“Dignity, the only publicly listed funeral provider in Britain, reported a half-year pre-tax loss,” according to a recent report in The Economist. A sentence later we learn that “Rising fuel costs have caused it to consider a surcharge on the gas burned at its crematoriums.”
Listen, I’m sure I’m not the first person to misplace his, her, their, our, your, or its cellphone. (I hope that covers everybody with a pulse. And even those without one. I try to be inclusionary at all times, except when I don’t like someone.)
Are you an obsessive summarizer?
News that Navient, one of this country’s largest lenders, has canceled student loan debt for thousands of people (eating about $1.7 billion in the process) has made me nostalgic about my own student loans—which I repaid when due. What a dork.
“Are you having PMS challenges?” an interior decorator once asked the wife of a friend of mine.
From her double-wide trailer in North Highlands—a somewhat drab, low-income residential and industrial area which includes a decommissioned U.S. Air Force base reinvented as a business park—Christine L. Villa creates richly colorful worlds populated by curious kids and talking animals.
A crossword puzzle clue, “Upward facing dog,” perplexed me for the duration of two cups of very black coffee one recent morning. Since I use a pretty big cup, you can imagine how perplexed I was. (And how jittery.)
Total Potato Chip Recall—and Going Dutch for ThanksgivingA new study takes pains to reveal the unnecessaryBy Ed Goldmans we continue our recovery from Thanksgiving—provided you’re not prolonging the magic by making turkey pâté, mashed-potato...
Covid, the Buffet Slayer!Thanksgiving spreads to avoid pandemic spreadsBy Ed Goldman’m assuming very few of us will be hosting Thanksgiving buffets this year. Ordinarily, the buffet format can be a time-saver: You just make mounds of food with...
By the time United States Census 2020 is completed, I’ll either show up as someone who has a number of humans in my home instead of just one, or as someone with multiple personalities, all with the same name.
This is because the same day I received my first Census inquiry, I responded on line. I’ve since received the survey twice in the U.S. mail, which may indicate the Post Office thinks if it turns in a bunch of extra-credit work right about now, Congress won’t try to privatize it or push to abolish it. Congress is pretty limited in what it can do; the Post Office was established by the U.S. Constitution and is an agency of the government.
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