purpose

so today I went to the store and was buying food for the night's dinner, when I stopped by the junk food section. I purposely didn't take known potato chips as I really wanted to try some without seaweed. Went home, eagerly opened the mysterious bag. NEW seaweed. How many kinds of seaweed are there and why do I always manage to find it?

My journey back to the US is looking more and more rediculous. Reason: money. My new plan is to fly to Vegas, stay a night, fly to Chicago and meet old friends, and then bus it back to Madison. Apparently flights to Vegas are popular for Japanese people too. This translates to cheap for me. And if I'm not mistaken, Vegas is a pretty easy and cheap place to stay for a random night. I also have to buy a round-trip ticket to vegas and then cancel the second half. Does anyone know if there are penalties for skipping a flight other than the loss of the ticket? Round-trips are half the price of one-ways.

(parents: don't worry; i will figure out a plan soon enough. everything will fall into place)
(well, except getting seaweed-less potato chips. but tomorrow is another day. i will prevail.)