Penny wise

Michael still laughs at how far out of my way I will go to pick up a penny. 'I will make my fortune yet!' is my triumphant cry whenever I straighten up from the pavement or landscaping, a penny to varying degrees of muddiness or greenness clasped between thumb and forefinger.

Penny-pinching isn't limited to the literal. We were at Blockbuster earlier this week on a spur-of-the-moment movie binge. We had just decided to get a movie for the evening, and determined to rent only one, at which quantity it was more efficient to run down to the local Blockbuster than to drive twelve miles to the nearest Hollywood, where prices are better. Somehow things got out of hand and we were standing in the aisle with three selections in hand, when I spotted a sign offering a promotional deal for membership: sign up for unlimited movies at $24.99/month, but the first month is only $14.99! 'At four movies,' I pointed out to Michael, 'we're already at $16.00 plus tax, so we might as well sign up. We'll come out ahead just for tonight, not counting all the movies we can watch in the next month before we cancel.' So now we're members of Blockbuster's unlimited movie rental. It's a bit like Netflix, I guess, except more convenient. Now we're going to have to watch a lot of movies, to make it worth our while. I anticipate that they'll consist of the type that we want to show each other or have been curious about but wouldn't spend the money outright to rent.