Friday, September 12, 2008

Paycheck to paycheck on $100,000 a year

Some 21 percent of those with salaries of $100,000 or more say they are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent survey conducted by

They certainly are spending a lot between paychecks. But the article offers advice:
Eliminating one night of dining out a month can free up $50 to $100 that can be saved or invested.
That's true, but if you're making six figures and still living paycheck to paycheck, you might want to look at some of your bigger expenses.

Hurricane Ike warning is very, very serious

The National Hurricane Center isn't pulling any punches as Hurricane Ike approaches the Texas shoreline. From last night's Hurricane Ike statement:


Yeesh. I hope this hurricane somehow loses strength before making landfall.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Large Hadron Collider topped by lipstick on a pig

By now, you've probably all heard about the Large Hadron Collider. If that name doesn't ring a bell, think of this ... the big machine that some people believe will unleash microscopic black holes that would eventually destroy Earth.

Well, yesterday it passed its first test by firing beams of protons around a 17-mile underground ring. What is the goal of this $3.8 billion project, which is described as the biggest physics experiment ever?

According to this story:
Scientists hope to eventually send two beams of protons through two tubes about the width of fire hoses, speeding through a vacuum that is colder and emptier than outer space. The paths of these beams will cross, and a few protons will collide. The collider's two largest detectors -- essentially huge digital cameras weighing thousands of tons -- are capable of taking millions of snapshots a second.

The CERN experiments could reveal more about "dark matter," antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time. It could also find evidence of the hypothetical particle -- the Higgs boson -- which is sometimes called the "God particle" because it is believed to give mass to all other particles, and thus to matter that makes up the universe.
Wow ... that's way over my head. It's no wonder we have heard less about the collider than Barack Obama's "lipstick on a pig" reference that seems to have created a big bang.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

High heels for babies

I thought most moms didn't want their babies to grow up fast:
Two Washington state moms have launched a business that sells high heels for babies.
Yes, you read right.

You can read more about it here. Apparently, more than 1,500 pairs have been bought off the Web site

These should be great for this baby with the natural look, which I believe is defined as "having no pores."

Now entering new city, population unknown

On the TV news last night, there was a report about how the Fort Worth area is growing so fast that Fort Worth and the surrounding suburbs can't keep up with the population numbers on the signs that say, "Now entering ..."

Which brings up the question of why population figures are on the signs at all. If a city needs to replace a sign simply to update its population total, isn't that just a waste of money?

Or is there someone out there who sees a sign that says, "Now Entering Cityville, population 182,000" and decides not to stop because the population isn't quite 200,000?

Maybe Sundance above is a huge metropolis by now.

City council president: "You are all evil!"

If you start reading this story about the incoming Detroit city council president, you might think the unprofessional behavior ends with shouts to the media of "You are all evil!"

But don't stop there. Read on and find out how she was involved in a bar fight (and then exonerated), called her $81,000 a year (plus car use) job part time and taunted another councilman by calling him "Shrek."

Apparently, there is also a federal probe into contracting payoffs that led to this great paragraph in a different story:
Asked if she could promise voters she has done nothing that could lead to her indictment, Conyers responded by asking if a person could promise he or she would be alive from one day to the next.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Condoms, an energy drink, and that will be all


Or going to a party. Or both.

An astronaut's concerns about experiments

An Onion video on one astronaut's concerns about his space experiments:

Astronaut Suspects NASA Using Him To Test Spaceâ??s Effects On Fat People

Desperate colleges looking for donations

Here are a couple of the responses I received to the "My old friend needs some help" column.


Boy - I think your U and my U must be linked to the CIA.... or some other organization that keeps track of where we live.... maybe the IRS.

I have not ONCE donated to my U.... yet they have managed to track me through six moves, two of them to a different state, and back home again. How do they keep up with me? Heck, I was still putting my OLD address on my envelopes six months after I moved... they managed to find me within two weeks of the mailbox transfer.

I do not know how they do this.

Maybe they are connected to those people who keep sending me those pesky juror summons.

I'll put my U requests right in the same place as I do those little red cards telling me to show up in court.

Need a coaster for your drink??


I went to an Ivy, which uses the technique of forcing students to call alumnae and explain the exciting benefits of donating at various levels. I feel so sorry, hearing their hopeful voices, knowing that I have to disappoint them (4 kids! Three in college NOW!). And the letters and brochures I get in the mail, which I know from experience have been professionally produced, must be a significant expense.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Potential space tourists, please take note

For those of you who have more cash than me, here's a reminder that you can still sign up for a space flight at for the low, low price of $200,000.

Oh yeah, and something else you might want to know:

Hopefully, the first space-tourist trip won't be described the same way.

Humor Me: My old friend needs some help


playing Nintendo and dropping classes, perhaps some distance is a
good thing.

college days. The days when I strove for greater knowledge by
investigating theories, challenging widely held beliefs and
minutes of Introduction to British Literature weren't that

whether I can spare some extra change.

"Milo, is that you?"



It started out friendly. We talked about the university's expanded

It was fun to talk about college again because I really
in the social sciences building, changing my major four times and
as if I were talking to an old friend.

But along with hairlines and waistlines, it seems time changes
in different directions. While I still wanted to swap stories about
about capital improvements, funding shortfalls and donor levels.

certificate of deposit than the latest release from Pearl Jam. But

representative was talking like an insurance salesman concerned
about my level of collision coverage.

more" and "payment plans" came up several times.

university is counting on your continued support."

a few basketball tickets and a couple of school sweatshirts, I
haven't funded The U. since I received my diploma. Extending
payments to the school after my graduation hasn't even been


some good news:

