Well, I took a vacation day. I have never taken a day off just to stay at home.

My old friend the Plumber come over and completed an initial cut n paste getting ready for when I tear out the rest of the kitchen. And the Electrician come over to give an estimate for new wiring in the kitchen and dining room. And, it wouldn't be a party unless I had my new friend the Roto-rooter stop by and take care of a little problem that had been slowly developing in the basement.

I rounded up the hilarity by taking Grace to the Vet -- she hadn't fully recovered from her roadkill banquet a couple weeks ago -- and I needed to make sure there was no worms, etc. (A shot of antibiotics in the rump, and all is right with the world.)

On the way back, I stopped by the St. Francis Thrift store, and that's where the party really began. I saw a beat-up, but well-made, chest of drawers for $15 -- I'm stopping back tomorrow to pick it up.

As usual, I was drawn to the self-help books and bought some repulsive Pathways to Perfect Living written by some guy named Vernon Howard, copyright 1968. Guess what, bloggies! Nothing new has been learned! (Live in the now, be aware, blah blah blah.)

Note to self: Write my own self-help book: Use "case studies", use old words defined in a new way. Find a publisher, and make a bazillion bucks.

I bought two novels. I have no idea if they'll be any good, and I don't care: One is written by a husband/wife team and seems to be the drama behind the producing of a tv show (written in 1957). The other looks like it was self-published, a family drama in a college-town, in those turbulent 1960s. We'll see...

This evening, I took in a lot of PBS. I watched the first episode of Shakespeare's life; I saw the Lehrer Report, Wall Street Week, and Bill Moyers' Now.

Now focused on the crisis in the middle-class. The guest, Harvard academic Elizabeth Warren, has written The Two Income Trap. They spent a lot of time discussing credit card debt. Financial services companies, such as MBNA, were the highest contributors to Bush's political campaign, and to legislators who support efforts, among other things, to keep commercial interest rates high, and for bankruptcy "reform" to curb "abuse", but that pinches the middle class.

Maybe once or twice, I've mentioned I was living beyond my means in Cincy. I haven't understood it as I don't live extravagantly and pull down a fairly good salary. (Although, when I say "fairly good", I've never taken the time to study national trends. For all I know I'm horribly underpaid. Or overpaid, eeks!)

After seeing tonight's television, my financial "crisis" seems minor compared to many -- certainly those with kids. I also renewed my pledge to get debt-free as soon as possible. (I was there once, briefly, two years ago. I can do it again.)

Living in this duplex goes a long way toward meeting that goal. (At some points, I've considered accumulating enough rental properties to retire. But that changed because I like to keep such tight control over them that I can't do that with more than a handful.) Owning a few, however, *does* help strengthen the anticipated retirement pot.

Speaking of extravagant living: Tomorrow, D and I are going to be tourists and see the USAF Museum (Free!), and then go see Academy-nominated "21 Grams" for $2 at the cheap fliks movie house down the street.

In a paycheck or three, I'm taking a loan against my 401k (which financial advisors suggest you *not* do), to pay off credit cards. Its interest rate (that I repay to myself) is 4%. Oh, so thrifty, hm?

And if I had a boyfriend, I would be boring him with these details right now and not YOU.