As for the rest of the time--when I'm watching ballroom-dancing competitions and searching for batteries for my Bop It and extracting all the sopapilla pieces from a gallon of limited edition cinnamon ice cream with the precision of a brain surgeon--there's no real excuse.
Definition of ALLOWANCE: A deduction, an average payment, a portion assigned or allowed: the act of allowing. The Law Dictionary Featuring Black's Law Dictionary Free Online Legal Dictionary 2nd Ed. Navigation
a fixed amount, other than wages, paid at regular intervals to a person or to the person's surviving dependents in consideration of past services, age, merit, poverty, injury or loss sustained, etc.: a retirement pension. 2. an allowance, annuity, or subsidy. 3. a boardinghouse or small hotel.