Heavy rain this morning, but I hadn't planned to go into work anyway.

Instead, I made it back to the lab for the fluid donations. The best I could do on the yellow stuff was only 1/4 inch, but that was enough for the sample.

The building had what I call a "brolly bag" stand in front of the doors, so I quickly tucked my dripping umbrella into one of the plastic bags. And then walked VERY carefully on a floor which looked like it could be very very slippery when wet.

After that I went to McDonald's for breakfast. Their prices have really gone up since they rebuilt their store. They're going for more of a "class" look, and so a senior coffee, a cinn-a-melt (sinfully good) and a sausage biscuit cost me almost $5.

Because I have reached an advanced age I remember when the stores had signs saying "100,000 burgers sold." And then on up till they made it a million. And a burger, fries, and small drink cost a whole dollar.

Also on the rising prices front, all the gas stations I passed had their per gallon prices starting with a 3 today. Since I had to get my glasses adjusted I went out to WalMart, and even there the gas was $3.02. I glanced at the Shell station nearby and they were still under $3--by a penny. Usually they're as much as a nickel more than Sam's Club.

While I was in WalMart I could hear the rain torrentialling on the metal roof. So, I bought a book to read in case it was still doing that when I was ready to head for my car. (One of the entrances has benches.)

But, by the time I left the rain was taking a break and I had no problems getting the groceries out of the car and into the house.

The mail brought me a "natural" medication that's supposed to be good for joint and muscle pain. I put some on one knee before I headed out to PJ's and it did seem to help.

While at PJ's I ran into one of my former Senior Girl Scouts. The last time I talked to her was somewhat after Katrina. She and her husband and three sons had gone to an East coast state and she did a (free) semester along the way to her goal of law school. I saw her after her return and she told me that she wasn't having an early "change" but was pregnant. She was underwhelmed.

But, she had a girl and has graduated from college and been accepted for law school.

(Note: I didn't graduate from college till six months before I turned 50.)

The rain seems to have let up. I hope it doesn't return tomorrow morning (or afternoon.)

While I was at PJ's I finished a book written by a woman who was in Belgrade in the late 90s when NATO was attacking Yugoslavia over Kosovo. Title: Diary of a Political Idiot. Her life during the siege of Belgrade was surreal. (I highly recommend it.)

CC has "discovered" the computer/office room and a pillow that sits on the double papasan. Its stripe are very similar in coloring to hers. She has worked a little depression into it to make it cozier. Now if she puts her tail over her nose it will hide the orange and she will blend into the pillow more successfully.

Quote from Barbara Bush, courtesy of my WWFWW calendar: "I may be the only mother in America who knows exactly what their child is up to all the time."

And tomorrow is--as my late father used to say--George Birthington's Washday.