Not a bad day

We made it to the library today. Which, since the library is maybe 2 miles away, shouldn't be that big a deal. But it is. I got wise and decided to go before lunch (aka nap time) today, since I had books on hold to pick up. The library will only hold them for a week, and I've been waiting a month for one of them, so I didn't want to miss it. El Burrito and I were dressed, he was strapped in his soon-to-be-outgrown car seat, and ready to go at 11:15. I called DH to find out where he parked, so we could get the stroller frame that's in his car, and decided instead to take him out for lunch. It's one of the perks of living where we do - his "commute" is a mile if he takes the long way around, and his office is on our way to the library.

So we had lunch at our favorite BBQ place, and he & El Burrito stayed in the car while I ran into the library to drop off and pick up. And I left a big pile of coupons in the coupon swapping box at the library, too. That's a small step in keeping ahead of the clutter.

News flash - Gas prices just broke the $3/gallon mark here. $3.059 for non-premium gas right now. It may not be a shock for people on the west coast, but it's a noticeable thing here. Other than the day or two right after 9/11, I don't ever recall gas getting over $3. I'm sure the newspaper will have at least one letter to the editor in the next few days, ranting about gas prices. There's at least one person locally who will always swear that gas is cheaper in St. Louis or the next town up I-70, no matter what. This is directly contradicted by an article in the paper this week, saying that gas in St. Louis is higher because of emissions laws that require them to use a "boutique" blend of gas there. Go figure.

I'm just so so glad I don't work at my library job anymore. That was a lovely 120-mile per day commute. Even with my current car getting 30 mpg when I was commuting with it, or the 34 mpg that the previous car got, it was still a big chunk of money going out. I was stopping at the gas station every third day. I may have been racking up some serious points on my Waldenbooks credit card at the time, but it wasn't enough to offset the gas costs.

And I always thought it was a bit odd that a 1985 Tempo was getting better mileage per gallon than a 1999 Escort. Not a big difference, just 4 mpg better, but at the time the Tempo had passed the 100,000 mile mark. I kind of expected a car 14 years newer to at least match the mileage.

Back to work. Email to sort through, papers to shred, all sorts of fun.