February 2, 2026
Good morning! Happy Feast of The Ground Hogs. Additional light in the northern hemisphere will now increase rapidly… wait, but they will soon steal it from us by changing the clocks… dang it! And, The Feast of Ground Hogs always grabs some of the spotlight from my wife’s 1/2 birthday.
Uninformed and ill-prepared: We’ve had one lone Robin hanging around the bird feeders in below-zero weather.
I doubt he’s eating worms, so what then?
Speaking of birds, the sickeningly slimy purple starling poop is the worst, the absolute worst.
We have an encampment of about 50 of the creep ugly and ravenous rascals on our roof right now; I’m surprised Alfred didn’t choose them instead of gulls.
- Are you among the millions who have flocked to see the latest blockbuster, Melania?
- When did the $2.99 creamy and delicious macaroni & cheese move from the kids’ menu to the $28 less-tasty and kinda pasty adult menu?
- If you’ve been out on the roads, you know Minnesota pot hole season has arrived a month or two earlier than normal.
- This driver has experienced a few particularly precarious stretches of road — and, in some cases, pot holes appearing to be a foot or more deep and several feet wide.
- You can’t fight physics; slow down and _____________________ (I guess there isn’t much you can do!)
- Always remember, all glory is fleeting.
- Do you remember grade #4 economics class?
- We were taught gold is $35 an ounce and it will always be valued at that price.
- Hmmm… should have maybe purchased some with my pine cone wreath money.
- Can you do the math on that one?
- The winter games are scheduled to begin this Friday, from ________________; do you know where?
- High fashion promises to take center stage.
- Counterintuitively, last week’s weather produced more snow in New Mexico — 31″ — than in any other location in the Lower 48.
- The datum caught my eye because I hiked there a few times back in the day.
- Is this the giant pendulum starting to swing back?
- The amazons will be opening brick and mortar retail outlets sometime soon — the first in Chicago. (Remember Sears & Roebuck?)
- Need something about which to worry — or at least about which to be aware?
- Forty years ago, the ownership of stock in public companies represented about 10% of household assets in the United States.
- Meaning, 90% of wealth was NOT a result of — nor dependent upon — the stock market.
- Today, individual stock portfolios represent about 45% of household assets — apples to apples.
- That ratio has increased steadily over 40 years, with a few bumps and bruises, to be the highest it has ever been in history. (Jakab)
- Bullish? Bearish? You choose.
- The Royal Match telephone application is in the midst of a multi-million-dollar advertising campaign which I do not even begin to understand.
- Do you?
- How does this make any sense — or a profit?! What do I not understand?
- Related, but unrelated:
- The United States dollar has sunk 2% against a basket of foreign currencies since the start of 2026 — and almost 11% in the past year. (Morning Brew, Inc.)
- David Brooks’s final column for The New York Times should be required reading.
- “Time to Say Goodbye” January 30, 2026, google it up.
- How do you refer to your workers?
- Team? Staff? Employees? Workers? People? Associates?
- Too many terms, probably no correct answer with company cultures being what they are.
- “Your people don’t experience intentions; they experience the outcome of your preparation.” (Eades, Rev. YT)
- From Macbeth, Act 5…
- “To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
- Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
- To the last syllable of recorded time,
- And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
- The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
- Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
- That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
- And then is heard no more; it is a tale
- Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
- Signifying nothing.” (Bill Shakespeare, c. 1606)
