Go to the local big box everything store and have shopping cart races on the far end of the parking lot.
Don't scratch any cars.

Go to a nursery / garden center and pick out one small live plant. It is very romantic.

Go to the local river forks at dusk while the lights of the city come on. Snap a few photos, but be ready to jet out of there. Not very nice local usually.

Find somewhere with a ping pong table for free, bring your own rackets and balls.

Frisbee golf.

Food court !!

Local college or university has a geology collection / display.

Bring your cafe purchase to a local park.

Stroll by a duck pond... feed the ducks.

Bazaars.

Hikes in nature. Often hiking trails are available near you.

A park near us hosts a night when people with telescopes drive out of the city and set up, and people without telescopes can chat and ask for turns looking through the telescopes.

The dollar theater lives on !!

If you live in a different state than where you went to college, find out which sports bar in town hosts all the games of your alma mater, and mix in and cheer with like-minded alumni. Bring a couple extra bucks to buy a t-shirt, if they're selling them.

Go to your local town hall or visitor's bureau, find a chatty lady, and get the scoop on free plays in the park, free concerts, free fireworks displays and free children's events.

Battle re-enactments and airshows.

"So," I said to Sean. "What do the kids say now a days:"
Sean squinted. "What?"
"What do the kids say now a days?" I persisted. I say something is cool and that works for everybody forty and above. They know exactly what I mean. But if I say that to a teen or twenty-something they pull a face."
"They what?"
"You know, they look at me like I just said 'Neato, ain't that the bees knees.'"
Sean laughed. "Well," he said, "you could say, 'that's tight, yo,'"
I said I wasn't going to be saying "yo" anytime soon. So Sean said, "or we say Aw-ready."
"OK," I said. "Like All ready to go?
"No," said Sean. "Like I AW-Ready know."

1. Buy the cereal in a bag brand, then "cut" it - mix in 1 minute quick oats.
2.(How many times have I done this?) Color in scuffs on your shoes with a marker. (The night before if you don't want the smell to tell on you.)
3. When grocery shopping, keep an eye out for the pink "WIC" stickers. These foods are usually a good buy.
4. When grocery shopping, note the price per ounce of the item you are buying.
For instance, ice creams vary between 4 cents and 30 cents per ounce.
5. Five dollar jewelry is usually thirty dollar jewelry that has been linked wrong.
With a tiny pair of beading pliers, your personalized adjustment to your jewelry can make it look like sixty dollars.
6. Avoid buying gas from a station near a highway since they charge more.
7. Shoe polish your leather shoes for Christmas or Easter, oil the leather any other time you want to look neat. You won't smell like polish, and the leather will look smoother and more expensive.
8. Updating your wardrobe with accessories is cheaper than updating your wardrobe with clothes.
9. Utilities on an apartment is usually much cheaper than utilities on a house.
10. When you buy new clothing, check the care tag to see if it is machine washable.

And I was right! whoo hoo !!

There's this lamp I want to get rewired. And nobody cares. And that's how it should be. I wouldn't even care, if I didn't have a mental picture of how nice the living room will look once it's set up.

Work today went ok. I made more phone calls than usual. I finished updating four files, and I got a rebate from the office supply store. However, the rebate was made out in my name and not the company name! This seemed to concern my boss considerably.

My traditional thing to do with rebates when I worked in uptown was to spend them on copy paper. That way I was not really tempted. But it does raise questions. Does it look like the office supply stores of America ARE in fact trying to get kickbacks to the, let's say, *secretaries* who do the shopping?

Hmmmm.

My grandma called me. "I'm watching the fireflies," she said. "I wish I was there," I said. I'm eating a chocolate-covered graham cracker," she said and then paused, and laughed. "I guess life is pretty good," she summarized.

I set Twitter up to my phone tonight. I thought about what I would have to say. I don't want what might be termed googlemania, spot-smart data, or lurkers anonymous to know how my day goes.

Sometimes I used to wish someone would ride shotgun with me through a normal day at work, at lunch, and at the gym. These were things that were normative... how would it change it to have a witness, an audience? It wouldn't really change at all, but somehow I wanted someone to see: this is what happens to me, this is what I do, this is what I'm responsible for, this is what I enjoy, and this is what I'm passionate about.

But Twitter... is soo soo, like creepy. Like I don't want them to know when I'm where. Seriously.

I'd rather use it as a vehicle for "deep thoughts," platitudes, or stupid laughs. Nothing patentable. They'd steal it in a heartbeat. And PLEASE do not tell Everywhig when I'm at the freakin grocery store!! I mean what would be the good of that?

I still think it's creepy.