For Fuyu's Sake
Generally if you call my house these days, you will find it lacking a certain Buckley: me. If you are looking for said 'certain Buckley,'(a) I'm sure I already gave you that money, and (b)whichever family member answers the phone will take a message and eventually pass it on to me in the form of stating your probable gender and roughly the week you called. I'm generally 'out' for at least 12 and usually 14 hours of any given day and as a result (though you wouldn't think it to look at my lithe physique) I eat out.
I am writing this blog today for two reasons: (a) Diarmuid sent me this picture of a 'familiar personage' in the place I eat out in most often and it's a good excuse to post it; and (b) I invited a friend of mine here yesterday, informing him that they happily continue their lunch menu until 5.30 and you can get a good meal for a tenner or so. His response shook me hard. I was informed that his food budget for a week is €35. I reflected on the matter and decided that mine was probably about €100 or more (include booze-money and this figure becomes positively disconcerting). Over a year, this amounts to over 4 full time weeks of work in salary terms in the difference. I always thought that I ate out mostly because of work but now it appears I work mostly to eat out.
Figures like that are a little stingy I don't mind telling you. As I collect myself in defiance of these startling statistics, I think the best I can come up with is: "Well at least I don't smoke... and I can quit whenever I want."
... But the truth is, I know I can't. While there's breath in my lungs and soy sauce in my veins, there will always be one more Bento Box that I promise is my last.
8 Comments:
Ah you should come here if you want cheap food in the Nipon style - obvious really I guess. It is a very striking picture of you would make a good dust jaket photo for a very poncy book i think!
you're so pretty buckley. but i guess you know that already seeing as you enjoy posting photos of yourself so often... : )
As per instructions from an undisclosed source (who may or may not author this blog) I'm posting my personal essay on why one should never neglect to spend money on food.
I was thinking about how the friend mentioned in this post has such a limited weekly food budget and was reminded of a particularly ridiculous story that I love to tell, but rarely have occasion to. A couple of years ago my friend Brad and I took a month-long road trip through the southern United States on roughly seven hundred dollars. All of our hotels, gas money, and food budget had to come from those measley seven hundred bucks. About three days into the trip, we realized we could only afford to spend five dollars a day on food between the two of us.
Relegated to the dollar menu of McDonalds, we McChickened and cheeseburgered our way through the southernmost contiguous states. We did make it back home without overdrawing our accounts, but sitting in the (gloriously pre-paid!) school cafeteria, a biology student friend of mine remarked on how many bruises I had. I said that I'd noticed that myself, and also that for some strange reason my gums had been bleeding.
"Kathy," she said, "I hate to break it to you, but I think you have scurvy."
Long story short...McDonalds gave me scurvy, and that's what being cheap'll get you.
How much money do you make a week?!!!
365 / 7 = 52.143 weeks a yr
James Friend
52.143 x 100 52.143 x 35
€5214.29 a yr €1825 a yr
J's budget - Friend's budget
5214.29 - 1825
= 3389.29 a year more.
3389.29 / 4 weeks
=847.32
Either you've got the best job in Dublin or my maths is wrong....
Behold, a reply for each of you lovely people:
Roger, you describe what was once the dream: the regularity of cheap delicious food and the misplaced pride of having published a poncy book. Now the dream has expanded to include a twice weekly Onsen. I don't know whether to thank you for that or not.
Jen, I'm as vain as the day is long.
Kathy, my admission to Jen also applies to your 'subtle' comment, but I am grateful to you nonetheless for your public support of my gastro-economic extravagance.
Sass, you got me good (except for the 15 pounds bit - but I am working on it, I promise). If you were to talk to Tess she would embarrass me by telling you (as she has done a number of people) about my munching on her steak sandwich last month. Because I am a gentleman, I don't give the reason why I was able...nay compelled... to do so, which was a bout of diarrhea she was having at the time - oops that just slipped out (no pun intended) ;-p. And by the way, the thought of that kiwi and my misplaced gesture of gratitude still make me laugh. Good times eh?
As for maths-guy. Nice work, first of all. What your calculations were lacking though were the proper variables. The equation applies while I am at evening law lectures which is 25 weeks of the year. Were I to include into the mix as well, the holiday entitlement of 1.5 days per 4 weeks worked, it is in fact a very modest estimate. I'm impressed by your work, but have always felt that an artist should sign his work. Even a fake name would do. Otherwise I am more likely to fear that either an evil genius or a representative of the Revenue Commissioner's Office, is reading my blog.
Thank you one and all.
Anonymity is a wonderful thing when one is trying not to gain a name as a nerd, and a fairly petty one at that. The figures just jumped out at me from the screen and I felt the need to comment. I was a little surprised myself at my interest in the mathematical content of your blog and no doubt my high school maths teacher would be too! I am interested though by your assumption that anyone bothered enough to write to you about your calculations must be a guy?... As for the lack of identification? Live with it.
Well anonymous,
Is it just me or were you a tincture tetchy about my explanation?
As well as being a generally gender-specific noun (except in the plural), 'guy' is also also a verb which means to mock or ridicule, in the sense of say, "you really guyed my calculations." As for the probability of my meaning this latter definition... I suppose you can do the maths.
I am trying to 'live with' your anonymity as per your instructions, but I actually have a feeling you're not so anonymous as you might purport.
Hey James,
Didn't mean to sound quite so tetchy... my apologies.
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