DISCLAIMER

In recent days, there have been some emails I have sent to others that have been misinterpreted. While I am certainly responsible for the content of my messages, I have decided to put a disclaimer at the bottom. Lawyers do it. Insurance agents do it. Why not me?


DISCLAIMER: I am usually a friendly person. While given to rants now and then, it’s not my intention that this message is such. Email is a lousy way to have a conversation. Thus, what you think I meant may not be what I intended. You can’t see my face or look into my eyes. You can’t hear my voice. So, if you think I’m being snarky, rude, critical, happy, sad, mad, scared, you may or may not be right. If in doubt about the true underlying meaning of this message, call me. Oh, and have a good day. :-)

When We Were Together

More of the treasure from the boxes at Mom and Dad's. Here are Mom's parents (Puss and Russ) along with the three Hirsch children (Gay, Punkin, and me) and the three Messing children (Rusty, Jeanne, and Noel). The picture is circa 1948-49. From left to right we have: Buddy, Jeanne, Puss, Noel, Punkin, Russ, Gay, and Rusty. Rusty is now Russ; Buddy is Bud; Punkin is Carolyn; and Puss, Russ, and Jeanne have moved on to other dimensions.

Undiscovered Treasure

My sister, Carolyn, wondered what was in those big boxes high on a shelf in the storage room in the house where Mom and Dad lived. She had a man doing some service on the house help her take them down. Inside was a treasure trove of pictures, letters, old school reports, etc. Here is one of my older sister, Gay, and me taken sometime in the early 1940s.

I'm going to visit Carolyn this spring and know there are wonders to uncover, rediscover. What fun.

What's the Point?

At what point is a price too high? I read a NYT’s piece within the past few weeks that talked about the $40 entrée and how it was becoming more common in restaurants where you go in jeans, bring your kids. That’s no wine, appetizer or salad or tip. Yikes.

Recently, more things have crossed over the line for me. If you knew what they were, you might say: Ah, these are items you can afford. You might go on: All prices go up over time; inflation. Both statements are probably true, but that doesn’t change the conclusion I reach: some things are now priced too high.

As my economist friends tell me, it’s all about price elasticity:

The higher the price elasticity, the more sensitive consumers are to price changes. A very high price elasticity suggests that when the price of a good goes up, consumers will buy a great deal less of it and when the price of that good goes down, consumers will buy a great deal more. A very low price elasticity implies just the opposite, that changes in price have little influence on demand. http://economics.about.com/cs/micfrohelp/a/priceelasticity.htm

For the vendor, it’s a matter of price elasticity. For me, it’s whether I buy or not. For more and more stuff these days, I am more price sensitive. You?