Should I Write to you, George?

We are good Americans. While many people used their economic stimulus check to pay off bills, we spent all of ours to help boost the economy. Last week I tried to make Oprah proud and now George Bush should be proud.

After three days of driving and $192 in gas (no thanks for that, George) we arrived at our summer place at the Jersey shore. We had been warned of a bad storm that occurred a month ago so we were somewhat prepared for the worst. We opened the door and found water in the garage and mud all over the interior floor of the first level. That level of the house is used for some storage and to house the furnace and water heater. We've spent days mopping, bleaching, and drying the walls and floor and anything we had stored. A few things were salvageable, but most went directly to the dump. Actually, most of those things belonged at the dump anyway as they were left over garage sale items that didn't sell. The extra "basement" refrigerator was ruined. At the shore you absolutely need a place to store extra liquid refreshments for all of your guests. So, we purchased a new one. (Thanks George.) Today we replaced the beach chairs, bought paint for the walls and new carpet for the floor. (Thanks George.) My husband's Corvette was in the garage and we're pretty sure it is ruined. That won't be replaced. (Not enough cash, George.) As luck would have it, our dishwasher broke yesterday. That was purely a coincidence and had nothing to do with the flood as it is located on the third floor. However, we still had to buy a new one. (Thanks George.) I've been washing dishes by hand for days and it's not fun. The dishwasher can't be delivered for five more days! Tomorrow our first company of the season arrives. They have never been to our house and we want them to have a good time. I wonder how they will feel about washing their own dishes? Hope it doesn't ruin their fun.

While our flood is a costly inconvenience, it pales by comparison to the flooding problems in the mid-west. I know this really isn't a big deal in the scheme of things. I'm slightly embarrassed about whining but I had my eye on new golf clubs, not replacing damaged items. Sigh. We were good Americans and did as we were told with the stimulus check. We could have saved it, or invested it, or paid off bills, but we spent it. Do you think if I write George showing the receipts for practical purchases he will reward me with golf clubs? I guess he doesn't care whether the purchases were practical or frivolous as long as we stimulated the economy but I think sacrificial good behavior should be rewarded.