Robinson. Best known for: Max's crazy Irish ex in 2 Broke Girls.

Love: a way to feed yourself in between jobs

Check this out:
'The Term Paper Artist' - http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article10100801.aspx

Very amusing article on term paper mills. I will confess I have dabbled in term-paper milling -- for biomedical science, of all things. It is a very satisfying feeling, typing that last word on the last page of the essay and hitting save.

Although a dubious and some would argue, immoral, way of earning a buck, it is not illegal to sell essays or buy them. The worst that would happen, at any educational level is the teacher or lecturer marking the paper realises that the student could never have produced such a high quality paper and fails it/ gives the student a chance for re-submission. If it was the former you would hope you had a good disclaimer about not being responsible for them failing the assignment.