Elon Musk

Over the years, I have ignored certain public figures, even though they are constantly being discussed in the media. I could not recognize a record by Rihanna or Beyonce if you played it for me. I have not watched the Kardashians in at least a decade. And even though this is, nominally, an economics blog, I have never once mentioned Elon Musk. 

For some reason, I have never been that interested in him. I have no intention of buying a Tesla, although I'm intrigued by the electric pumps at the travel courts. I have no interest in going into space in one of his vehicles. I never read Twitter, although it is apparently the way most media savvy people get their news. 

Now he is talking about buying Twitter. Will he, won't he, can he, would he? is the big news that people are preoccupied with now. I don't know. I should care because one of my mutual funds is invested heavily in both Twitter and Tesla. Just to show I'm not a luddite, I am finally going to listen to the new record by Billie Elish. 

New Jersey is becoming California

 

The image I have always had of New Jersey is that it is a place where men work on their cars in the driveway while listening to old records of the sixties on a rather loud radio playing WCBS FM. Today, though, a number of developments are leading me to believe that New Jersey is becoming more like California. 

A few years ago I went to Los Angeles and at the Safeway in Santa Monica I went in to buy some food for my room. The clerk eyed me suspiciously when he saw I didn't bring a burlap bag with me to bring said groceries home. "I'm from New Jersey", I apologized, before he sold me a reusable hemp bag with a picture of Big Sur on the front. Now, New Jersey is not going to be offering free plastic shopping bags anymore. My kitchen is knee deep in plastic bags now as I hoard them until May. 

Of course the next way New Jersey is going to become California-ized is when ordinary people can legally buy pot in dispensaries. When I was in college you could buy "Colombian" or occasionally "Vietnamese" from your colleagues on the dorm floor. As a treat, he might sell "hash". Today you are supposed to choose among a wealth of varieties they never had at school. You can choose indica or sativa, tinctures or gummy bears, vaporizers or buds. I have no idea what I'll buy when that happy day comes next week. I know I'll have to bring my own bag, preferably a hemp one. 

Next year, people will be coming to New Jersey to use the slot machines, sports bet, buy pot and obtain an abortion. New Jersey will still have Democratic senators and most young women will be sporting tattoos. Just like California. Hope some of that new revenue goes to pay my pension. 

Jury duty, revisited

There it was in my mailbox. A small blue card, looking like it purposely wants to be ignored. I look at it. It's probably nothing. Then, yikes, I read it. Jury duty!👿👿

I can't believe it. They want me to do jury service. Jury duty when you are retired is completely different from when you are working. When you are working it's like a nice break from the toils of the workplace. Instead of having to deal with those pesky library patrons I would be away from it all. Ensconced in the courthouse away from computers that do not start, printers that need toner and complaints about best sellers not being on the shelves. 

When you are working, jury duty allows you to chisel. You get out at 3PM and instead of going back to work you can run by the store and perhaps grab a choice stool at your favorite bar before it gets busy. You get a long lunch and can see that sculpture at the park. But when you are retired it means giving up your own time. Your own time is so much more valuable than work time. People who are happy to gab on the phone when at work will cut off a caller when they are at home. At home they are busy because it's their own time. Retirement hours are my hours.  Jury duty interrupts the happy idle hours of retirement.