Feeling really guilty about my new phone

Now that I am (somewhat) less stressed, I am feeling really guilty about purchasing the iphone 6 plus. I'm going to rationalize by saying that I am no longer lusting after a tablet since the screen is so big, but I fear I may lust for a tablet at some point again. And one of the unanticipated problems is that accessories must be bought new. I'm not finding used or deeply discounted super-protective covers, etc. I'm used to picking up those kind of things on the way-cheap. And I missed one of the important hospital calls anyway because my family member knew my phone had been stolen so didn't try calling my cell. It seems I can't win.

Full disclosure: I got a new-new iphone 6 Plus...under duress

Well, within hours of my cell phone being stolen, a close family member was rushed to the hospital. I needed a phone, right away, and I was very distraught when I went in to purchase it. Still am. It was too difficult to focus on all the details. All I know is they managed to get me off my unlimited-data plan (they admitted my Internet access was automatically slowed after I reached 1 gig...and I had noticed and was frustrated by it). They claim my data won't be slowed on my new plan. I still have more data available than I actually ever use in a month. And my bill will be the same as it has been...perhaps a few dollars cheaper. I am committed for 30 months, but I wasn't planning on switching any old how. After 30 months, my bill will go down as my phone will be "paid off" (that's never happened before). I'm sure I could get the phone for a better deal if I had time to shop around, but I didn't. Coulda been worse...I coulda been buying a car under duress.

My cell phone was just stolen.

I was hoping I wouldn't have to get a cell during my "not new" year, but looks like things aren't working out that way. I lent my iphone 4s (so it was past its prime and not that big a loss...it was starting to lose functions) to the offspring who has some issues (inattention being a big one) and his backpack was taken while he was being inattentive. (Or, he could have left the backpack some place, but either way I don't imagine I'll see the phone again...there was no contact info in the backpack.)

I don't have time to do a lot of shopping/waiting for shipping on a used phone. I'm hoping they have something used at the AT&T store. We'll see. I have out-of-=town company coming in tomorrow, but they should be on their way before the store closes. If it's not one thing, it's another thing.

New, but not-the-usual-way, prescription eyeglasses.

A post from a friend reminded me about my way-cool (I think), but way-cheap glasses. I got these a few years ago and they have forever changed the way I shop for glasses.

I found the frames on closeout at a store when I was on vacation, so I bought three pair (at $25 each, different styles). I didn't want to lay out a lot of cash getting three new pairs of lenses all at once, so I nosed around. I found an eyeglass place that would put in plastic lenses for $25 per pair. (Look for places called things like Value Vision, etc., and located in working class neighborhoods.) I thought I'd scratch up plastic lenses fairly quickly as I am not careful about putting my glasses down properly, but this was not the case. The lenses have served me well for years. And the store told me that they could put prescription lenses into almost any glasses including "readers" or sunglass frames from the drug store. I may have paid a small upcharge for getting these tinted to sunglasses. I cant recall. But, now I never pay more than $50 (complete) for trendy prescription eyeglasses. (But, I still love this old pair the best.)

Full disclosure: had to buy a new dish strainer.

My old dish strainer was positively disgusting when it finally fell to pieces, so it's no surprise I couldn't find a nice used one. They had some fancy ones in the store upwards of $20, but since my kitchen is a disaster, I went with a cheap ($6) strainer to match. It even came with its own runoff base. It is all-plastic, so I don't think it will last too many years. However, I really should not have let my old strainer get so deplorable -- I figure built-in obsolesensce will keep me from letting things go too long.

Free, "not new" hostas...hopefully.

I split my hostas all the time, but this time I got very aggressive and very lazy. I'm hoping these will take, but if they don't, I probably spent less than 3 hours on them, so not too big a waste. I dug up two of my hostas and cut them into very small divisions, laid then on the ground, threw a shovel of compost on top, then threw some chopped leaf mulch on. When I was done, I worried the plants couldn't take the stress, so I cut off the leaves (woulda been easier to do that BEFORE putting them down, oh well). I'm hoping these babies will root themselves. I'm also hoping I'm not creating a maintenance nightmare for myself (the hostas will block the grass/weeds right?) Doing this mainly to try to help out my neighbor--on the other side of the fence--whose dog barks when he sees my dog in the yard. Hoping the hostas will block his under-fence vision.

"Free" safflower? Will I get what I paid for?

There appears to be a forest of safflower taking root under my bird feeder. In my creaky old age, I am inclined to let it be and see if it amounts to anything interesting. The images of safflower on the Internet look attractive enough, but I can't imagine this will bloom in the shady spot where it exists. I figure if I let it grow a bit, I at least won't have to reach down so far to pull it up. Or am I just tempting fate with a root system that will break me?