Nevin's Data "Points"

   In case you hadn’t noticed, Friday is Valentine's Day — and, as usual, there’s been the typical seasonal promotions for flowers, candy, teddy bears (and other stuffed creatures) and even pajamas. I’ve been pretty good over the years remembering those type events — anniversaries (wedding AND dating), birthdays and, yes — Valentine’s Day. But sometimes the time gap between my remembering the date and actually getting around to doing something to commemorate it has been problematic. With Valentine’s Day that can be particularly painful, if only because so many others are scrambling to do the same thing — and at a time when delivery services (and costs), not to mention growing season(s) can be in short supply, relative to the need. Several years back, I was running exceptionally late in my preparations — and spotted an email touting a dozen roses for $24.99 (they’re a LOT more expensive now — and apparently caught up in all this tariff stuff). Of course, for that price (even th...

  How well do you (think you) know your significant other? The passage of time—shared experiences and the process of getting to know each other reveals much—and yet I learned something new about my partner of some four decades just last week! That brought to mind one of the favorite game shows of my youth was  The Newlywed Game . The show featured four couples—all of which were to have been married less than two years. Each of the contestant couples were separated—then asked a series of questions designed to test these newlywed couples’ knowledge of each other, and in some cases their collective memories (and willingness to share publicly). Points were assigned based on answers that matched—but the most memorable, of course, were the missed matches—and the inevitable response of the spouse who was absolutely CERTAIN of the response of their partner.   Now, a year of marriage is arguably not long enough to know EVERYTHING about your partner. But, and with Valentine’s ...

This week was Valentine's Day—and, as usual, there’s been the typical seasonal promotions for flowers, candy, and even pajamas.  I’ve been pretty good over the years remembering those type events—anniversaries (wedding AND dating), birthdays and, yes—Valentine’s Day. But sometimes the time gap between my remembering the date and actually getting around to doing something to commemorate it has been problematic. With Valentine’s Day that can be particularly painful, if only because so many others are scrambling to do the same thing—and at a time when delivery services (and costs), not to mention growing season(s) can be in short supply, relative to the need. Several years back, I was running late in my preparations—and spotted an email touting a dozen roses for $24.99 (they’re a LOT more expensive now). Of course, for that price (even then), you could only get them in red (though it was Valentine’s Day, after all), and you actually got a glass vase included in that pr...

Valentine's Day was this week, and you have perhaps seen those increasingly ubiquitous advertisements for a certain online florist. Now, I’ve used that particular service on many an occasion over the past several years; they are not only convenient, they deliver a quality product, and on time. In sum, I’ve used them before, have, in fact, used them this year, and will doubtless use them again. The ads tout the ability to get a dozen roses for $24.99. That’s in red only (but hey, it’s Valentine’s Day), and you do actually get a glass vase included in that price (with options to “upgrade,” of course). That said, “standard” delivery is another $12.99, and – at least at this (late) date, it’ll cost you $9.99 to guarantee Valentine’s Day delivery, another $14.99 if you want it there in the morning, and there’s a “care & handling charge” of $2.99, regardless of delivery date or time. In fact, by the time you add in taxes those $24.99 roses will run you… well,...