The day's accomplishments:

1. Lots of online surveys in the morning with a steaming cup of green tea.
2. Rearranged some furniture which always gives me a "wow" moment, as if I have a brand new room! All I did was haul an old barnboard cabinet (Sundance catalog, muchos dineros at a time when I had money) and put it downstairs against a window in a little back hallway. The white storage bench I had in that location came up to my office.

Why did I do this, battling the stairs heroically as I went? Because I thought my scaredy cat would appreciate being able to jump on the lower bench and look out the office window. He is too insecure to jump on any household furniture except my bed, the built-in benches in the sun room, and the couch.
3. Swept a ton of pine needles covering my upper driveway and deposited them in the blueberry bed. Blueberry bushes love acidity.
4. Raked more pine needles off an area of my front lawn where they always collect under a big row of mammoth white pines.
5. I actually did some paying work for the guy I found on Craig's List who has had me edit some of his emails. I earned about $10 for a half hour of pretty easy work.
6. Read the Sunday paper (and saw my mom's photo in it, related to an art exhibit)
7. Organized myself for Monday chores which include groceries, a bank deposit, a dump run and Walgreen's. Handyman Billy is coming over in the afternoon to assess what he can do with the dryer vent hose/Houdini hole.
8. Vaccumed the upstairs.
9. Filled the bird feeder.
10. Picked out a slow cooker recipe (pork) which I hope to do tomorrow if I get back early enough from grocery shopping.



By the way, I'm amazed at how big name Hollywood stars...I'm talking dustin hoffman and george clooney....can still put out some really lousy movies. In the last 2 days I watched george in Men Who Stare at Goats and Dustin in a love story with Emma Thompson, and they were both were mediocre. Not sure what it was, maybe it was just the story line.

Oh, what a lovely thing...a check for $200 from Chase Freedom credit card. The easiest $200 I ever made....

I've already started using my next card, Citi Dividend. I discovered to my delight that I can charge my homeowner's insurance with no fee (Met Life) so I put $691 on the Citi card, automatically fulfilling my minimum spending requirement for my 2nd $200 reward.

Life is good.

Also got paid $180 by the money manager today, and got another check for $50 from a focus group.

October has turned into a pretty good month moneywise. The extra income has allowed me to pay my homeowners insurance, a pretty big once a year bill, without exceeding income this month.

How could a cat of this size fit through a four-inch-wide opening?

I'm still shaking my head.

I got my Citi Dividend World Class Master Card in the mail today and activated it. While I had the rep on the phone, I figured I'd confirm the $200 cash back offer (if you spend $500 in the 1st 3 months) as it's not stated anywhere on the application or on the website, which makes me nervous.

Actually, the website says something entirely different: $150 cash back if you spend $750 in the 1st 3 months. Well, which is it?

Sure enough, the rep said oh no, but she proceeds to tell me that "my" offer is for $100 cash back. I pointed out that their website which i was looking at as we spoke indicated there was a $150 cash back offer.

I wrangled with her a bit, and then she put an account manager on the phone. I usually bookmark credit card offers, but i think i stopped doing that becus if the offer expires later, the link could then be dead and i'd have no proof of the original offer. So i started taking Screen Captures and saving it as a jpg, but i couldn't find the Citi card anywhere.

So i did a simple online search and found multiple $200 cash back offers for this card. I told him I was on one in particular, and i said, can i send you the link. He said,no, we don't have email here Can you fax it? You don't have email??? I don't own a fax; they're practically obsolete.

So i gave him the web address and walked him through finding it online. He finally got there and after reading the terms and conditions, saw that the offer was still current, so he said he would do whatever needed to be done to ensure I got the $200 offer, and that I'd get an email confirmation of that in a few days. (Let's see how that goes.)

But I mean, C'mon! Why should i have to renegotiate the whole thing? He kept saying, there are hundreds of offers we have out there, and they're all different. Well, gee, is it any wonder you get disgruntled customers when they learn that other customers are getting better deals than they are? I mean, the offers aren't even based on anything logical, like credit scores; they're simply different deals and if you find a better one, god bless, otherwise, too bad.

So he keeps saying, by way of excuse, that Citi has hundreds of offers out there and it's hard to keep track of them. I mean, you would think if anyone should be able to keep it straight, it would be the company making the offers. But no, he had to put me on hold, yada yada yada.

I only got the $200 offer because i was able to walk him through finding it online to verify. If I had taken the first rep at her word, I would have gotten only $100 cash back.

Buyer beware, and be your own advocate, and take screen captures of everything.

Thinking back about the 5 cats I've owned during my adulthood, my Maine Coon has been, by far, the most destructive and fearless cat I've owned (and also, the best looking).

Yesterday, inexplicably, he was evidently "exploring" in the basement. Although he's made his home here with me and Waldo for over 2 years now, he apparently just discovered that by jumping up from the basement floor to a two-inch wide ledge about five feet up on the basement wall, he could then walk along the wall and hop on top of the well water tank. From there, he had easy access to leap to a small basement window well. Before my attached garage was added to the other side of this wall, this was an outside wall, hence, the window.

When I bought the house, the previous homeowners had rigged up an insulated frame that fit inside the window well against the window. Inside the insulated frame and the glass window it sits up against, they had an approximate four-inch diameter circle cut to fit the diameter of a standard clothes dryer hose, and this is where I've always vented my dryer.

The washing machine and clothes dryer were at one time against the back wall of the house. I know that because you could see the old dryer vent on the back wall, but that has since been covered up by my new vinyl siding. So the little window on the shared wall between basement and garage is really the only option I have for venting the clothes dryer.

it's not a good idea to vent anywhere but outdoors, cus that's a lot of humid, moist air and I have noticed that if I don't crack the door open in the garage regularly when i run the dryer, tools rust.

So anyway, the cat somehow discovered that by clawing at the flimsy dryer hose, which is not attached to the window, just placed in the hole, basically, he could pull it out. (He's already become quite dexterious at prying open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors.) Once he did that, he saw the opening, and like a little mouse, he managed to crawl through the cut glass opening plus lots of fiberglass insulation (great) to find himself in the garage. He had to leap about six feet down to a hard, concrete floor.

Yesterday morning, I couldn't find him, which always makes me nervous. I went into the basement calling for him but didn't see him. Then I spied the dryer hose no longer inside the little opening in that old window and I thought to myself, could he have CRAWLED through that tiny opening? I went to the garage door, which opens to the basement, and Luther scooted right in. He'd apparently been trying to get back in for a while, because he'd totally ripped off a rubber door sweep my handyman had put at the bottom of my metal door for drafts. More damage.

I kind of freaked, because all summer long I've often kept the big garage door open, often overnight. If he'd happened to make his tunnel-like escape at that time, he'd be gone. I also have another side door to the garage which I've been unable to close since they put aluminimum trim around the door frame. I don't know if the door warped or what, but even with substantial chiseling and sanding of the door, it still won't close. If he had investigated that door, he could have easily pushed it open.

So yesterday morning, as a short-term solution, I began to barricade the window. I say short-term because I'm not going to want to dismantle it each time I need to use the dryer. I jammed a variety, lumber against the window, but I can't nail or screw it in place, it's all concrete there so I just tried to wedge it in place, Then I put up other obstacles that I hoped would keep Luther from pulling the same stunt again.


The window is in the top left part of the photo, and is covered with the white sytrofoam I had on hand. The large black pipe is my septic pipe which goes straight into the floor of the basement and basically prevents me from moving the washer/dryer closer to the window. There are also several poles in the way, plus the well water tank itself.

Not five minutes later, he had done it again! I was flabbergasted. I had to bring him back inside from the garage. I did more barricading, and later when i went upstairs, I could hear him scratching at something down there, trying to get through. The little escape artist was now obsessed with his new taste of freedom.

I made it clear to him that was very, very bad and chased him round and round the housewhen I caught him trying to get through the hole again. I needed to nip this in the bud.

We survived last night with no further garage forays, but I see he did attempt another adventure because a few things were knocked down out of place.

I really don't know what I'll do moving forward, as I need to keep that window free for my dryer hose. (As it it, the cat put a few holes in the hose as well.) I know I can probably find the more expensive dryer hose that doens't have the coils/ribs, is just hard metal, and that kind is much safer anyway as dryer lint can't collect between the coils/ribs. But there's no way right now to secure it firmly through the hole in the glass.

I'm thinking maybe i can get my handyman to build something the same size as the glass window, but made of wood, and maybe then it if was wood a sturdier dryer hose could be attached to it permanently.

I wish I could be more gracious about the whole thing, but I was feeling pretty cranky about my wasted day today.

I had told my neighbor I'd take her to the hospital (not the local one) for her colonscopy today. I figured it would be a few hours so I brought 2 magazines to read. It ended up being a total of 7 hours from the time I picked her up (8:15 am) to the time I got home (around 3 pm).

I try to be helpful, but one thing I am most definitely not good at is waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Climbing walls. I asked the nurse finally if my neighbor was done, and she went ahead and brought me to where she lay in bed. She looked pretty groggy, but gosh, I'd already been waiting quite some time by then, so I said, wake up, sleepy head. My neighbor said, oh, it feels good to sleep. I didn't want to rush her, so i said, take your time, I'll be waiting in the lobby, and i left her. Well, i guess she took me at my word, and must have gone back to sleep again. Geez. Then an hour or so later the nurse tells me to pick up my car and wait out front, which I did. Then I waited another 45 minutes in my car. They later claimed they looked outside and didn't see me there and waited around 20 minutes, but obviously, they didn't look very hard. There were at least a half dozen cars lined up in front of the hospital, all waiting to pick people up, and I was just one of them. Oh well.

I will get my SWEET REVENGE in 3 weeks when it's MY turn to have a colonscopy and my neighbor drives me! However, once awake, I would not linger in bed knowing that someone was waiting for me. And I'll be going to the local hospital.

So it shot most of my day. I just felt grumpy about that.

It was very upsetting to read about that guy in Ohion who let all his exotic animals loose before killing himself. What was upsetting was hearing about how law enforcement found it necessary to kill most of those animals. Why they couldn't simply tranquilize them, I don't know. Very sad. They got a taste of freedom and then their lives was snuffed out.

I spotted this little lady outside my window yesterday as I was holding Luther on my lap...



I always felt that seeing a praying mantis in the garden was a very lucky thing. I haven't seen one of these in many, many years. Maybe it means I'll get that job!

Don't know how she got up as high as my second floor window, especially with a fairly slippery surface (vinyl siding and aluminum trim). Praying mantis' fly, but they usually don't. Of course seeing her there prompted me to do some quick research online. It seems that this is the time of year they mate and the female lays eggs, dying afterwards once it freezes.

I considered taking her inside just to get her through the winter, as some people keep them as "pets" and feed them crickets and things, but I'm fairly squeamish about insects and this one ranks high on the "squeam" scale.

I guess it's a sign of a health ecology in my garden, although I did have it sprayed with some sort of pesticide in the spring as part of a Lyme Disease study. Well, actually, I don't know for sure they sprayed the pesticide; it could have been just water. I will find out later this month, but I was convinced they had sprayed with the chemical becus for the first time in years, my home has been free of carpenter ants.

I'm not going to get much done tomorrow, as I'm driving my friend to her colonscopy. I have to go get her at 8:15 am and schelp down to hospital in the rain. As you may be able to tell, I don't really feel like doing it, but of course I will. She's going to return the favor when I get a colonscopy next month.

I caved and turned the heat on tonight, for what will be just the 2nd night with heat this season. I hope to keep turning it off when I get up in the a.m. and just have it on nights, for a while.

I had a very enjoyable 75-minute walk around the back roads of my town.

Come with me...



There are a fair number of dirt roads in town.




I liked the dark form of these tree trunks.


This used to be an old, ramshackle garage, but then they fixed it up. I love how they did the stonework. Now that I've done the siding on my house, I'd love to do all the cement on my garage the same way.


This has always been one of my favorite houses. I can't help but stare at it as I walk by. It's small enough that I could picture myself living in it. It has a good amount of land, a great, open air porch on the side, nice landscaping and that cool fountain in front.


A flag in the cornfield. Usually, it's very peaceful when I walk by the farm. But this weekend they were having their autumn pumpkin festival and were giving pony and tractor rides and they have a corn maze. They even had live entertainment this year.


I had been thinking, gee, there doesn't seem to be a lot of color in the leaves this year, but then I saw this photo I'd taken on my computer and I thought, "Wow."


Every farm must have a tractor.


Luther and his mouse.


There's something about the morning sunlight that makes Luther look so regal.


This looks funny, like he's trying to bite someone maybe? It's actually the tail end of a yawn.


'Til tomorrow...

Here in Patient Saver World, Sunday is indeed a day of rest.

My favorite kind of Sunday includes lounging around reading the Sunday paper, baking or cooking and taking a long walk.

I'm having that kind of day! I just finished whipping up a double batch of my homemade cereal and a large tray of my grandma's apple crisp, adapted for the blueberries I picked with my dad last summer. It's delicious with any kind of fruit. I also threw in an overripe pear sitting in a bowl on the kitchen table.

I just finished a hot cup of tea and am waiting for it to kick in sufficiently to motivate me to take my long walk through the countryside with my camera.

When I return, I'll get started on the Sunday paper.

In other news:

I've organized in a little grid/chart the 6 credit card cash back offers I'd like to take advantage of. I have to do one at a time since to meet some of these spending minimums, I have to use one card solely. By the time I receive my first reward from Chase Freedom, I should have received in the mail the next card I'll be working on, Citi Dividend World Master Card.

It's possible that some of these bonus rewards may go away by the time I'm ready to apply for that particular card. And it seems that different deals for the same card exist. I've seen write-ups on other blogs indicating that the Citi Dividend World MC offers both a $100 and $200 reward. I will call them before applying for the card to see which it is. It's frustrating becus if you go to the site itself, they don't mention any rewards, probably because they change so frequently or are different for different groups of people.

Here's the list of cards, in the order I plan to get them, for anyone else who's interested in doing this:
1. Chase Freedom: $200 cash back if you charge $500 or more in 1st 3 months; no annual fee.
2. Citi Dividend World Master Card: Either $100 or $200 cash back if you charge $500 in the 1st 3 months; no annual fee.
3. Capital One Cash Credit Card: $100 cash back if you charge $500 in the1st 3 months; no annual fee.
4. Citi Platinum Charge card: $75 back if you charge $75 int eh 1st 3 months.

And when (when, Dido) I get a job:
5. Citi Thank You Preferred Card: $500 back in gift cards if you charge $5,000 in the 1st 6 months and $5,000 in the next 6 months. This works out to $833 charged a month, so this would be a bit easier than meeting the Chase Sapphire requirements below.
6. Chase Sapphire: $500 cash back if you charge $3,000 in 1st 3 months/$95 annual fee waived for first year

I have a fairly busy week coming up.
Monday I go do a focus group for $50.
Tuesday I have the phone job interview and later meet a friend at the coffee shop. (It's gotten to the point where I don't even want to spend the $2 on a tea there, but the person I'm meeting is not someone I know well and so I wouldn't invite them to my home, and I figure, if I want any kind of social life, I may have to spend at least a $ or two to do so.)
Wednesday I drive a friend for her colonscopy. It would have been nice if she'd just gone to the local hospital for this, but no,she chose the hospital 40 minutes away.
Thursday I'm going to a free dinner/lecture with the same friend.

Around mid-day, my friend picked me up and we ran out a few shopping errands, picked up DVDs at the library and checked out a small craft show. I bought $45 worth of cat food at Wal-Mart.

In other news, I applied and was approved for a new Citi dividends card. Spend $500 in the first 3 months and get a $100 cash bonus. After that, I'll go for the Citi Platinum Select card to earn $75 after spending $75 during the first 3 months.

And if I ever get a real job again and can afford "normal" spending levels, I'll apply for the Chase Sapphire card, which pays a $500 bonus if you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months, something I can't do now.

Thanks to largely cooperative weather, I feel like I've been doing really well not using my heat much yet this year. There was one day a few weeks back when I turned it on, but I promptly turned it off again the next day when temps warmed up considerably.

It seemed as though I've been keeping the heat off longer this year. And so I struck out to check here on my blog.

Here are the dates I turned on heat in the previous three years:

2010: Oct. 2
2009: Oct. 12
2008: Oct. 19

So I'm doing pretty well this year, but by no means have I set any records...yet. If I can keep the heat turned off past next Wednesday, I will then have exceeded my heat turn-on dates of the past 3 years.Except for that ONE day I had it on.

Other news:

Yesterday I did a focus group and took home $65.

The day before that, I checked in as part of the nutrition study I'm in and took home $100. I've also signed up for "jury research." A company in my area recruits people like me to "hear" actual lawsuits, presented by the attorneys in the case. You then file a verdict and discuss the case with your fellow jurors. It's a 4-hour deal and you get $100 plus they feed you dinner. I've registered, but won't know if I'm chosen for two upcoming cases until and unless they call me. I would love to do this.

I wanted to take maximum advantage of this weekend's unseasonably warm weather (low 80s) to do things I knew I wouldn't feel like doing once it gets cooler. This is what I did this weekend:

1. Took out window screens for the winter (it's so much nicer to look out windows sans screens) and then washed the windows, which were really dusty from when they removed/replaced my siding this past summer. A few of the screens will remain, just in case I want to open a window on another warm day, but I think we've seen the best of it.

2. Tidied up and swept the garage floor. It's amazing how dirty and cluttered my garage gets. But now I can pull my car in there, which I usually only do when there's snow forecast.

3. Moved the kayak into the basement. It was sitting out in my driveway but I figured if I didn't manage to go out kayaking this weekend, I wasn't going to for the rest of the season. (You have to wade into the water at least ankle deep, and it can get chilly.)

4. I watered all my potted perennials thoroughly, then moved them into the back of the garage to overwinter. They usually survive ok, so it'll save me time and money to keep them. The annuals I'll leave outside until the frost kills them.

5. I pulled up the rest of the veggie plants in the garden and pulled out all the stakes.

6. I swept the upper portion of the driveway.

7. I cut up and hauled away some Norway maple branches.

8. I drained and disconnected my garden hose so it won't freeze and crack the hose.

9. I was going to turn the outside water off to protect pipes in the garage from freezing, but I think I won't do that, cus I'd have to turn the well water off at the tank, which will mean I'll lose my charge and it's a pain to recharge the tank. I may lose the charge anyway. Can't remember how that went last spring. I have insulation on the pipes and the faucet head and it seems to have done ok in the past.

10. My friend Ron came over with his 90-something dad (on their way to visiting his niece for lunch) to help me remove a cheap door knob/lock that got stuck in the locked position. I hadn't been able to use my basement door, which leads to the garage, for weeks becus of this stupid Kwik-Set lock. I plan to call them tomorrow to complain. I can still lock the door with the dead-bolt backup lock I have, but I have a wad of newspaper jammed in the space where the door knob goes so that bugs don't get in the basement.

I guess I will buy a replacement at Ace since I have a $5 off coupon if I spend $20.

I have a fairly busy week ahead, with 3 driving trips.

The spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.

I had to turn the heat on late this afternoon.

However, I've adjusted the settings to 60 degrees at night and only 63 days. It's tough, because it looks like last winter, I'll be home all day, every day. So when you sit around at the computer, you really get chilled.

Last winter I had it up much higher than I ever had before, at 66 during the day, because I thought Waldo kept catching colds. Well, he wasn't sniffling and sneezing becus he had a cold, it was becus he has allergies. So I'm afraid Waldo will be a bit chillier this winter because I can hardly afford to fill my oil tank.

It certainly does feel cozy in here now at 63. It's just enough to take the chill out of the air. I'm still wearing a heavy sweatshirt, and I've got to have 4 or 5 blankets/quilts on the bed.

Believe me, I've already been tempted. But I haven't. It's been feeling mighty chilly here in Connecticut. This morning, for instance, I woke up to 62 degrees in the house.

I think we will finally see some sunshine after all the rain, rain, rain. So maybe it will warm up a bit, too.

Last night, friend and I went to see Sarah's Key at the $2 movie theater. I like Kristin Scott Thomas, but I thought the rest of the acting was just okay. It was a bit of a tear-jerker.

I'm running out in a little while to meet up with the nutrition study research assistant. Just a quick rendezvous at a fast food joint so she can give me some supplies for the coming week. Then next week I go to UConn and I get paid my 3rd of 4 installments, about $100.

I'm now registered with six online survey sites. I found an interesting site, surveypolice.com, that ranks them all (user reviews) as to how good they are, but I ultimately signed up with those that offered cash back, or at least gift cards, as a form of payment, rather than just shopping stuff. I'm not sure if all the effort will be worth it. My goal last month, before I signed up with the extra sites and was working with just 3 of them, was to clear $150 in online survey payments each month. I only made $46 lasts month....not sure what happened, other than they don't always have surveys I qualify for. Hence my motivation for signing up for more.

I'm also about to begin editing emails for that IT director. I intentionally told him I'd bill him weekly to ensure that I get paid; he's supposed to pay me through my new Paypal account. (Gosh, I feel so with it these days, technology-wise.) He's using Google docs, which is the coolest thing. I never really looked into it before. I don't think this will pay much at all; i guess I'd be lucky to do $20 a week, but if it was steady, that would be nice.

Then again, the first time I happen to not be home when he sends me an email to edit, he may wind up letting me go. But obviously, I can't remain tied to the house on the off chance he may have a teeny bit of work for me. He said every few days he'd have something. So I think I'll get in the habit of reporting in to him each day I have a need to leave the house and just tell him the hours I'll be out. Which is what I did today.

I'm feeling a little frustrated with the money manager client. We spoke on the phone yesterday and he told me I really need to trim down the story I wrote, becus it's too long, and that he was going to send me a few changes he made. I never got it, and so I really can't begin until I see what he's done. So until I wrap this up, I can't really bill him. Although he had me cap my price at $200, or 5 hours worth of work. I've pretty much already spent that much time on it and regret agreeing to that cap, but it didn't seem like i'd get the job without it.

I haven't applied for a f/t perm job in a while, which worries me. There's just nothing out there. ESPN has its office about 45 minutes from here, and they seem to be constantly looking for editors, lots of 'em. But they want people with an interest in sports. It bores me to tears. I suppose I could fake it, I don't know. ESPN seems to be a huge organization.

Today I visited a tractor show at a local garden nursery and took some pix....


Here's the view from the road. Nice to see so much color this time of year.


This looks very much like the red farm tractor my grandfather used to let me steer while sitting in his lap. Except his was smaller. Isn't it grand?


I really like garden statuary.






I'm not even sure what these things were, but they made a lot of noise.




This is a combination windmill AND chicken coop.




Look at the bark on this tree! Gorgeous!


This is my favorite photo. It's another tree trunk, totally covered in lichens. Is it not beautiful?


I've seen this plant before, but I forget what it is.

Started off the day right, by taking a walk with The Author, in town, in a space that was both remote and open at the same time, where I had never been.


It's state-owned property, near the center of town.





The Author asked me if I wanted to go bike-riding sometime and look at all the old Victorian homes along the Connecticut coastline. Yes, count me in! She's leaving for NC next week, but she said when she comes back. We probably have one good month of decent bike-riding weather left.

I plan to re-start editing her book this weekend.

So far I'm pretty happy with some of my Aldi's purchases. Like the Italian waffle-like, wafer-thin chocolate cookies. Very good, not sugary sweet, and good with a cup of tea.

The bread seems decent, too. Whole wheat, no fructose corn syrup. It might be worth heading up there if I buy 4 or 5 loaves at a time, to freeze.

I mowed the back lawn today, so I get double exercise points.

Yesterday, and today for lunch, I made a delicious meal with farro, an ancient grain I never had before. It's very much like extra large barley. If you like the chewiness of barley, you'll like farro. I sauteed up some onions, broccoli and peas with a black bean sauce and toasted walnuts. Pretty simple, yet tasty.

For the 3rd consecutive month, my expenses exceed income. I'm not happy about that. This month, it was my $600 sewer bill that is largely to blame. Later this year, I know the same thing will happen with my $800+ homeowners insurance.

It was also not a great month for income, either. My unemployment benefits have shrunk. For some reason, I only made $46 from online surveys. And there were no focus groups, just $40 made from product testing. Only made $135 from freelance writing.

I did sign up for an October focus group on pasta, which will pay either $65 or $100, depending on whether I'm asked to stay.

Tomorrow I'm going to the Lutheran Church fair. And then maybe to watch the al fresco group yoga in the park. I remember loving to watch the t'chi in San Francisco's Chinatown years ago when I was there.

I enjoyed my free dinner at the money manager's dinner presentation on "the death of 'buy and hold.'" I was surprised that he left after giving his talk and left us to finish our meals (on him) on our own. There were only about 8 of us there. I had chicken piccata, string beans and mashed potatoes.

OK, so friend and I headed out this morning to check out the new Aldi's about 25 minutes north of here. It was their Grand Opening celebration.

I have to say I was somewhat unimpressed after hearing so many good things about this store.

First, it was quite small for a grocery store. Most of their brands were their store brands. Don't know if they're all like this or not, but to my best recollection, they only have like 5 rows. So not a huge selection. And it was pretty crowded in those aisles.

But my main gripe is that by and large they had all packaged and processed foods. And they had no organics in the produce section.

They were giving out lots of free samples, a la Costco, but it was all sugary candy and such.

I did buy 2 loaves of whole wheat bread (1.5 lbs ea) for like $1.69. I also got what i thought were good deals on a 3-lb bag of sweet potatoes and some vodka pasta sauce. Costco still beats their milk prices, I think.

We weren't expecting the part about putting a quarter in the shopping cart, paying for bags, or having to pay cash (no credit).

I doubt I'll be going there much since it's really out of the way, but it was interesting to check it out, nonetheless.

A few weeks ago, out of the blue, I got an email from another SA blogger here. She told me she was going to a wedding in Massachusetts this weekend,and wondered if she could stop by for a visit on her way home, elsewhere in the Northeast.

Of course, I wanted to meet her. You get started blogging realizing that chances are, you won't ever meet the vast majority of people you meet online. It feels a little strange at times because you do form friendships with people.

So today was the day "Dido" and I met. She writes a blog here called Fiscal Fitness. I told her to meet me at the commuter parking lot just off the exit ramp in my hometown; I figured that would be easy for her to find. I gave her my number so she could call me when she was a few exits ahead of mine; that way, I could just jump in my car and meet her at the commuter parking lot in time.

So this morning, Dido called, right on schedule. I hopped in the car and drove down there, only to see that there was no commuter parking lot there! I must've been thinking of some other exit!

LUCKILY, I instantly spotted what I thought was Dido's car (she had told me the color and make) waiting at the traffic light just off the exit. I rolled down my window and waved as the car approached, but she kept on driving and I didn't get a look at the driver to see if it was, in fact, Dido. I did a quick u-turn and followed the car. There were maybe four cars between us. Luckily again, she must've seen my flashing my lights, because after a few miles, she turned in on a side street and pulled over.

It was Dido. Another close call that my lack of a cell phone could have easily avoided!

As it turned out, the street she turned in on was the street where I wanted to take her for a walk, to help her stretch her legs and break up the driving. So we continued down there and did about a 40-minute walk on a nice, paved trail that goes through woods and meadow.



It gave us a chance to talk and get to know each other. Neither of us has been working steadily for quite some time, so I had asked Dido earlier if she wanted to eat lunch out somewhere or maybe just grab sandwiches somewhere and eat at the park, to save money. She left it up to me, so I just decided to have her over my place. I made a chickpea salad with feta cheese, homegrown cherry tomatoes and chopped cucumbers (with a little red onion, too) for our lunch. We munched on sliced carrots and hummus and I gave her a brief tour of my downstairs.

After eating, I took her on a little guided tour around town and showed her a few highlights, including the town hall movie theater ($2 a movie) with its colorful murals of town buildings painted by a local artist in the stairwells.



I also pointed out the famous flagpole in the middle of the road and our historic Main Street.



Along with the little brick historic building where I used to work.



And two little parks in the center of town:



And another historic building I used to work at, when i was senior editor at a small publishing company. The building was once a factory used to make fabric fire hoses but has since been renovated into offices for small businesses. It's really quite lovely, and there's a nearby dam and river.



Dido treated me to a pumpkin cheesecake ice cream cream at the dairy farm ice cream stand, where they make ice cream from their cows on the premises!

So I must say it was fun to meet a fellow blogger face to face, and certainly a nice break from my usual weekday routine. She is, as I write, headed home.

I think I'll wait til after it happens to tell you much more, but I'm getting together very soon with another blogger from this site. We're meeting for the first time!

What fun!

I joined N. and H. this morning before heading over to our town's annual Health Fair. Lots of dentists, chiropractors and other health care professionals have booths with lots of free giveaways and screenings. I got my cholesterol checked (Total: 187) and had a quick mole check done, too.

After that, we went down to the senior housing complex where they were having a tag sale in the community/rec room:


I was interested to see the beautiful mural painted by a local artist. I didn't notice until I looked at these photos on my computer how pleased that woman on the left seems to be that I'm taking that photo.

Here's a detail of the mural, which depicts the old town hall and the famous flagpole on Main Street. Yes, it is smack dab in the middle of the road, and since it's been there since the late 1880s, most people want it to stay. Although it causes lots of car accidents.



I can walk to the flagpole from my house.

Our next destination was a country harvest fair at the Congregational Church. There was quite a lot to see.



I admired these whimsical felted hats.









For lunch I had some stone soup, which was basically a chicken soup with a dozen different vegetables. They cooked it outside in a couldron.



On the way home, I got this shot:



The homeowner is/was a bond trader in NYC who lost a lot of friends in 9/11. There was a special town tribute to mark the 10th anniversary earlier this month.


We also stopped in at this shop, which specializes in early American decor. I used to like this style, not so much now. I like to mix a few antiques with much more contemporary stuff.

Good time had by all. All I spent was $3, on that soup.

This month marks a milestone I'd rather not think about, but it's sort of like the elephant in the room: September marks the two-year anniversary since I was laid off from my job. The job, a salaried position with full benefits, seems quaint to me now, and I wonder seriously if I'll ever find another job like that again.

(Meanwhile, the president of Bank of America, I recently learned, earns $10 million a year. I could easily live, for the rest of my life, on one-tenth of what he makes in a year. Ironically, we do share something in common: we've both gotten handouts from the government...me, in the form of unemployment benefits and him, in the form of TARP money.)

These days, I have more luck finding contract or freelance work, short-term, project-based stints that can help me squeak by, but hardly puts a dent on my ongoing anxiety about finding the next gig.

I actually feel like roadkill these days.

On a more positive front, yesterday I interviewed the money manager in my hometown for an article that I already wrote that will appear as an insert in a local daily newspaper. I think it came out very well and (hopefully) he should be pleased. I also did some simple design and layout, which I don't normally do, and it looks good.

I won't earn much from this project and I think I under-bid it ($200) compared to what he says he spends to put on a dinner seminar ($3,000), but I'm hoping it will lead to more work. (He'll also have to spend $600 to the newspaper for printing the insert itself, but still, I'm obviously the cheapest part of his marketing equation at this point.)

Tomorrow is my interview for that p/t copy editor position. The pay is so little that it amounts to just $173 more a month than unemployment is paying me. But unemployment will end eventually. This will get me out of the house and no doubt improve my mental outlook. It could lead to a better position at this company down the road. There's no commute involved, maybe 1 mile.

I have to keep reminding myself of the pluses, modest as they be, because after crunching numbers and looking at it every which way, I think I'll still be living as uber-frugal as I am now...an extra $173 a month won't do much to change that. I will still absolutely need to generate at least $200 a month in other ways (freelance writing, focus groups, product testing, online surveys, etc) to break even, and that's barring unforeseen expenses like car repairs, healthcare or something related to the house. That shouldn't be too hard. It's basically what I'm doing now except that now I'm relying on unemployment benefits to form the bulk of my income instead of this p/t job.

I keep feeling like I'm trying to crawl out of a hole on all fours. It would just be too easy if I were given another $75K salaried job with health benefits. No, the universe has said I must crawl, and crawl I will.

I mentioned in my last post that I had not heard back from the ad agency looking for a freelance writer. I had completed and returned a test editing assignment to them, and I assumed the ensuing silence meant I didn't get the job.

Yesterday I sent a brief follow-up email anyway, and was delighted this morning to find a response from the agency owner, who said my work was "fine" and that he was now looking for a paid assignment for me and would arrange it "at the first opportunity."

Yahooey! Of course, we haven't discussed money at all. Now the only thing I have to worry about is that he doesn't offer me a ridiculously low payment.

But that's 2 for 2, this job and the money manager guy. It's up to me to do my best and ensure neither of these are one-time scenarios.

Aside from thinking I hadn't gotten this freelance job, there was another reason, I think, why I was feeling so glum yesterday (and still am today, to a certain extent).

I got to thinking about two people from my distant past of over 30 years ago...a step-brother and step-sister I had when my mother was married to their father. I was never close to either of them, a boy and a girl, but I did live in their home my first summer after my first year in college, a time I was very lonely and homesick and feeling rather lost.

They lived in a beautiful old Victorian home in a very tony town in Bergen County, New Jersey. When I moved in there for the summer, I remember being given a choice of two locations for my bedroom; one of those choices was a small room in the attic under the eaves, with just a single, round window for light. That's the room I picked, because it was so private.

I was never very close to them, didn't really have the chance. The boy, the elder of the two, was as I remember, a year or two younger than me. He was very smart, and a little shy. But we discovered a mutual love of badminton that summer, and we spent some fun times batting away at the birdie with vengeance in our hearts.

His sister had the same outgoing personality and cheerful demeanor that her father had. It was a little hard to take sometimes. All I remember of her, really, is that she absolutely loved the theater and would often see shows on Broadway with her high school friends.

Their own mother lived in the Seattle area, on an island. Possibly Whidbey Island. Are there other islands in that area?

Anyway, I have wondered from time to time whatever happened to them. My mother and their father were married for about 10 years before my mother divorced him. She said he was an alcoholic. I know he drank, but I never saw him being abusive. I wasn't there enough to know for sure, and like a lot of drinkers, he was probably able to hold his liquor pretty well.

I had mixed feelings about him at the time, as I did for my first step-father. Mixed feelings, because I was loyal to my own dad, even though for much of my 20s, I didn't have much of a relationship with my dad. But my step-dad always had a kind word and a cheerful smile for me. The kindest thing he ever did for me was to encourage me as much as he did to go to the best college I could, and he always was eager to hear my stories about my college experiences. It was something my mother could never really do, as she hadn't gone to college.

He was a former Presbyterian minister. When my mother married him, he was a federal government employee, working at a Housing and Urban Development office in the city.

So I spent some time online trying to find information on the two children, now grown. I knew that my step-father had died years earlier, after my mother and he divorced.

I figured I should be able to find some information, as I had both their names and knew where they grew up. I also knew that my step-brother had attended school at Case Western Reserve University, in Ohio.

I just couldn't find any info. And I assumed my step-sister could have married, making it more difficult for me to track her down. I vaguely remember my mother telling je years ago that she became a missionary in Africa somewhere. I did find someone with her name, and a married name, on Classmates.com, but without more information, I couldn't confirm that was her. So I sent that person a brief note, saying I wasn't sure she was the person I was looking for, but did she have a brother named J.? But she won't be able to read that note unless she has a paid account with them.

Later, I came upon an issue of the Case Western Reserve alumnae magazine that had J.'s name in it. The issue was available online. I went through all 60 pages of it, scanning many lists of alumnae donor names. Then, toward the end, I came upon J.'s name. It was on a page headed In Memoriam, for those who had died. It indicated that someone with J.'s name, of Redmond, West Virginia, Class of '82, had died, exact date unknown. The issue's date was 2010, just last year.

I was really shocked. I could never have imagined this. I sought to do more research to verify this was my step-brother, getting nowhere. I looked up Redmond on a Map Quest map to see what larger cities it was near so I could look for an obituary in the local paper. Couldn't find it in the archives, or they charged for the information.

I think the terrible thing is that he is dead, because what are the odds that someone with the same first and last name went to the same school at roughly the same time?

I kept trying different search terms, using what info I had. Then I came up with someone who said something to the effect that their fraternity brother had unexpectedly died in the prime of their life. The link led to the same issue of the Case Western alumnae magazine.

I went through the whole magazine again to find out who said that, because if I knew their name, I could possibly get in touch with them to confirm the news. But still, I couldn't find it in the magazine. I mean, it would have to be in there somewhere, right, if it shows up in Google results?

It's really a distraction, wondering, but not knowing, if he is alive. I'm not sure why it bothers me so much, i mean, 30+ years have gone by. But I guess I always assumed they were alive and well, leading their lives somewhere.

The only other thing I came up with was info from one of those data mining companies, could have been Intellius, that indicated the the woman with the same maiden name as my step-sister, with the married name I mentioned earlier, was RELATED to the man with the same name as my step-brother. While the alumnae magazine indicated only a middle initial, the Intellius listing indicated the full middle name, and it started with the same letter as that indicated in the alumnae magazine. But they charge you for more information.

It just makes me feel very sad, especially knowing that if I'd gotten serious about finding them just a year or two earlier, I could have possibly found him...alive.

Ech, what a boring day. Actually, I am boring myself. We've had a string of gorgeous fall days, and you'd think I'd want to do something more aspirational somehow, like take a bike ride or take the kayak out.

I don't have quite the energy for that. Instead, I did wash about 4 windows. They really needed it. the guys who did my vinyl siding really created a lot of dust. I will eventually clean some more windows, but not today.

Let's see, how else did I kill this day? I watered the grass and my potted plants. I crawled out on the roof to clear part of a gutter and replace a screen that came off. I picked another pint of cherry tomatoes from the garden.

Boring.

A client was supposed to call this morning at 9 and he blew me off. I knew he would, and no hard feelings there, he's just extremely busy and a bit of a procrastinator.

I applied for a few more p/t jobs. Feeling negative. Haven't heard back from that ad agency for which I went to the trouble of doing a writing assignment and turned it in last Thursday. So I sent him a follow-up email just now. I suppose I'll get the silent treatment, which translates into, "leave us alone, we no longer want to talk to you."

Oh, I also vacuumed and cleaned out my car.

Last Friday I went for a breast ultrasound after my mammogram. Becus i have dense breasts, just routine. Well, they called today and said there's a small nodule/cyst on my right breast and they want me to do another ultrasound in 6 months. They think it will probably go away, nothing to get a biopsy for, but just to be sure. I feel a little uneasy about that, but oh well. I guess I'll be paying for that one.

I went to a new ultrasound place and really liked it. They made it seem like a spa, with soft pendulum lighting, a wicker basket instead of ugly plastic bins for used johnnies, and a soothing water fountain. Some very simple touches that made such a big difference in ambiance.

There's an Aldi's opening up near me this Thursday, and I plan to go on opening day. Any advice on where their best prices are? Well, it's not really near enough that i could make a regular thing of it. It's about a half hour away. Once I check out prices, I'll decide whether it's worth or to go on a monthly basis...or not.

I've got a time set up to do my first assignment with the money manager in town, this Wednesday. I'll be writing an article about him and his investment style, for an insert in the local daily paper. If nothing else, it will look good on my resume. But I hope it will lead to future assignments. It could just be a one-time thing, but I hope to do a good job with it and you can be sure I'll be keeping in touch with him to encourage that to happen.

I rose not quite as bright and early as I intended, and I felt myself rushing about in the morning to pull together a simple salad for my new friend and I to enjoy at an area Audubon Sanctuary on Long Island Sound.

I was so short on time I didn't get a chance to quickly check my email, something I like to do before heading out for any period of time. It was a little after 8 am when I left the house.

I got a little lost, but eventually found the Sanctuary at the very tip of a point lined with summer cottages. I was there for the beach cleanup, an annual, late summer ritual that's done up and down the coastline in New York and Connecticut as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day. There's always plenty of trash that's either left by beach-goers or boaters, or is otherwise washed ashore after drifting at sea for who knows how long.

As happened the last time I did this a few years ago, the turnout was not all that good. There were three of us, to be exact. I decided to hook up with the other two women there and we fanned out on the beach. It was a GORGEOUS day, quite bright and sunny, though cool. We spent three hours picking up trash, including everything from spent shotgun shells (illegal) to a car tire to bottle caps and straws. Probably 80% of what we picked up was soft or hard plastic. According to Audubon literature, it takes 450 years for plastic to disintegrate.

Here are some pics:


I love the warm, golden colors of the beach grasses.


Audubon has several observation decks with beautiful views of the marshes.


I don't know if these purple martin houses were occupied this summer.


I am wondering if Hurricane Irene dumped more shells than usual on the beaches.

I waited for my friend to meet me at the Audubon Coastal Center at noon, but she didn't show. I spent the time chatting with an employee at the center and her husband. I waited and waited, wondering what to do. As a cost-saving measure, I'd given up my cell phone over a year ago, so that simple option wasn't available to me.

I don't know my new friend that well. I've just met her once, so it was hard to imagine what might have gone wrong. I figured it was either one of two things: either she had gotten lost (I remembered she said she often does get lost, and that she has ADHD) or that her daughter, who was close to full term with her pregnancy, had given birth and my friend had maybe a last minute change of plans due to that event.

I suppose I could have waited longer than 45 minutes, but I'd been out in the sea breeze all morning and was feeling tired, so I finally decided to head home.

When I got home, there was a message from S. telling me she got VERY lost, asked 4 people for directions and still had trouble, but had finally made it to the Sanctuary and was wondering where I was. I called her back immediately and we exchanged notes.

There was also an email here for me which I would have seen if I'd checked my mail before leaving. It was sent by S. around 5:30 a.m. saying since she was up so early, she thought she'd like to do the beach cleanup with me after all. Oh well.

I felt a little guilty for maybe not waiting a little longer. It sounded like she got there maybe 5 minutes (!) after I left! She enjoyed the scenery and environment there as much as I did, and we both regretted not having been able to connect. We had both brought lunch to share. Fortunately, she didn't' sound TOO frazzled and agreed we should try again to do something, so I will keep my eye out.

Remember the energy analyst position I interviewed for a few months back but didn't get?

I see the same company is now advertising for a p/t copy editor job.

I applied.

They were paying VERY low for the analyst position, so I can only guess that this job will be no different.(I'm guessing less than $20 an hour, maybe $10 or $15 would be more like it.) Still, it's in my hometown. If it's less than 30 hours a week, I think I could still collect partial unemployment, and it would greatly extend my remaining benefits as well.

What's more, if they deduct taxes from my paycheck, it would help boost my employment "credits" should I continue to be unemployed moving forward. When they calculate your benefits amount, they take the highest average of the previous five quarters, or something like that. So generally, the more you make in any quarter, the better off you are. Except that they only count work where the employer deducts taxes from your paycheck; they DON't count freelance work at all. So in this context, W2 jobs are good, but 1099 jobs, where you pay your own taxes, are bad, becus you could work forever in a 1099 job and it won't matter one iota to the unemployment office. Why this distinction, I don't really know.

And of course, if i could get them to put me on their health plan, even though not a full-timer, that would be the ideal situation and would save me probably over $300 a month, depending on their premium. But it wold get me off COBRA, and the clock is ticking. I can't stay on COBRA forever, and it's expensive besides.

Well, all this is wild conjecture. I only just applied today.

But I spent quite a bit of time structuring my carefully-worded cover letter. It was a bit unconventional, but I have nothing to lose.

I even included a quote from The Economist magazine. Say what, you ask??

When I interviewed for the analyst job, the senior analyst who interviewed me asked me where I read my news and specifically asked if I read The Economist. He apparently holds it in high regard.

Now he may not be the person reviewing candidates for the copy editor job, but in a small company like this, senior level people often handle functions beyond their immediate job responsibilities. If he is, it might resonate with him.

To find that quote, I spent some time reading several stories in the magazine related to the Euro debt crisis. I included the quote when referencing the fact that I'm a news junkie and like to keep up on current events like the Arab Spring and Euro debt crisis, which a recent article in The Economist recently described as ......

That's about how I phrased it. It was a relatively small point in the larger context of my cover letter, but since they said in the ad that having an interest in world affairs would be helpful, I figured this would demonstrate it.

And once again, I saw the ad, not online, but in my local weekly paper. Cuts down on the competition.

Tomorrow will be busy but fun. Have to get an early start. I'm doing my part for International Ocean Conservancy Day by volunteering to pick up beach/ocean litter for a few hours at an Audubon beach preserve. Then I'm meeting my new friend, the out of work journalist, there for a picnic lunch on the beach. How cool is that? I'll take pictures!

I met this morning with the CFP/investment manager. While I was hoping that by this time, after 2 phone conversations and a detailed memo i sent him, that I could now reel him in and discuss a p/t position with him, it didn't really go that far. Yet, anyway. I did, however, succeed in securing a small first job from him involving my interviewing him and writing an article that will appear as an insert in a local newspaper.

We'll probably do the interview sometime next week. So it's a job, one that could to more if he gets any kind of positive response from it.

I sense he's being very cautious about spending money. Can't say I blame him. But I've spent quite a bit of time brainstorming with him how to get clients in the door already.

I'm hoping to hear from the local ad agency about the editing assignment I turned in to them yesterday. It would be great to have either one of these jobs work out to something regular, because are, as I said, very local. The $ manager's office is 5 minutes away and the ad agency is a 15-minute drive. I hate long commutes.

I had yet another unexpected home repair bill that I couldn't avoid. Two days ago, I noticed that the jet pump in my basement, which is hooked up to my outdoor-only water supply, had developed a slow leak.

I use the outdoor water quite a bit to water my veggie garden and potted plants. It draws water from my shallow well, unlike my drinking water, which is hooked up to a utility company and for which I pay a quarterly charge of about $36.

So anyway, I like the idea of having a free supply of water. So I called the plumber I've used before. They don't give free estimates, and their minimum service call is $116 for the first hour and $100 an hour after that. Whoa.

I decided to take a chance on someone new, a guy who specializes in well water pumps. I was a little guarded about doing so becus i noticed his website didn't show either his name or any address. To me, these are red flags that someone would prefer not to be found if there's a problem.

But anyway, he came over and fairly quickly found that the leak was coming from an old screw that had become so rusted it popped out, and that's where the water was leaking. But part of it was still inside, and he wasn't sure he could get it out. Well, he did in short order and replaced it with a new screw. Leak solved.

He said if this pump was used for my primary drinking water, he would recommend I get a new pump, becus while it's a great pump (a Gould) it's still quite old and probably won't last long. (It's already at least 16 years old. Average lifespan is probably half that.) But since it doesn't get a lot of use since it's just for outside water (never used all winter) he said just let it go. Here's hoping it'll last a few more years.

So the good news is, I saved myself a possible replacement of the pump, which would be in the $800 range. But the bad news is, i just paid someone $127 to change a screw.

In other news, I met my new friend yesterday at an Ikea near where she lives. We ended up going there cus they have cheap lunches. Well, she actually wasn't hungry, and it was such a nice day out, so we ended up talking and walking around the Ikea parking lot. For 3 hours! She suggested walking down to Long Wharf, but i didn't have my sneakers with me. I think we both liked each other and had a lot to talk about.

So we made plans to get together for a picnic (to save money on lunch out) at a mid-way town at an Audubon Center on the coast. It's a place I've been wanting to explore anyway. It's International Coastal Cleanup Week and this weekend they have planned beach cleanups up and down the coastline, including at this location. She didn't want to do a cleanup, but I have done them before and like to do so, so I'll get there early and spend an hour or so doing that and then meet her there afterwards. I've also suggested she bring her bike so we can bike around after lunch. We'll see. Not sure if she has a bike.

The $ manager who i was supposed to have a 2nd phone conversation with, who i mentioned in an earlier post was a no-show, well, i heard from him and he said he had a funeral to attend and could we talk tomorrow, so that's what we're doing. I've already sent him my 4-page memo with my thoughts/ideas on marketing his business, so the fact he wants to talk to me again is a good sign. Maybe I'll get some work out of this.

Got 3 more small assignments from my real estate client. 1 PR is done and will distribute tomorrow, but have to wait to talk with someone Monday to get started on the other 2 jobs: updating a bio and ghost-writing a second article, to be published in my state's home builder magazine.

This a.m. I spent several hours with my friend F. getting rid of the pile of brush and tree limbs in my driveway, the damage from Hurricane Irene. We made 4 trips to the landfill. He was a huge help. I gave him a hug and paid him in the form of two cucumbers from my garden, plus a $5 bill wedged in between them, to cover his gas. It's the best I could do.

I discovered the day before yesterday that the pump to my well (in the basement) has developed a slow leak. There was a wet spot on the concrete floor about three feet in diameter.

Oh no. I've heard that replacing a well pump is very expensive. I'm hoping it's just a repair, but who knows? While I'm hooked up to a private company's well water for inside the house, I do have my two outdoor faucets still hooked up to my own well. Which was one of the best moves I ever made.

I hooked up to a regional water company a number of years ago as my very shallow well (only 27 feet deep!) kept getting coliform issues. But I asked the contractor who did the plumbing to keep the well hooked up to the outdoor faucets, and I do use plenty of outdoor water for watering my garden and plants.

Plumbers are so enormously expensive. I found a place online in my area that specializes in well pumps, but i always feel suspicious when a business website doesn't provide its address. Or, if they provide an address, it's a PO box number. If you see that, you've got to be careful, because if problems should arise with the contractor, you would be unable to bring them to small claims court since you have to serve papers. The court won't deliver summons to a PO box number.

So I called this outfit, but will ask for their location first. I like to know who I'm doing business with. Without the address, I might as well be doing business with a door to door salesperson. Here one day, gone tomorrow.

I want to set up an appointment today for someone to look at the well pump.

This morning i have TWO job phone interviews, although I'm not expecting much from either one of them. Then I've got a screening for a Yale study on yoga/stress, then I'm meeting a new friend at Ikea. It will be a long day, and I'll likely be driving home in rush hour traffic. On the way to Yale, I'll stop at the landfill. (Trying to consolidate driving trips.)

I have plant lust.

There's a place on Main Street, close to home, that was having a plant sale this weekend. Every plant, $5. It's a private home and they have a lovely garden. They usually have a plant sale twice a year with much higher prices, but Hurricane Irene blew down their greenhouse and since they can't overwinter many of their extra plants, they were having this sale.

So I went to "look."

I ended up buying:

1. A sedge grass, which looks similar to a spider plant without the spiders.

2. A smoke bush. I've always wanted one of these. It has dark burgundy foliage and I can't wait to see what the blooms look like.

3. A dwarf magnolia, (Magnolia x Ann). Also always wanted a magnolia tree, and for $5, c'mon! Couldn't pass up. I read up on this variety when I got home. While I'm happy it's a dwarf (still gets about 10 feet high and as wide), it also apparently has a more shrubby habit, not tree-like. It's also apparently somewhat deer-resistant.

After some mental debate, I decided to plant it in the back yard tomorrow, in the area where I pulled out a huge amount of forsythia. It will have room to spread out there;in front, I'm trying to be careful and avoid planting anything that could shade out my vegetable garden.

I already planted the smoke bush out in front....hope it will get enough light where it is. And the sedge is in the ground as well, by the bird bath.

I really enjoyed browsing. There were any number of unusual and interesting native plants that I was sorely tempted to get, but $15 was enough to spend. Viburnum Barkwoodi, a ninebark, some fluorescent green sedum....geez, i may have to go back tomorrow...no, you can't...i just want to look....you better not, you know what'll happen....but i want to... (This is my mental dialogue with myself.)

I feel like I'm running out of space to plant things as it is. But I can always squeeze in one more thing.

Monday is shaping up to be a very busy day, starting with an 8:30 a.m. call from the CFP I spoke to last week. I guess I'll have to sell myself and provide intelligent commentary on his marketing collateral.

Then at 10 am I have to call an ad agency guy who responded via email to the resume I sent. He's looking for a PR writer who's strong in politics and government. Not sure how that's going to go. While it's not a specific strength, I can certainly handle it. He has a pretty impressive Linked In writeup and has worked for various state politicians, even a senator.

Later in the morning I have to head out to small city about a 50-minute drive to be screened for a new Yale study. They want to see if the regular practice of yoga reduces stress. So it's a 3-month commitment, yoga classes twice a week, and 2 blood tests, i think, for which they pay you $340. There is that long drive, but we'll see.

After that, I'll head to Ikea in same city to meet a new friend who I met through Craig's List. This will be our first meeting. I'll have a few hours to kill before she can meet me so I hope I don't get too bored.

So if we enjoy each other's company, the nice thing is that I could end up being in this city twice a week for those yoga classes, and this is where new friend lives. So it would be very conducive for us spending time together. (She's out of work, too. I just learned from her that she's NOT getting unemployment benefits...she quit the job, and she said she's living on her savings.)

That would freak me out. I'd like to learn more about that when I meet her. I'm wondering if she has some kind of game plan in mind. I know she has a grown daughter in RI; maybe she could live with her if she had to. I'm not sure, but I'm guessing she rents if she lives in the city.

I woke around 5 this morning to the sound of steady rain. A little while later, as I lay in bed, I heard a sudden popping sound outside. The transformer on the pole. I rolled over to look at the digital display on my radio, and it was dark.

I'd lost power again.

I called it in to the power company and spent the rest of the early a.m. formulating a plan should this outage last longer than a few hours. I found it too much of a pain to bring my food to multiple other locations, some not so close to home, and then have to retrieve it all later.

I had learned that just a single bag of ice could keep necessities cool enough for 24 hours when poured into the 2 refrigerator drawers. Plus in my cooler. That would be a heck of a lot easier than racing around town to friends' houses. Although the offer was made again to me.

Luckily, the neighborhood got power back in 2 hours.

I spent most of the morning at the computer. At 1 pm, it happened again. Pop! There goes the power! What' in tarnation is going on?

Power was restored a second time in about an hour. Gee whiz.

Nothing else terribly exciting to report, except that it's been raining steadily most of the day, and it's mighty cool. Chilly enough that I'm wearing my old blue sweatpants and a flannel shirt. Feels like fall!

Of course, now that I've formulated a plan to sell a chunk of mutual funds when they once more top the 12,000 mark, the Dow is refusing to cooperate. Another big plunge for the third consecutive day. Patience, Patient Saver. Your time will come.