Thoughts on the Grammys

When I was a young tike I promised myself I wouldn't be like the adults who hated rock and roll. I promised myself I wouldn't change and I would still like the popular records of the day even when I was old. Now I know I was wrong. I've become like  the old guy sitting at the bar drinking Pabst with a couple of teeth missing. He stares at the television. "He looks like Davy Crockett!" he remarks. 

That was the first thought I had when I saw "the Weekend" on the Grammy's. It was like he got a haircut that made it look like he was wearing a coonskin hat. 

Okay en toto, the show wasn't all that bad. "The Thrill is gone" was okay, the Eagles salute was okay. I actually can see how David Bowie is a spiritual father for Lady Gaga. Still those parts of the show were specifically for us old guys. Even Alice Cooper no longer scares anybody anymore. And Alexander Hamilton? Reminds me of the time the Bill Cosby Show did an episode where the kids did history in a rap format. 

I've become an old man. A grouchy old man. "I'm for Donald Trump, he's the only one who says what's wrong with America!" Well I'm not that old. 

Holidays cost money

Holidays in America are different than those celebrated in most foreign countries. In America, except for mainstays like Christmas, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving and the 4th of July, holidays are a source of inconvenience and trouble rather than pleasure. This is because, in America, the public sector tends to celebrate more holidays than the private sector.

Today is President's Day. The schools, banks, and libraries are closed. Daddy is off, but Mommy has to go to work. As a state employee I am happy to be off but I can't go to the bank or count on getting any mail. The library is closed so I will probably drop by the used book store to buy a mystery. I could also get a Kindle book I suppose.

Daddy gets a day with the kids. He can't go to story hour at the library since the library is closed. The museum nearby is also closed. The mall is open, though, so there are options, but they all cost poor Daddy money. Another option is take the kids to Color Me Mine, where they can paint on plates, for a small fee of course.

I get it. The purpose of holidays is to help the economy and force parents to spend money on their charges. Well, off to the movies.

The fluffy sleep commercial

Currently my favorite commercial is the fluffy sleep commercial. It seems a nice way to go to sleep by curling up with the cute white sleep creature.Then when you wake up those cute peppy wake creatures trot down with you to the mailbox where you meet your suburban neighbors.

I think you could use that commercial to put people to sleep without even using the drug that it is advertising. I wonder if there is a cute sex creature who visits occasionally.

So what is an engagement manager

I was just looking at a listing of America's best jobs.

Table: The 10 best jobs in America

Job	Job openings	Median base salary	Career opportunity	Job score
1. Data scientist	1,736	$116,840	4.1	4.7
2. Tax manager	1,574	$108,000	3.9	4.7
3. Solutions architect	2,906	$119,500	3.5	4.6
4. Engagement manager	1,356	$125,000	3.8	4.6
5. Mobile developer	2,251	$90,000	3.8	4.6
6. HR manager	3,468	$85,000	3.7	4.6
7. Physician assistant	3,364	$97,000	3.5	4.6
8. Project manager	6,607	$106,680	3.3	4.5
9. Software engineer	49,270	$95,000	3.3	4.5
10. Audit manager	1,001	$95,000	3.9	4.5
Methodology: The Glassdoor Job Score is determined by weighting three factors equally: earning potential (median annual base salary), career opportunities rating, and number of job openings. Results represent job titles that rate highly among all three categories. The Glassdoor Job Score is based on a 5-point scale (5.0=best job, 1.0=bad job).

I can't figure out if these are really new careers or just hotsy totsy titles for traditional jobs. Sort of like old wine in new skin.  Nearest I can figure a project manager manages projects. I guess you could call a librarian a data scientist. Next time someone asks me what I do for a living I can say I'm a data scientist. Someone who wouldn't date a librarian might be willing to have a beer with a data scientist. 

Engagement manager I need to research. Is it like a wedding planner but someone who plans bachelor parties? A solutions architect? Someone who plans solutions? I could use one of these if he will shovel my car out this morning from the snow.

I looked up engagement manager. Apparently it is someone who nurses a deal between a vendor and a client. Sort of like if I was selling my car I'd enlist one of these people to mediate the sale and make sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. Sounds like a good job to me. More fun than a ah counter anyway. 

Mother was wrong after all

I am actually quite happy today. Today I learned that I have been (not) doing something that I always believed I should be doing. My mother taught me that I should always make my bed every morning. Today I found out if you make your bed it will harbor mites. The moisture causes them to to grow if they are covered up with neat sheets and covers. Apparently bed mites are very neatness oriented.

Yes if you change your sheets and you can make your bed and have everything look "hotel fresh". However, if you don't change your sheets you should leave your covers sloppily draped around the bed to dry.

The love affairs of Nathaniel P

I have just finished the Love Affairs of Nathaniel P, the book that describes life among hipsters in Brooklyn the way Tropic of Cancer described hipsters in Paris in the 30's, or On the Road described hipsters hitchhiking into the 50's. Older people, long past their own pseudo bohemian youth, like to be kept abreast of such things.

I myself have gone to Williamsburg in Brooklyn just to see what all the excitement is about. Sadly, except for two trips where I saw over priced beer and the viewings of flannel shirts in summer, Brooklyn has remained somewhat elusive to me.

With this book the window is opened to privileged young people trying to make it in the publishing industry without borrowing too much money from Mom and Dad. We now can see what dating is like in this set of people. Hip, post feminist, post modernist people who hang out in expensive dive bars and organic coffee hangouts with wi-fi connections.

Nate is the protagonist of the book. He is in the situation of being a relatively decent male in a world where he is a rarity. He is not bad looking, straight, sexually experienced, and not a total a-hole which I guess makes him a hot commodity in this particular demographic in Brooklyn.

The book is a nice read but en mi opinion, it fails at its central conceit. I don't know why but the book pries into Nate's innermost thoughts and they don't sound like a guy's thoughts to me. Frankly Nate seems to be the image that women might have of a young man's internal workings rather than the actual thoughts of a young man.

For one thing he is too callous. Women are more cynical than men. Men are romantics at heart, at least while young.  Woody Allen movies show men as being more romantic than this novel.  I also thought that, in the real world, Nate's parents would have paid for his health insurance.

Editor's note: Another book about millennials in Brooklyn and the academic world you might like is Bad Teeth by Dustin Long

Predictions for 2016

First what I predicted last New Year's Eve:

Drum roll please. Mr Mustache predictions for January 1 2017: 

In red, what really came true on January 1 2016 

Dow 18500 17425

S and P Index 2100 2044

NASDAQ 5000 4593

Microsoft will retreat to 40 55.48

Eagles will get in the playoffs but lose in January. Eagles will not make playoffs.

Obama will make overtures to Iran like he made to Cuba but Congress will not go along with the deal, no treaties or normalization. Actually our president was cagier than I thought he would be. Pretty much got what he wanted in both instances. As a technicality we have a Charge de Affaires not an Ambassador in Cuba today. 

Unemployment will go down to 5% correct, and oil  47.07 will go up to $60. 

Middle East will stabilize a tad but the EU will be in the doldrums. Isis did lose some territory but did not really stabilize. Everybody seems to be in the doldroms nowadays.

The New York Post will start the drumbeats to impeach the mayor of NYC. While the Post is not Biaggi's biggest fan, no drumbeats. 

Overall another middling year. 

My financial predictions for 2015 were overly optimistic. I never predicted the market would go down and never really recover. This year I am carrying over my market index predictions from last year to the end of 2016 with the caveat that Microsoft will go to 60.  Hopefully by then we’ll have made some money on the market again.

Microsoft was one prediction that underestimated the price, next year I see it ending at 60, a small gain. The unemployment rate is now 5.0 and I am predicting 4.8 by the end of 2016. The Philadelphia Eagles will make the playoffs next year but lose their first post season game. Donovan McNabb will be well liked as head coach.

The Democrats will have a good election in November and Bill Clinton will be our next first lady, although they will have to give him a new name, the dowager President? 

Editor's note: What the BBC says we'll be wearing in 2016. Really?