Today, we set forth to buy a small refrigerator for my office — I want to be able to survive on the days when the cafeteria is not up to par. We’d gotten an ad from Office Depot showing a 1.8 cubic foot model for $110 before $10 rebate; that sounded like a reasonable price, so off we went.

After some searching, we found the unit, marked for $120, with no mention of a rebate. And the only ads they had posted didn’t mention the refrigerator. And we couldn’t find anyone to help us. So we left, went home, and dug the ad out of the recycle bin.

But by then, it was lunchtime; after lunch, I decided to check Fry’s (I also am in the market for a laser printer) instead of going back to Office Depot. Much to my surprise, I found the same refrigerator at Fry’s for $110 (but no sign of a rebate); but then I looked a bit more and found a Daewoo for $100, and then a Sanyo for $80 (on sale, down from $120). We bought the Sanyo. No muss, no fuss, not a very long wait at the register. It was hard to believe I was shopping at Fry’s!

Then to my office to plug it in — I even made a sign to make the safety people happy:

Food and Drink Only

No Chemicals

Tomorrow, I’ll find out if it’s actually able to cool stuff enough to be useful.

Other than that, it’s been a quiet and peaceful weekend. Time to go watch “Millionaire”!

That pretty much sums up this week; it’s been more of a Red Queen’s Race than usual, but I think I’ve actually gotten through most of the backlog from vacation, at least at work. The backlog of mail which was waiting for us at home is a different story — and while we were cleaning up in preparation for the cleaning service’s visit yesterday, Diane found an issue of Analog which I hadn’t even seen, much less read. At least Business Week is skipping a week this week.

And one of the discoveries we made on vacation was Who Wants to be a Millionaire? — both my mother and Diane’s father watch it, and they got us into the habit, too. I play along on the “Enhanced TV” version if I’m watching live…but at the moment, I have the two most recent shows on tape waiting to be viewed.

Yesterday was the closing session for Extreme Blue — I was awed by what the students had done in 11 short weeks (though I think their typical workweek was quite a bit longer than mine!). I wish I’d been able to spend more time working with the Extreme Blue folks — every time I did manage to visit their lab, I’d come out energized and cheerful. And usually well-fed, too, so maybe it’s just as well that I didn’t spend too much time there after all!

Tonight, we have a pot-luck dinner at the YMCA Summer Childcare, and then services at Shir Hadash (it’s our turn to help with the oneg, too). The rest of the weekend looks to be less busy. I’m ready. Shabbat Shalom!