getting what i paid for

I like to get what I'm paying for, in fact I expect it and hold myself to it.

Example 1:
My car.  It cost me 3000 bucks... trust me I am getting what I paid for.  It's not the greatest car in the world, well lets say it sucks.  I bought it out of necessity and I think I actually over paid, but supply and demand baby.  The radio volume control doesn't work and so it's stuck at a level unhearable at interstate cruising speeds.  I also am scared to death to run the AC because I just don't think the battery could handle the load when I'm not going 75 mph.  Its frustrating of course, but I am getting what I paid for.


Example 2:
The net book I am writing this on.  400 or so.  It can't really do much, but it does surf the web and I actually type up most of my papers on it.  It does have just enough memory to run Windows 7, Pandora and blogger, but not nearly enough to run iTunes and Google Chrome.  I'm getting what I paid for, so I have no beef.  I'm content.

Example 3:
So long as this lasts, I am getting what I paid for at Candler.  But like I said, so long as it lasts.  To be honest I'm paying to get As and high Bs; settling for anything less would just be stupid in my opinion.  Why would I pay to eke by?  Especially when that payment is $20,000 a year... dumb.  So I am fighting hard to get As and high Bs, but that's not all, I am also fighting to learn as much as possible.  I have a loathing for doing work just to get the grade; whether that means doing a paper in the way that I know the professor would like or knowing what I need to do to get the A and merely doing that.  Again, I'm not paying $20,000, in my opinion, for a piece of paper; I am paying to get knowledge so that I might wield that knowledge.

That is, so long as it last.  This semester has been quite trying.  Because when you have a ton of assignments to do in one week, plus a test and you're sleep is lacking... well lets just say getting by seems quite alright.  But again, I hate that.  I don't like doing that, it's like I'm wasting my money, and when you're the son of my dad wasting money is a big deal.  My solution?  Finagle my classes to get the same amount of credit per semester without having to take them all at the same time.

I guess we'll see how this works out....