Not A Mystery
Thoughts
This Is Not A Bill
While I can’t say that René Magritte is my favorite artist, several of his works resonate. Of those, the one at the top of my list would be “The Son of Man”, which figures prominently in the film “The Thomas Crown Affair”, and reminds me how I felt when I worked for a living. Next … Continue reading
How About A Little Bit Of Respect For The USPS
It’s time to give our much maligned United States Postal Service some respect. Yes. Really. If you haven’t noticed, sending a package thru the Post Office is cheaper and faster than using either UPS or FedEx. Yes. Really. The problem, historically, was that once you turned your package over to USPS, it got disappeared into an … Continue reading
Life Hack: Blow Don’t Suck
I’ve been brainwashed for the past 40 years, but today the lights came on and the world is a happier place. If you look at the picture below you’ll see my Shop Vac and my Leaf Blower. Being a simple person, my assumption was that the former was to be used in the shop and … Continue reading
This Is Much Better, It’s Like I’m Not Here
Great news this week about the Royal Baby, who has been named George Alexander Louis. Henceforth he will be formally known by his full title: His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge. A big name for a little guy. But what about his Mum, who is officially the Duchess of Cambridge. The enduring story about Kate was/is … Continue reading
Real Men Don’t “Reach Out”
It’s getting harder and harder to maintain my hermit status. Everyone is Reaching Out to me. And it’s not just people. Even organizations that should know better think that reaching out to me makes them my new best friend. Banks, airlines, websites. Really? And it’s not just me. Everywhere I turn it seems people and organizations are … Continue reading
Pay and Display
After 500 years King Richard III’s remains were discovered under a council car park in Leicester, England. Bit of a climb-down for a man once named “Lord Protector” of the realm. I wonder how I would feel had that been my parking spot for the past few years. Probably chuffed. But suitably modest.
Syria, I’m Your Banker And I’m Here To Help
Let’s send Jamie Dimon to Syria. No, not because we want to punish him, but because he’s the only guy I know willing to call a spade a spade. He could give us a status update on Kofi Annan’s peace plan for Syria. Because what I admire about Dimon, and pointed out in a recent … Continue reading
It’s Time To Regulate The Soapbox
I have a modest proposal for the health care debate. Only those of us who have actually shopped for an Individual Health Insurance Policy would be allowed to get up on their soapbox and let fly with their opinions. This leaves out all current member of Congress; any retired members of Congress who served more … Continue reading
Hail The Recluse, A Much Better Citizen
Why would a recluse turn out to be a better citizen than your typical politician? Aside from what’s obvious about politicians, the answer is in the Dunbar Number. Dunbar’s number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships … It has been proposed to lie between 100 … Continue reading
To Bundle Or Not To Bundle, That Is The Question
Airlines and Cable Networks, two of our most popular industries today. If you ignore the Banks. Sign up for Cable and you get more channels than you need or want. You’ve been bundled. Get on an Airline and nothing is included in the price of your ticket. You’ve been unbundled. And yet, as a consumer, … Continue reading
It’s Hard To Argue With Gravity While Ordering A Hamburger
Being an expert must be harder these days. Nobody seems to have any good answers to tough questions about the economy. Morningstar pundits are usually pretty good when it comes to personal financial advice. But in is a recent answer on how to maintain yourself in retirement, they managed to coin the phrase ‘pre-tire’ when … Continue reading
Not A Mystery 