A lot of nothing for something recently

Recently I've had some disappointments in the expenditure department. I feel the need to vent about two of these nothings for a whole lot of somethings right here right now. Call it working through my buyer's remorse.

Nothing for Something #1.
So we are fostering this dog, Jeb (see earlier entry). Jeb has serious separation anxiety (scratches the door and barks like crazy whenever we leave him alone) and I wanted a professional assessment of his both potential cures for his separation anxiety and also the likelihood of his biting our kids so I asked for a recommendation of a dog trainer from the dog rescue group that we got Jeb from. I called the dog trainer and scheduled an extremely expensive consultation (when I say expensive, read more than $100 but slightly less than $200 for a 1.5 hour consultation). The trainer assured me that after our consultation I would have plenty of material to work with. Instead, said trainer showed up, threw around some treats for an hour, told me that all dogs bite if they are pushed over their limit, and then gave us a totally impractical method for training the dog out of his separation anxiety (the plan involved Mitch and the kids getting up 10 times a day and leaving the house for ten seconds and then working up over weeks and months to the full two hours that we are regularly gone during the day). For me, the entire consultation left me in tears, made me feel hopeless about the dog, and made me conclude that we couldn't really keep him. It was the worst use of hundreds of dollars that I have made in years (the only rival was having to pay $300 for teeth fillings- talk about paying for pain and suffering).

Nothing for a whole lot of something #2:
I've been longing for a professional haircut for months. My hair has grown out into a mid-length mess and I wanted to get a stylist to cut it into some sort short shag. I finally had time to schedule a hair appointment and got a recommendation from a friend. The haircut experience was delightful - love the head shampooing, love the cutting, love the blow drying. Unfortunately, despite my clear direction that I don't blow dry or curl my hair or do any of that stuff on a regular basis, I still ended up with a haircut that doesn't look that great when left to its own devices. Another frustrating waste of...$50.

I'm not a big fan of spending money in the first place. So suffice it to say that I am even less a fan of spending money for a depressing, tear inducing interlude about my foster dog or a haircut that after the blow drying and goo installation has worn off looks like it was done perhaps by an inspired eighth grader with a touch of some nerve impairing syndrome.