2 for $5 and countdowns

According to a study at George Mason University, New Hampshire is the most free state in the union. They examined several things that ultimately put the "Live Free or Die" state at the top of the list. I won't go in to all that here, but I was reminded again tonight of one of the freedoms to be found here in the state that has the lowest government expenditure per capita than any other: Sales tax.

We are having a pot luck lunch at work tomorrow. My wife is on the West Coast and I was concerned that if I tried to cook something they would make me stay in prison for a night or two. I signed up to bring chips. I have mad chip buying skills.

I browsed the shelves of our little Charlestown grocery store where Karen's great grandfather used to be a delivery man and found a deal on chips. Two bags for $5. Probably a different price structure than it was in great-grandfather Buswell's day, but not to bad a deal. I went to pay and it was an even $5. Not 5.48 like it would be in other places, but an even $5. It was odd handing the cashier a 5 spot and being done with it. Live Free or Die baby! (Edit - Food items are actually not taxed in most places. When I bought this one item the lack of sales taxes stood out. The same thing would happen if I had bought a pair of socks too, but I couldn't very well bring socks to the pot luck.)

Countdowns: At the right you will see my countdown. We hit the half way point of our separation last week. I have mixed feeling about the countdown because it seems way to stinking long, but I have to say it is better to be on the downhill side at least.

I thought I would share both Karen and Kayla's countdown method with you.

Here is Karen's:

Those are packages of Starbuck instant coffee. Not bad stuff. When I boarded the plane Karen decided to go without coffee for a month or so. She had counted out the "Via" packets remaining and did not start drinking coffee again until the amount of packets matched the amount of days left. She took this picture a week or two ago and I have been meaning to post it. I forget how many packets are in each of these boxes, but you get the idea.

Now for Kayla's:

These are post-it notes on the side of a filing cabinet. Kayla does not yet drink coffee and my creative little redhead decided that she needed a visual countdown too. This picture was taken a few weeks ago. Apparently with all the packing that Karen has been doing, Kayla's countdown is tucked away behind some boxes. Still reachable for counting but not much for taking pictures.

44 days left as of this post. Hey, that's Willie McCovey's number!

Another edit: Karen sent me this picture today. The dogs have a countdown too!