I'm going through the ballot propositions on the ballot here in the 2024 general election. See part 1 of this series for a few links on how props work and my thoughts about Props 2 & 3; and part 2 of this series for Props 4, 5, and 6. Here are my thoughts on the next few.

Prop 32: Raise the Minimum Wage: Weak No.
Prop 32 is the first measure on ( Read more... )

On Sunday Hawk and I had a sad surprise. One of our favorite local casual restaurants, Rubio's, had closed. We found out as we walked up to the door, intending to enjoy lunch there, and saw a sign in the window that they had closed permanently.


( Read more... )

Right after I posted my almost-leaving-for-Mexico blog from the United Club Lounge yesterday morning I saw this little number: a robot busing dishes.

Click to view

The first thing that struck me was, "Yeah, this is the kind of thing that happens when we raise the minimum wage." I'm not anti-labor or anti-paying people living wages. It's just the reality of ( Read more... )

Starting today in California the minimum wage for fast food workers is $20/hour. No, that's not an April Fool's joke. It's a result of AB 1228, which the California legislature passed last year and Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law on September 28, 2023. The law took effect today, April 1, 2024 ( Read more... )

A few days ago I posted " Tipping is Getting Ridiculous", a blog entry about some of the recent excesses of the growing custom of tipping in the US. The thing is, tipping is not just getting ridiculous, it already is ridiculous ( Read more... )

I grabbed a quick lunch at McDonald's yesterday. In addition to there being a lighted sign with this message in the window, the woman who handed me my food gave me one of these cards with it:


( Read more... )

After writing my recent blog about the Earning-Saving-Growth path to financial independence I thought about the series of jobs I had when I was younger. I definitely started earning money at a young age, beginning with an afternoon newspaper route when I was 10. As I thought about that compared to my next job, working in a fast food restaurant at ( Read more... )

One of the many legal changes phased in with the new year is a hike to the Minimum Wage. Not nationally, though; the federal minimum wage has been fixed at $7.25 since July 24, 2009 [1]. But 13 states did raise their minimums, bringing to 19 the total that are above the federal $7.25 minimum [2 ( Read more... )