Natural History

I don't normally notice my age, or anyone else's for that matter but something interesting is happening to me and it is thoroughly age related. I have become a fount (or is it font, like print?)of historical knowledge mostly because I was there when it happened. Helping my college-aged daughter with some research, I came across an article about Jim O'Brien. Excitedly, I read on and saw another about Edie Huggins. My daughter has never heard of either of them and couldn't appreciate my story about interviewing these two local celebrities during my own college years. I even drove Jim O'Brien to my school in a musty old car that someone in the newspaper office borrowed from someone else's grandpop. I'd almost forgotten that period of my life, not long enough to even be considered a chapter, more like a non-sequiter that would have been removed by the editor. It was that short period just after high school, before I quit college, when I thought I would live my life as a writer. When dashing around Philly in an old Buick trying to find the place I was to pick up Jim O'Brien was as exciting as the whole of all previous 18 Christmases that came before it. By the New Year I had changed my mind. Or closed it. Or something like that. I think that was the part where the real editor came in.

Work & The Economy

Work and the economy. What does this little catch phrase mean? I am not sure but this week while the economy was on every one's mind, television and radio and sometimes simultaneously, I was thinking about work. More specifically, I am trying to devise a way to prove to my boss and her boss and probably his boss that their investment in me is worthwhile. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to prove my value but when it comes to real numbers; dollars, cents and that sort of thing proving their return on investment has been a little, um, challenging. Frankly, I too would like to know that the work I produce results in a better bottom line. So, this week I gathered data, real numbers without funny stories attached and next week I intend to use that data to prove that I am worth the investment. This line of thinking has lead me to wonder if anyone has asked Mr. Paulson or Mr. Bernacke to reveal the data that suggests a 700 million dollar bailout is the antidote to Armageddon. A three page document with significant and powerful economic recommendations without a single piece of data to prove it's worth. I should work in Washington.

Tapped Out

In a previous post my poor math skills were revealed to the world and that deficit stands uncorrected. Nonetheless, economically speaking, I think I may be getting the shaft. Excuse the slang, there are probably nicer ways to say it, but I think it is time someone spoke clearly and didn't allow words to bundled up like the mortgage securities that are screwing me this very minute. For the past thirty years I have supported certain government programs that led many people to refer to me as a "socialist". I listened to your criticism, I sought understanding, I embraced your "free market capitalism" sermon. I was enlightened. I came to realize that healthcare, education, unemployment compensation, support for families with young children and many other social programs should not be supported by the federal government. In a free market economy, people should be encouraged to work and support themselves. People should not look to the federal government for handouts. So, you will understand my dismay at the turn of events this past week. I think I was just asked to sign a loan for 700 billion dollars with a line of credit to one trillion and I did this for the same folks who told me that handouts were bad for the country. I am sure that I can't afford this loan.

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