DAY 23 -- 08 August Happiness Challenge

My trip to Linens 'n' Things. My home needs a lot of work. The carpet needs replacing, the walls need painting, the bathroom is out of date, my bedroom ac is only making it through the summer thanks to prayer. All of this costs money, and I'm trying to be more fiscally responsible -- just in case the rumors are true and I find myself unemployed when the new year dawns.

All of this makes me kind of sad, too. I believe this place has potential and I'm looking forward to fixing it.

In the meantime, there are a lot of little things I can do to make it a bit more habitable. Today I stopped at Linens 'n' Things and took advantage of their store closing sale. I got two nice, soft throw pillows for the sofa, new shower curtain liners and a spray bottle of Scrub Buster, which I hope will help with the hard water stains in the bathroom sink.

It was a sensible use of my money, and the small improvements I've been able to make cheered me up. I'm only sorry for the people who work at Linens 'n' Things.

Saturday 9: Choices in Music

1. What was your first favorite song? "Over the Rainbow"

2. Who was your first favorite female singer? Petula Clark

3. Who was your first favorite male singer? Paul McCartney

4. Who was your first favorite band? The Beatles

5. Who is your all time favorite band? The Beatles

6. Who is your all time favorite male singer? Paul McCartney

7. Who is your all time favorite female singer? Barbra Streisand

8. What is your all time favorite LP/CD album? The Beatles' White Album

9. What was your first favorite radio station? WLS in the good Top 40 days, or WLUP in the good old days when it was home to Johnny B. and Steve and Garry

For more information, or to play along yourself, click here.

Welcome aboard, Joe!

I'm happy that Barack Obama chose Joe Biden (though I'm a little pissed that I didn't get my "first to know" email until almost 8:00 this morning). I like that Joe is "colorful" (blabby) because he's as unpredictable as Obama is cool. I appreciate that Biden is smarter than I am, as I believe my leaders should be (I'm scarily certain I could beat many who served the current administration at Jeopardy). I enjoy listening to his realistic approach to foreign policy.

But one of my favorite things about Biden is his enduring support of Amtrak. If we are to reduce our demand on foreign oil, we have to drive less, and Biden believes that a better Amtrak is one of the secrets. Legend has it he makes travels roundtrip between DC and Delaware on the rails all the time.

We have clients in both Milwaukee and downstate Illinois, and everyone (except me) drives. It's not unusual for everyone to take his or her own car, too. Amtrak travels to both destinations, yet I'm the only one who avails myself of it. There are times when it's frustratingly off schedule, but then I've had to wait in conference rooms for coworkers who drove to the meeting but got waylaid by storms or highway construction. The waste involved with those individual cars heading to exactly the place makes me cuh-razy!