Not A Mystery
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We Scooped The NY Times, Now It’s Death Bonds V2.0
I’m really proud that we scooped the NY Times by 3 months on a story they published today. And while we called them Death Bonds, the Times’ headline beats around the bush: Wall Street Pursues Profit in Bundles of Life Insurance On the other hand the Times article is very in-depth and up-to-date. When we wrote … Continue reading
A Day Late, And A Dollar Sarko’d
On Monday we speculated that McDonald’s Big Mac would come to replace our Dollar as the world’s premier reserve currency. Then on Tuesday The Wall Street Journal ledes their Money & Investing Section with: Decades from now, the crisis of 2008 mightn’t be remembered as the last days of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, but as the … Continue reading
You Book Publishers Think You Are Sooo Intellectual
In a previous post we brought you up to speed on what passes for strategic thinking in the book publishing world regarding electronic editions. Instead of working with distributors like Amazon (Kindle) to develop new business models, the publishers have been screwing their partners by forcing them to sell e-books at a loss, while they increase … Continue reading
Don’t Stop Now, Let’s Just Put Everything In Oil Drums!
At least the lawyers kiss you first. I’m not a huge fan of the legal profession, but compared to the people who package the laundry detergent at warehouse stores, they are squeeky clean. About three years ago we consumers were the beneficiaries of a huge step forward in state-of-the-art packaging. Laundry Detergent delivered in new … Continue reading
The Big 4011 Is Not A Freeway In LA
Traveling in a foreign country teaches you to get familiar with a few key words in the local dialect, especially if you are language-challenged like me. So it’s been natural for me to learn some PLU when I venture out to the grocery store. Especially since PLU’s are just numbers. It’s not that I can … Continue reading
Big Mac, Stand Aside For Big White
Is it possible that The Economist is moving towards replacing its Big Mac Index with a Big White Index? The Economist has been publishing their (not so tongue-in-cheek) Big Mac Index since 1986. It’s a reality check on world-wide currency exchange rates, based on the concept of Purchasing-Power Parity. Purchasing-Power Parity (PPP) says that exchange … Continue reading
What’s Better Than A Reverse Mortgage? Death Bonds!
In these tough economic times, some folks are using Reverse Mortgages to access the equity in their homes and get cash either for spending or to pay off their conventional mortgage. It’s an idea whose time has come; and not a bad option in some circumstances. But even better, especially if you are further from … Continue reading
Your 15 Minutes of Fame Can Be Copied & Pasted
At this point Andy Warhol’s oft quoted “Everybody will have 15 minutes of fame…” (sic) seems hopelessly outdated, what with YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Reality Shows and, not least of all, blogs. Warhol would probably point out that there is the small issue of dumbing-down the concept of “Fame”, whatever. I’ve noticed a parallel phenomenon which … Continue reading
OMG, I Made Up An Acronym: F2U !
This week was the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s annual meeting in Seattle, appropriately named “SLEEP 2009”. In the midst of some fascinating studies into how we spend a huge part of our time on this earth (sleeping), were some amusing (to me) acronyms. So for example, the following 3 were my favorites: TIB – … Continue reading
A Fine Read In The Tradition Of A Fine Wine
When I was still working there was never enough time in the day. Now that I’m retired, there’s even less time. Which makes no sense, but there you have it. So I am always looking for ways to save time, or at least waste less of it. One of my major, serious, time sinks was … Continue reading
A Chin To Die For, Plus Poetry
I’m retired, and have no complaints about my career. At least officially. But I always thought I would have been more successful if I was about 6 inches taller, or had a great chin like say, Cary Grant. I was pretty sure of this. Last week I received an email from Robin, a Scottish friend, … Continue reading
Just Another Mystery
- Weaving A Different Kind of Necklace
- Jumping into Spring
- The Art of Using Natures Bounty to Dye Cloth
- A Shibori Stitched and Felted Wrap
- Faux Fur, Vogue and Verve
- The Perfect Dance, Part 2
- The Perfect Dance
- The Vest That Mysteriously Turned Into A Purse
- Vintage Kimono Baby Booties
- Zipper, Keys, and a Linen Belt Buckle
Sterling Jewelry & Gifts
Not A Mystery 