I recently took another one of those darn surveys from AC Nielsen in the hopes of winning the T68i they raffle off to participants. I have been wanting to buy a new phone for a miserable 9 months now, but have postponed doing so for various reasons. I spent the money on more immediate concerns-- my wife's C-Section, our baby's christening, our baby's college plan, our baby's new dresser, Christmas gifts for my godchildren. It's kind of ironic that you work so hard and yet what you earn never seems enough. A raise comes and then you discover other things you need to spend money on. And then you're back to square one.

In a moment of sheer exasperation, I applied for a salary loan from Social Security. That would be enough to buy a glamorous new phone... But then again, our china cabinet needs a replacement. It's old, it's worn, it already wants to cave in. A bit like every suburban father trying to squeeze the most bang for every buck he's got. LOL :-)