rambling

Well where to start, I have been a rather bad blogger but truthfully I lead a rather boring life so there is not a whole lot to talk about.

I am currently teaching a summer class, only 10 students so it is very nice. Sometimes I wish the entire year were a summer schedule but alas...

Due to the high gas prices and the sorry state of the economy I have decided that I need to cut back on many things in order to be able to live.
1. I borrow from the library instead of Netflix. I get stuff free at the college library, since there's hardly any students around there's a great choice and even though it's only supposed to be a 4 day borrow period they never charge me anything if I keep the movies a day or two longer because I'm faculty and they like me.
2. I coupon clip and stock up at sales--yeah I guess one should always do this but I am even more conscious now.
3. With gas at $4.15 gallon (here in NY) and the proud owner of a minivan, I have decided to drive as little as possible. I walk when I can (including to work) and I have bought a bus pass. One thing I came to realize during my time in Spain is how overly dependent we are on cars in the US. In other parts of the world people have no problems walking 2, 3, 4 or even 5 miles to get somewhere and public transportation is readily available even in small towns. I think we need to look to Europe on how to do things right.
And BTW, over the last month I have spent $110 on gas-TOTAL. Yup for an entire month. I've also dropped 11lbs from the walking.

Speaking about the sorry state of the economy that's something else that hit home when I was in Spain. Just how weak the dollar is abroad. One does not see it unless one compares it to something like the Euro. Last year when I was there it was 1.33E=$1.00. This past May 1.74E=$1.oo--What does this mean? Well last year if I spent 10 euros it equaled $13. This year 10 euros equaled $17. For the people there prices remained the same, for us things have risen. As one hears the news; over 340,000 home foreclosures this year, major banks failing, businesses closing, major companies cutting jobs, the stock market falling, rising fuel and food costs--it all seems surreal. I just wish our idiot president and his cronies would admit that things are messed up so something could be done about it. (And no offshore oil drilling really isn't the answer--that's a band-aid, we need major surgery here).