**I’m relieved that my eleven year old Saturn SL2 passed inspection after only needing new wiper blades, after which she reached 200,000 miles. Although a new car would be nice, I can’t afford a car payment right now, so I hope to get at least another three or four years out of it.

**William Shatner on the Oscars broadcast? What in the name of sweaty gym socks was that all about?

**Although I wish Danica Patrick had placed higher than eighth at Daytona, I’m proud of her for having the pole position and for leading a lap. I can only hope that by the time my niece is her age, it won’t be such a big deal for women to do things like race cars.

**From the “I still can’t believe I read this” archive: In a Time magazine article about why America’s health care system stinks, a price of $108 was quoted as a charge for a tube of bacitracin, a common antibiotic ointment. Bacitracin is the main ingredient in Neosporin, which I can buy at CVS for $5 or less. What the…I just can’t….there are no words for how pissed I am about that….no wonder 60% of all personal bankruptcies are caused by medical emergencies.

**Last Saturday,, at the NFL combine, Arkansas-Pine Bluff offensive lineman Terron Armstead, at 6’5” and 306 pounds ran a 4.7 40 yard dash. Although he doesn’t have to have that kind of speed off the line of scrimmage if he’s just throwing blocks, that is amazing…I want to see him play next season, regardless of who drafts him.

**I’ve decided to try and read my way through the Oscar nominated best picture movies this year, so hopefully by December, I will have read:
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Anna Karinina – Leo Tolstoy
The Master of Disguise – Antonio Mendez
Team of Rivals – Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Silver Linings Playbook – Matthew Quick
Please check my temperature and sanity if I decide to read Les Miserables.

**A $32 reward certificate from Staples for recycling my ink cartridges?? Wow, where do I even begin to spend that? I’ll have fun trying, that’s for sure!

**Got a $10 Noodler’s Creaper fountain pen in the mail yesterday – it’s a nice introductory flex fountain pen and writes well with the ink I put in it. There’s not much railroading unless I press too hard, and there’s really just lovely line variations that make my straight-up-and-down no slant handwriting look fancy. They usually retail for $14 online but I bought mine from someone who didn’t like his and just wanted to get rid of it. I would recommend one if you’re looking to try a flex pen and don’t want to spend a lot of money at first.