Economics in Action, People

Good morning! It is another rainy one here. If you like the rain or not, it is still a good morning. I have four little-ish boys eating eggs fried in bell pepper rings and ham. Seth had his friend Riley stay last night and so far it’s been a good thing; I do hope that it isn’t so wet out that I can’t send them out after breakfast.

This is it. A 2000 TDI Volkswagon Beetle.

Yesterday I went to Boston yet again as mentioned yesterday. Riding with Devon was interesting. We talked about cars and food (he works at a Whole Foods Market in Boston) mostly. Driving the bug home was sort of fun. It would have been much more fun if I had been legal. In Massachusetts you are supposed to get your vehicle insured and then registered before you drive it home. That usually means going to the vehicle, getting the paperwork, going to your insurance place (in our case, The Insurance Place—I used to call it that because I didn’t know what the name of it was and it turns out that that IS its name), going to the registry, and then going back to the vehicle to put the plates on and driving off. Then, you have seven days in which to take it in for an inspection. In this particular instance, it would have meant driving to Boston (usually an hour and a half trip, one way), back to Gardner, to Leominster, and back to Boston. If done in one day, it would literally be an all-day endeavor. As it is, Laura and I went to the repair place where the red Prizm was, since it was fixed, I drove it home, we took the plates off (because they are the plates we’ll be using on the bug anyway), Laura took me to Devon’s, Devon took me to the car and stuck around until I took off, I paid for the car, we filled out the paperwork, the guy put the plates on, and I took off. The insurance and registry will have to be dealt with next week which means another day but the actual taking possession of the car took less than four hours. A trip to The Insurance Place and registry next week should take only a couple of hours and it will be done. Add in inspection time and it should be around three hours. Looking at it that way, buying a car involves not only the cost of the vehicle including registering and having it inspected but the time you spend doing what needs to be done. If you earn $10 an hour and it takes seven hours, that’s another $70. Economics in action, people.

This is one of the irises I planted in one of the stumps down by the creek.

When I got home, I could have hurried to the school to watch the last bit of the concert but I was so tired I ate some frozen yogurt and took a nap instead after I took the goats out and took a little walk down by the creek. I woke up about 20 minutes before the bus arrived and Seth and I went to get Riley about 20 minutes after that. Amena spent the night at the Trivitts because Sarah wanted her to and Amena was agreeable so they came and picked her up shortly after supper. The remaining children had chicken, salad and rice for supper. Laura and Joanna were both here which is somewhat amazing but nice.

Some ferns currenly IN the creek.

Paul and I were going to try a place we drove by last week because I looked them up they’re supposed to have really good clam chowder. The line was long and the wait was expected to be about 45 minutes so we went to Lunenburg (I think—it might have been Fitchburg) to a little (and I do mean little) place that sells wings and Mexican. They’re not bad, in fact they’re pretty good, but Paul likes the food more than I do so far.

The creek down by Daniel's grave.

When Joanna got home, she wanted to check the bug out. She really likes it and wanted to take it for a drive. Because it’s not legal yet, I would only let her drive it down the driveway, up the road, and back down the driveway. She likes it and thinks we should trade cars for a day. She’s so stinking cute.

This is actually by the driveway. Lilacs always make me think of my wonderful Aunt Julie.

Today’s plans are somewhat up in the air but Paul might be taking Cedric and Joseph up to Vermont to get a new toy. Laura and Joanna both have work. If Paul does go to Vermont today, we might go back to Moore State Park Monday. If he does not go to Vermont today, he’ll most likely to Monday and most of those of us at home will go with him.

And that’s about it for now. Have a spectacular day!