Complex Numbers

Bare Necessities

Well, it's November. Two more months until the end of the year. Somewhat less than that and, if nothing catastrophic happens, I'll have written in this thing every day for two years. Hey, I don't have many accomplishments in life; give me that one.

For those of you peeking in for the first time from the November edition of "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  [13+]: Hi, I'm Waltz. This is my blog. I'm a dedicated indoorsman and I live an alcohol-positive lifestyle.

PROMPT November 1^st

We all have possessions of some type. Tell us five possessions you can’t live without, and why they are on this list.

I'm just going to go ahead and assume this is metaphorical and not literal, otherwise everyone would be like "air, water, food, clothing, shelter," and that would be boring. I'm also going to exclude consumables such as beer, which is only in my possession for a few minutes before it becomes a part of me; and also semi-sentient entities such as cats and friends. But the funny thing about possessions is that, often, we think we can't live without them but it turns out life goes on when they break, someone steals them, or they run into a deer and get totaled. So without further ado, The Five Possessions I Can't (Or, Technically, Wouldn't Want To) Live Without.

5. House

Yeah, yeah, I know, that's part of the "shelter" necessity above. But while "shelter" in general may be a necessity for human life, I'm talking about my house in particular. I acquired it half a lifetime ago, and it's paid off, so it really is my possession. It's about the right size for me and a housemate and the cats; the location is terrific (I can easily walk to at least four different bars and stagger back); and it usually doesn't leak. While I love to travel, I don't think I'd be happy living anywhere else for an extended period.

4. Laptop

I spend most of my waking hours on the laptop -- writing, working, learning shit, playing video games, watching shows and movies, laughing at cat videos. I could probably get by without my dumbphone, but not the laptop. It's getting old now and probably needs to be replaced soon, at which point the new laptop will be what I can't live without. In other words, it's not necessarily this computer, but a computer that I need to lead a fulfilling life.

3. Chair

Really, almost any chair will do as long as it's not too uncomfortable. A chair is essential for #4 above. Standing while using the computer would get really old really fast.

2. The Bed

When I'm not on my laptop (or at a movie theater or bar), I'm in the bed. It's comfortable and adjustable so I can sit up and read in it. Since I spend at least a third of my life there, it makes the list.

1. Money

Of all the things on this list, this is the most important (hence its position at #1; I'm stealing the format from Cracked here and doing the whole countdown thing). Why is it the most important? Obviously, because if I ever found myself in the position of being without any of the above things, or the 99,996 other things I don't want to live without, money would be there to replace it. So really, of all the things on this list, it's the one thing I truly can't live without.

"But Waltz, money can't buy happiness!" Maybe not, but it can buy beer, and that's good enough for me.

There are, of course, myriad other items that could have made the list: books, water heater, stove, toilet, refrigerator, washer/dryer, plunger, shower curtain, sunglasses... life would be annoying and/or boring without a lot of that stuff. And this is one reason why I am not, and don't think I ever could be, a minimalist.

I have managed to live without a car for four months now, though, so you never know.