patrick.net

zzyzzx says

Dominos 12" pizza:

Now you know how women feel about the phrase "6 inches."

Somewhere in NY City:

DemocratsAreTotallyFucked says

Somewhere in NY City:

What is (and was) the starting hourly wage for the restaurant ? compare it to the Burger Deluxe price over the last 20 to 30 years

starting wage for Burger King on Thomas Drive in Panama City Beach is $15 per hour, and its about $11 total for a large Whopper Meal (large fries and large drink)

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Average starting wage was around $6.00 back in 1995 in Panama City Beach (and around $5 for minimum wage set in Florida)

So the whopper meal was only 50% of hourly starting wage. It is not the case now, as it is around 75% of starting wage.

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CPI reported today for month of August 2024

overall or headline CPI is 2.5%

core CPI (overall CPI minus food and gas) is 3.2%

nothing to be happy or too excited about as I think the Fed may just lower the Fed Funds rate this month from 5.5% to 5.25%

granted at CPI is trending down from 2022 levels when overall CPI reached above 8%

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may mean more bank fees and less interest paid , or they modernize and streamline their bank operations to not pass on the labor cost increase to the clients

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this will help to keep the CPI and PCE aggregate for restaurant food down

I usually order 2 of these and my wife gives me her burger since she just wants the drink , fries and McNuggets



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Amazon is introducing a grocery brand to compete with Walmart's Great Value brand

Its call Amazon Saver

Will see how good of a deal Amazon Saver is and what products it has to offer as far as keeping grocery inflation down

I'm excited there is going to be an Aldi opening by January 2025 near me ; gives me a welcome break from going to Walmart

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/amazon-offering-cheaper-grocery-brand-rival-target-walmart

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Whole foods bag got smaller:

Now less drink mix in each packet:

Another case where you open a new product, and they don't fill it up:

https://x.com/DefiyantlyFree/status/1837869845117128820

zzyzzx says

Thing about melatonin is that even the smaller bottle is a lifetime supply. A tiny nibble on one and I'll be way out.

Just squint at it to look at the publication date:

need more HVAC technicians, as a lot of the workforce has retired when then baby boomers started to retire in mass around 2011

this is one way to help increase supply of blue collar skilled workforce and help to reduce inflation (i.e., services aggregate of CPI)

we have Thomas Haney Technical College which is part of the local school district which graduates from HVAC technicians to licensed practical nurses (LPNs) which all are needed in the Florida panhandle
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https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/09/skills-based-hiring-degree-requirements/680044/

A more scalable model is the FastForward Program, which has funded career-oriented training for almost 45,000 learners in 23 community colleges across Virginia. As part of the program, the state community-college system has created career maps in fields such as manufacturing and health sciences, with a common curriculum that allows people to obtain advanced credentials that build on one another, or “stack,” and opens doors to better-paying jobs. An early evaluation of FastForward found that enrolled students who received an industry-recognized credential saw increased earnings of about $4,000 a year.

Congress could do something similar on a national scale by creating and funding a federal certification program for career pathways in fields with high job demand and good prospects for upward mobility, such as advanced manufacturing and cardiovascular technology.