Unintended consequences

It was sunny, but still chilly on Thursday. I went home at lunch and, while driving there, tried to figure out the economy of it all.

So, I get about 25 miles to the gallon of gas in the Volvo. And, round trip from Building 73 to home, it’s about 20+ miles. So, at like, $4.05 a gallon for mid-grade, lets say it’s $4.00 right there. Then I usually open a can of soup (anywhere for $1.00 to $1.50, depending on the soup). Chicken noodle is cheap, but split pea with ham or bean with bacon is not. And, I like bean with bacon the best.

So, I’m up to like five bucks for lunch eating lunch at home. But, I can go about a quarter mile from work and get way too much Chinese food for lunch for $6.25 (and I love Chinese food).

On the other hand, I’m back at home, can watch TV and just relax for a bit. Or, I could bring in leftovers (if I have them), warm them up and sit there at work, bored and staring at my computer for an hour and save a lot of money. It’s a toss up!

Back at home after work (three days off, okay!) I got involve with unintended consequences. I was standing at the sink, washing a pot from last night’s dinner, when a squirrel plopped onto the kitchen window sill. He started to attack the suet cage (about six inches away).

So, I rapped on the window. Instead of him immediately jumping off as I expected, he ran across the sill and crashed into the thermometer mounted there. It fell to the patio and he was gone.

Damn! I put that up the first year I moved here!

So, I put on my coat, grabbed my camera and went out back. The thermometer wasn’t broken, just dislodged. So, I put it back together (with a little help from some tape) and stuck it back up. I couldn’t get the angle right, so I was still ticked. I refilled the bird feeder and the other suet cage.

I took a number of photos of the garage-side hyacinths and then went to the back. I wanted to take a picture of the forsythia and all the new trash that had blown in (these winds have not been kind to my garden) but the camera said “Memory Full.” I need to buy one of those memory sticks, I guess.

Back inside, I warmed up a dish of the pasta al a Carbonara and watched TV until bedtime.