Hubby and I received a hotel gift certificate for an overnight stay in Indianapolis. We're going tomorrow. Man...can't wait to get outta Dodge. I'm so tired of my life. Don't get me wrong -- it's a good life. It's a wonderful life!  Wait...wasn't that a movie? Henry Fonda was in it. Or was that Jimmy Stewart? I always get those two mixed up. Not that they look alike. Henry always seemed like a jerk while Jimmy was sweet.  By the way, did you know that Jimmy was a decorated combat pilot who spent more then 20 years in the Air Force Reserves and retired as a Brigadier General? Wait...how the hell did I know that? Man...sometimes I'm amazed at the things that fall out of my brain.

What was I talking about?

***

Today is my son's last day of school. Usually, this is a day for me that teeters between panic and impending doom. The boy is almost 17,  stands 6'5" in his stocking feet, can radiate between sweet & surly in three seconds flat, will eat anything in the kitchen that doesn't smell funny (if he takes the time to actually sniff it), and always seems to need money. I love him deeply. But he  takes up a lot of room: in the house and in my consciousness. Having him home during the summer is a life-altering experience.

 But today, I'm thrilled that school is out.  For the past few months, he has needed to stay after school three days a week for various projects. On those days, he must have a car to get to-and-from school. Ummmm...so whose car must he use? Yes, mine. That means he drives me to work at 7 a.m. -- and I sit at my desk for two hours until I can clock in at 9 a.m.  Then, after I get off work at 5 p.m., I wait until my husband picks me up at 6:30 p.m. In case you don't want to do the math, that's an extra (unpaid) 3 1/2 hours at work.

Yes...this year, I am glad that school is out.

***

Same son just got his first summer job. He starts tonight at the new McDonalds in town. I think I'll rent the documentary Supersize Me and make him watch it so he isn't tempted to live on Big Macs all summer.

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The library (where I work) just bought the cutest little video recorder called a Flip. It's adorable! Can't wait to try it out. For work projects, of course. Yes...that's right. Only for WORK projects. Not to film my feet, or muffins. That would be WRONG.

***

I noticed on the way into town this morning that gas just hit $4.10 per gallon.

***

Just finished a fairly new book called Mustn't Grumble: an accidental return to England, by Joe Bennet. It's a non-fiction that is toted as a travel book, but it's really more of the author's personal journey. Joe grew up in England but moved to New Zealand after college. He's in his late 40s now and making his first trip back to travel the countryside. There are some funny/clever bits, but he paints sort of an ugly picture of the English. He makes them out to be prejudice, class snobs who are self-conscious to the point of rudeness and have a deep dislike of Americans. I finished the book with a bad taste in my mouth. A quick google of book reviews showed that many UK readers felt the need to gargle after reading it too. Although I love a stiif poke with the good humor stick (no, that isn't slang for penis), I just didn't like his tone. I like the Brits.

***

I'm still researching the trip that hubby and I plan to take this fall. I'm having more and more doubts about going to England. No, nothing to do with Mr. Mustn't Grumble.  But the exchange rate right now is 1.97!  egads... This must be the worst time in history to visit Britain! Well...okay...during the Black Plague might have been inconvenient.  But considering the dismal US dollar, going to London this year is like burning half of my vacation fund. We are not wealthy people -- and that feels financially irresponsible.

So, at this very moment, I'm looking at a exchange rate calculator.

The Euro isn't much better then the BP. The exchange rate from US to Euro is 1.59. That makes it difficult (but not impossible) to go to  Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain and Vatican City.

So what else is there?

Britain 1.97
Euro countries 1.57
Canada 1.01
Switzerland  .96
Australia .95
Russia  .42
Denmark .21
Norway .20
Sweden .17
China .14
Japan .009
Hungary  .006  

Wow...this is sort of fascinating. Never really paid attention to exchange rates before.  When it comes to finances, is the exchange rate the only thing to consider? Does the economy of the country play a part too? For instance, looking at the countries that use the Euro: would some of them still be reasonable to visit? It is a puzzlement.

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If you made it through this very long ramble... the first person to recognize the line from a song in that last ramble get a virtual chocolate.