The List (#93)

In one of T's recent comments, she mentions that I - just like most 3 year-olds - never seem to satisfied with the amount of "stuff" in my life. She suggested that when I get something new that I've been wanting (i.e. my new Bluetooth headset), I will immediately move on to the next item on my list. She wasn't being negative ... merely factual, but it got me thinking.

This imaginary list is what brings me back to the dashboard today. When I read the comment, I had to do a bit of soul searching .... being labeled a 'things' sort of person isn't necessarily a positive thing and it doesn't really jive well with my carefully crafted altruistic facade. After thinking about it for a bit, I had to agree she was right and once again confess that I'm a pretty selfish person on most days.

The selfishness thing has been bugging me lately, but I hadn't yet expanded my internal audit far enough to include 'the list'. This is probably because the list isn't really a list at all. T is the list person, everything she does is written on a list (paper, electronic, or mental). If she thinks of something to do - or buy, it gets put on a list and bumped up against all the other lists (i.e. the available funds list, the available time list, the family impact list etc.) each of which contains items and activities that are 'needed' and have therefore not been cast into the outer darkness.

When I say that my list is not a list, I mean it. At any given point in time I may have a 'want' or two floating around in my head - keep in mind that the 'needs' have already been accounted for on T's list - but there is no sense of prioritization of my wants. In fact - the store I'm in, show I'm watching, event I'm planning effectively obliterates all other items from my consciousness. This means that I appear to have multiple wants at any given time that all appear to have the same level of importance. This is not truly the case, and if you ask me to consider any specific subset of items (including those from T's need lists), chances are I will make a relatively good decision.

With that in mind, I'm going to attempt to list all of the wants (ok - the realistic ones) here in this blog. Maybe, by putting them all in one place and attempting to prioritize them I can stay better focused. I don't really think I should get a goodie every week or every month .. or even every quarter (at least I don't think that when I'm checking my selfishness) but this might de-mystify some things and help my perspective. I've intentionally left out anything that I'd like to buy for T or the kids.

* Royal Ranger Commander Dress Blues Uniform
* Swiss Army Memory Knife
* Back Pack 'Fat Boy' Belt Extender (why diet?!)
* Stainless Steel G.I. 2-piece Mess Kit
* Collapsible Camping Cot
* Royal Ranger Commander Class A Uniform
* The Folio Society edition of The Silmarillion (Blue)
* Episode III, IV, V, & VI on DVD
* V. 3 of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (x-library)
* Any other old book that I can get my hands on

That's all I can think of for the list at the moment; it actually looks a little short. T, if you know of anymore I should add let me know. I want to be thorough ... and I'm sure you have a list of 'all the silly things on Dash's list'.