Oh, don't act so surprised. I can't even keep track of the money that I've placed directly into my checking account.

One of the worst things that possibly could happen, has happened.

I've misplaced an expense account check.

First, let me reassure you (and my mother, who is by now breathing into a paper bag), that the check is not for a large amount. I think it was for thirty-seven dollars and some change. But, really, this only adds to my dilemma.

How much money would it have to be to make me willing to call the accounting department and tell the woman up there that I've lost a check? I'm on this person's list even when I haven't done anything to cause her to have to perform extra tasks.

So I was thinking that I would just eat it--just say that thirty-seven dollars (and some change) is the price I'm willing to pay for a lesson well learned.

But then Material World girl reminded me that the check would never clear the bank, and the woman from accounting would come looking for me. And then I'd have to explain why I hadn't reported to her that I had misplaced a check.

So, while thirty-seven dollars (and some change) might not be enough incentive for me to subject myself to the ire of the accounting department, I find that it is just exactly the right amount to pay me to rifle through my own garbage.

Twice.

photo by Wurts Brothers of Manhattan's Central Hanover Bank vault