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01-12-08, 9:40 AM

With a hot cup of coffee setting on the desk gradually becoming warm as I write, the work week finally came to an end and I earned my well-deserved sleep. I'm a bit envious of those who will run the P.F. Chang's Marathon tomorrow but know that I didn't have the drive to train after Milwaukee's Marathon. Next month, is my race.

Relieved that normalcy finally has come to the household with no more holiday worries to buy presents, visit family and fulfilling other's expectations. A 'quick and dirty' on-line tax estimator program shows that we'll receive a hefty tax return enabling much of credit card debt to be erased, thereby leaving mortgage and home equity payments to be of concerned. Karen's work enables a bigger, take home paycheck as she'll be off my insurance and also will be bring a decent size paycheck home as well. We plan to pay-off debt as quick as possible.

Obviously, my concerns have changed from a few months ago as well as a couple of years ago. Where's the angst? Damn, this may become boring as my concerns shift to ordinary domestic issues of paying bills, yard work and career.

With tedium on the near horizon, I'll begin with my MAJOR PURCHASE SCORE OF THE YEAR! I can't top this. I know it.

Simply, the dog had an accident on the carpet. We need to clean the rug. During the summer, this happened twice within days apart. Not having money, we rented a carpet cleaning machine. Karen didn't want to expend funds, however only after three rental charges, I explained, the machine would pay for itself. I lost the battle.

Yesterday, I WON the war! Enough was enough, I decided to purchase a machine and expected to pay somewhere between $130 and $200, money we did not have yet with the tax return and increased household income, not a major concern --of mine.

I went to Kohl's because they usually have deals and, boy, did they! The machine I wanted normally list at $179, on sale for $149. I found one but the box was broken. I dug behind a few rows and grabbed another box with a 'green' unit, the only green color left, to my surprise had 90% off sticker attached. $16.99. CLEARLY, an employee made a mistake or was trying to rip-off the store for his/her personal gain by changing the sticker and stashing the goods behind other stock for his/her later return.

Walking to the register I had a plan, if the register denied the price, I would ask for the advertised discounted price or complain about a "bait and switch". No need! The register yielded a $18.64 total to which the husband of customer behind me inquired if they had any more units?

Yes, this is what my life/blog has come to ... the travails of domestic purchases.

Speaking of blogs, in order to add some enthusiasm to my blog, I think I'm going to switch to another site within the next month or so in order to take a fresh approach. More to come...

Yesterday - Tomorrow