Archive for December 24th, 2008

Our Christmas Wish

Andy Spero | December 24, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) |

One of them, at least.

Update: We’ve added an excellent line from Peggy Noonan’s December 26th, weekly column, as it fits so perfectly with our theme.

We spent a recent noon-time distributing year-end, holiday, bonus checks to a group of care-givers and their managers. 

It was very gratifying, especially since it wasn’t our money.  We’re joking, of course.  It would likely have been more gratifying had been our money, but while the lunch was for a small organization, it’s not that small.

Now, we know that it is quite easy… Read the rest

Our Solution to Federal Government Bureaucracy

Andy Spero | December 24, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) |

Higher Pay for Congressmen and Greatly Reduced Staff Staph Levels

This past weekend–the last before Christmas–we saw a few reports criticizing the upcoming Congressional pay raises, including this one at FoxNews: Pay Raises for Lawmakers Anger Watchdog Groups.

In that article, someone from a watchdog group noted that “Members of Congress don’t deserve one additional dime of taxpayer money…”

We’ll leave the issue of what Congressfolk deserve to others, including their maker.  Our standard response when folks complain about the weather in Western PA–we think the sun appeared… Read the rest

Williams-Sonoma, KitchenAid, and Falling Copper Prices

Andy Spero | December 24, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) |

We were at Williams-Sonoma this past weekend and saw a beautiful copper, KitchenAid mixer for $899.95.  (Its twin is made of nickel, and we have no idea of how prices of that metal have changed, but we doubt that they have gone up since the summer.)

The nearly $900 seemed a bit expensive for a mixer; so, we joked with the clerk that KitchenAid must have bought their copper supply much earlier in the year when prices were three times as high and that it must be still trying to recoup its… Read the rest