Short Musings and a Short Video

I hope everyone had a safe and Merry Christmas with friends and family.  Hopefully you can find yourselves grateful for both the gifts of retail (hopefully from Best Buy) and of fellowship.  I am currently spending the rest of this week up in Duluth with my mother.

I was able to see my sister this week as well.  What is apparent is that all of us are starting to see the signs of the years passing.  My sister apparently is set to make some life changing commitments in the next year.  As a famous Duluth native said, the times are a changin'.

Work has been nearly all-encompassing for me.  Even on days I've scheduled to have off I'm doing work on the side.  Hopefully I can figure out some work-life balance at some point in the future.

In politics, I recently talked to a family friend who does HR administration who said with the continued implementation of Obamacare next year (elections do have consequences) that small business should expect their health care costs to rise 30%-40% next year.  Now as an individual who has been around small and large businesses all my life, there are two ways for a business to address these cost increases, limit staff/overhead (costs) or shift the costs to the consumer.  Either one doesn't facilitate greater economic activity.  One could argue that the costs are simple being shifted from the public (who pays for those who enter the ER without coverage) to the employers themselves.  All I say is higher costs certainly won't be stimulative for this economy as it is now.

Did someone say "fiscal cliff?"  It's government's finest moment, for sure.

For your video, I think if you are ever bored, you can do what this gentleman did.

Oh the ingenuity.