Where are Americans Born?

| September 5, 2023

There was an interesting tidbit shared on X.com (formerly Twitter) that highlighted in graphical color where a states population was born. It highlights movements from different areas of the country to other areas, populations who were not transient … as well as what state people born outside the US made home. 

Rowdy Bar-b-que sauce and home mortgage applications chart

| July 26, 2023

Katelyn and Drew brought us back some Rowdy barbecue sauce when they took a trip to Tennessee in the spring. I didn’t get a chance to use it until last week — chicken wings in the toaster oven (better than Buffalo sauce?) Anyway, a belated thanks; it is delicious.  A chart/graph in the WSJ last […]

Toyota 4Runners: Remembering a couple favorite vehicles #TBT

| May 20, 2021

Car clubs and automotive aficionados have been getting together for years to talk about their vehicles with like minded folks. For my dad it was his local “in-person” Vint Car Club, car shows and museums. For me it started as just a couple friends working on restorations or rebuildable salvaged junkyard cars … then evolved […]

To shut down or not to shut down, that is the question – Hamlet

| July 18, 2020

As politicians and most of us in the United States (and probably world) debate how to live under the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic, researchers, doctors and academics are flooding the Internet with studies and opinions both for and against opening up the country. Some have our best interest at heart … and likely some […]

Watching stocks tank day after day requires a strong stomach

| March 10, 2020

The “old school” razor sharpening animated GIF below has NOTHING to do with my emotional state after stomaching Monday’s stock market crash and “oil war” between Russia and Saudi Arabia … so don’t read anything into my poor attempt at humor. After watching the DOW drop over 2158 points and seeing the index close just […]

Will the average American middle class family rent forever?

| August 11, 2019

As the cost of education, health care, cars, etc. goes up, it should be no surprise our financing habits change in order to pay for priorities like higher education … or luxuries like newer and more reliable cars. Paying for semi-essentials is significantly more expensive than in the past and we now extend paying for […]

DEMs grow governorships & flip House, but GOP gains Senators

| November 7, 2018

The midterm election is finally over and those who are tired of pile of flyers in their mail, phone calls, email spam and still watching cable TV network stations are no doubt thankful that is the case. As for the results, each political party can claim some degree of victory. The Democrats definitely gained ground […]

Investing: Bull Markets and how long can they run?

| May 31, 2015

If you’ve been watching the “easy money” policies from central banks around the world (following the U.S. Fed’s lead), you may being wondering just how much money can be infused by government without suffering an economic calamity? So far, those investors “borrowing” at low interest rates in order to participate heavily in the stock market […]

Job openings are up … but hirings are down

| April 8, 2015

Very confusing numbers in a recent Wall Street Journal graph noting that the number of job openings being posted are way up (green line) … up to the highest level in 14 years. That’s good news right? Unfortunately a look at the red line shows the number of hiring. Hmm, that trend has moved down, […]

Desultory tidbits: Africa, pre-1938 child labor and satisfaction

| September 7, 2014

Most of us see a few posts or images that seem interesting, thought provoking or just surprising. The Desultory tidbit title is a way to toss those collect bits into a miscellaneous post. This week a “size of Africa” map caught my attention as did an post titled “Money can by happiness” in The Economist. […]

About the only thing “certain” is that tax rates are “uncertain”

| September 23, 2011

Much of the political debate coming from Washington DC is focused on cutting the deficit, reforming the tax code and generating more revenue for the federal government. Hopefully those who currently pay federal income taxes (only 52%) are going to be given the loudest voice, but that may not be the case now that we’re […]

Our problem: Government spending up; our revenues down

| July 31, 2011

For many of us, getting a visual picture regarding the debate polarizing the country around the nation’s debt and deficit is helpful in understanding just how big the problem is. I found a WSJ graphic to be a clarifying example as to the gap between what we spend and what we take in as a […]

Android phones show strong growth in the smartphone market

| January 4, 2011

It’s not hard to gauge the dominate players in smartphone market … iPhone, Android and Blackberry, the later feeling the pressure no doubt. Here’s a link to a good article by Joe Wilcox that sums up who is the biggest beneficiary of Apple’s one carrier (ATT) deal … the Android OS with its many carriers […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog