Tag Archives: short story

Flash Crash Epitaph On May 6, 2010, the Flash Crash occurred. Finally a short story that explains how it could have happened and how it might happen again.

New Obama Dollar Coin Announced

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WASHINGTON D.C. – The Treasury Department announced today that they are pressing forward with the minting of a new dollar coin with the silhouette of President Barack Obama.

orange_obama_coinThe President was “thrilled” to hear about the new coin, a White House source confirmed.  He had been “totally furious” that he had spent time the precious week posing for a trillion-dollar platinum coin that would never be minted. See http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/01/obama-furious-he-wasted-week-posing-for-coin.html

Treasury officials reversed course and decided to commemorate the historical second inauguration.  They will be using funds budgeted before sequestration.

After the overwhelming success of adding color to paper money, the Treasury Department decided to start coloring coins as well.  When asked why the color orange was chosen, Robert Steel of the Treasury Department replied, “The coin is only 10 percent silver and 20 percent nickel so it does not really matter.”

Mr. Steel also announced that the coin would be available in 60 days assuming it passes testing to see if any teeth marks could be detected.

Both Treasury and White House officials collaborated on the coin’s design.  In acknowledgement of all the various religions found in the U.S., the coin will not have the words “In God We Trust.”

The coin fiasco behind him, Mr. Obama has now apparently turned his attention to balancing the budget within the next 100 years.

Setting My Watch At Snack Time

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I used to go to work and leave my watch at home.

watch

Recently one of our employees named Steve retired.  He was a fairly skinny guy. Boy did he have a busy schedule before he left us.

He had peanuts at 10 AM.  Then potato chips at 1 PM and finally an Ice Cream bar at 3 PM.  This was on top of his lunch at noon. 

He added credence to the idea that you will NOT gain weight if you eat a lot of small meals.

popcorn

A long time ago I worked on the West Coast Shuttle effort.  A lot of my time was spent in the same building with the Operations Maintenance Documentation (OMD) Group.  I liked to call it the OMG department because at exactly 2 PM one of the large data entry personnel would pop a bag of popcorn.  OMG!  The smell of popcorn would permeate the whole building.

My point is those snack times allowed me to either set my watch at 2 PM every day or just leave my watch at home.  But alas those were the good ole’ days.

The Road To A Legacy

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This post is about my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great-grandfather, Reuben Dye.  He settled in the Flint Township area of Michigan back in 1843 so he wasn’t that old but he was really great.

dye_roadThe reason he was so great is he was ahead of his time.  He was one of the first of about eight settlers in that Michigan area.  He had a farm and a road that eventually became Dye Road.  This was 50 years before gas buggies were invented.

Eventually Flint, the town to the east, became the automotive capital of the world.. So whether he was forward thinking or just plain lucky, I will never know. But what I do know is he is dead but his legacy lives on via that well-traveled road in Michigan.

Airplanes Can Be Fun

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Remember that flight where the kid behind you would never stop crying or kicked your seat?

Well here is an airplane story of a different color.

Tommy was well-behaved during the entire plane flight.  His parents kept him quiet with a handheld game player and a soda.  Passengers admired Tommy’s behavior.

But when it was time to leave, Tommy started shouting.

“I DON’T WANNA GO.  I GET FREE SODA HERE.  MY MOMMY MAKES ME DRINK GREEN STUFF AT HOME.”

Wall Street Crash Could Happen Again

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On April 8, 2013 new more sophisticated Securities and Exchange Commission rules seeking to prevent another flash-crash tookeffect, but some observers are dubious about how effective they will be in another crisis-situation.

On August 1, 2012 the Knight Capital Group had a $400 million trading snafu.

On May 6, 2010, the Flash Crash occurred where the Dow Jones fell 9.2% in a matter of minutes.  Finally a short story that explains how it could have happened and how it might happen again. 

Computer_room

Click on Flash Crash Epitaph  to read this short story.  Enjoy!

Three Envelopes

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Stop me if you have heard this.

A newly hired manager moves into his new office and meets his predecessor on his last day.  The predecessor tells the new manager there are three envelopes in the drawer and he is to use one each time a crisis occurs.

3envelopes

Well several months pass before a crisis happens.  The manager goes to the drawer and gets the first envelope.  He opens it.  It says :”Blame the predecessor.” He does that and the crisis passes.

Several more months pass before another crisis happens.  The manager again goes to the drawer and gets the second envelope.  This time it says :Reorganize”.  So he does that and the crisis subsides.

Again several more months pass and a third crisis happens.  This time the manager goes to the drawer and knowing this is the last envelope, he hopes it contains the final solution he needs.

He opens the drawer and opens the last envelope.  The contents say “Create three envelopes”.

Flash Crash Epitaph – A Short Story

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flashcrashcover

On May 6, 2010, the Flash Crash occurred.

Finally a non-technical short story that explains how it could have happened and how it might happen again.

The latest article to mention the Flash Crash is http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2013/02/13/dow-nears-new-peak-amid-eerie-calm/1912509/

Click on Flash Crash Epitaph  to read this short story.  Enjoy!