Since my electric clothes dryer went kaput about a month ago, I've been stalling on buying a new one, even though I found a cheap one at Home Depot.

Just hate to spend the money. Another unanticipated expense.

However, the dirty laundry is piling up, and though I find laundry dries pretty quickly in the dry, indoor heat of my house, I knew I couldn't rely on drying my clothes that way forever, or exclusively. And I knew that delaying the purchase wasn't really providing me with any benefit.

So I sprung for a new dryer last night, since Home Depot's free delivery expired later this month.I had checked Craig's List for used ones; most of the ones I saw were 1. sold as part of a washer/dryer set, and 2. much more expensive, upscale brands, so that their asking price of around $300, while probably quite good for an LG or a Bosch, was the same price I'd pay for a brand new dryer with a 1-year warranty. And being single, I don't really know any pick-up drivers who could get a dryer home and help set up.

I know that Hotpoints are on the low end of the appliance scale, but of all the major appliances you could buy, quality and brand are probably least important in a clothes dryer, at least to my way of thinking.

I've always bought Whirlpools, so this and the washing machine I replaced last summer are the first non-Whirlpool appliances I've ever bought.

I got a basic, no bells and whistles Sears Hotpoint HTDX 100EM. With the new (required) power cord and new (required) hose vent, plus sales tax, delivery, set-up and takeaway of the old one, it comes to just $352, which seems pretty cheap to me. This particular model got hundreds of customer reviews, who rated it 4.2 stars out of 5. My old dryer, a Whirlpool, was also a very basic model, so luckily I'm not used to anything better. The old one lasted 16 years; let's hope this one does as well.

It's been a very quiet start to the new year as far as freelance work goes. I finally heard, and got some work from the IT director whose emails I edit. In my generally paranoid state when it comes to employment these days, I even went so far as to check his school's website to make sure he was still listed as IT Director! I was afraid I hadn't heard from him becus he was laid off, since there seemed to be a lot of mea culpa type emails to the rabbi that I edited for him!

I haven't heard a thing about the transcriptionist job and so have to assume that, once again, I didn't get that particular job. Might be just as well, although I would have done it if I'd gotten it. I'd written a long-winded post yesterday about all this and titled it, "Bah, humbug," becus that's pretty much how I was feeling yesterday. I lost the post when I hit the submit button, as others have done here. I'm sure there's a bug in the system that causes it, but I don't have the time to invest in talking to Jeffrey or Nate about it.

A friend of mine, another longtime unemployed person, is starting a 6-month contract job in Hartford tomorrow. He lives about 45 minutes south of me, and Hartford is a good 50 minutes northeast from here, so I shudder to think what his daily commute will be like. But the money will be very good, and he desperately needs this job. He's behind on his rent, behind on a lot of bills, etc. He's sort of going through a slow motion breakup with his Norwegian girlfriend of 4 years. She just said she wanted a "separation" of undetermined length and purpose, and from everything he tells me, it's clear she's trying to do a "soft landing" breakup. I've told him that several times so that he doesn't invest any more emotions or money in the relationship, but I don't think he wants to hear it. His other friends have said the same, he said.

I told him to just focus on the new job and don't let himself be distracted by relationship issues. Just concentrate on making his new employers happy and doing the best job he can. He agreed, but he's a very anxious and worried person, although given his circumstances, it's understandable.

I am anxious to get started on my new taxes as soon as possible, but have to wait for 1099s from 3 firms, plus my investment earnings from T. Rowe Price, several banks, and the Dept of Labor.

I really want to get my hands on a print version of the federal tax form and booklet, but they're not mailing them out to households anymore, and my library always seems to get them so late.