Friday Chit Chat

I just had a conversation at the park last night about how no one knows how to do anything anymore and also they don't care that they don't know.

ATF Lost Guns, Computers

Over a five-year period, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lost dozens of weapons and hundreds of laptops that contained sensitive information, according to a scathing report issued yesterday by the Justice Department.

From 2002 to 2007, ATF lost 418 laptop computers and 76 weapons, according to the report.

Two weapons were subsequently used to commit crimes. In one incident, a gun stolen from the home of a special agent was fired through the window of another home.

Ten firearms were "left in a public place." One of them was left on an airplane, three in bathrooms, one in a shopping cart and two on the top of cars as ATF employees drove away.

A laptop also fell off the top of a car as an agent drove off. Another weapon "fell into the water while an agent was fishing," according to the report.

How sad is that? Guns left in shopping carts, clean up on aisle 16.




Nickles

A truck carrying millions of nickels crashed into another truck on Interstate 95 in Florida, spilling about $185,000 in change onto the highway.

Investigators from the Florida Highway Patrol said one semi-truck rear-ended another, causing about 3 million nickels to pour onto the road.

The accident shut down I-95 for hours this morning, as crews worked to clear the highway and waited for the Secret Service to come and collect the money.

With today's economy, the nickles were being rushed from the U.S. mint which has been working overtime to produce enough nickles to give every citizen so they will have two nickles to rub together.

Speaking of the economy, the price of gas has gotten so high that gangs have started doing walk-by shootings.


You know the economy is bad when this happens:

99 Cents Only to close all 48 Texas stores

CITY OF COMMERCE, Calif. - Discount retailer 99 Cents Only Stores says it will leave the Texas market, closing 48 stores because operations are unprofitable.

If people are having trouble buying at the 99 cent store then you know we have issues.


Speaking of saving money:

If you are watching how you spend your money on food there are things you need to watch for.

Skippy peanut butter for starters.



While the Skippy jar remains the same height and diameter as it did when it contained a full 18 ounces of peanut butter, a deeper indentation on the bottom accounts for the loss of 1.7 ounces.

Meanwhile, the most significant change Jif has made to its packaging is on the label, where large type alerts consumers to the fact that this jar is still 18 ounces strong.

There is more you may have not noticed. Other slimmed-down packages include:

A box of Kellogg's Apple Jacks, down from 11 to 8.7 oz.

A can of Starkist tuna, shrunk from 6 to 5 oz.

A bottle of Tropicana orange juice, which sports a new snap cap that's supposed to make up for the fact that you're getting 7 oz. less liquid.

A "half-gallon" container of Breyers Ice Cream, which now holds 48 oz. instead of 64.

Time to check out all the labels.

That's a wrap for this week. Have a great weekend.