Bagpipes

I like bagpipes, but this made me smile....

A Gallon of....

I went grocery shopping today, and I randomly started thinking about the prices we pay for things. I was shocked when I went to the dairy section and reached for a gallon of milk -- $4.06 for a gallon of 1%. Then I started thinking about how that price compare to other things. A gallon of regular unleaded gas is $2.96 (or was when I was out this afternoon). A gallon of bottled/filtered/distilled water costs somewhere between $0.98 and about $2.50. A 2-liter bottle of Coke is usually $1.19 when it's on sale; regular price is $1.69, I think.

But anyway, I was wondering why we complain about prices of some items but not others. Nobody's happy about the rising gas prices, but how often do we hear people complaining about the rising milk prices? (I'm sure the fact that people typically purchase multiple gallons of gas at once as opposed to single gallons of milk at a time contributes to the complaining.) Anyway, I left the grocery store sans milk; I went to the ice cream store around the corner and bought my gallon of 1% milk for $2.89.

The End of....

...something frequently thought of as endless. Follow the link. I like this one.

Tucker...

...rhymes with "sucker!"

A stray kitty wandered onto our back porch last Friday. I didn't really want a pet at all and I don't particularly like indoor pets, but he adopted us anyway. Now we're working on kitty-proofing the house (or at least the portions of the house in which we're allowing the cat to reside), learning to distinguish between the 'needs' and 'wants' yelps and meows, and teaching the kitty some manners (preferably good ones).

So far, Tucker likes to play with his toys and pretend he's a parrot. His favorite toys are his blue GAP box, his plastic clothes hanger, and his red firetruck. He also likes to climb up my pants and shirt and then perch on my shoulder when I'm washing dishes or working in the kitchen. (That's something we really need to train him not to do, but it's so cute....)

4th of July, Fireworks, and (Surprise!) Rain

Well, at least the rain stayed away until most of the fireworks displays were finished....

Jimmy worked part of the day yesterday, and I enjoyed a rather lazy holiday with my books. We met up with some friends for a little evening cook-out, and we all went out to watch a big fireworks display after that. We went to a local country club (a friend's parents are members) and watched their absolutely gigantic and beautiful display. Though I've seen large fireworks displays before, this one was very different in that the musical accompaniment that went along with the display was a blasting array of car alarms that were set off by the sound of the fireworks. The discordant blaring was, at times, accompanied by the high-pitched yet nearly imperceptible drone of a small choir of mosquitoes. Beautiful.

Happy July 2nd!!

Yep, Happy July 2nd!!

First, it's my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Daddy!!

And second, it's the middle day of the year. That means that 2007 is now half over already....