Before I talk about the things I'm pondering...

a warning.  Over the next few days/weeks, I will probably be posting two entries in the blog daily.  One will be about the ballot, especially the California propositions.  The other will be the usual things I'm pondering.  So if you aren't into the political stuff, just move forward or backward to the daily entry of pondering.  Now, things I'm pondering at this moment.

What's up with the City of Los Angeles stealing $56,000 in refunds owed to people who successfully challenged parking tickets they were issued?  I know they have budget problems and that some of the refunds are 5 or more years old.  But just hold onto the money.  They can stop searching for the people if they want.

Or better yet, give the money to the State Controller's Unclaimed Property fund.  People are much more likely to search out money there than they are to think "oh wait, I beat that parking ticket back in 2005, where's my damn refund?" 

How funny.  I wanted to give you the link to check for yourself if you had money being held by the State Controller and I found that I have four accounts there.  Sadly I didn't get rich.  The amount that I will have to fill out four forms and mail to collect are $3.75, $5.04, $4.00 and $1.55.  Still, it's better than a poke in the posterier with a sharp stick.  My brother has more than that waiting for him in one account, $13.34.  I'll have to let him know.

You can check for yourself at http://scoweb.sco.ca.gov/UCP/

Actually, doing this reminded me that there's some other monies held there that I can recover and split with my brother and sister, but I'm going to have to do some legwork to get the papers required for a successful claim.  Adding that to my to-do list.

Why do the people at Wendy's think tweaking the appearance of the girl in their logo will help make them a "higher end" burger chain? Do they think a better logo will help them compete against Five Guys Burgers, which has much better burgers and fries?  Improve the food, not the logo.

Will Paul Ryan let lose the zinger at tonight's Vice-Presidential debate and say "You're no Lloyd Bentsen"?

If you were going to be there, would you pimp yourself out for a 30 year commitment from Pizza Hut to supply you with one large pizza weekly in return for asking the question "sausage or pepperoni??  I suspect someone is going to do it.

If we don't count game shows, where did reality TV begin?  Was it really all the way back to Candid Camera, where people were unknowingly recorded doing things that would make the viewing audience laugh? 

Speaking of reality TV, what happened to the bevy of beautifuls who went from drab to fab on the Fox show "The Swan"?  Particularly the two Swan Pageant winners, whose lives were going to be dramatically altered.  Both seem to have disappeared after their victories, one of which cost her her eight year marriage.  Maybe beauty wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

I'm still wondering about this driverless car notion.  Would you get into a car that didn't have a driver, but you're supposed to sit behind the wheel prepared to take over on a second's notice that the computer system that drives the car has failed?  I don't think I would.

Why is it that the NHL team owners and the NHL players can't see that the real losers during their lockout are the fans, and the people who earn a good portion of their living from jobs that won't be there this year as more and more games get cancelled.  It would suck to rely on your part-time income from working at 40 some-odd hockey games each year and to lose it because two sets of wealthy people can not come to terms over how they divide up billions of dollars.

Lastly I'm pondering not doing my homework for tomorrow's class, because I find the subject of this chapter incredibly boring.  But I will do it at some point today.