A fucked up year for me- monetarily

This year has been a tough one for me financially. The year didn,t start on a high note though. I was with DD and Vijit on 31st Dec 08 when I received a call from home asking me to come early. Though my sister sounded a bit tensed, I thought it to be the usual "come home early" call coz my mother wasn't allowing me to go out on New Year's eve. On returning back, I encountered a deadly silence. I knew it couldn't be due to me. I asked my sis and there came the shocker- my father had been hospitalized. He had fallen down from his cycle and broken his ankle and was going to be operated upon. 1st Jan thus began on a dull note. I went to the cafe to reserve ticket for my Mom online under Tatkal quota, while we were calling dad on phone and enquiring about his health.

Thus began my new year- on a sadistic and money-spending note. The ticket cost me around 500 and was the first in a series of expenditures that have followed me since then. The very next day I spent another 160 bucks for my own reservation to Dhanbad in the same train as my Mother said she would remain tensed for my well being since Coalfield reaches here at 10 p.m and Dhanbad is unsafe.

Once here, I had to see a dermatologist. This cost me another 600(100 as his fee and 500 meds). I didnt have 500 bucks, so asked for an ATM. The pharma man told me its nearby. I went there, the SBI ATM wasnt working. I saw HSBC one with that Maestro logo. I thanked the stars that now, I wont be charged those 25 bucks. To my dismay, when the slip came out, those charges had been applied. I found out that HSBC charges everyone irrespective of the logos on your ATM.

Next up was my trip to Kolkata between 24- 26. I had to buy a 1 GB RAM for my lappy(thats another painful story as to why?). I had planned to go on 25th(sunday) and then came to know that the market wud be closed. So, decided to start out early from my home on 26, do the necessary shopping and then catch my train. As it turned out, our patriot shopkeepers decided to keep their shutters down. The few that were open didn't have a RAM for Laptop. Dejected, I was going to the bus stop, when I decided to give it one more shot. This time, I was lucky though(and it was short lived too). I bought a 2 GB pen drive too for 250. Together, they burnt a hole of 1100 in my pocket . I asked him to attach the RAM too. It was past 4 pm, so in a hurry I didnt turn on my lappy to check whether it was working properly. And yes, you guessed it right. Once I reached the hostel, the laptop just wont show anything on the screen. Once the Ram was taken out, it started.

So i decided to continue with 512 MB of my RAM for the night. But to add to my woes, my windows showed the message- "Your windows is not genuine. You may be a victim of software counterfeiting". It wont allow me to access anything. Frustrated, I went to sleep at 10:30 pm( dont remember sleeping so early since first year). Next day, I went to the service centre. He asked me to keep my laptop there and apprised that it would cost me 400. With no option left, I decided to go ahead. When I went to get it back, he told me there was some problem with my RAM.

Luckily, Divir and Apurv were going to Kol that weekend. So, I gave them the bill and RAM to get it changed. But, he refused to change it telling them that some componenet was missing and it had probably got damaged while attaching it. They came back with it. SO, the next week I decided to go myself and bring MD t-shirts too. I got a ticket from Barrackpore till Dhanbad. Couldn't get my RAM changed, he kept it saying that he would send it to the company and if it gets changed he would do it.He asked me to contact after a week. I moved from there, and while on my way to the next destination checked my pocket to have a look at the ticket. Oh God! it wasnt there. Searched all my pockets. But couldn't get it.

My other destination was Esplanade. I had to meet a man who was to deliver t-shirts to me.I was asked not to pay more than 2500 for the t-shirts to him(they had decided upon 2750 initially). And all my attempts to do that remained futile( another monetary issue) and had to pay the whole amount. Finally, I bought another ticket from Howrah for my journey back to Dhanbad.

The fate of my RAM( and my 850) still hangs in the balance. I am to visit the doc again tomorrow. And there have been a no. of other small expenditures which came out of the blue. Dont know how much more will I be screwed this year. Just wishing that this tryst with bad luck ends soon. Otherwise I am soon going to become bankrupt!!