The completely unfiltered diary of a 23-year-old (week 20)
I was listening to a podcast on climate change and realized damn, it’s really US-focused.
Well of course, the US is the world’s largest economy (>20% of global economy) and it’s home to great technology and ideas, but it must make sense to get a more global perspective on things.
So I thought it would be interesting to find a Chinese podcast on the same topic, partially also because I need to improve my Chinese. Second biggest economy. Huge impact on climate.
But I couldn’t understand half of it .__. Oh well. Gotta keep trying.
Could always switch to EU-based sources for a more global perspective, but I think it really is worth listening to the Chinese side. Just gotta be able to understand what they’re saying…
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Went to the doctor again, and was freaking out the whole way there trying to hype myself up for another needle to the neck. Which didn’t happen. What did happen was that the doctor recommended a different procedure…which means that needle to the neck will be coming up soon.
Fantastic.
In other news, I’ve been feeling really blobby and unfit. Tried to psyche myself up to do some half-hearted workouts and well, it was maybe…quarter-hearted or less.
Terrible joke.
Life is solidly alright, not bad, not fantastically good. Just. Very much alright.
Got my first personal credit card, which came with a $250 cashback offer (that’s how they hook you in) and I’m gonna use that to get some stuff I’ve been wanting for a while.
A pair of blue light-filtering computer glasses and some earbuds.
Plus, the company gives flex credits, which I can use on stuff like the glasses, and exercise-related payments (I’m betting on climbing gym passes being included.) How freaking awesome.
Company benefits really are so important. Just the medical benefits alone already covered about a thousand bucks, all courtesy of that neck thing. And on top of that, flex spending credits. And on top of that, they just issued some stock, though it was restricted stock (i.e. won’t actually get it unless I stick around till 2022). But yeah, benefits really aren’t insignificant.
Personal finance (or at least poor attempts at figuring out personal finance) is becoming the second biggest theme of this journal series it seems, coming only after bitching about friends that are really too good for me.
With actual money coming in now and the economy hopefully recovering from the huge COVID dip though, it really seems like the perfect time to get this personal finance and investment stuff figured out.
Also been thinking I really want to meet new people (not a new thought, and also wow, isn’t that surprising coming from the person who’s been bitching about her freaking amazing friends.) I really hate doing things alone but! Sometimes you wanna do things that maybe your friends don’t. Plus, I really need to get better at being outside alone…
Maybe I’d join a class or something. Learn something artsy like painting. Or join a Spanish class. Or learn kickboxing to stay fit! Honestly all these things sound like fun, plus, the main intention would be to get a new hobby. i.e. I’d be doing it for myself first, and then if you meet cool people on the way, that’s just an added plus. Whereas if you specifically go out looking for friends, it might be a bit harder. Maybe not. I don’t know. But sounds about right.
This shit costs money though. Thank god for having a job :’)
Also thought about recycling somewhat seriously for the first time. Which would probably sound horribly irresponsible to many, but it really isn’t that common here… And it’s unjustifiably difficult trying to figure out what can and cannot be recycled. Like seriously, why isn’t there an easily understandable infographic right up on the front page of google?? Plus, I had a look at the recycling bins (finding them in the first place wasn’t that easy) and clearly others are having this struggle too, because there was definitely stuff in there that shouldn’t have been there.
Plus, then there’s the question of whether that stuff actually gets recycled and whether the effort is even worth it. Well, I’d like to hope so. And a brief google search seems to show that it does get recycled, even if it’s far from 100%.
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Got those glasses! Definitely splurged a little, but hopefully they’ll serve me well.
Having that credit card is definitely dangerous. It’s one of those cashback cards that only give you cashback when you spend a certain amount — which if you usually spend and go out and stuff, would probably be achievable, but right now with COVID and a practically zero transportation spending, that minimum amount you need to spend to get the cashback is way over what I’d typically spend.
Even after lumping all my “big” purchases together into this month, I’m still far from that minimum.
And I can totally feel that urge to spend more to hit that minimum amount. But of course, that wouldn’t make sense unless that extra amount you’re spending is less than or equal to the amount of cashback that you otherwise would not have received.
Also, the amounts I’ve spent aren’t shown anywhere on my banking app. Not sure what that means. Will it only be shown at the end of the month? Or is it maybe because the retail merchants haven’t processed the payment yet?
Lol. First-time credit card user problems.
xo,
Amber
