More than my Waist Line has Inflated Since 1979

Here are some things I pay for today that weren't on my tab when I first moved out of the parental home all those years ago:

• Internet 
• Cable
• Telephone  $160, a bundle of internet, cable and home phone
• Cell phone  $65
• iPod $200 +/-

Here's what those things cost me in 1979:

• Internet  $0
• Cable - less than $10, I can't remember exactly; maybe I didn't have cable
• Telephone $9.95 + long distance calls (rarely, and very short)
• Cell phone $0.  Pay phones cost $.10 a call, maybe I spent a buck a year.
• Stamps for letters and cards and bill payments I mailed - probably $30 a year tops
• A Sony Walkman, first edition $350
• Batteries for said Walkman - incalculable.  It chewed through two C cells for every 8-10 tapes, more if I used Fast Forward and Rewind

Of course I spent more on books and magazines, tapes and LPs, cigarettes and booze, and trouble in general in those days (mind you, I had to go out to find it.)   

Now trouble comes right into my home.  Aaah, the price of convenience.