a penny, a quarter and heartbreak

a penny and a quarter. heartbreak is more difficult to picture
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Jimbo has money on his mind, this morning.

Many months ago, when it appeared my house was sold and I was going to have a few pesos in my pocket, I saw a desk at Nebraska Furniture Mart that I decided I wanted to buy. I made the leap of the imagination that if I were to have a nice desk on which to keyboard, the quality of my weblogs would improve. The desk was too expensive just to grab a wad of bills out of my pocket and throw them on the counter, but they had a “twelve months, same as cash” payment plan that would have eased the pain of the financial outgo.

Last weekend, after the sale of my house was finally completed, and I had a few coins jingling in my pocket, my girlfriend and I went back to look at the desk and I still liked it and the payment plan was now twenty-four months. That made me think I should buy the desk, but I decided, as I do with any major purchase, to think about it for a few days. I became convinced late in the week that I should act, and so last night we went to make the purchase. The result was less than satisfactory.

I found out that delivery would be an extra $50. With diesel fuel and gasoline prices up, they have to charge for delivery, now. I could have lived with that, especially since the salesman hinted that he could waive the delivery charge. In the jargon of business, that means I would have had free delivery, had I insisted on it. However, I found out that the twenty-four-month interest-free payment plan was over. It is now sixty days. I told him I was no longer interested. He followed us for a while sweetening the deal, but he couldn’t do the financing, so we walked out. If one reads Chester Karras, the accepted master of negotiating, his principal is to be able to walk away if the deal isn’t what you want. I applaud you, Mr. Karras, and I followed your advice, but I don’t have the damned desk. Oh, well, this is just reward delayed, rather than reward denied. My love for that desk will not be unrequited. I’ll have it someday on my own terms. You’ll just have to be content with lower-quality blogs for a while.

The other financial episode about which I wish to inform you happened on Thursday night. Jimbo and his girlfriend decided we would take advantage of the Arby’s “five for $5.95” deal for supper. Procurement of the evening repast fell into the capable hands of Jimbo—a man whose litany of journeys into fast-food establishments are epic as the tales of Homer. Anyway, Jimbo ordered two roast beef sandwiches, two orders of fries--one regular and one curly—and mozzarella sticks. I tendered a $10 and the total, with tax, was just over $6, so I received three ones and a handful of change.

After dinner, sometime later in the evening, I emptied my pocket, so I could put my coins in a jar. In among my change was a 1941 penny—which I will add to my coin collection—and a 2005 Kansas quarter. I have scanned both of them for you viewing enjoyment, however the penny is pretty much unreadable. My bad.

The Kansas quarter has a bison on the back and sunflowers beside him. There is a herd of buffalo along the highway between chez Jimbo’s girlfriend and Jimbo’s son’s new residence. Some days the bison come out and stand by the fence so you can see them as you drive by. It is pretty impressive to see one (or a bunch of them) in person. They are a lot bigger than you would imagine. I think this is a good symbol for our state. If you don’t live here you probably have the impression that we are pretty backward, but we have had our share of intelligent people. When you read the news and find out we are still debating evolution eighty years after Scopes and 150 years after Darwin, you probably have to wonder. But even though Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts are from here, we have produced some leaders who knew what they were doing. You may recall Dwight Eisenhower, who was also a Republican. He was a “conservative,” but not conservative by today’s standards.

You may recall I talked about the movie Good Night and Good Luck last week. It was actually the Eisenhower administration that Senator McCarthy targeted. McCarthy was diminished while Ike survived. I thought it was appropriate that, in the movie, when all the dust had settled, Eisenhower was shown giving a speech, basically defining American civil liberties.

This is a place where William Inge taught high school in Columbus, and William Allen White published the Emporia Gazette and advised Presidents. Langston Hughes matriculated elementary school at Pinckney in Lawrence. Kerry Livgren, Steve Walsh, et. al. rocked Lawrence, Topeka and most of the rest of the world.

Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see

I defy you to show me a better song that rhymes see and sea. I defy you to show me a better song, period.

Melissa Etheridge came from here, as did Jimbo’s girlfriend and Amelia Earhart.

Many of you are probably asking yourselves right now, “How can Jimbo go on and on about twenty-six cents? How long could he have jabbered if it had been a dollar?”

I don’t have an answer, but if I find a dollar, somewhere, we’ll find out. But, for the time being, I guess I’ve put in my twenty-six cents worth. And that is about what it is worth, here in Jimbo’s world.