Monday Misc.

A camera spends 15 months drifting around deep sea currents, and turns up in a fisherman's nets. Finally it's returned -- to a South African couple who lost it while on a 25th anniversary cruise aboard the QE2. (It fell overboard when he accidentally jumped up too fast.) The memory card, including nearly 200 photos and a dozen videos, was intact. What a story -- read it here.

And the International Space Station gets a new picture window: the Cupola. (Gee, what I wouldn't give to see this view!) And the Challenger made it back before the next round of storms hits the country. Normally, I'd say this was weird (all the storms, that is), but we often get our heaviest snows in February and March. Which means another month of this would not be uncommon, at all.

A Get Rich Slowly reader's story on how she fought 'lifestyle inflation'-- and won. (A prime reminder that living on less than you make is soooo important...regardless of how much or little you earn.)

And some very apt comments on how to keep going when the going is tough. (This one started the thread. Thanks for sharing, Frugal Babe and Frugal For Life.) This is especially apt, considering Frugal For Life sees a layoff coming in April. We've been through this ourselves -- especially when Husband began as a bus driver, after leaving engineering, and my business was just getting started. We ate a lot of chicken noodle soup and macaroni and cheese, not to mention stuff from the garden. I learned many of the tricks then that I still use to keep our household expenses down. In spite of it being busy (and good for biz) the next few months, we have a $1000-plus auto repair bill hovering on the threshold. Good stuff to remember.

And finally, Mrs. Accountability's story of her frugal grandma. Inspiring.

Back to work...