Pita graduated – finally! – from COD with an Associate Degree in Sustainable Urban Agriculture, but we didn’t get the mailed paperwork until December (Canadian wild fires interrupted a summer internship, certain classes were only offered once a year at conflicting times, advisor had a series of strokes/heart attacks and was in a coma, etc.), so even though we originally thought Spring might be a good transfer time, reality rapped sharply on our heads and we changed the start date for Fall semester at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Hence the road trip, which we planned to coincide with the COD Spring Break week. Hence the drive yesterday through hail, heavy thunderstorms with almost-zero visibility. Yeah, we know how to plan things for maximum amusement.
At times the downpour was so heavy we joined fellow smart drivers under overpasses while future organ donors sped past. Seriously, if you can’t see at 40 mph, is it smart to double that? One break came about 200 miles into the drive, when we stopped for gas (using a gas pump was one of the things I had to relearn after years of electric) amid a blue sky; bathroom break and a hot dog later and it started getting dark again, so back on the road. Here are a couple of photos: the two fallen semis are self-explanatory, but the car was a shock: MAJOR parts were missing (you can’t tell from photo) from possible run-in with semi parked on right shoulder, but I’ve never seen every air bag inflated like this – looked like the Amazon box where your 2-inch item is in a giant box filled with air bladders! Two ambulances on the right shoulder and another coming from the opposite direction, but there was no attempt to stop traffic, so who knows? And I know the pictures aren’t great, but it turns out yelling “Take a picture” at Pita doesn’t improve photo quality – who know?
I had her take the cross picture just because it looked so weird out there on the highway – I’d have chosen the wind turbine model myself, but what do I know 🙂
In a move that has taken way too long a time to come to fruition, Dollar Tree’s CEO announced it was selling Family Dollar to a couple of private equity firms – good luck with that one – for $1B, or only $7.7B less than they paid a decade ago. I’ve only been in a couple of their stores and the older ones were dirty and seemed staffed and shopped by some very sketchy people. Never saw the sense of the purchase in the first place, especially when the word synergy gets tossed around like a golden orb – more like a Magic Eight Ball in terms of future profits! Here’s the article from 
One Saturday Sampler this week, a 23.7 oz bottle of Gatorade water. Add by Sunday and redeem by Monday. Click on the 
No inserts in this week’s paper (3/23), but here’s a 3/30 Save preview. Not all papers carry the same coupons or values, so this national list might show coupons not found in the Chicago Tribune.