Anyway, he had two things on his mind when he got home a few minute ago. 1.) Money to buy a game on-line. 2.) Dinner.
As for the money, he needs my Paypal account and he knows I will say "no" unless I get some quid pro quo: work or some other form of sacrifice. He came down the stairs shortly after arrival with a literal fistful of dollars - nine dollar bills and four quarters, to be specific.
Normally I charge him a user-fee, just to be discouraging but I was distracted by catching up with posts by my brilliant friend Lulu who got busy blogging again this winter without my noticing til tonight. I was trying to read Lulu's posts while he stood there leaking dollars. I said I would make the deal and let him take $10 if he straightened them out - they were a mess, like Oragami created by a perverse and hateful blind person. He said OK. Then I made him tricolor rotini (from a box) with meatballs (from the freezer, but beautifully thawed in the Ragu that I pulled out of the fridge). Then I got back to Lulu. (She's a gourmet so I guess I'm noticing my poor standards particularly).
Just a few posts into my reading, Shackleton was back at my desk with his (almost) empty rotini bowl. "First," he said, "one of the dollars fell into the dog water. I took it out and it's drying. Second, can the dog lick my bowl?" (She barfs sometimes).
I said yes to the bowl licking - Maisy tolerates a little red sauce quite well. And if I will eat from a bowl from which the dog has eaten, can I really object to a dollar that has been fished out of her water? Now he's gone for the night and I have eight dollar bills folded into my wallet but it looks like a lot more. I'll add the damp one tomorrow.
