Your grand niece is lucky - help with school in this day and age of soaring student loan is a Big Deal. Along with our help (mostly their dad's cash and my transport) we made it clear to both of our kids that they needed to work when they were on campus (work study or non-work study are options down here in the US) because the school will make sure they don't have conflicting hours with their classes. And while some of those jobs keep the student busy actually doing the job, others work out part of the time as paid study hall if they're just monitoring things going on in a lab, etc. Down here in the US the banks wrote the laws regarding student loans, making them bullet-proof—no bankruptcy and few other legal maneuvers will dismiss it. (When Trump's Betsy DeVos was in the Ed Dept she shot down the programs that forgave debt if graduates taught in underserved communities, etc.) When you die it comes out of your estate. It really does need fixing. I hope the Canadian system is rational.

Treating my sore spot beside my surgery knee like tendonitis is working. Last time I had a case of it was in my elbow area and I was told to keep a steady dose of Ibuprofen going for a couple of weeks. Even doing it for just 3-4 days has already helped.

I have the goal of a no-spend August, meaning that if I decide there is something I could use around here at most it goes on the wish list on Amazon, it doesn't automatically get purchased. Groceries are my main expense (I hope) this month though other things will be higher than usual (water, electric). Adding anything to the bank via eBay sales will stay in the bank.

Keeping my head down during the heat, following a small routine of volunteering and going to the gym, watching the yard turn as crisp as I've ever seen it and just watering the foundation (not helping the cracking, but to keep it from getting worse).