Roman Numerals And The Super Bowl

Time Is Running Out On Ye

As I write this on January 14, 2013; the NFL is just under 3 weeks from crowning its champion.  This year it is Super Bowl XLVII.  In case you do not know your Roman Numerals that is 47.   I wonder do they still spend a day or two in third grade to go over this concept from thousands of years ago, if so, why?  I wonder when I was watching Super Bowl VI if it was necessary then for me to know Roman Numerals?  If it is still taught today, maybe it should be taught in history class instead of math class. 

Super Bowl VI was played on January 16^th 1972 at Tulane Stadium and pitted the Dallas Cowboys against the upstart Miami Dolphins.  I call them the upstart Dolphins because they were an expansion team from the mid 1960’s and went on to have a perfect season by winning all seventeen of their games the following year.  Dallas won Super Bowl VI by XXI points, XXIV to III.   OK, I admit I am just being a little annoying but I think I proved my point.

I wonder if it is time to stop the Roman Numeral era as it relates to the NFL? Perhaps they will call it quits at L?  I really can’t think of much usage for Roman Numerals other than time pieces and Led Zeppelin albums and I am pretty sure there won’t be any more of those released soon.

Have a great week.  It should be; since it will be another year before you have to give much thought to Roman Numerals.

Almond Joy? Not If You Ask The Coconut.

I am a person too!

The Almond Joy candy bar was originally made by Peter Paul candy which was bought out by Hershey in the late 1970’s. It is the cousin of the Mounds bar the difference being the dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate and the 2 almonds found in the Almond Joy.  It was introduced in 1946 and the Mounds bar in 1920.  The two candies are usually linked together in advertising with the 1970’s era slogan of “sometimes you feel like a nut and sometimes you don’t” continuing to this day.  The Almond Joy is a wonderful candy bar.  It is not my favorite but I have a very positive feeling about it.  Since I don’t have it very often I would probably choose it if given a choice between several of the famous names like Reese’s Peanut butter Cup, Snickers or Butterfinger.

Now that I have given you a brief history of the 2 candy bars and my opinion of it, let me begin grinding my axe.  Today, it finally occurred to me that this candy bar, the Almond Joy, is quite frankly poorly named.  It is not the Almond that should get top billing but the coconut.  I understand that the reason the Almond is emphasized is to differentiate itself from the Mounds bar but why not call it the Almound?  At least that would be a neat play on words and relate it to its older cousin.  I am outraged by the total and complete snubbing that the coconut gets from the maker of this wonderful snack. 

Have a great week and hug a coconut next time you see one, it probably wouldn’t mind the attention.

September 10th In History

Yummy

Every once in a while I need help with a blog topic.  One of the ways I solve that problem is by looking at this date in history.  Today is one of those days.  Perhaps someday in this day in history it will say I wrote a blog about this day in history.   I have listed a few items below but you can see the complete list here.

A few comments about the list.  Bud Selig is still the commissioner of baseball, I dislike the Yankees and it appears Swanson created the first “TV dinner” in plenty of time for enjoying the long run Gunsmoke had on CBS. 

1997  Discovery buys Travel Channel for $20 million 

1997  Mark McGwire joins Babe as the only two players to hit 50 home runs in 2 consecutive years 

1995  115th U.S. Men’s Tennis: Pete Sampras beats Andre Agassi (6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5) 

1992  Bud Selig becomes interim commissioner of baseball 

1990  19 year old Pete Sampras beats Andre Agassi to win U.S. Open 

1990  1st time in New York Yankee history they are completely swept season series, Oakland A’s beat them 12 games to 0 

1989  East Germans begin their flight to west (via Hungary and Czechoslovakia) 

1984  Discovery returns to Kennedy Space Center via Altus AFB, Oklahoma 

1977  Blue Jays beat Yankees 19-3 with 20 hits 

1972  20th Olympic games close at Munich, West Germany 

1967  Gibraltar votes 12,138 to 44 to remain British and not Spanish 

1961  U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. 

1956  WSYE (now WETM) TV channel 18 in Elmira-Corning, New York (NBC) 1st broadcast 

1955  “Gunsmoke” premieres on CBS TV 

1953  Swanson sells it’s 1st “TV dinner” 

1939  Canada declares war on Germany 

1926  Germany joins League of Nations 

1919  Indian’s Ray Caldwell no-hits Yankees 3-0 

1913  Lincoln Highway opens as 1st paved coast-to-coast highway 

1910  Great Idaho Fire destroys 3 million acres of timber 

1899  2nd quake in 7 days (8.6) hits Yakutat Bay Alaska 

1872  Karl Marx speaks in Amsterdam 

1847  1st theater opens in Hawaii 

1845  King Willem II opens Amsterdam Stock exchange 

1823  Simon Bolivar named president of Peru 

1785  Prussia signs trade agreement with US 

1776  George Washington asks for a spy volunteer, Nathan Hale volunteers 

1608  John Smith elected president of Jamestown colony council, Virginia 

1547  Battle at Pinkie, Midlothian: English beat the Scots 

Have a great week and if you are too busy to cook you can always heat up a “TV dinner” in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.  If you don’t have that much time, you can put a lean cuisine in the microwave for 4 minutes and enjoy.

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

Numbers

If you gave me a penny on the first of the month, would you agree to double the amount you give me every day until the end of the month?  I hope so, because if you did I would be rich.  See below.

Numbers

I know it is just mathematics but I find that example amazing.  Sure, go ahead and make nerd jokes I deserve it.

If you invested $502.14 every month (not an insurmountable sum) at a 6% rate of return beginning when you were 20 you would have 1 million dollars when you were 60.  This is an amazing fact to me and shows the value of slow but steady saving and the power of compound interest.  You would have deposited $241,027.20 and the $758,972.80 difference would be your 6% return on investment after compounding.

The rule of 72’s is also interesting.  Based on that rule, a dollar invested at 6% interest will double in 12 years.  Looking at it another way a dollar in 12 years will be worth half its original value with 6% inflation.  Click here to read more.

 There is another interesting number-related item that I would like to share with you before I end today’s blog.  Does it make sense to you that there is about a 60.2% chance that any naturally occurring number has a first digit of 1,2 or 3?  Most people would expect that the first number of a number (1 – 9) would occur in about the same amount or about 11.1% for each number.  That is not true.  What I mean by a naturally occurring number is that it is not created or assigned like telephone numbers or social security numbers.  Also, these naturally occurring numbers can’t have an upper or lower limit or some other restriction.  An example is if you looked at all numbers  for interstate speeding ticket speeds it would probably have a high concentration of first numbers in the 7’s or 8’s meaning tickets were written for going 70 – 80 something miles per hour.  

Naturally occurring numbers are found in financial data (the world I live in) in the form of vendor or customer invoice amounts, amounts due from or to a vendor or customer and sales volume etc.  Read about expected digital frequencies, an interesting discovery explained by Benford’s law in a Journal of Accountancy article by Mark Nigrini.  It is useful in fraud detection and for identifying errors, irregularities or manipulation of data among other things.

Have a great week pondering numbers and what they mean.  I know I will.

It Happened 30 Years Ago This Summer

CD Player

 What were you doing in the summer of 1982?  Here are few things that I found on Wikipedia.  See the entire list by clicking here.  Of course I will start a little early by using the Cal Ripken item from May 30^th.  That is too historically significant to leave off the list.

• May 30 – Cal Ripken, Jr. plays the first of what eventually becomes his record-breaking streak of 2,632 consecutive Major League Baseball games.
• June 12 – A rally against nuclear weapons draws 750,000 to New York City’s Central Park. Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and Linda Ronstadt attend.
• June 14 – The Falklands War ends: Formal surrender of Argentine forces, and liberation of the Falkland Islanders.
• June 21 – Prince William is born at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, West London.
• June 30 – The Equal Rights Amendment falls short of the 38 states needed to pass.
• July 2 – Larry Walters, a.k.a. Lawn Chair Larry, flies 16,000 feet (4,900 m) above Long Beach, California in a lawn chair with weather balloons attached.
• July 9 – Intruder Michael Fagan visits Elizabeth II in her bedroom for a chat.
• July 11 – Italy beats West Germany 3–1 to win the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain.
• July 12 – Checker Motors Corporation ceases production of automobiles.
• August 12 – Mexico announces it is unable to pay its large foreign debt, triggering a debt crisis that quickly spread throughout Latin America.
• August 13 – In Hong Kong, health warnings on cigarette packets are made statutory.
• August 17 – The first compact discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany.

These 4 songs were stayed at number one in the charts throughout the summer starting with:

1. Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder – Ebony and Ivory
2. Human League – Don’t You Want Me
3. Survivor – Eye of the Tiger
4. Steve Miller Band – Abracadabra

Have a great week, and guys get your Members Only jackets out of moth balls and ladies get your leg warmers ready for a workout.

My 10 Watershed Events Of The Last 20 Years (1992-2012)

1992-2012

(In chronological order)

1)      1992 — Sid Bream (if you are a Pittsburgh Pirates fan you know what I mean)

2)      1994 — Buying my first house

3)      1999 — My wedding day

4)      2000 — Y2K

5)      2000 — Moving to the snow belt

6)      2001 — 9/11/01

7)      2003 — Northeast power outage of 2003 (8/13/2003)

8)      2006 — Starting Paceline Business Consulting, LLC

9)      2008 – The great recession

10)  2011 — Moving to Georgia (out of the snow belt)

These are the first 10 things that came to mind and some of them are really not that important but have left a lasting impression for one reason or another.  Y2K was really a dud as far as the event itself but the months leading up to it and the turning of a century was still significant.  Some events like my wedding day will last forever as well as the starting of my business.  The great recession is also leaving a big impact as it is now approaching 4 years later and unfortunately we are far from out of it.  Items 1, 2 and 7 were big for the day and left lasting memories but did not change my life all that much.  Items 5 and 10 are similar and have and will leave many memories as they affected my life every day in both good and bad ways.  Item 6, September 11, 2001 is my “John Kennedy” moment.  I suppose it also is for any one older than about 17 or 18 and younger than 53 or 54.  That is a large segment of our population that has the same “moment” that they can recall what they were doing when…

I know I left some items out like Hurricane Katrina and other disasters but I kept my list to things that affected me personally.  I am sure some of you may have a few items that are the same as mine.  What are your other watershed events in your life?  I would be happy to hear from you.  Have a great week.

Questions That Need Answers

So many questions, so few answers…

• Why did you hate to sit still when you were young and took every chance you had to run around non-stop and now the reverse is true?
• Why are things which are considered undesirable called cheesy yet companies advertise cheesy breadsticks and cheesy cheddar burgers etc? 
• Why are traffic lanes with a left, green arrow a red arrow the entire time that the light in the other lanes remain green?  Do the people in charge think I can’t judge if I can make a left across traffic?  Many times that arrow is red but no traffic is coming towards me.  Can someone explain that?
• Why is pork (sausage, bacon and ham) so overwhelmingly popular for breakfast?  Did the beef and chicken industry drop the ball?
• Is this a rhetorical question?
• If you stick your hand in the dirt it is said to get dirty.  Does the dirt get “handy”?
• Is it good advice from your Doctor if you ask him what to do if it hurts when you walk and he says “limp”.
• If lemonade is made from lemons, why isn’t Gatorade made from Alligators?
• If 3M made millions from post it notes which were nothing more than glue not working very well why didn’t GM have success with the Chevy Vega – it didn’t work very well either?
• If a dog is man’s best friend, does he need to get better friends?  I mean the dog.
• When I was younger, the express lane in the grocery store was 8 items or less and it is now sometimes 15 or 20.  Is this the result of inflation?
• Do they call it “weather” because it doesn’t matter whether it rains or shines you can’t do anything about it?
• If your wife catches you checking out another woman is it a good idea to tell her you were using your hindsight?
• Why is the other side of the pillow so cool?
• If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it why do I inevitably get stuck in the slowest line at the bank?
• Is it true that recently released Colorado Rockies Pitcher Jamie Moyer is so old (nearly 50) that when he started pitching he wore “young” spice aftershave?

Have a great week pondering these questions.  I will be happy to hear your answers.

April 23rd In History

New Coke, better than Old Coke

The last time I wrote about a day in history it was January 24, 1935 and it was the day that beer first became available in a can.  Read about that big day here.  Today in history, another big beverage day occurred-“New” Coke was launched.  I have highlighted some of the events below.  To read the full list click here.

• 2011  In England, the guest list for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is released 
• 1997  “Titanic,” opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater New York City 
• 1996  Sotherby begins 4 day auction of Jackie Onassis things nets $34.5 million 
• 1992  McDonald’s opens its 1st fast-food restaurant in China 
• 1991  U.S.S.R. grants republics right to secede under certain conditions 
• 1989  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays his last game as a Laker 
• 1989  Nolan Ryan blows a no hitter in 9th inning 
• 1985  Coca-Cola announced it is changing its secret flavor formula 
• 1984  AIDS-virus identified, acquired immune deficiency syndrome 
• 1978  Reds Joe Morgan ends record streak of 91 cons errorless games at 2nd 
• 1972  Apollo 16 astronauts explores Moon surface 
• 1969  Los Angeles Laker Jerry West scores 53 points 
• 1962  1st U.S. satellite to reach the moon launched 
• 1958  Gil Hodges hits his 300th home run and Pee Wee Reese plays in 2,000th game 
• 1956  U.S. Supreme Court ends race segregation on buses 
• 1954  Hammerin’ Hank Aaron hits 1st of his 755 homers 
• 1950  4th NBA Championship: Minnesota Lakers beat Syracuse Nationals, 4 games to 2 
• 1939  Boston Red Sox Ted Williams hits his 1st home run 
• 1900  1st know occurrence of word “hillbillie” (New York Journal) 
• 1896  Vitascope system of movie projection 1st demonstrated (New York City) 
• 1881  Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera “Patience” produced in London 
• 1867  Queen Victoria and Napoleon III turn down plans for a channel tunnel 
• 1851  Canada issues its 1st postage stamps 
• 1789  President-elect George Washington moves into Franklin House, New York 

 Granted my list is heavily loaded with sports trivia but I find it interesting that Ted Williams and Hank Aaron both hit the first home run of their respective major league careers on April 23^rd though 15 years apart.  Ted Williams was arguably the best hitter in baseball and Hank Aaron is the Home run king*.  Between them they hit 1,276 home runs.  That’s a lot of dingers!

Despite many historically significant happenings on the list, I think the most notable is the change to the secret formula of coca-cola.  If not the launch of “New Coke” as most historically significant then the first known use of the word hillbillie gets my vote.

Have a great week armed with lots of valuable information from the events occurring on April 23^rd in history.

*Reportedly someone else hit more home runs but I prefer to not acknowledge that cheating cheater in my baseball world.

Song Title Contradictions

Dazed and confused

Let me begin this week by saying I really enjoy writing these non-business blogs.  It gives me an opportunity to be creative which I can’t do as an accountant.  No one likes an overly creative accountant – they usually end up in jail.

Today’s topic: Songwriters and their contradictory song titles.  Perhaps the songs in their full context aren’t contradictory but their titles sure are.  The idea for this came as I was sitting at my computer trying to figure out what to write and Carole King’s song It’s Too Late came on and for some reason Will You Love Me Tomorrow? came to mind and it is struck me that it was a bit contradictory.

Carole King

From her early career she wrote: Will you love me tomorrow?  Then had a hit mid-career with It’s too late.    I guess she answered her question.

Crosby Stills and Nash

Dark Star from about 1977 then Daylight Again from the early 80’s.  What happened to the Dark Star?  Did it become bright and hence it was Daylight Again?

The Beatles

They wrote Happiness is a Warm Gun and All You Need is Love there is a contradiction in those titles in my opinion.

Bob Dylan

He wrote: I Want You and It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue  That certainly sends a mixed signal.

Chicago

They wrote: If You Leave Me Now and Wishing You Were Here  and also Call On Me Something tells me that relationship was bound to fail and they saw it coming but still longed for their old companion and then they were getting desperate asking for a phone call.

Creedence Clearwater Revival

They wrote Who’ll Stop The Rain? and Have you Ever Seen The Rain?  How can they go from wanting to stop the rain to asking if you have ever seen it?

The Eagles

Take It Easy seems the opposite of Take It To The Limit

The Police

So Lonely and Don’t Stand So Close To Me     Which one is it, do you want to be left alone or are you so lonely?

One thing I learned by writing this is I really have nothing new in my music collection.  Have a great week and take advantage of leap day.

Things I Want To Stay In 2011

Stay in 2011, please

In no particular order here is my list:

• My stupid mistakes, other people’s stupid mistakes – forgive and forget!
• The lousy economy
• The European sovereign debt crisis – but can our politicians take a look at what we are heading towards here in the good old USA?
• Billionaires and Millionaires fighting over how to spend their customer’s revenues – DO YOU HEAR ME NFL AND NBA?
• The NFL and the NBA
• 10 year $260 million dollar contracts
• Performance enhancing drugs, steroids and the cheating cheaters that use them
• Data plans for cell phones that cost $30 per month.  I thought the price of technology went down over time?
• Gutless politicians from both sides of the aisle
• Hurricanes, tornadoes and floods
• The BCS and NCAA hypocrisy
• Lack of leadership in all areas
• Hollywood movies.  How about making something that I want to watch that isn’t a sequel or a remake.
• $9 movie tickets
• Chocolate, without you I would not have a problem keeping the weight off
• “LOL”,” JK”, “UR”, “U” and any texting terminology creeping into non-texting use.

Many phrases such as:

• “The New Normal”
• “At the end of the day” – can we please stop using this? I was tired of it 7 years ago.
• “Really?”  This phrase apparently applies to anything but it has run its course.

Have a great week and say goodbye to the silly things of 2011.