Updates on ‘The Briefcase,’ Warby Parker, and More

It’s Friday, which means it’s (arbitrarily) time for a few updates on recent posts!

CBS’s The Briefcase premiered, and the first two families both decided to give all the money to the other family. That is to say, each family independently decided to give $100,000 to another family without knowing that family was about to make the same gift to them.

This is one of the four winning scenarios I predicted could happen, and I’m happy that both families ended up with $100,000 even though they had to go through the emotional wringer to get there. If you want to watch the clip where the two families finally meet and learn that they’re both becoming hundred-thousandaires, here it is. You’ll feel heartwarmed and grossed out at the same time, probably. Like, “these families are great but this show is terrible.”

Thanks to your smart advice, I visited Warby Parker and they’re sending five stylish new glasses frames to my apartment so I can choose whether I want to buy any of them. I seriously never would have tried Warby Parker if y’all hadn’t suggested it, because I had no idea it was a discount eyewear retailer. I guess you can’t judge a glasses store by its fancy-pants name.

I did not get that last freelance check (yet), so my bank balance is still in the “not very much moneys.” On the plus side, my landlord just paid me for the hotel room I stayed in when water started pouring through my wall, so more money is on its way!

My apartment is no longer leaking, but there are still two big holes in one of the walls. The apartment hunt, meanwhile, has taken an interesting turn. As I mentioned earlier this week, Portland is in a state with 9 percent income tax (and Seattle is in a state with 0 percent income tax), which means that moving to Portland is equivalent to taking a 9 percent pay cut. So I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Advice welcomed.

At the end of last year, I donated my voice to VocalID, a company that creates unique voices for people who are unable to speak. The process of donating my voice to VocalID was super easy; I opened up the program in my browser, attached my good microphone, and said some phrases. Now, 16-year-old Max Plansky is getting a custom voice crafted from these VocalID samples (no idea if my samples were part of the voice, that’s not the point), and he’s going to use his new voice to help his budding sports reporting career.

I have not yet bought more groceries (see “not very much moneys” and “waiting on freelance check,” above). This means my monthly grocery total is still holding steady at $242.44. I have, incidentally, started using my coffee grinder because I ran out of pre-ground coffee. Because my apartment has no kitchen and in fact has only one wall outlet, and because my coffee grinder has a tiny cord, I have to grind my coffee crouched on the floor. Then I have to put everything away, take out my broom, and sweep up all the coffee grounds.

Let’s hope the apartment hunt goes well.

Photo credit: Darin House

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