My children have four paws

 

I was walking through a parking lot yesterday and I saw the above glued to someone's windshield. I was a little disturbed at first. I know that when a child has a disability it can be a serious matter. Still I guess telling the world that your children have anthropomorphic hands seems a bit much for me. The poor children will be made fun of at school and nobody knows how successful surgery will be to cure this condition. If the children can write, work with a plastic surgeon may be viewed as cosmetic only, and the insurance company will not pay. 

I wish luck to the parents who have to live with this condition in their progeny.  Good luck buying shoes. 

The unveiling of the statue

Americans are obsessed with all things royal and all things Harry and Meghan. The latest folderol involves the unveiling of the statue. The big question is who will be at the unveiling at Kensington Castle's Sunken Garden. The date is July 1. 

The possibilities are endless. Originally it was going to be Harry, Meghan, William and Kate. Then Meghan dropped out, ostensibly because she doesn't want the baby to travel. Then Harry dropped out, apparently to help with familial chores in California. Then Kate dropped out. Willilam can't go by himself. That would be against protocol. Perhaps Beatrice can go. She'll have to wear a different hat, however. 

Owners vs. renters

 When I was growing up, for the most part, couples with children owned their own homes. Unmarried people were more likely to rent apartments. Living in a condominium I have noticed that the opposite is now true. If I see an older couple walking their dog I say to myself, "Oh they must have sold that condo". Conversely if I notice children riding bicycles, I say "I see we have a new renter in the complex". 

People who have children rent and people who don't have children, at least in the house, are more likely to own. Of  course that's not actually true but it seems that way. There used to be an unwritten rule. When you marry the families pay for the wedding, the honeymoon, and the down payment on a home. The children would  grow up in the suburbs and have backyards to play in. 

Clubhouse and the rule of false scarcity

I've noticed that Clubhouse keeps coming up on podcasts I listen to.  It is a phone app where people can join in conversations with other people including some celebrities. Sort of like an upscale version of services like AOL or MSN or even ICQ had back in the day, with voice replacing texting. The thing that makes it particularly desirable, however, is that it is by invitation only. Like a swanky country club, you have to be invited by a member. 

In high school there used to be parties that only the "in" kids got invited to. Until senior year, I didn't even know these places existed. Of course we all remember when getting admitted to a club like Studio 54 was only available for the chosen few. Apparently Clubhouse is the new Studio 54. It is by invitation only. Creating a sense of scarcity can make even a mediocre place seem desirable, at least for those outside the rope line. I wish someone would invite me to Clubhouse. I'll be fun I promise. 

The V sticker

There has been alot of debate over the best way to announce that one has been vaccinated. There is talk of vaccine passports. My solution is that our state health departments issue little v stickers to affix to our driver's licenses. For international travel the State department could send us little v stickers that we could affix to our passports. Presumably there is a data base that could be accessed before the v stickers could be issued. 

Inflation is back

After all these years, it looks like inflation is back. Here are the latest national figures from the US Department of Labor. 

The nice part of inflation is that interest rates are high enough that you don't have to gamble on the stock market to make any money. I remember when I had a savings account at Silverado in Denver and the interest rates were 16 per cent. Of course Silverado eventually went bankrupt but that is a story for another day. It also means that if you buy anything, you can be assured it will go up in value. That is not always true, condos can be fickle about gaining value, but can be true for other things. 

Driving around yesterday I noticed the gasoline had crept up to over three dollars a gallon. Eggs have also crept up. The thing I have noticed the most is the increase in the tabs at the local taverns. Right now interest rates are still low, however. We'll see how long that lasts. 

Nobody wants to work anymore

 

As a kid I was often around adults who said, "All the kids want everything handed to them, nobody wants to work anymore". Today conservatives are reciting the same mantra. Liberals say it's because the kids are still not in school and too many women have no choice but to stay home. By this logic, Labor Day will be appropriately named because it is then that millions of Americans will be off of unemployment and thronging the hotel and restaurant industries with their skills. 

In the mid 70s I graduated into a recession. Some of my friends (I was in the bohemian crowd) went on welfare. The luckier ones got jobs but soon were collecting unemployment. For many of us baby boomers, work was that thing you did with the goal of collecting unemployment. 

Many unemployed, admittedly, have side hustles. Jack is helping his brother take wood paneling off of his neighbor's house. Mary is baking birthday cakes for the kids on the block. Fred is putting mufflers on his neighbor's cars. Off the books. 

Still in September, I predict we will go back to fairly stable levels of employment. Sadly, wages are unlikely to go up much.