it's amazing how many things one uses in everyday life that one simply overlooks when they're there. trash cans, for example, and dish drainers. i have never in my life thought: wow, i really need to buy a dish drainer.

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von called just now. i could not imagine who the call might have been from, and answered rather sheepishly with the expectation that it would be a wrong number.

von: you sound just like i did when i first came to the states.
me: what, completely at sea?
von: exactly.

advice from von: before buying anything, stop. wait two weeks. by this time you will not need it, and will have saved a lot of hassle and money. me: does this apply to trash cans? (i realise that i actually know the answer to this, but i will leave it to minz to link to the entry that tells you what it is because i can't find it in her blog). answer: yes. von is particularly proud of the fact that all his worldly possessions fit in the trunk of his car, this being, apparently, a badge that you have to earn at the School of Peripatetics, or something. me (ever smaller voice): i can at least get a chair can't i? von: get thee to a garage sale. and then he dashes off for a meeting, and i'm left contemplaing the emptiness of my apartment and how i now have to feel poor AND guilty whenever i make a purchase.