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Sort of.

As we enter week 3 of lack of employment I've entered a stage where I need to buy stuff like mulch in order to keep working on house and property.  And we ain't buying non-essentials until the paycheck thingy comes back.

Got this up, though:

I do have an advantage in that I'm not much of a meat or processed food eater, so my grocery bills are low.  I also have my emergency stores - I have things like canned tuna, canned tomatoes, and various dried legumes and rice coming out my ears, some of which needed rotated out anyway.  Add things like winter squash, sweet potato, or greens and I've got plenty of nutritious meals I'm quite happy with, like vegetarian posole:

I'm even taking a crack at learning to bake bread, with my first attempts being with yeastless flat bread.  Not sure what happened - obviously there was an oomphy and a not oomphy from the same batch:

I think next time will involve yeast.

Don't need TP, paper towels, or laundry detergent - those were already in the emergency stock as well.  Buying softener isn't an issue either, since I haven't used it for ages - a half cup of white vinegar in the wash with the detergent works wonderfully and doesn't leave the non-absorbant coating that softener does.

Detroit was good.  My son-in-law has ruined me forever as far as ordering ribs at a restaurant, though.  When I arrived on Sunday several racks had been smoking for hours.

A mixture of apple juice, brandy, and whiskey was poured into each "package" and the ribs went back on.  Then the juices that accumulated in each pouch became the base for the bbq sauce he built as the ribs finished smoking.

And then he flew out to San Diego the next morning and we had all those leftover ribs to deal with.  Awwww....

Nuisance Neighbors never made a peep while I was there.  Their gun waving really put them on the outs with the neighbors and, basically, if they breathe wrong the police will be called now.  Every time.  It's a nice neighborhood, and they just aren't much appreciated. Son-in-law posted to the community web site and now there's an unhappy councilwoman involved. 

We finally finished the main Ford Museum building.  I had to see a couple things again, like the Dymaxion house:

Yeah, given proper insulation properties and the right location I could live in it.  The step-up into the shower would have to be modified, though.  It was definitely made for  younger folks and without thought to aging knees or fall risk.  The house would probably become a pilgrimage site for the UFO crowd, though.

Haven't made it over to the building that's separate and is (I think) just cars.  Or over to Rouge River.  Finally got to the art museum and I wandered through their Impressionists with a happy smile on my face.  And then just sort of wandered because there's something about the layout of art museums that causes me to spend much of my time just lost.

The zoo is lovely - even the enclosures for the reptiles are nice.  And Amelia loved the butterfly house. So did I, for that matter. 

Our schedule was tied to baby girl's of course.  And she was a major part of the entertainment of the week.  Moments like her first taste of spaghetti squash:

After the initial shiver and funny face she decided she liked it.  She already gets that rib bones are for sucking on.  And for handing to the hopeful animals that hover around the high chair.  It was so obvious that she was handing them off to Chessie.  And of course she shouldn't and we shouldn't laugh but of course we do.

And each evening was finished off with a couple episodes of "Dr. Who".  I'm dying, though.  Daughter hasn't seen enough of them to make some connections.

Came back to find the House of Representatives slowly rolling over.  Boehner and the other RINOs are scared to death of Massa Obama's ire, so they'll agree that when you have a maxed out credit card all you need to do is just raise the limit on it and keep charging and all your financial problems will go away.  And the bobbleheads will just bobble their heads in agreement, even if they wouldn't run their own household finances that way.

And the fact that there is no default coming despite the wails of every news outlet in the country, liberal and conservative both, is found to be irrelevant because it's all about the emotion. The fact that the government is collecting billions and can cover the debt interest easily, which is all that needs to be done this week, is ignored because, well, it's Bush's fault and I'm a terrorist.

What I really would like to do for liberals is allow them their choice.  I would give them everything that their choices will lead to - the kind of medical care they will eventually be able to get, the standard of living that will eventually evolve from fiscal decisions being made by the White House, everything.  Not what they THINK it will lead to, but what it has actually led to in every other country at every other time in history.  Even though liberals are totally opposed to my choice in anything, I'd give them that.  Really I would.  As long as they left the rest of us alone.  As long as I, too, was allowed my choice.  Funny thing is that liberals are rabidly opposed to choice for anybody but themselves.

And I do have a question.  Harry Reid has been fighting fiercely for Obamacare.  But he got the state of Nevada exempted from it.  If it's so good for the rest of America, why isn't it good for his own state?