I do think it's ironic that Barbara Corcoran says making more than $500K is what allowed her to do IVF, in this ridiculous NYTimes piece: [link]

Samurai umbrella will not make you a real samurai

Well, this samurai umbrella is kind of neat. It's an umbrella, see, but it has the hilt of a samurai sword. You won't be able to slice and dice anybody with it, but you will be able to keep yourself dry when it rains. And I'd like to see a real samurai do that!

I think it's cool. Sure, it's just an umbrella, but watch everyone quake in fear... before you open the umbrella, anyway....

I know that top executives get a lot of their income from sources other than their salaries, so being capped at $500K shouldn't put them out on the street. I'm wondering how many companies are going to find ways around this - subsidize their execs' lifestyles without actually giving them that amount as salary. (cynical? moi?)

I had an addictive afternoon with geni.com - which is free. It's sort of like social networking plus genealogy. It doesn't have information, but lets you make trees and add a lot of info.

Also, if anybody wants subscription Ancestry documents, drop me a line - my work subscribes, and I think I can download pdfs and email them.

Also, if anybody wants subscription Ancestry documents, drop me a line - my work subscribes, and I think I can download pdfs and email them.

Ooo, I"ve had my eye on some census print outs. If I can get my computer at home fumigated properly, I'll see what I need.

A little bit of good news - Terrace Bagels have solved their rat problem and have reopened! I can haz weekend bagels!

Mmmmm...rat bagels....

Rats have rights too.

More bacon links

I just want to note that my housemate made the Bacon Explosion recipe for a Super Bowl party and I am eating the leftovers for lunch today. Mmmm, bacon.

What I find intriguing about all the hubbub over the enormous bonuses paid in 2008 is that, of the people I know in banking, all receive their bonuses in February/March, based on the previous year. So, while I think most executive pay is outrageous, it's not really fair to say that the bonuses they received in 2008 were based on substandard performance.

I'm leery of Ancestry.com's subscription services, because they tend to share out portions of your genealogy as part of their archive.

That really doesn't bother me much. Knowing that Joe Schmuckbait added part of a genealogy that I've researched and added it to his family tree is no big. I've done the reverse a number of times. It just means we're related in some way. Plus, any living members are left anonymous in the trees. All you know is that there may be some distant relations (second, third cousings, etc.) out there. Plus, you can designate your tree as private. Then the person has to contact you by e-mail if they really want to know anything. The big thing is being able to actually look at the census records and attach them to your tree., but that costs you. I finally had to quit paying for my subscription. Unemployment does that for you.