Crossing Over

In the beginning, there was the Way, and the Way was good. But then the Bunny started to complicate things ...

Earn it, Find it, Win it, Steal it, and Inherit it. Simple, right? It felt good, in the first few months, to synthesize our entire personal economic system into those five, streamlined tenets. I'm finding so much crossover, though, it's not even funny.

For example - I love finding things, and I seem to be pretty good at it. But I've just made an appointment (next week) with a tutor - a jewelry tutor. He's been in the business for nearly a half-century (with his dad, and now his son), and knows his stuff. I'm hiring him for only an hour, but I know what I want and he knows what he knows, so it will be time more than well spent. And money more than well spent, as well, though it will take all my allowance, and then some. (I thought I billed high!) How will I pay for it? Why, taking advantage of the gold prices by selling back some of my yuckier (or now-broken) finds, that's how. Luckily, my elves have been hard at work there. I figured I've got a 400% profit ahead, more if (as I hope) he pays out higher in trade.

Also, I entered a contest this week, one that not only required me to write an essay and get some pictures taken, but had me running like a maniac for signatures for the entry form.

Oh yeah, one more thing - cutbacks in my hours, plus no raise (in forever), have forced a (serious this time) day-job search.

So Finding is taking some Stealing, Winning is taking some Earning, and Earning can't exist these days without Finding. What's next - Inheritance by contest? (Not so far-fetched, in most families, huh?)

The interconnections are amazing, aren't they? I guess I shouldn't be surprised: though most professional economists won't say it aloud, it's all a chaotic system - unprincipled, unpredictable, and unmanageable.

It's also infinitely fascinating and endlessly amusing. I can't wait to see what wild hair (or Hare) hatches. And I really can't wait to see what I learn on Wednesday next.