Things are going well. Between script fees and my salary as the Care Bears’ story editor, I’m starting to make some serious bucks. I buy a new car – the BMW 325i almost every young person in the L.A. entertainment industry drives; black, because my mother had always maintained “Black is the only suitable color for an automobile.”

Because many car owners in L.A. have personalized license plates, I secured one that reads TV WRTR. I think it looks pretty cool on my BMer. I was tooling along one Saturday on I-10, my window open when someone pulled alongside me and called “Pretentious!” I smiled and called back “Honest!” The driver sped off.

I like to spend money. I like to spend a lot of money. I had times in the past when I had a lot of money and I had times when I was flat broke. But when I had it I spent it. I’ve never been a saver.

Being a television writer is different from being an accountant or a lawyer or a policeman. Television writers, even staff television writers, are only truly secure when they’re working on a series. You could be employed one week and – poof! – you’re out of work the very next. So I figured I might as well spend it while I’ve got it.

I was living in the moment, and the moment said I was in the fast lane, not worried about the posted speed limit sign. It would all come to a screeching halt in a few years and I’d find myself flat broke again. (Don’t worry. There’s a happy ending to that story.)

But for right now I was pulling in the bucks, so I took the leap and bought the condo I was leasing.