Illegal?

As my husband pulled this bill out of his wallet recently, he noticed the "In SCIENCE we trust" stamp and showed it to me. I always thought it was illegal to deface American money, but he disagreed. Of course, I had to look it up. Title 18, Section 333, of the Unites States Code states: "It is unlawful to mutilate, cut, deface, disfigure, perforate, or otherwise damage drafts, notes, or other evidence of debt that has been issued by a national banking association with the intent to render the bill, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued." 

So, as long as the intent isn't to make the bills unusable, stamping messages on U.S. money is perfectly legal. Looking at the list of no-nos (mutilate, cut, deface, disfigure, perforate, and otherwise damage) it makes me wonder - just how much disfigurement would it take to make a bill no longer fit to be reused? Not that I'm going to try, however. If a person is found guilty of this crime, the punishment is a fine and up to six month in jail, though proving you had intent might be tricky.

Um...

While I was waiting for my friend to purchase some fishing supplies the other day, I noticed this little gem for sale. I'm sure it serves an incredibly important fishing purpose, but it didn't get any better when I read the packaging...

I Wonder...

Just how much sugar does it take to make a pound of Mackinac Island fudge? (There's 500 pounds (about 225 kg) of it in that picture, and they get deliveries twice a week.)

Found

When I was wandering down on the shore the other day, I discovered this little guy guarding the beach. He was tucked behind some bushes and not visible from the street, so I was surprised to find him. Sadly, he's probably just a pile of mush now - it's been in the high thirties since Saturday. 

More Ponderings

Are there ever things in your life that bother you, but don't seem to bother anyone else? I mean something that reaches out and grabs your attention while other people barely even notice? This happened to me recently and it got me wondering if other people ever have similar experiences. 

My son loved playing with Lego, and me being the hoarder I am, I couldn't bear to part with the giant tub of Lego we have in the basement. (You know - grandchildren.) Not too long ago, we hauled the tub up from the basement for some visiting kids to play with, and I noticed something:

My son had taken all the little people apart! Almost none of the Minifigs (as they are officially called) were complete; their heads, hair, torsos, legs, and arms were scattered throughout the tub. And it drove me crazy. And not a little crazy - it really bothered me knowing all the Minifigs were incomplete. Like, I couldn't fathom putting the Legos away without making sure the people were all in one piece!

So while the visitors were building, I sorted. And I sorted and sorted some more! I made sure to find each and every little piece (and those hands are tiny.) This week I finally had a few extra hours so I started by making piles: heads, hands, torsos, legs, hats and hair; and then I did my best to reconstruct them. They're not all perfect - I'm sure I mixed up quite a few of the pieces, but that little itch gnawing at the back of my head was gone because the Minifigs were whole again!

It didn't bother my kids or my husband in the slightest; they weren't even mildly irritated by the sorry state of the poor little Minifigs - but it drove me bonkers! So I wonder if it bothering me so much that I needed to put them back together is, well, just a tiny bit odd. Or even, quite a bit odd. 

If it is, tell me - I won't be offended, I am asking after all.

Late

My Christmas cactus is late this year. It's in the same spot it's always been, but for some reason it's just starting to get buds. I'll have to do some research; perhaps it's time to repot or prune.

Nerdy Ponderings

If you've been here for a while, you are probably well aware that I am a complete and total nerd. While I was waiting for the boat the other day, I noticed the new decor in the waiting room.

Two very nice photographs of old Arnold Transit schedules are now hanging on the wall; one including a price. The 1972 schedule doesn't have a price, but the other schedule does - $1.50 for a round trip under the bridge. Then the current price flashed up on the screen - $44.00 for an adult. 

It got me wondering... How does that price increase compare to inflation?

To do that I had to make an assumption as to the year of that schedule. To give Arnold Transit the benefit of the doubt, I assumed it was pre 1972, so I guessed 1970 (a nice round number.) According to this inflation calculator, $1.50 in 1970 would be worth about $12.50 in 2024. So, if the price had gone up the same percentage as inflation, the ticket price should be about $12.50, but instead it costs $44.00. That means the price of a ferry ticket has increased about three and a half times the rate of inflation. Or, to put it another way the price of a ferry ticket has changed 2,833%. (You read that right - two thousand, eight hundred thirty-three precent.) I used the percent of change formula to calculate that, in case you're wondering.

My next question was - why? What could account for an almost 3,000% increase?

Gas prices? Wages? Well...

According to Google's AI, diesel fuel cost $0.36 per gallon in 1970. Today, that same gallon of diesel runs about $3.50 a gallon -  an 872% change in price.

Also according to Google's AI, the minimum wage in Michigan was $1.45 in 1970. It was $10.33 in January of 2024 - a 612% change in price.

Now I need more data!

Please don't get me wrong - I in no way am putting down Arnold Line or suggesting inappropriate pricing practices. I really do appreciate them and their employees! I'm just a nerd who got to thinking, and that can be a dangerous thing. 

Scary

Mackinac Island has a very active LGBTQ+ advocacy group, aptly named Straits Pride. This group, in addition to providing activities for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, provides support to queer identifying folks in the Straits of Mackinac region of Michigan. Straits Pride is made up of good people who volunteer their time for a cause they believe in. 

On Saturday they hosted a Drag Bingo event at the Mackinac Island Community Hall. (Unfamiliar with Drag Bingo? It's simple: it's bingo called by a drag queen  for entertainment.) Our Bingo-Calling-Queen, Ester Flonaze, is a sassy Italian grandma, and she's a hoot.  Anyway... 

Straits Pride was hosting a bingo at the Mackinac Island Community Hall, until the building (and several blocks in each direction) had to evacuate due to a bomb threat. Yeah, you read that right - a bomb threat on Mackinac Island. Someone decided that the best way to share their feelings about drag, Straits Pride, LGBTQ+ people, or bingo, was to threaten to blow up the building. (And to be honest, I'm making an assumption here. I don't know how the threat came in, how it was worded, etc. Perhaps it was against the City of Mackinac Island, but I doubt it - it would have to be one hell of a coincidence that a drag bingo just happened to be going on at that time.)

When the person made the threat did they think about what would happen?  Sure, it disrupted bingo,  but it also impacted numerous vacations, and inconvenienced quite a few island employees who couldn't go home to eat dinner or sleep. Some of those people are just fine; others were traumatized. He, and again I'm making an assumption here, hurt a whole lot more people than the queer folks playing bingo. 

You may disagree with the word "traumatized," because it wasn't a credible threat, but during the evacuation,  we didn't know that. The police couldn't just say, "Oh yeah, it was probably just some whack-job out to get the gays. No worries; everyone go back to your hotel rooms, it'll be fine." They had to take it seriously until the bomb-sniffing dog could be brought over from the mainland and conform the building was safe to reenter. And, taking it seriously meant that all of Mackinac's first responders were called in to work. All of them. 

I left bingo and walked home in a fog. A bomb threat? On Mackinac? Really? 

On Sunday I couldn't concentrate. I flitted about from one thing to another, not finishing anything and feeling generally "off." I couldn't focus long enough to sew, or read, or watch TV, or clean; and anyone who knows me knows that is very out of character. Monday morning it finally dawned on me that I was really upset and struggling to process what had happened. I'm fine now, but it took a couple of days. (This experience has given me a new-found respect for people who go through significant traumatic events in their life.)

I'm still left to wonder what was this person's end goal? Because if they think Straits Pride will shrink into the background, they're sadly mistaken. This was SP's response:

I hope they catch the guy who did this; which, let's be honest, they probably won't. I wonder how he would feel if a threat was sent in against an event his wife or children we involved with. Too bad we just all can't follow Matthew 7:12 - "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you..." 

It sounds so simple...

A Lilac a Day, Day Eighteen

As I walked to town the other day I managed to catch one of the cruise ships stopping to visit the Island. Several ships pass through, multiple times, throughout the summer. It makes me wonder what it's like for those folks to see Mackinac for the first time...

I May Have a Problem

I see Mackinac Island everywhere.

I've seen it on the dray, on on the street, 

and now I'm seeing it in my dinner.

What would Freud say?

Do I have a problem?

MackinaW?

I was in Petoskey shopping the other day, and I noticed this sign.  Was the sign shop out of lower case Ws? Did the sign maker really want folks to focus in on the correct spelling of Mackinaw City? Or, is it just a typo? The world may never know...

Nope

Soylent Blue and Soylent Black might be OK, but there's no way they'll get me to try Soylent Green, even if it is mint flavored. 

I would love to talk to their marketing department to find out just what they were thinking. 

Can't Put My Finger On It

The face my bread dough reminds me of something, but I just can't quite put my finger on it. Tell me, what do you see when you stare into the eyes of my dough?

Caught My Eye

As I was walking to the post office after school one day this week, turquoise caught my eye. It's not a color usually seen on Mackinac's shores. Upon closer investigation I discovered it was a piece of line, probably lost from one of the ferries. It was a lovely pop of color on an otherwise dreary day.

Unbelievable

A few nights ago my family and I were hanging out in the living room when we heard an odd noise. It sounded like someone had dropped something upstairs. Since we were all together in the living room, I went upstairs to investigate. I looked all over but couldn't find the cause of the noise.

Until I got up the next morning and was getting ready; that's when I noticed how sticky things were in the bathroom closet. After a little investigating, I found what had made the mystery noise the night before. Somehow my metal container of hairspray exploded.

I'm glad I wasn't holding it when it exploded because the torn metal edges were really sharp. Luckily the mess was contained to one shelf in the closet, but it took quite a while to wash down every item on the shelf, as well as the walls and the shelf itself - it was all a sticky mess.

Now I'm just really curious about what made the metal fail like that...

Quick Question

Just a quick question: Is it ever ok to text while driving? Or, is it just an issue while driving a motorized vehicle? Asking for a friend.

I Wonder

On my walk to work this morning, I noticed something odd. These battery powered, red lights lined part of Cadotte Avenue; starting just downhill from Grand Hotel and marking  one side of the road. So far, no one I've asked seems to have any idea what they were for. Any thoughts?