Simple pleasures really are the best --- Ella and Oscar accompanied by smoked gouda and Milton's whole wheat graham crackers, followed by a sip or three of Washington Hills Reisling, rounded out a day that had flummoxed and stymied me. I awakened this Wednesday thinking of several errands reaching imperative status. This weekend includes a couple of events that necessitate a new black ink cartridge, not as easy as it sounds this far from an Office Max. I had ordered a set of cartridges from Amazon, but they do not include black, which would have cost nearly as much in shipping as the entire color set had with free shipping. Earlier this week, Mom and I temporarily succumbed to a flu bug; she was still suffering and although she wanted to make the trip into town, she was obviously not up to it. She eventually made the right decision after a coughing spell. I verified online that my monthly Social Security check had been deposited, and soon the sun was out, although it segued back into rain. My departure was followed almost immediately by a plunge in oil pressure 15 miles after leaving home. I pulled into the town of North Bonneville and turned off the pickup's engine. A magical solution doesn't always work --- if I wait a few minutes and restart the engine, likely as not the oil pressure will resume as if nothing happened. It worked this time but I was wary the rest of the trip. I had memorized the phone number of the only tow truck still operating in the county. Traveling into another county introduces an element of added expense that creates additional anxiety. Every time I shut off the engine in a parking lot, I resigned myself to the possibility that it might not start again, enough anxiety to limit purchases and urge a return to more familiar territory. I was back inside the county lines around 3 p.m. I was glad to see home again, and soon after dinner retreated to my room with Pandora and the added comforts of smoked gouda, crackers and reisling. Not to mention Ella and Oscar.