FSAs drive me nuts. Why can’t you roll the previous year contribution not used (like an HSA) or take the money out at the end of the year and pay taxes on it. I’ve heard it characterized as the Optometrists end of year cash cow. Often what happens is that at the end of the [...]

And so it goes …

An Excellent Post! Highly recommended. It should be on the Front Page. I’ve made a checklist of the items mentioned and posted it on my refrigerator. Also, I’ve forwarded the text of the post to a number of family members and friends. Here’s another anecdote: A coworker was on business travel last fall and had [...]

Well it appears to work. However I called them Figure 1 through 4, not Slide 1 through 4.

Well, I realized I still had a photobucket account. Let’s see if this works. The plots are the four images at this link: http://s275.photobucket.com/user/com30sptr2/library/SS%20Info Here’s what’s included: Slide 1 – Female and male monthly benefit – note the bimodal distribution from 62 to 79. The lower peak is female and upper peak is male. See [...]

Taking the data from the link for Dec 2012 and putting it into the trusty Excel spreadsheet (hey, I’m a nerd) then making plots really hits home the point women would be severely affected by changing SS benefits formula. As it stands now the median female monthly earnings is about $700 less than the median [...]

Every day I visit a site that lists layoffs, closings and bankruptcies as well as new jobs created. There seems to be a shocking mismatch not only between the loss and gain numbers but what appears to be job/pay quality (new jobs will probably pay less). If the site is accurate, I can not see [...]

As a point of reference and for comparison, are there any numbers/statistics on spills and leaks associated with the Alaskan pipeline? Or, are they kept hidden like a state secret.

That’s an interesting idea. With the proliferation of low cost small drones that might be and idea worth exploring. The Radio Controlled aircraft hobby has been around for decades. Attach some cameras that can record and/or radio transmit the imagery. Small low flying drones (R/C aircraft) would be virtually undetectable by the normal ATC radar [...]

And what argument can be made against the folly and foolishness stated in the WaPo? I can think of but one reason and it is so profoundly and sorrowfully stated. I defer that honor and privlidge to a true patriot who’s days are numbered. Yet he writes one of the most powerful letters on the [...]

Unfortunately, if you think WaPo is Pravda (BTW like the comparison), try reading some of the MSM papers out here in the hinterlands. Often they are nothing more that wire story outlets. Investigative journalism? Fughedaboudit. Not only that, I’m constantly amazed at factual inaccuracies or missed opportunities to dig a little deeper on nearly every [...]

Ahhh yes, the S&L scandal of the 80s. How could we forget Neil Bush of the Bushc crime family was a major player in that fiasco. Remember Silverado S&L? Wonder what he’s up to these days. Don’t hear too much of him do you. And let’s level our expectations here. We have a Justice Dept [...]

Nice critique. Lends a lot of credence to the power of the Big Lie propaganda theory our corporate/state media conglomorate exercise with such skill. Goebbels would be proud. And here I was concerned about a few of those nagging little details like when I was in the military it was “O” dark thirty. Never heard [...]

I wonder what John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel in 1981, thinks of all the “flash”. His original concept was much more scientific and geeky as I recall.

If I was a shareholder in Shell, I’d be livid and demand the firing (minus golden parachutes) of the CEO and anyone else associated with this fiasco. Consider the cost of repair, transport, lost revenue (it will be at least a year before they can drill – YAY!). The loss is at least several hundreds [...]

Wow! That’s a lot of snow. Wish we had that moisture here in dry CO. Oh wait, that means snow, ice, and cold – an anathema to me. LOL

Another thought to consider, the emerging intelligence of computer systems. The so-called “singularity” is not that far away. What happend if computers really can think? Or, perhaps we can upload our conscienceness into the computer. Who is the real me? It may sound far fetched, but I don’t think its all that far away. Perhaps [...]

Wah, wah, wah OB. LOL We’re used to it. But actually you are right. I think even in the city of Fort Collins officially states that sometimes snow and ice removal is at the mercy of God’s will and not the city’s ability to clear roads. LOL. Still, I’d much rather live in CO than [...]

You are correct. It can snow anytime of the year in the mountains. On the ewastern plains downslope winds (chinooks), altitude (I live at 6000 feet) contributing to dryness and water/ice evaporation/melting/ablation, and abundant sun (not a lot of cloud cover in CO) combine to minimize duration of snow on the ground. That being said, [...]

My feelings on winter? Bah! What’s good about it? Snow, cold, flu, more accidents, longer commutes, short days, having to wear all those clothes, the list goes on. This from one who did graduate research on winter snowstorms. LOL If I could, I’d live in the Northern Hemisphere Mar through Oct and Southern Hemisphere (New [...]