Three reasons why most of us shouldn’t worry about the global stock market meltdown

On Monday, the world’s stock markets continued to fall after suffering steep losses the previous week.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average, one of the most widely followed indexes, opened for trading by dropping more than 1,000 points in the first six minutes, or about 6.5%. This thousand-point drop was the largest intraday plunge in the index’s history. Continue reading

Why Are Martha’s Vineyard and Other Island Getaways So Expensive?

President Barack Obama is currently taking a two week vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, a small island off the coast of New England. My wife and I took a short vacation on the same island and left a few days before the President and his entourage landed. The island has lovely scenery, warm water and many quiet places to relax. The island also is very expensive. While I didn’t do a professional survey since I was on vacation it seemed that almost all prices I paid were about 50% higher than what exists 45 minutes away on the mainland. On the ferry back to the mainland I came up with three reasons why Martha’s Vineyard and other island getaways like Nantucket are so expensive. Continue reading

What do zombies, pandemics and the price of eggs have in common?

What would you do if a Zombie Apocalypse occurred? I recommend going to the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Zombie website for information. It is incredible (see it here). While the Zombie website is real, the CDC is not actually concerned about an outbreak of the undead walking around the country. Instead, it uses the website to help create awareness for what to do in pandemics and other emergencies. Continue reading