Category: Uncategorized

I didn’t read all the suggestions for location, but it seems clear that there could be more than one great place to put Cheapatopia. For example, some people might enjoy desert living, where the inexpensive land and plentiful solar power are a good combination. Others might prefer to live in…

Engineers and techies are often misunderstood. They come off as looking cheap when in fact they are optimizers. It is their nature to solve any puzzle that is presented, and the persistent puzzle of life involves getting the most resources while expending the least. I have a bit of that…

If you have stairs in your home, you probably do what I do, namely leave little piles of crap at the bottom of the stairs that needs to go upstairs on your next trip. I hate those little piles. But I hate making trips upstairs for trivial reasons too. In…

If you’re wondering where the next economic boom will come from, I think it will involve a central computer for your home that handles all of your entertainment, home controller, and computing needs. Before you rush to tell me “That already exists,” and then provide links to things that only…

I was reading a debate on healthcare in the recent Newsweek. The prominent Democrat supported some sort of national healthcare while the prominent Republican supported more of a free market approach. Most people will probably take sides based on their assumptions about government efficiency versus market efficiency. An old joke…

The other day I was in a restaurant and saw a sign advertising “Sliders Fridays.” From what I gathered, they offered a deep discount on tiny hamburgers, called sliders, on Friday nights. The interesting thing about this discovery is that I own the restaurant and it’s the first I knew…

How bad is the economy? My wife and I have been shopping for a vehicle this week, out of necessity. I didn’t see another prospective buyer at the dealerships we visited. Not one. It was a hassle trying to test drive vehicles because the batteries were dead, and even the…

The other day I was looking out my office window and something unusual flashed by on the road. I didn’t get a good look at it but I could tell it wasn’t an ordinary car. I wanted a better look, just out of idle curiosity, so I did what anyone…

Our government is preparing to pass something called a stimulus package. According to the experts, this stimulus package won’t directly stimulate much of anything in the short term, when we need it. But with any luck it will bamboozle a hundred million morons into thinking their government did something useful,…

In my books God’s Debris and The Religion War I imagined a world where there is only “one Avatar at a time.” This Avatar, an old man who is the smartest human in the world, has only one duty: When the people of the world get attached to destructive ideas, as they tend to…

The other day I was at the Small Dog Park. It’s a fenced area where dogs under 20 pounds can frolic with each other. I was chatting with a friend, whose dog is named Indy, about a movie I just watched involving a dog named Marley. After my friend left,…

Recently I suggested that someday it might be illegal for untrained citizens to invest in stocks of individual companies because it is too risky. As regular readers know, I sometimes throw out provocative ideas just for the fun of it. I didn’t think much about that idea until after I…

In my capacity as cartoonist, I feel an obligation to simplify complicated discussions until two things happen simultaneously: 1. Absurdity is achieved. 2. The reader feels as if it all makes sense. My comic from Saturday illustrates that principle. According to Google Alerts that comic has been posted to more…

Some of you have heard this story, but I will reiterate to make a larger point. I had a mysterious voice problem that I accurately diagnosed using Google after several doctors were baffled. I woke up one day thinking my voice problem might be related in some way to my…

I don’t know about you, but I have totally stopped worrying about terrorist attacks. Now I’m only afraid of bankers with new ideas. I’m not joking about either point. Gas is a lot cheaper lately. That doesn’t help you much if you’re unemployed and can’t afford a car, but for…