The DH and I went to the other side of the city to enjoy a nice lunch at his mother's place. I love going over there because 1) I have a wonderful mother-in-law and 2) she has fabulous cats.

While I profess to be a dog person I would be willing to kidnap Minnie, one of Mum's three cats. She has a little bit of a weight problem that becomes all the more apparent when she lands on your lap. Not if, when. As soon as you sit down, she's heading over so that she has first dibs. (I'm talking about the cat, not Mum.)

One time, I ended up falling asleep on the couch while the DH was looking after some freaky problem on Mum's computer. When I woke up, Minnie had settled herself across my chest, her purrs acting like a massaging pillow.

Oh, but my love of Minnie is not the reason for this post. An empty can of low-sodium soda water is.

"That's funny," Mum said as she was making lunch, "this feels empty, but the tab is still intact."

DH and I rushed over to check it out. She was right; although the can was sealed, it had nothing in it. Mum went to toss it into the recycling bin.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Throwing it away."

"Oh no you don't!" I reached around her to rescue the can, looking for the toll-free consumer hotline number on the label. The DH was already at the phone, ready to dial for me.

While Mum stood back in awe, I spoke to a lovely customer representative and told him about the lack of low-sodium soda water. I also admitted that I was calling on behalf of my mother-in-law, who didn't want to raise a fuss over nothing.

"But she paid for that product, she should at least get another can," I added.

Turns out the nice gentleman agreed - and then some. A $10 gift certificate is now on its way to Mum.

See? You can get something from nothing. Or should I say "nothing in a can gets you something."