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Link love (Powered by dumb phones and gruyere cheese)

This is the first 9-5 job I’ve had where the office shuts on holidays, and because of something some of my American Twitter buddies said last week, I thought we only had a three-day weekend. Then a Kiwi Twitter friend tweeted about Monday being the real sloth day, which then prompted me to actually Google and discover that yes, Easter = four days off! Two short weeks in a row!

And what’s more, the weather turned it up. It was like the summer we never had.

But we didn’t do ANYTHING for it. This frustrated me. T spent a bunch of time mucking around doing stuff for some friends, who then became our (unwanted) house guests for most of the weekend. Normal people hang out with friends and go home at the end of the day. These peeps hang out here for days on end and sleep on the couch because their home lives suck. (Let’s not even get into addressing that or even the idea of fixing it.)

In short, it took a PMS-y me having a mini breakdown over my broken phone/not doing anything and making most of the beautiful weather/interlopers to get through to him. Did I mention my  iPhone stopped charging? I was phoneless from Saturday night through to Thursday night, when I finally picked up a $39 cheapie to get me through. This week, hopefully, will be the week to get it fixed. I mostly miss being able to catch up on the day’s news in bed in the morning/check social media and email on the go/be able to jot down blog and work ideas while walking home/use my awesome supermarket shopping checklist app. Analogue life is quaint indeed.

A short roundup this week:

The Totally Money blog carnival at Stupid Cents included my post, Life planning on crack.

Bridget lays out how to live on no money after graduation.

Meg meets someone with a very different perspective on money and an aversion to wealth despite enjoying its trappings.

Some sane advice for wannabe travel writers. Heck, any writers at all. Writing makes for a better hobby than career. So you better darn well love it.

Untemplater lists the pros and cons of train travel.

Here’s Cate on making time for reading (something I never have trouble with, except for my university days when I barely had enough time even to sleep and eat).

And finally, a post on blending culture and customs when it comes to marriage and weddings. I was stoked to see this. Another Chinese chick from Malaysia! There are plenty of us around, but none I’ve found in the bloggy world.

Anyway, this post really got my wheels turning. But I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that race and culture are not major elements in our relationship. (Part of that comes down to the fact that while my parents were more tiger than Western, they’re definitely not as strait-laced as many Chinese parents are. And I am pretty much a walking banana.)

More than anything, class differences are what stand out to me. In my world, prison, tattoos, drugs and drinking problems are foreign. Babies are special, planned for, cherished; not popped out without a second thought. Houses are bought, not rented and trashed.

At our engagement party, one corner engaged in an animated discussion reminiscing about visiting incarcerated family members. The rest of us looked on and listened awkwardly. I can’t relate to discussions about cousins in rehab or being investigated for welfare fraud or taking off with the kids for the umpteenth time after another argument with their partner.

What are your thoughts on culture or class colliding in relationships?

One thought on “Link love (Powered by dumb phones and gruyere cheese)

  • Reply Untemplater April 16, 2012 at 16:42

    Thanks for the mention! That’s a bummer about your phone. I’d go crazy if mine stopped working. Hang in there!

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