I tried ultraswim, but didn't see the difference for the money (but my pool is ultra chlorinated and my hair is dark.) I debated adding baking soda to my shampoo, but haven't tried it yet. It's a base, might shut down any process going on after swim. Can't really do anything about the marination in the 40-60 minutes in the pool.

And your hair is a lot darker than mine to start

Everybody's hair is darker than yours. Even mine.

So, I went back to the bar and talked to the new shift. One guy and gal.

She's a Renee Zellwegger lookalike with goth black hair. He's got the wide cheekbones and lean hips thing.

Chatting her up: She's got a 14 y.o. and a 2 y.o. She had the older when she was 17.

But the guy was Not A Young Parent, and a bass player. So we talked about the bass all night which drew in conversation with another guy at the bar (from Boise), and much music talk happened. And I had the shrimp cocktail.

A gorilla threw a rock at my sister.

Once, at the DC Zoo, a gorilla threw a hard boiled egg at my sister. She screamed bloody murder but she was just scared, not hurt - it had hit the stroller and not her year-or-so old self.

Good thing it didn't too. When we took her out later there was egg ev.er.y.where. -- behind her, in her clothes, under the seat pad in the stroller. The velocity must have been tremendous 'cause that thing basically exploded.

Hec, have you done the math with Zip car and the other car shares (well, at least one other) in the city? Might JZ be eligible for the University rate because of her job?

Trudy, I have been thinking about Zip Car (and City Car, another option out here). It'd be a short term solution, but definitely something that's on the table.

It's just I have to cross the Bay so much that it's almost certainly better to have the car.

Then again, with insurance, car breakdowns, the inevitable tickets etc. that might not be entirely true.

A logistics question: how soon before Emmett can take pubtrans by himself?

Then again, with insurance, car breakdowns, the inevitable tickets etc. that might not be entirely true.

And fuel, you get 125 miles a day before you have to pay for any. Worth looking at the math at least. You also never have to pay to park the thing (don't know if that's as much a factor there as here).

Do you mean you can park it at meters for free, Trudy? Cool!

No, just that it has a designated parking spot you don't have to pay for. No driving around for twenty minutes and then sucking it up and paying or paying for garage space to keep it in. You just drop it off when you're done. Mine is three blocks from my house.

Though meters would be sweet...

A logistics question: how soon before Emmett can take pubtrans by himself?

Probably a year or two away. He starts High School next year.

His schools are actually close to a BART station. However, moving the baseball gear and school backpack and laptop is a bit much for him to be carting back and forth by himself.

And fuel,

Right! Plus bridge tolls. (A not inconsequential part of our regular expenses.)

I forgot to mention, the early shift bartender who worked five days a week plus five nights a week? His alimony is $4,200/month. In Bakersfield! Yikes.