It seems, I've recently read, that gadget makers can find a thief  but have basically opted not to do anything to help apprehend said thief.

Interesting.

I remember, years ago, I had foolishly thrown away check books without shredding them into a billion pieces. I had thought, silly me, that since the account had been canceled years before, indeed, the bank no longer even existed, there would be no issue.

Wrong.

When I started receiving requests for warranty information on the TV, Washing Machine, Sonic Jet and other assorted items I had apparently purchased, I learned what had happened. Apparently, it is quite easy to fake an ID and write a check.  A police report, an affidavit and an enormous amount of time and energy later, the issues were resolved. 

I suspect I wouldn't be quite so sanguine knowing that my kindle, if I ever get around to buying a kindle, perhaps someday, better late than never I would be pretty pissed if it was stolen and Amazon knew who stole it, as they were ordering downloads of books, and Amazon didn't do squat about that. After all, I guess, from there point of view, a sale is a sale is a sale.

But since the buying of a kindle is probably years off for me,  I imagine that the how to deal with the gadget stealing issues will be long resolved.

By then, of course, the newest incarnation of gadget will replace it. No doubt, it will be a chip, implanted in your head which will enable you to receive all sorts of information.

Losing one's head will take on new meaning.

Why I might be on TV Guides email list, I have no idea, but there it was…in my in-box…the Fall Line Up, for me to, no doubt, get busy setting my DVR (which I actually can do) to record all the various and assorted new programs.

Not.

I get the correlation between programming and advertising dollars. Get more viewers, advertisers pay more for the air time. Easy. Create programming for the lowest common denominator, I don't get. The lowest common denominator, by the way, are people 18-49.

Boomers, it seems, don't make that cut. 

According to an article that I read  Baby Boomers upset TV isn't all about them. Advertisers will pay a premium for young viewers: $335 for every thousand people in the 18-24 age range that a network delivers. Viewers aged 55-64 are worth only $119 for every thousand.

Yikes.

After all those years of watching L'Oreal commercials, telling me how to cover my grey,  I actually believed "Because I'm Worth It" I was worth it.  Apparently, that's not the case.

But back to the fall lineup.

Since it seems clear that the programmers don't think that anyone over 50 has memories they can change the name, a few characters, and bring back programs that were on the air 20-30 years ago. Do you remember the Beverly HiIlbillies, or Green Acres?  It's back. This time it is called Hank.

In the meantime, based on what is scheduled for the fall,  I can live out my wildest fantasies. If I want to be the next model, apprentice, cook, idol, designer, treasure hunter, survivor, millionaire, made over, do over I have SO much to choose from.

Shoot me.

Being cowed by the one you are investigating, and therefore missing all the red flags was "a failure that we continue to regret" said the chairwomen of the agency, Mary L. Schapiro. Indeed, one of the staff lawyers received the highest performance rating from the S.E.C., for her "ability to understand and analyze the complex issues of the Madoff investigation." And lastly, the THEN chairman Christopher Cox said "he was gravely concerned" over the regulatory ineptitude.

But not to worry. I understand that some of those very employees of the S.E.C. have their resumes out for new employment.

Cheney is looking at the "unnamed staff lawyer" to represent him in the ongoing investigation of the CIA abuses that he condoned in the "war against terrorism."

The "investigators" are being seriously considered as very viable candidates at FEMA. They will be responsible for the analysis and recommendations vis a vis Hurricane and Earthquake calamities.

Lastly, the S.E.C. is receiving a steady stream of new applicants.These resumes will be reviewed by a committee. Who is heading up this committee is still being decided. I understand those under consideration are George W, The Three Stooges, and the team that recommended Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate.

What's that line, keep your friends close but your enemies closer?

Well it seems to me that little ditty doesn't stop anyone, friends or enemies, from exposing all sorts of deep and dark secrets, and cashing in, to boot. Think "Mommy Dearest." Hmmm, probably most celebrities' children have written something pretty trashy. The children of famous authors seems to breed scandalous information about what their growing up years in the household of …………. Pulitzer prize winner, notwithstanding.

And why do I take such incredible interest in knowing the trials and tribulations of others?
Don't know, but I do. Clearly, doesn't take much for a tad bit of gossip to engage me.

I seem drawn to the book editorials that titillate me with bits and pieces of the family scandals, drug addictions, infidelities, that the "tell all" author is revealing. I don't actually buy the book, or care to. I am, apparently, sated with just the bit of the behind closed door comments.

So, to that end, it is clear that living an anonymous life has its upsides. If the life we lead is fraught with failures, disasters, scandals and the like,  it might be chronicled in a personal diary, a Tweet on Twitter, but won't ever make the best seller list.

And that's a good thing.

With a good proportion of the work force not working I wonder what they will be reflecting about this Labor Day.

Anyhow, of all the things I read about how Labor Day came about the inclusion line that it is the "kick off" time for NFL and college football seems to head the list for some of us. Not me, but some of us.

I, for one, having left the student days far behind (no buying of loose leaf notebooks for me; does anyone use loose leaf notebooks anymore?)  am an inactive member of the work force (everyday is a non Labor Day) and never quite got my, shit, it's Memorial Day bathing suit beach body under control, now that the summer is officially over I don't have to think about that until next year. Unless, of course, I see my way to another beach holiday sometime during the winter doldrums. But, since laboring away does finance that fantasy, that activity may be a stretch.

In the meantime I will spend Labor Day pondering about things like, why do people give their houses names, aren't their addresses enough? Walking around the neighborhood where I am staying now, every other house had a rather weather beaten piece of wood with words along the lines of  "sunset paradise" or "sunrise idyll" or "wedeservethis"…Hearing one set of neighbors, too often, I have often wondered why they don't remove their 'heaven" sign and replace it with "don't love you anymore" but "can't afford the divorce."

Happy Labor Day.