I read an article on NPR today, U.S. homelessness jumps to another record high, amid affordable housing shortage : NPR. Apparently, there were more than 770,000 homeless people in the US in January, when the survey was done. And that’s probably an undercount. More than three quarters of a million people are living in shelters…
In my last post, Our Messed-Up Healthcare System, I made a parenthetical reference to unemployment and how that deserved a rant of its own. Here, for your consideration, is that rant. And I am in Connecticut. I know it’s a little different in each state, but it’s close enough that anyone will have similar experiences….
Most of us already know that the US healthcare system is a disaster. Disaster really isn’t a strong enough word. I don’t have the active vocabulary to find a better one, though. So, I’ll stick with disaster. Being unemployed, I’m getting a very personal sample of how bad it is. Last year, I was working…
There’s a trend going around that I don’t like at all. More and more venues are refusing to take cash. Everything has to be paid for with a debit or credit card. You see it at concert venues and sporting events. If you’re lucky, they have a reverse ATM. That’s a machine that will take…
It’s funny, when I first heard about Silicon Valley Bank’s failure, my initial reaction was, “Good.” Then, when Signature Bank failed, I also thought to myself, “Good.” And, when it looked like Credit Suisse was about to fail, I said, “Good.” Of course, the Swiss arranged for Credit Suisse to be absorbed by UBS creating…
Mega Million was won by someone who bought a ticket in Maine. The prize was $1.35 billion. For me, at least, that’s an unfathomable amount of money. Can you imagine it? Clearly, no one needs that much money. The question is, would you want that much money? My answer to that question is no. And…
I, like many people, go grocery shopping weekly. For years, I’ve spent $60ish each week to feed myself, my kid, and supply my home. I went grocery shopping yesterday and it totaled over $100. I didn’t buy more than usual or anything unusual. It was my normal $60 trip except I had to pay an…
There’s this common occurrence where headlines have nothing whatsoever to do with the articles that they top. I’m fascinated by it. There are many ways to write badly but having a severely misleading title should be number one. Normally it is the case where the editor puts their own title on something, often without the…
My title probably sounds a little snarky and, to be fair, when I first asked it to a friend, I meant the snark. That’s no longer the case. I’ve been thinking about this for the past couple of weeks, and I’m now genuinely curious. For people who are hardcore, ardent socialism advocates, I want to…
Yesterday, I had to get a prescription filled. I went to the pharmacy, and they told me that I was no longer covered by my insurance. I was confused, but it wasn’t the woman at the pharmacy’s fault, so I went home to straighten things out. I called the insurance company. After navigating a long…
