Cornichons, actually. I kind of like the big dill pickles now too, but usually only with fries or grilled cheeses or maybe some nice salty potato chips. I used to hate things like this. Mustard, vinegary stuff in general, sourness, particularly the kick of spices. I'm trying to make friends with onions, but so far I only like the cooked ones. I guess this is all because I'm growing tired of broccoli and all the foods I am comfortable with. Broccoli used to be the only vegetable I'd eat and now I can hardly choke it down. Lima beans weren't a big staple in my childhood diet but I love the little baby ones these days, boiled and with some salt and pepper. Bell peppers... well, let's just say it's still 'us' and 'them'. Thank goodness for spinach. We have always been good friends. Maybe one day I'll even like bitter melon, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

I've always reset my trip odometer when filling up on gas, but for some reason I never bothered to do the math. Last few times, I finally did it and discovered that I get between 32 and 34 miles per gallon! I think that's damn impressive for an 18-year-old car, but then I am her mommy and I'm biased.

This last tank, I got 33.78 MPG. I like doing this. It makes me think twice when I reach for the A/C or feel like accelerating very quickly just for the sake of accelerating quickly. I've been trying to keep a real steady push on the gas pedal and let the gears and engine do their thing without burning excessive fuel. It also hasn't been cold enough (yet) for me to really need the heat. I do have the feeling that this will be less happy an activity once winter sets in and I need to run the heat on longer trips. I don't really want to know how shitty the fuel efficiency gets then.

But for now, yay!

I have to accept or reject this job offer by day after tomorrow and I don't even have the time or energy to think about the 10 things I need to figure out before I know if I'll have the time or energy to do this job. The one thing I do know is that the pay is excellent and they at least claim to be very flexible about the hours. Those are the only things I worry about these days since I have bigger fish to fry, but then again I've been burned on the "flexible hours" thing before and I'm slow to trust. Plus, do I know if I want to work with scientists again? They always seem great at the interview, but I'm wary of that too...

All I want to do is play outside all day, but I really need to be in front of a computer figuring all of this out very quickly and getting to work on my personal project before classes start in three weeks. Not that I have time for either AND sleep. Also that triathlon that I want to do and that swimming that I haven't been practicing...