The First Good Deed of 2008

Normally the first baby of the new year is celebrated in newspapers far and wide. But this item should supersede these types of headlines. Apparently a 47-year old food service worker who makes minimum wage and uses food stamps was walking down the street and picked up a piece of paper to write down a phone number. But instead, he found a $158,000 check. He quickly picked up the check and instead of cashing it, he found the rightful owner who gave him $50 for it. What would you do if you found a check of that amount (or any amount for that matter) ?

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5 Reasons Why You Should Bookmark Madconomist.com

There are not many blogs that exist in the blogosphere that deal exclusively with numbers, but when I came across Madconomist.com the other day, I was impressed to say the least. Madconomist deals with the humourous, serious, and strange events that occur in life that involve numbers. His posts are not limited to how large the number is.




He categorizes his posts well with five categories:

Statistics and Other Lies - Favorite post in this category is "The $1000 Bagel" about a bagel that was created to raise money for culinary arts students.

Crimeconomics - Favorite post in this category is "The Cambridge Man Steals 123 Parking Meters". Maybe the guy wanted to start a museum or something.

Odd Numbers- Favorite post in this category is "Russia Sold Toilet to U.S. for $19m". Can you imagine a toilet costing this much?

Crazy Money - Favorite post in this category is "Mailbox Hit By Meterorite Sells For $83K".

Wrong Numbers - Favorite post in this category is "Exxon Mobil Sends Man 2000 credit cards". Some people should consider themselves lucky to have such a good fortune.

I like the title of the blog too - I wonder how he came up with the name?

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Chicago: The City That Never Sleeps

According to a survey conducted by Prince Market Research with 2,000 respondents, my hometown of Chicago consumes the most coffee, chocolate, and colas on the average, followed by these cites:

• Tampa
• Miami
  
• Phoenix
• Atlanta

You kind of wonder people in these cities, need so much. Is the stress of life just that great that they find that they need a stimulant to get through the day? Go figure.

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Seven Reasons Why Your Wallet Will Weigh Less During The 2007 Holiday Shopping Season

The 2007 Holiday Shopping season is about to commence soon and the National Retail Federation is forecasting a brisk holiday season:

1. The average consumer will spend on the average $923.36 on holiday-related shopping.
2. The four segments of the retail format that will most likely benefit from increased activity are department stores, discount houses, grocery stores, and on-line shopping sites.
3. The average consumer will do 30.2% of their shopping on-line.
4. The average consumer will spend $469.19 on gifts for family, $90.13 on gifts for friends, $22.79 on gifts for co-workers, and $37.45 on gifts for people such as babysitters.
5. It is estimated that consumers will increase spending on flowers ($20.53), Christmas decorations ($49.76), candy ($94.69), and greeting cards ($32.21) over last year.
6. Gift cards are the most popular items requested, followed by books, CDs, DVDs, video and video games then consumer electronics, then housewares and furnishings.
7. What brings people into stores for the holiday season? Low Prices (12.8%), Sales and Price Discounts (38.2%), Merchandise Selection (22.6%), Product Quality (12.8%), and Location Proximity (6.3%).
   

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10 Halloween Facts for 2007 That May Scare You

Before you take your children trick-or-treating on the West Coast, there are some facts that you might find amusing about Halloween:

1. There are 100 million owner occupied housing units in the United States that are ripe for trick-or-treaters.
2. 36.1 million children in the U.S. actually go trick-or-treating.
3. The were 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns produced in the United States in 2005.
4. Total spending on Halloween items will reach 5 billion this year.
5. Total spending per person is estimated to be $64.82 in 2007.
   
6. 72.9% of all consumers plan to stay home and pass out candy, which is the most popular activity during Halloween.
7. Tips for parents on how to enjoy Halloween from Amazon.com.
8. 50 of the scariest movies of all time from the Boston Globe.
9. Top 10 Halloween books for children.
10. Top 10 scary creatures.
    

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