“The odds of finding yourself behind a slow-poke driver on a single-lane, no-passing-road vary proportionately with how pressed you are for time.” –Murphy’s Law of the Road (or at least, my version) “The odds of said driver having exactly the same destination as you — thereby maximizing the amount of time you’re stuck behind them —...Read More
Brickbats to: the idiot who held up the express line at the Knollwood Cub grocery store earlier this evening. Instead of the clearly marked “15 items or less,” they easily put twice that many items on the conveyor belt. Then, when the cashier told her what she owed, she didn’t have it, and had to decide which items to have the...Read More
Class Size: Millions Annual cost to go to Stanford (tuition, room & board, books): 1980: $15k 2011: $60k 2020: free?? Once upon a time (like when I was 18), a year at Stanford was expensive but still affordable. So, someone from a middle class, Minnesota family (mine) could swing it with a little financial aid and some...Read More
Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded. –Yogi Berra I first noticed it a couple weeks ago. Then, tonight, I really noticed it: eastbound traffic on Lake Street was backed up at least a mile to the west, stretching all the way from the northeast corner of Lake Calhoun (where there’s a notable construction pinch — see below)...Read More
“An Rose Interest Rate Goose Egg By Any Other Name” Maybe it’s just the bank where I have my savings account, but it seems like there is a new policy afoot to add a bunch of decimal places to the numbers on my monthly statement. So, instead of earning $3.72 in interest in September, my bank now...Read More
Floundering 529 Plans Rhode Island said its 529 plan will scale back some investors’ exposure to stocks when market turbulence picks up. —College-Saving Plans Shift to Keep Parent From Becoming Dropouts”; The Wall Street Journal (10/11/2011) Even with one of the last great tax breaks out there — zero taxes on any capital gains —...Read More
