Just put together a bit of a budget for next month

Not *much* of a budget, but a budget nonetheless.

I'm really irked. There's not a single thing I really *want* on that list, just things I need.

Except they're things I really, really, really need, that's why I bothered with a budget. Like a bra. And more than three shirts that aren't stained - I should write that down. And I need to put money aside, these glasses are not that long for this world, clearly. And I really need to deal with it and get myself a laptop and give Jenn hers back. ( Jenn - no reading! )

And I need every possible type of dental hygiene supply, they all ran out at once.

And on and on and on and on it goes, and I don't like it.

But I guess I the nieces can live without a new picture book every week.

...

_{I might just get used ones instead.}

(no subject)

So, a kid was seriously burned on the playsurfacing in NYC.

I am *not* surprised.

Ignore the comments - they're all "Oh, well, nobody should ever go barefoot ever ever ever", and not only is that, I believe, a flawed view but, really, it's entirely beside the point. It's a playground. The mats are there so that when children slip and fall, they don't get hurt. But if the mats burn them, when your kid slips and falls, your kid is gonna get *very* hurt.

Worse yet, most playgrounds go directly from sprinkler to mat to sand to mat with no space in between. Well, it's not reasonable to keep your shoes on in the sprinkler or sandbox - and that one second, you blink, and the kid has gone from one area to another without putting their shoes back on. Whoops.

Now, as I understand it, playgrounds have to be resurfaced regularly. Some playgrounds we go to often (in wealthier neighborhoods) are resurfaced pretty much yearly - maybe ever 18 months or so instead. It shouldn't be that hard to simply get a different type of mat to cover the ground when you go through your required fixing-up.

Wow, it's coming down out there

It's been randomly lightninging for a few hours, and thundering for half that, and now it is pouring rain out there.

If I ever went out in thunderstorms, I'd go out now to enjoy it, but... no. NOT ON YOUR LIFE.