--I COULD WATCH THE STARS COLLIDE AND NEVER BE SATISFIED

…I watched the election results eagerly.  It’s pretty clear we have different political and ideological beliefs, but I still find it disturbing to see our nation painted either red or blue, as if we’re either one hue or another, as if we’re just a color.  It seems symbolic, if not idiotic.  It smacks of divide, like The Civil War yet reduces us all down to simpletons.

There were over 1 billion political ads that ran. 
$6 billion dollars were spent on the campaigns.
And now it’s all over and after having felt a little anticlimactic.

…Here are some things I learned this week:

-Kobe Bryant will make $27,849,000 this year, not including endorsements

-Two-thirds of all American adults are overweight or obese

-Former President we would most enjoy a burger with:

Clinton -22%
Lincoln -15%
Reagan -14%
Kennedy -14%

-If you saw a family struggling to cross illegally from Mexico to the US, what do you think you'd do?

41% -Report them
30% -Look the other way
18% -Help them

-How often do you wash your hands after using a public restroom?

70% -Always
29% -Sometimes
1% -Never

-Full-time workers' typical weekday (hours: minutes):

9:12 -Work
7:36 -Sleep
3:24 -Other
2:54 -Leisure, sports
:54 -Household work

-What would you give up to have your child's education paid for?

54% -Cable TV
45% -Babysitters
42% -All my vacation days
27% -My cellphone
22% -Visits to the dentist

-Number of electronic cigarette sales in the US

2008 -50,000
2009 -150,000
2010 -750,000
2011 -2.5 Million
2012 -3.5 Million