Knowledge made me waste 50 cents today.

Rewind.

I had to do laundry today. As usual, I left it until the last minute and my hamper was overflowing--it seems as if the socks could no longer be contained. As is habit, I dumped the contents of my hamper on to the floor to sort whites and colours. I then noticed a slight discolouration on the carpet. Curious about what it was, I stooped closer to take a whiff; I smelt ammonia, just as I had expected. Ugh, Smoue had decided to leave his mark. Even as I was getting up, something was gnawing at me in the back of my brain. Why wasn't I supposed to sniff rodent urine? I knew there was a good reason--aside from the obvious repugnance of such an act--but what was it? Well, of course, it finally came to me. I was originally thinking about hantavirus, but the CDC informs me that apparently there are many other not-quite-desirable things you can get from exposure to rat excretia (such as leptospirosis and lymphocytic choriomeningitis, from the aptly named lymphyocytic choriomeningitis virus). But I was completely fixated on hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. That's where basically your lungs crap out and then you croak. From what I gather, it's not too pleasant. All of a sudden, I started to feel muscle aches, a headache, a little bit of dizziness... I had to get out of my apartment to get my mind off things before I convinced myself that I was dying of HPS. There's only been 1 reported case in Wisconsin, but I could still be the second. My solution: go to Pick 'n Save to distract me with some good grocery shopping. Usually I love grocery shopping. I go price comparing, choose the best deal, and go home a happy camper. But today, it just wan't the same; I didn't really feel like doing my shopping. I ended up with some frozen fries, a carton of milk and some bus tickets. And the headache was growing worse. I checked out of the grocery store and walked home. And then I looked at the receipt. In all my preoccupation, I had forgotten to present my Pick 'n Save Advantage Plus card for the discount on the fries--the reason why I had bought them in the first place.

Whoever first said "Ignorance is bliss" was only partially correct: Ignorance is bliss and helps you save money. Ok, so maybe that only applies to me. But in any case, I hope you go to rat hell, Smoue.