I was up most of the night with a severe stomach ache. No matter which way I turned I couldn’t get comfortable. I spent most of the night downstairs on the couch watching CNN. I was exhausted when it was time to walk the dogs so I stayed at home.

My stomach got better, but then I got a headache. Before we went out I took an Excedrin and we stopped at 7-Eleven for a Diet Coke. That fixed me up.

We went to the Toyota dealership so I could sit in a Corolla. I have been driving 30 miles to work each day (60 miles round trip). I am interested in a position in Algonquin which would be about 50 miles (100 miles round trip). It would be mostly expressway; I-355 north to I-90 West. With that kind of driving fuel efficiency becomes much more important.

The Corolla gets 41 mpg, (our Lumina gets 27 mpg) but I was concerned about the size of the car. They didn’t have a model in the air conditioned show room, so I had to have a salesman walk me to a model in the lot. I didn’t want to drive, just sit in it. With him standing three feet from me it was difficult to get a true feel for the car, plus it was baking hot, so I didn’t want to take too long, but it felt pretty good. He said I might be more comfortable in the larger Camry, so I sat in one that was in the showroom. I don’t think I noticed much difference, but again I felt like I couldn’t take my time because he was standing there three feet from me.

We then stopped at Cost Plus World Market outlet store; didn’t find anything. Then went to CompUSA to get a Memorex USB keyboard ($10 after mail-in rebate!) to use with the tablet PC I have been bringing home from work. Then went to Target to see if they had any Simpson’s figures. They didn’t, but we got toilet paper and a box of cereal. When I went to pay my credit card was missing. I paid with cash and then we went back to CompUSA. The cashier forgot to give it back to me.

On the way home we remembered that the area’s first Lowe’s hardware store had opened up this week, so we stopped in there just to check it out. I bought a $7 50-foot garden hose for the front of the house.

I looked at their selection of appliances. Huge! We need a dishwasher, and I would like a new GAS range. We currently have an electric range, but there is a gas connection behind the stove. They will install any dishwasher for $110. Not too bad. We will probably be doing that soon.

We are watching Paycheck now while I type this on the tablet PC using my new USB keyboard, and I am watering the front lawn with the new hose.