I try to get home by 4:00 p.m. each day so that I can catch Judge Judy. One of my favorite quotations from her is, "Beauty fades...dumb is forever."

Another one: "You couldn't get a three-digit IQ from these two [defendants] added together."

Today I was driving in Fayetteville along Pamalee Drive when I saw the lowest gasoline prices in a long time - under two dollars a gallon! $1.959/gallon, to be exact.

Converted to Canadian dollars per litre, this would be approximately 61¢/L, a level we will probably never see again in Canada. Last July, I paid nearly double in Quebec City, at $1.164/L (= $3.73/gallon).

When I lived in Edmonton, going to IKEA for their $1 breakfast was a Sunday tradition. Of course, I usually had two orders. There is at least one IKEA furniture store in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal (11 total). That's a lot of stores, considering the Canadian population is about one-tenth of the States'.

Believe it or not, if you lived in Fort McMurray, Alta. or Revelstoke, B.C. you probably live closer to an IKEA than a person in Raleigh or Charlotte does. For now, at least. In a couple of years, Charlotte will finally have their own, the first between the Washington, D.C. area and Atlanta. And people down here will actually drive all the way there to shop. Apparently, IKEA needs a regional population of at least two million before it's feasible to build a store in America, and so far they only have 29.

Two recent articles about being a young whippersnapper:

1. A 29-year-old sex offender tries to enroll as a 12-year old boy in Phoenix. Officials at the school told deputies that the student looked "much older."

2. Fox announced Saturday that it is making a new game show, "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" that will air later this year. From the Fox Entertainment President, "While most game shows measure how smart you are, this is a show that will measure how dumb you are."

And one on Hope Mills' newest celebrity:

3. A young woman sues her mother on Judge Judy for not returning money that she had put into a car loan.

Things I do not have to buy for the next few months:

- Kraft Dinner (macaroni & cheese)
- Crest Pro-Health toothpaste + mouthwash
- daily multivitamins (through next year, even)
- phone cards
- Gillette deodorant sticks

Yes, they were all on sale!
On another note, one of my New Year's Resolutions in 2006 was to avoid shopping at Wal-Mart. I didn't totally make it (I spent $31 there last year). This year I hope to make it $0.

Today is MLK Jr. Day, so all public institutions (including schools) are closed. I decided to spend the morning making a "preliminary" calculation of my income taxes for 2006. Of course, I am waiting for my W-2s, 1099s and other documents before doing the actual work.

1. I am probably due a small refund from the IRS for my federal tax return.
2. But since I am a non-resident alien, and therefore do not qualify for the N.C. standard deduction of $3000 (nobody knows why), I will have to pay the state several hundred dollars.

I will have to check with other second-year VIF teachers that don't have a tax treaty about this. Of course, now that I realize that I might have to pay, I will probably wait until late March before submitting my forms.

I went to my local credit union to ask about getting a replacement debit card. Mine had somehow worn out from the few times I did use it. Maybe it was the windshield scraping I did with it last year. They made me get one of those member ID cards that they are promoting. And my picture will be on my new debit card as well. No exceptions...even if my hair is a bit long. They had a PowerShot A400 set up to take these pictures.

I didn't smile the first time. I told her in Canada we're not allowed to smile for passport pictures because it hides facial features. But I did the second time. The picture is a little off-centered. I wonder what it will look like on the debit card. She said it looked better than the picture on my driver's license.

The lady told me the advantage is that when I use the card to buy things, I don't need to show my driver's license anymore, since the photo is right on the card.

The inventor of ramen instant noodles has died at the age of 96. It has been one of my 'staple' foods ever since I was a young child. As a starving university student, I could go through a case of 30 in maybe a month. Ready in 3 minutes!

When I came the the USA in September 2005, with $1,700 from an "interest-free loan" to last me a month, and a load of expenses to take care of (rent, car lease, insurance, etc.), I must have eaten ramen at least twice a week for dinner. At ten for a dollar, you can't beat the price. (They are three times more expensive in Canada.) Of course, with all the money I saved, I ate out (with my new acquaintances at the time), bought useless junk and depleted my savings anyway.

Today I treat it as "fast food" because it is high in sodium. Maybe once a month, as a snack, if I'm reminiscing about childhood.

I didn't volunteer at First Night Raleigh (like I did last year) because, wouldn't you know it, it was raining. That, and the fact that I didn't want to drive to the Triangle thrice in three days. But I did catch a sneak-peek at the acorn used for the acorn drop on the corner of Wilmington and Davie streets on Saturday.

At midnight, some brilliant mind in town decided to honk their car horn incessantly, and then I heard fireworks afterwards.

New Year's Resolution(s): To acquire a new language. To mind my own business more often. To eat healthier.

Song - Yusuf Islam - Heaven / Where True Love Goes