Thoughts From a Plane

Also, I answer one of your Wednesday questions.

I’m writing this on Wednesday, on a plane; you’ll be reading it on Thursday, probably not on a plane.

Before I boarded the plane, I checked the Alaska Airlines Wi-Fi prices; the website claimed I could get Wi-Fi for the full flight for $16, but when I boarded it was actually $39.95. Which, even though it would be a business expense, no.

Instead I paid $11 for 30 minutes of Wi-Fi, and got maybe 15 minutes of usable Wi-Fi.

[Editor’s note: I checked Alaska Airlines after I landed, and I only get $16 full-flight Wi-Fi if I buy it in advance. Guess what I’m going to do for the return leg.]

Here’s a response to Time.turner’s Wednesday question about categorizing non-grocery food in Mint: I mark it all as “restaurants,” which means I have to change Mint’s automatic attempts to categorize non-grocery spending as “coffee shops” or “bars and alcohol.” I don’t spend enough on non-grocery food for the subdivision to be meaningful; I’d rather see that number as a unit of my spending than a breakdown of “this many coffees, this many drinks.”

There is a grocery-but-maybe-not subdivision I would like to track, though: food and drinks purchased at the grocery store specifically for social events. The bottle of wine I bring to share, or the dessert I make for the potluck.

I used to think of my restaurant spending the same way you’re doing, Time.turner: food bought for fuel and food bought while socializing. But, over the past year or so, my socializing has moved away from restaurants and towards houses and apartments.

It might be that we’re all getting older. Or it might be that I hang out with people who really like movies and board games. (Both are true.) But I also wonder if we’re all trying to spend less right now, because the future is uncertain and the financial advisers are recommending cash liquidity.

I had a thought, the other day, as I was walking the loop through the park while listening to Planet Money or Bad With Money or Oh My Dollar!, I can’t remember: From now on, every year is going to be a little harder than the one before. I’m not sure that’s true. It is true that every year is going to be a little hotter than the one before, at least for the foreseeable future.

It could be true that every year will also be harder, although we might not notice it as much because life also contains wonderful things like people we love, and dogs, and new books to read, and flights to NYC. (I hate the actual flight part. But I’ll like what happens after we land.)

But part of me is preparing for this. For more work and a lower cost of living increase; for more news and less time to process it; for more responsibilities and obligations and expectations.

To pay more for less Wi-Fi, to bring it back around.

I know I sound a little maudlin, but it is statistically proven that emotions are heightened on planes, plus I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. (I went to bed early, to accommodate my 4:30 a.m. alarm; I just didn’t sleep well.)

And as soon as I finish writing this I am going to watch Alaska Airlines’ free streaming episodes of Adventure Time in an attempt to distract me from my completely rational fear of flight, and I should note that even though every year may be getting harder we are also getting access to more than we’ve ever had. Books and TV shows and adventures and relationships with people we’ll never meet but have come to know as friends, because every day we go online and talk to each other.

And now I’ve talked to you.

Also, I’m going to eat carrots and granola bars out of my tote bag and not pay $8 for a box of food.

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