In the New Yorker...

[Front-Ranger]

Okay, this is starting to make more sense, thanks. Maybe I put more emphasis on wage growth because I noticed rising prices more at restaurants and assumed it was because they were paying their staff more to attract them back to work. Rising gas prices didn't factor into the equation for me because I'm used to those prices being volatile. And they are influenced greatly by outside factors such as the Middle Eastern countries.

Prices have started to come down but of course the Biden Admin is still taking flack for them. You can get good prices for stuff but you have to work at it more. I bought a Halloween costume and had it shipped to me for $35 but later I found one at Goodwill for $2 that was better quality. Prices of books have risen but you can get them free from the library, and they don't charge late fees anymore. On my latest trip to get groceries, I noticed almost everything was on sale. Unless you insist on a T-bone steak, you can find good bargains. Convenience foods are still high...I assumed that was because of wages too.

There's a lot happening in retail. Some things, such as bicycles, surged in demand during and after the pandemic and now cycling shops are sitting on a lot of inventory they can't sell. The bottom has fallen out of the marijuana market and crops haven't even been harvested. It will be interesting to see how this holiday season shapes up.

[Front-Ranger]

One more thing...I think large numbers of people left the workforce during and after the pandemic. Some went back to school, some took early retirement, some started their own businesses. Many were women who couldn't afford to pay for child care (during the pandemic, child care wasn't available at any price). I've heard of people paying several thousand a month for child care. You'd have to be a billionaire to have several children and still work.

Some young people moved back in with their parents. Many lost their ambition or drive. The article says, "According to a Pew Research Center survey, 92 percent of Americans say that financial stability is more important than upward mobility." In my career, there were a few people who dropped out but most were bought-in to the system, thinking that if they just worked hard enough and long enough, they would succeed and climb the corporate ladder. But for all but a few, that is a myth.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I guess I can skip anything that has to do with the election. 

[Front-Ranger]

In the post-election coverage, I liked George Saunders's "thought exercises" best. Jill LePore's piece was good too.

[Jeff Wrangler]

In the post-election coverage, I liked George Saunders's "thought exercises" best. Jill LePore's piece was good too.

I'm reading that now.

[serious crayons]

I guess I can skip anything that has to do with the election. 

I know, isn't that great? I can close a bunch of open tabs on my laptop and go through my stack of New Yorkers tossing evrything outdated. I also love going through my stack of New Yorkers after a new administration starts because I figure I can toss anything from the previous administration.

So there's at least one (tiny) silver lining.

[Jeff Wrangler]

In the post-election coverage, I liked George Saunders's "thought exercises" best. Jill LePore's piece was good too.

I enjoyed the article on Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, too.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I enjoyed the Nov. 11 article about shipwrecks and treasure hunting.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Tell you what, sometimes I wish they would be a little more forthcoming in the TOC. There is a good example of what I mean in the TOC of the November 25 issue. Under the Books heading there is a title "'The Icon and the Idealist,' by Stephanie Gorton." Nothing there would tempt me to read that article. I turned to it only because it's by Margaret Talbot, and I usually read her. Turns out the book is about Margaret Sanger and another woman I'd never heard of who fought to make contraception available in the U.S. I haven't read the article yet, but it looks like it might be interesting.

[Front-Ranger]

I usually don't read the ToC. I just plow right into the issue and read it from front to back. If I'm pressed for time, I might look at the ToC, but usually it's after I've read the whole issue and I want to go back and refer to something again. I briefly glanced at the Sanger article but skipped over it to get to the critics pages where I usually find at least one interesting article.

The one about the destruction of Gaza and its people was so upsetting I had to put it down and go through my home looking for something calming and hopeful. I found it: my sewing machine draped with a handful of Christmas stockings in various stages of creation.