To fill your gas tank

isn't the only issue, although you'd think so if you listened to the news. We've returned to Columbus from Lakeside, and yes, paying $3.99 for gasoline on the peninsula (it was $3.83 in Columbus and $4.25 in Toledo) wasn't fun. But we were also driving on asphalt roads, and the upholstery, windshield wipers, brake fluid and sun visors not to mention the battery case, bumpers, antifreeze, lubricants, hoses, tires, and wire coating of my van were also from petroleum products. And I brought along my computer, chewed gum and dabbed on a little Vasoline. Yes, we heat our homes and fuel our cars, but we also use petroleum in hundreds of products. We can't even imagine our lives without it. But some can. Yes, they scream alarmist warnings, make-up phony carbon footprints, but they really want us to go without.

One of the most striking things about the photos of the earthquake in China, was the obvious growth in consumer goods we saw. Even in rural China, which used to be a wasteland for modern products and technology, now appears to definitely be experiencing a high standard of living that even 5 or 10 years ago would have been unthinkable. Their relief effort and management was incredible--much of it done with modern products made from petroleum. We are millions; China and India are billions. Our energy needs have flattened; theirs is growing at a phenomenal rate. All the 'green' talk barking at us from the TV, magazines and Democrats is one of two options--a marketing scheme to tear down our current infrastructure and housing, starting over at even higher energy costs, particularly for the poor, or an effort to force us all return to an 18th century standard of living through regulatory agencies we haven't elected. Your move.

Short list: Ammonia, Anesthetics, Antihistamines, Artificial limbs, Artificial Turf, Antiseptics, Aspirin, Auto Parts, Awnings, Balloons, Ballpoint pens, Bandages, Beach Umbrellas, Boats, Cameras, Candles, Car Battery Cases, Carpets, Caulking, Combs, Cortisones, Cosmetics, Crayons, Credit Cards, Curtains, Deodorants, Detergents, Dice, Disposable Diapers, Dolls, Dyes, Eye Glasses, Electrical Wiring Insulation, Faucet Washers, Fishing Rods, Fishing Line, Fishing Lures, Food Preservatives, Food Packaging, Garden Hose, Glue, Hair Coloring, Hair Curlers, Hand Lotion, Hearing Aids, Heart Valves, Ink, Insect Repellant, Insecticides, Linoleum, Lip Stick, Milk Jugs, Nail Polish, Oil Filters, Panty Hose, Perfume, Petroleum Jelly, Rubber Cement, Rubbing Alcohol, Shampoo, Shaving Cream, Shoes, Toothpaste, Trash Bags, Upholstery, Vitamin Capsules, Water Pipes, Yarn

Monday Memories--the treasure found and lost, and found again

On Memorial Day week-end here at Lakeside, many families have yard sales (for the most part, we have no garages or basements). Some street corners will have four. So it is fun to walk or ride around and poke through musty boxes or old treasures. I was riding my no-speed bike (now 40 years old) down Third and whizzed past a card table with a few items, and there I saw it--a memory from my childhood. I put on the brakes and turned around.



My neighbor, Mike, and I were probably about four or five years old and poking through the neighborhood trash cans when we saw a lovely (or looked that way to us) brown china tea pot painted with white and orange dots trimmed in gold). We carefully lifted our treasure out, wiped it off, and I took it home to my mother. She turned it over looked at the gold painted single word on the bottom, JAPAN, and told us it had to go back to the trash can. We didn't understand war; we didn't know how to read; both our fathers were in the military. All we knew was that our treasure was something awful to adults. Suitable only for the trash.

I picked the tea pot up from the card table, inspected it--covered with dust with a hairline crack near the spout. The owner came out of the house.
"How much for this tea pot?"
"One dollar."
"I'll take it," I said.I wrapped it in a plastic bag and continued on my bike ride. Later I washed it and showed it to my neighbor, Steve, who is an antique dealer and auctioneer. He confirmed that it was probably a pre-WWII tea pot, maybe 1930s, very common. A dollar, he said, was a good price for a childhood memory. I put it on my bookshelf. It can hold some flowers when the time comes for that.

Our New Grill

About 10 years ago, our son-in-law once removed Pete (brother of our SIL) gave us a rehabbed grill that he found at the curb. It was really nice and he worked hard on it--looked brand new. However, we rarely grill and our deck which we love to use for "eating out" is rather small. And the grill was. . . large. So a few years ago we loaned it to a neighbor who has a lot of company, a large cottage, and many cookouts. Now we have no grill unless we want to go to the neighbors and clean it. So we've bought a cute little Blue Rhino at Lowe's for about $30 and hope it will make our kids happy, because they like to grill. For us, it makes for very expensive bratwurst. My husband is skipping church at the auditorium this morning with all the gazillion pieces parts laid out on the porch floor. Something is missing for the grease pan. And I'm not sure of the English skills of the committee that wrote the instructions. But Eric and Sharon are coming for lunch, and he's an engineer. Perhaps the two guys will figure this out and Sharon and I will take a walk along the lakefront.

A Hymn for the Campaign

This hymn has been used in presidential campaigns for at least 200 years--or for however long the Democrats have been running. It works for Republicans too, since campaigns are about promises not kept. You only need to change the words a little depending on the syllables in the candidate's surname [I made up that whole introduction, but the next sentence is true]. It's in 4/4 time, one flat. The tune name is Pleading Savior.

Come You Voters poor and needy,
Rich and wealthy, sick and sore;
Obama wants to save you
full of pity, you're so poor.
He's not able, he's not able,
But he's willing, doubt no more.

Now, you voters, come and welcome
his free bounty glorify
True believer it is ignorance
Every myth that brings you nigh,
With your money, with your money
To Obama lies to buy.

Come you voters oh so weary,
Bruised and battered, hit the wall--
If you tarry till you're smarter
You will never come at all;
You can't count on hope and change
So it's Obama in the fall.

Liberals are so predictable

No one allowed in their clubhouse without a pass.

A Maine public relations firm has been tapped to assist a grassroots effort aimed at stopping George W. Bush's presidential library, museum and think tank from being built at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

The Rev. Andrew Weaver, an SMU graduate from New York, says P&S Associates of Maine LLC has been hired to design ads and to coordinate the effort.

Bush, of course, is a Methodist, a former governor of Texas, and his wife a librarian. But librarians are 223:1 Democrat to Republican, so they consider it an outrage and anathema that a Bush Library be built--at all. Must be something evil afoot. They tried to stage a walk-out when Laura was invited to ALA. NIMBY! I wonder just who is in this "grassroots effort?" Moveon.org? Michael Moore? Or just the usual ALA crowd and liberal preachers.

Sticker shock

Yes, you can vacation closer to home and help the local economy, but for those of us who own property in Lakeside, the first week-end when we buy our passes is always a killer. I just spent $967 for 2 adult passes and a car pass for the season. Those of you who come here for the occasional week or week-end seem to think that if we own property, we don't pay. We pay much more than the visitors, because we pay the association dues (like a condo, we don't own the land on which our cottage sits), the confiscatory real estate taxes of the township (we are their golden goose), and we also buy passes and car passes which get us in and out the gates and into the auditorium to see the programs. This year, because of our trip to Italy, we'll only be here part of the season. And then there's the maintenance, upkeep and utilities which goes on for 12 months, not just the season. There is really no way to make a vacation home pay--unless you sold it 2 or 3 years ago at the peak of appreciation. You have to want it for other reasons--the community of friends, the beauty, the programming, or the accessibility. We've been vacationing here since 1974 and have been owners since 1988--20 years. Each year I run through all the reasons we do this. . . so that's what this is. . . the reasons we do this.

Tonight's program is Mike Albert, an Elvis impersonator. I never really cared much for Elvis when I was a kid, but Mike has helped me with that. This will probably be the 6th time I've seen his show. Of all the Elvi that have appeared over the years, he is the best in my opinion. He does a lot of shows in the midwest, so if you ever have the opportunity, don't miss him.

This morning I had a wonderful cup of coffee at Coffee and Cream, read the paper, then stopped across the street at the Patio to join my husband and neighbors Bill and Marilyn who were having breakfast. We chatted with Brent--this is his 18th year of owning the Patio. We reminisced about the night it burned down. My husband has a nice art show there, and prints and a few originals at Artists-in-Kahoots up the street.

Last night we had dinner again at Evelyn's. Oh, you're going to love this place. Fabulous dinners, and desserts to die for. Evelyn's will be staying open to serve dessert after the programs. I've had the carrot cake, my husband the chocolate torte. My goodness. Don't miss this treat. This is their first season as Lakesiders and business people (here), so be kind and support them. We want them to stay!

Hymns for Memorial Day Observance

So many people stopped by (according to site meter) to see my list, which only referred to another blog I'd written, that I decided to add them here. This blog is way up on google's list, and the other one isn't, so people get here first. This list is from The Methodist Hymnal (1964).

Eternal Father, strong to save

Father eternal, Ruler of creation

For the might of thine arm

God of grace and God of glory

God of our father

God, the Omnipotent

Judge eternal, throned in splendor

Lord, while for all mankind we pray

Mine eyes have seen the glory

My country, 'tis of thee

Not alone for might empire

Now praise we great and famous men

O God of earth and altar

O Lord, our fathers oft have told

These things shall be

This is my song

Turn back, O man

If it bores me

imagine how the poor news readers must feel. I don't watch much TV at home, but here at the lake where we don't have cable, for some reason the TV is on more. All I've heard or seen is Harrison Ford, American Idol and the spike in gasoline prices which in Toledo, the home base of most of the stations is at an eye-popping $4.25. It's $3.95 or $3.99 here on the peninsula. But really, how do people stand reporting this level of mindless made up news when there are really important things like manipulated elections, sneaky, dishonest lies about the environment, and the temperature of Lake Erie to talk about?

This is the kind of news that makes one grateful for PBS, and Canadian TV.

Taking and making offense

I see the liberals are trying to saddle McCain with two preachers who aren't and weren't his pastor. If they've come out for McCain, I'm guessing it's because there is no viable alternative. If there's ever been anything said about politics in my church (UALC), it must have been the singing of God Bless America the evening of 9/11 when we gathered for prayer. Political activism is a tradition in black churches, and that's Parsley's style, although he's white. I haven't read offensive things in his latest book, so perhaps it's a little proof texting and out of context clipping. Columbus liberal mainline pastors tried to gang up on him during the last election and made fools of themselves.

But, here's a great quote from GK Chesterton which I found this morning researching the hymns suitable for Memorial Day which explains how to do the type of insult and offense stuff we read these days (and 100 years ago when he was writing).

The tone of the story (as of every Chesterton story) is strongly affected by the exuberant style of the author. There is a scene in a restaurant, where the protagonist has the task of delaying another man for a few hours, and decides to pick a quarrel with him in order to do so. A musician is playing something by Wagner in the background. He approaches the other man's table and is about to attack him. The man's companions hold him back, but he cries out,

"This man has insulted my mother!"
"Insulted your mother? What are you talking about?"
"Well, any way, my aunt."
"How could he have insulted your aunt. We have just been sitting here talking."
"Ah, it was what he said just now."
"All I said was that I liked Wagner played well."
"Aha! My aunt played Wagner badly. It is a very tender point with our family. We are always being insulted over it."

Hymns for Memorial Day

There's a list at my other, other blog.

13 ways to burn calories if you're a coupon queen

Today's Cranky Consumer in the Wall St. Journal reviews "best sites for coupon clipping" and reports only 1% of coupons are ever redeemed. Coupons, sweepstakes, rebates and loyalty cards are all part of the same marketing program to convince buyers that producers want them to save money. The original coupon (over 100 years ago) was a wooden nickle. Now many of them look like credit cards or you can spend even more by printing them off the internet. Here's some exercises to burn calories while you "save."

1. Exercise discretion (125)
2. Jump on the bandwagon (75)
3. Push your luck (80)
4. Race against the expiration date (100)
5. Fish for coupons in your purse (35)
6. Stuff the envelope (30)
7. Hunt for stamps (55)
8. Jog your memory for the offer (75)
9. Run around after specials (350)
10. Chase bargains (250)
11. Fly off the handle at the store manager (250)
12. Wade through the paperwork (100)
13. Grab the last offer (100)

Coupons don't cut your costs; they cover price increases, introduce new products and try to put the competition out of business so they can raise prices later.

The Democrats are Golden

They've got the touch. They touch it; the price goes up.

When President Bush took office in 2001, the price of oil was around $30 a barrel. Six years later the price had doubled. Democrats promised voters they had “a common sense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices.” On October 20, 2006, just before the Democrats took over Congress, a barrel of oil was about $57.

So, how is the Democrat’s “common sense plan” working? In the six years before they took control, oil increased an average of about $5 a year. But in the 16 months the Democrats have been responsible for the nation’s energy policy, the price of oil has risen to $126 — an increase of almost $70 a barrel or $5 each month.

If I had a choice, I’d take $5 a year over $5 a month. Meanwhile, gas prices on the Democrat’s watch went from $2.20 a gallon to $3.67, an increase of almost 10 cents a month. The Democrat’s plan isn’t working, unless their plan was to decrease our dependence on oil by making it so expensive we can’t afford to buy it. Continue reading Charles Reichley

And now they want to elect the guy who will only make it worse. I think it's the same thinking that keeps the poor and minorities trapped in the major cities, all of which have Democrats running them. Vote for us. We'll take care of you. You'll be so poor, no one else will want you!

Our Italy costs just went up

I heard that the airlines are raising money for fuel by charging $15 per bag. It's got to come from somewhere and the heavier the load, the more it costs to fly. If the passenger with luggage weighs more than say, 200 or 250 lbs., then charge for the overage per pound, not per bag. This would not be popular, but if it is fuel costs they're concerned about, it would be more logical.

Why I'm praying for Ted Kennedy

He's not my enemy and I don't hate him--Christians are specifically told to pray for that group for some very practical reasons. It's hard to hate someone you pray for, and hate always damages the hater. No, that's not the reason, although it would be a good one. I just don't hate Ted Kennedy. Yes, I could pray for him because he is one of our nation's leaders, and Christians are also instructed to pray for their leaders. I guess I just don't think of him as my leader--although I know he took his brother's seat in the Senate and the people of Massachusetts, my fellow Americans, have continued to vote him there year after year, season upon season, and his votes in Congress have impacted my life in many ways.

Ted Kennedy is my brother. That's why I'm praying for him. A brother in Christ. We both believe our righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Romans 3:21). We've both been adopted into God's family, sort of a big dysfunctional, squabbling family, but nevertheless, we are brother and sister. He's a Roman Catholic and I'm a Lutheran, and we do see some of the details differently. When we take the bread and the wine, he's getting a "do over" with the body and blood of Christ, whereas for me Christ is spiritually present, encouraging, caring and loving me. That's huge. Justification by faith is central to my faith, whereas Ted looks to church traditions and the pope for the final word. Lutherans don't believe in Purgatory--we know that immediately upon our death we are in some way with Jesus (as we are also in this life through the Holy Spirit) even though our final hope is in the bodily resurrection just as Jesus was resurrected. I'm not sure how many masses will be said for Ted to abbreviate or avoid Purgatory, but from a very human view, I'd say a lot--if I believed that, and I don't.

Scripture doesn't say it this way, but God doesn't grade on a curve. In God's eyes, no matter what Ted has done or not done, it's no worse than what Norma's done. God has declared that sin and death entered the world through one man, Adam, and those who receive his abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness do so through the one man, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17) Ted Kennedy and I believe Jesus is our righteousness. We can take it to the bank, we can take it to the grave. That's secure. No one can touch it. Thank God! And God bless Ted Kennedy and his family during this difficult time, and draw him very close as they make difficult decisions.

Save gasoline, save lives

Sometimes the easiest and simplest things do the most good. If we'd go back to the 55 mph speed limit we could save so much gasoline and reduce accidents. We did it in the 70s when there was a gasoline crisis, and we could do it again. It wasn't intended to reduce accidents, but it did. Libertarians and conservatives hated it, and the speed limits were raised. Many do not want to do the most obvious, easiest safety and wealth saver. I remember how driving became so much more peaceful at 55 and there were far fewer accidents of all types--both serious and minor.

There was a horrible accident in Columbus last week-end--four teenage girls died. I think I read none was wearing a seat belt--it's the law, but it's not "cool." If we just had the guts to raise the driving age to 18, thousands of lives would be saved every year just by giving those immature brains a chance to mature.

The three high-school students — Cori Anne Lake, 16, her sister, Cristin Michelle Lake, 15, and Jessica Elizabeth Mason, 15 — died after their Chevrolet Monte Carlo collided head-on with a Dodge Intrepid Sunday afternoon on the southern Outerbelt, west of Rt. 62. Meanwhile, a passenger in the Intrepid, Tasha Conley, 19, of Columbus, died yesterday at Ohio State University Medical Center. Deputies said the Monte Carlo lost control on eastbound I-270, traveled onto the median, flipped and landed on its roof in the westbound lanes, where it was struck by the other car, which was driven by Jerry McGath, 19, of Columbus. Columbus Dispatch story

Teen drivers are lethal. You are more at risk even having a teen in the car--even one who isn't driving--especially a male. "The AAA Foundation analysis shows that from 1995 through 2004 crashes involving 15, 16, and 17-year-old drivers claimed the lives of 30,917 people nationwide, of which only 11,177 (36.2%) were the teen drivers themselves. The remaining 19,740 (63.6%) included 9,847 passengers of the teen drivers, 7,477 occupants of other vehicles operated by drivers at least 18 years of age, 2,323 non-motorists. The analysis also shows that 12,413 of these fatalities occurred in single vehicle crashes involving only the vehicle operated by the teenage driver. . . Two teens in a car increases the likelihood of a crash by 86 percent, three teens by 182 percent, according to research conducted by Johns Hopkins University.
" Teen Driving Statistics

The teen brain: "New medical research helps explain why. The part of the brain that weighs risks and controls impulsive behavior isn't fully developed until about age 25, according to the National Institutes of Health. Some state legislators and safety activists question whether 16-year-olds should be licensed to drive.

Sixteen-year-olds are far worse drivers than 17-, 18- or 19-year-olds, statistics show. Tellingly, New Jersey, which has long barred 16-year-olds from having unrestricted driver's licenses, for years has had one of the lowest teen fatality rates in the USA." USAToday

It's really not that hard to save thousands of lives, if we just had the will. Even making it against the law for a teen driver to have a teen passenger would drastically reduce fatalities. And it's not even political.

Columbus Kids Perform at Capitol Theater

My husband is a mentor at Highland Elementary School and this year has helped in the science and math class. All the mentors were invited to see the children perform at the Capitol Theatre in the Riffe Building downtown. He said six schools from Columbus and one from Hilliard were included. The student bodies were distinguished by different color t-shirts. The theater was jammed with parents and relatives.

From a news release: "About 400 fourth and fifth grade students from six Columbus city schools and one Hilliard city school will perform as the culmination of BalletMet’s Momentum, a yearlong in-school program of BalletMet’s Department of Education. The event is free and open to the public.

All fourth or fifth grade students in the participating schools—Clinton, East Pilgrim, Highland, Literature Based at Hubbard, Leawood, Oakmont elementary schools and Hilliard’s Ridgewood Elementary school—take part in a weekly dance class during the school day as part of their curriculum. All lessons include an academic component, integrating Ohio Department of Education content standards. Also, participants get the unique opportunity to perform on stage for a live audience."

He said the performance was outstanding as the children reenacted the history of Ohio, from our 8 presidents to the underground railroad to the rock and roll Hall of Fame. Ballet Met also performed. It was a great finale to a fun year working with the children.

Upper Arlington Lutheran Church a few years ago took in as its third campus, Hilltop Lutheran, a church with a great physical plant but shrinking congregation, which gave us a presence on the west side and an opportunity for urban service. Many of our members volunteer at that school and the Sunday service numbers are growing.

Cooking from scratch saves money

And still does.

More about coupons, sweepstakes, refunding, over-lays, price increases. Everything except loyalty cards and internet coupons, which didn't exist in 1982.

Sept. 29, 1982, Columbus Dispatch

The new face of homelessness

is a woman driving and sleeping in her SUV. If you believe CNN news. I stopped to watch a feature about the plight of women in Santa Barbara or one of those upscale California coastal communities who were sleeping and living in their vans and SUVs. Their city had an ordinance about that, but had made a concession and opened a city parking lot 7 p.m.-7 a.m. where they could be reasonably safe. The info-babe interviewed two of them. As I recall, one had a job, but had lost her condo in foreclosure. Her daughter was staying with friends.

There were two huge holes (or more since I didn't see the whole thing) in the story. First, the economy has gone south since Democrats have taken over Congress with their big anti-Bush "we need to have change" push, but the implication is always that all problems reside in Bush's hip pocket. Second, one woman had at least 2 very large dogs in her SUV--either Goldens or Labs, and the other woman had 4 cats. Now pets are OK in your own property, but many, many landlords and agents will not accept pets. So even if you love your pets, even if you think they are your children, whose responsibility is it that you're sleeping in a van with dogs if you can't make other arrangements after losing your home?

This is the kind of inanity that passes for serious journalism--that even walking through the room and seeing 30 seconds of the story, I can figure out that much.

So I checked Google. The 67 year old with the 2 large dogs has 3 adult children and lost her job as a loan processor, but gets SS and works for $8/hr. One could live modestly in Columbus, Ohio on that, or probably even in rural California. However, on the left coast, most communities have ordinances to protect the environment and green spaces that have the unintended (or intended) consequence of keeping out the poor and working class folks. They usually don't allow the big box stores either that provide food and goods at a reasonable price for low income people. Now that she's "retired," she really can't expect to live there. She apparently never saved privately for her retirement, isn't married and isn't welcome to live with her adult children. There are 49 other states (well, except maybe Oregon and Wisconsin which are just as liberal) who will be happy to have her and where she can live with her pets, but she just may have to give up those beautiful ocean views and her unhelpful children.

A plan to save us

Paul D. Ryan's plan to save us from the looming entitlement crisis is so sound and so sensible, you know before you get to the last paragraphs that Democrats won't support it. Remember how they said in 2006 they had a plan? (Hope? Change?) Ha. The economy has plummeted since they took back Congress and scared everyone with their hot air, hair brained ideas to punish the successful and abandon our allies.

Ryan's plan requires a sense of personal responsibility, the federal government getting off our backs and to stop using our "trust" fund for other programs, the states reassuming some tasks they've let go, a more fair tax plan, and long range planning. These elements are really lacking in the general population, so it will be a tough sell. Millions have grown up wanting someone else to be in charge of their health, their education, their personal relationships and their pensions. Ryan suggests

universal health coverage . . .shifting the ownership of health coverage from the government and employers to individuals, providing a refundable tax credit – $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families – to purchase coverage

. . . modernizing Medicaid by giving states maximum flexibility to tailor their Medicaid programs to the specific needs of their populations

providing workers under 55 the option of investing over one-third of their current Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts

simplifing the tax codes rates and eliminating capital gains tax to stimulate investment(don't we hear that every 4 years?)

Sigh. But oh, we can dream.

Financial scare stories

When someone like Michelle Obama whines about being required to pay back the cost of her Ivy League education which has landed her a darn good paycheck on a non-profit board, I want to ask why she didn't just go to a state college or university. She still could have been a 2-fer and gotten special grants and loans but would have had much less to pay off.

USAToday ran an article last week on a 49 year old living in a million dollar California home with at least 15 years left until her retirement whining about her 401-K being down 4% and the dropping real estate values in her Redlands, CA neighborhood. Today it's a 30 year old married Bryan Short, merger and acquisitions lawyer scraping by required to pay back the college loans that got him this great job in one of the most expensive cities in the country. Do these journalists (who probably are free-lancers and making a fraction of the income of these whiners) ever want to kick them in the knee? Surely they didn't go looking for these stories!!

But the biggest lie in these financial stories is that Gen-X (1965-1980) and Gen-Y folks won't ever do as well as their parents. This is always quoted from left of center think tanks who testify before Congress on why there needs to be more government assistance. That's nonsense. All they have to do is live the way we did when we were in our 30s. Then a middle class standard of living was much simpler than today. Smaller homes, fewer cars, fewer toys. We had no cable bills, no broad band, no gaming devices, no cell phone bills and if we went out to eat it was on Sunday morning for eggs and toast, or Friday night for a pizza. We vacationed at my mother's farm one week and used the other week (after he got 2) to fix up the house. At our house we had one car and Mom stayed home, so there were no child care bills. If Bryan and his wife tried living at the very comfortable standard of living we had 35 years ago, they might be surprised how quickly they'd whittle down those college loans and credit card bills.

And that household income these journalists report? A lot of us in the 1960s and 1970s, if we were white collar workers, purchased our own life and health insurance with after tax income, had minimal if any benefits for vacation and sick leave, and had no retirement plan at all. Benefits were for factory workers and union members. And why they think it's better that a company, which could go under or be merged, hold on to the employee's pension rather than her owning a self-directed 401-k or 403-b is a mystery to me.

Oh yes, Ms. O'Shaughnessy, you forgot to mention that in the 1960s and 1970s, hardly anyone except celebrities and hippies lived together before marriage, and we also got married younger with fewer years to rack up bills traveling the world and having a blast. Most of us didn't have college loans to pay back because we didn't borrow money to live grandly while in college.

See also:
The burden of student loans
The working family
Material well being of Americans
How to spend your way into foreclosure
My story doesn't sell newspapers
Six figure incomes--I feel their pain
Young people in debt