I haven’t published much here recently, but I notice there are still a few of you following. Have you checked out my travel blog? It’s called Pilgrimito, and it’s at http://pilgrimito.com/. You should have a look!
Whether he meant to do so or not, President Obama has tossed the myth of the Clinton “surplus” under the bus.
About a dozen years ago, the Clinton administration claimed its government finances were in a surplus for the first time anyone could remember. However, the only way one could make sense of the claim was by assuming that debt owed to the Social Security trust fund was not really debt. The media, predictably, bought into the claim and the assumption. However, the fact was that it was the Social Security trust fund that had the surplus. The rest of the government continued to bleed red ink, just as in previous administrations.
Fast forward to this year.
The treasury is now very close to reaching the statutory debt ceiling, and President Obama is eager to cut a deal that will enable him not to deal with the issue again until well after the 2012 elections. To make his case to the nation, he is threatening the nation’s retirees. Without a debt ceiling increase, he claims, the government may not be able to send out Social Security checks next month.
So now, it would seem, the money owed to the Social Security trust fund is really debt after all. Otherwise, retirees would have nothing to worry about. The implication of the threat, of course, is that the Clinton “surplus” was merely a pleasant fiction.
Note: This is the first in a what will probably be an irregular series of gratuitous photos of my wife’s cat Russy. I mean, who doesn’t love cat photos, right? I’ll also use this space for a wrap-up of my recent posts, as well as a mention of some of the stuff I found interesting elsewhere on the web.
Here’s a photo of Russy, standing on high alert on the kitchen counter. I have no idea what he sees or thinks he sees. The picture was taken March 23 this year. Continue reading
I suddenly felt hungry on my way home from work this afternoon, so I decided to stop at a Dunkin’ Donuts for a small coffee and a donut. The bill came to $2.71. I gave the cashier $20.76. He gave me back a ten, a five, a one, and a nickel.
And a two.
How often do you see these?
I’m pretty sure the last time I received a two-dollar bill in my change was the day I visited Monticello. They give change in twos because Thomas Jefferson is the portrait on the bill. That happened back when I lived in Charlottesville, Virginia. I haven’t lived there for years.
The first thing I thought of when I counted my change was James Altucher’s blog. He once wrote about how, in his younger days, he would try to impress dates by paying for dinner with two-dollar bills. It’s not clear whether or not it worked. I wondered if he’d been in Phoenix eating a donut on a Wednesday afternoon in June. Probably not.
It more likely came from the strip club down the street. The Federal Reserve noticed the circulation of two-dollar bills started to increase a decade ago in the United States, at least in part because they’re used for change in adult entertainment establishments. The theory is that since the change is used for tips, bigger bills mean bigger tips. I didn’t notice any stripper glitter in my change.
In any event, I’ll have to be careful where I spend it. Best Buy has had people arrested for tendering two-dollar bills.
Update (6/30): A link to another good story about misadventures with two-dollar bills, this one involving Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
I’m the guy who’s generally really quiet at work. That said, when I do open my mouth to say something, I want it to be memorable.
Today, for some reason, there was a high-pitched whistle in my work area. I don’t know if a compuer hard drive came off its axle or if a steam pipe in the ceiling had a temporary release or something. It was loud, whatever it was.
So when the boss came out of her office to ask if we all could hear that noise, I couldn’t resist what I said next.
Hear what?
See, kids. That’s how you make friends.
I haven’t written much on this blog recently. However, I have been writing on my Pilgrimito blog, which has just my travel stories. You should check it out, if you haven’t already done so.
If you prefer the format here at Pearls of Nonsense, don’t worry. I’ll be back to writing irrelevant nonsense in the very near future.
I want to remind my U.S. readers that today is Election Day. In particular, some of my family members get upset if I don’t put a mention of it in my blog. Of course, last November was an exception, since it was impossible not to know when Election Day was. Continue reading
Basha’s, a local supermarket chain here in Arizona, has been recently promoting rotisserie chickens for $4.99. I haven’t tried one yet, so I don’t know if it’s a good price or not. For me, the more interesting part of the promotion is the store’s guarantee that chicken will be in stock between 4 and 7 pm or it’s free. Continue reading
As I was reading Wise Bread this morning, I found a coupon for a free two-piece grilled chicken meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken. I was telling friends this weekend, I’m a little surprised Kentucky Fried Chicken is pushing its new grilled chicken so aggressively; it seems to me the grilled chicken fad started and ended over a decade ago. However, free is the right price, and since I missed out on their free offer last week, I thought I’d give the coupon a try today.
Now, it’s probably been almost five years since the last time I was in a Kentucky Fried Chicken store. Back then, they were calling themselves KFC, perhaps because the word Kentucky made the product sound too regional, or perhaps because the State of Kentucky threatened them with a defamation lawsuit. Whatever the case, with hyperlocalization being fashionable again, I guess they had to follow the pack and bring the original name back.
When I sauntered into my neighborhood Kentucky Fried Chicken at 11:30 this morning, I wasn’t surprised to see several dozen customers in line ahead of me, all with their own coupons. On the other hand, the folks who worked there seemed awfully surprised by the turnout. Although they had plenty of staff on hand, they didn’t have nearly enough food prepared. I guess they assumed the several thousand Honeywell employees across the street had no internet access at their desks and therefore wouldn’t have coupons.
Anyway, I waited about 40 minutes, but eventually made it to the front of the line and received my free two-piece grilled chicken meal. Come to think of it, it wasn’t a significantly longer wait than my previous trip to Kentucky Fried Chicken; there were just a lot more people in front of me this time. I also ordered a small soda, so my total bill with tax was $1.07.
The food, frankly, was not that good. The chicken was a bit rubbery, and the overwhelming flavor was salt. However, the value of my time was really low today, and since the value of a small soda on a hot day was at least $1.02, I’d call the trip a success. Apparently I can use my coupon three more times. I’m not sure I will.
One final thought: Is Kentucky Fried Chicken the only business in the U.S. that has actually become less green over the past five years? They used to sell meals in those paperboard containers that were probably recyclable and biodegradable and most likely made from a significant percentage of post-consumer material. Today, my eat-in order was shrouded in a heavy plastic sarcophagus that was large enough for two meals and weighed almost as much as the food they put in it. I turned the material over, looking for some sign of recyclability; I didn’t see any, but perhaps I missed it. Either way, an old-school paperboard container would have been sufficient.
After not having flown at night in over three years, I recently decided it was time to regain my night currency. In the interest of safety, I thought it would be a good idea to take an instructor along.
Flying at night
(photo from AOPA)
Landing at night wasn’t as easy as I remembered. All of my landings were flat, and one was a little hard. The problems we had activating the runway lights at Casa Grande didn’t help. The first attempt at a landing resulted in a go-around when we thought the two red obstruction lights on the ground were the glide slope indicator telling us we were too low, although we made another landing without any runway lights at all. Oh, and let’s not forget the panel lights kept cutting out on us. Fortunately, the nearly full moon was on our side, and we did manage to complete two landings at Casa Grande before returning to Chandler, which was much better lit.
Having completed the flight, I’m night current until July 16, although last night made it clear I need more solo practice before I try night landings with passengers. As spring gives way to summer, maintaining night currency will require flying at times of the evening when I’d rather be in bed. We’ll see how long this lasts.