h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Grad school is full of many rewards: getting a computer program to work after many hours of debugging, receiving a hard-earned A, even a nice drink with your friends or an evening huddled together in front of Doctor Who to celebrate the end of a long week.

Living on a budget is not among these rewards.

It's hard having to watch every single penny you spend. I agonize over simple things like grocery shopping and eating out; is it worth more for me to buy food in the grocery store, or grab fast food this week because I just don't have time to cook? Saturday was the first time I bought an article of clothing in month (and I don't even count that, because I had a coupon to get it free).

So today, I had to go to the store to get some packing tape for the boxes I'm using to move. After thinking for five minutes on whether I should buy the one small roll or the three large rolls (I bought the small one), I headed to the register. And that's when I saw it.

The sign read "Camping Gear for the Whole Family!"

And underneath it was a small, 2 man dome tent for $10.

Now, those of you I've told about my last trip to California will remember that I ran into some difficulties procuring a tent. Mine ripped, and I had to borrow a friend's pup "tent", which was really little more than a glorified bivy sack. I couldn't even sit up in it, which made changing clothes a real pain (I had to go outside, find a bush, realize people could see me, find another bush, freeze, end up with too few clothes, go back for more, and repeat). So I made up my mind that the first thing I'd invest in when I got back to State College is a dome tent of my own. And here it was, right in front of me.

And so I rebelled against my painfully low salary, packed the tent under my arm, and marched proudly to the register. I set it up as soon as I got home- still a little small, the only way I could really lie down is if I stretched diagonally across the floor of the tent. The walls are a little thin, wouldn't use it if the nights got below 40 F. But it's mine! And I needed it, for both use, and as something entirely unrelated to food or shelter!











I should probably mention that the store I bought it at is called "Ollie's Bargain Outlet."

I agree with Milla

Traveller in Time waiting for the menu
"So there will be raw carrots for the next days ? "

Yeah, actually- I'm moving to a cheaper place soon, and I'm cleaning out my fridge.