Just got back online after 72 hours without power. Fortunately, we live near a creek, so had clean (albeit icy cold) water to bathe in, wash dishes, etc. We have a gas stove, so were able to do simple cooking, and we don’t need AC, because the stone barn we live in is always cool, so no problem there. We bought bags of ice and put them in the fridge to keep things from going bad – it worked for about 75% of the food. We only have cell phones, which went out the first day (I guess a tower lost power as well), and then by the time they started working our batteries were dead. The worst part of the power outage was the boredom: no work, no internet, no TV. I normally read a lot, but after a couple of days I was sick of that. I bought a newspaper for the first time in years (I normally read the news online) and read it from cover to cover. Quite the adventure. 😉

Whatever your passion might be – language, computers, quilting, golf – there are probably dozens of people living near you who feel the same way. How can you get to know them? Check out Meetup – a hub for thousands of conversation clubs on more than 4,000 topics all over the world. Just type your interest, indicate your location, and go.

Italy beat France in the 2006 World Cup in penalty kicks. But for me the game was lost when Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi in the chest, apparently in retaliation for a verbal insult from the Italian player. Up until that moment, it was a fun and exciting game, but afterwards I could barely stand to watch. I couldn’t have been more shocked if a weapon had been used on the field. What an awful way to end the game – and his career.

Have you ever gotten free money? I once bought a $300 bike with a credit card, but the purchase never showed up on my statement. Another time I spent $95 at a store, but it showed up as 96 on the statement. When I called to complain, they credited me the entire $96, rather than just the extra 1. (In addition, I’d been reimbursed the entire 95 by the friend I’d made the purchase for). I bought mutual funds once via bank transfer, and though the money was never taken out of the bank, I received statements regularly for a year. The funds then proceeded to grow by more than 25%. (They eventually figured this one out and I had to pay, but it was a no lose situation since the funds had grown substantially).

Earthjustice – “because the Earth needs a good lawyer.” What more can I say?