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❖ THE GRIPE ❖
A Personal Affront, Reported Faithfully
My grocery receipt and the Commerce Department finally agree. Prices rose 3.4 percent in August from a year earlier, the department said Wednesday. Leave out food and energy, which is where my money goes, and it was 3 percent. After-tax income, adjusted for inflation, did not move from July to August. Spending jumped 0.9 percent anyway, because the refrigerator does not accept excuses. The headline called this inflation cooling slightly. The Federal Reserve raised its key rate two weeks ago for the first time in three years, and most economists expect another increase this year, possibly as soon as late October. So the treatment for groceries that cost too much is a credit card that costs more. The Conference Board says consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since 2014. I was not surveyed. They got my answer right anyway.
❖ THE DAMAGE REPORT ❖
Today's News, Ranked By How Much It Ruined My Mood
🔥 MOST ENRAGING
The Ratepayer Protection Act would have made states consider ways to make data center developers pay for water and energy costs, without forcing them to. It passed the House 417 to 3. In the Senate it got 57 votes, three short of 60. Chuck Schumer called it toothless. Jon Husted, the Ohio Republican who led it, said Democrats wanting lower electricity prices only had to vote yes. A bill that asks politely still could not get through.
😩 MOST EXHAUSTING
President Trump and leaders from Google, Anthropic, Meta, OpenAI, xAI and Nvidia signed the White House Accord on Super Intelligence. Signers promise internal controls on their models, outside auditors and regular meetings on safety standards. It is not required by law and lists no penalties. Trump said the companies would be policing each other. The accord adds that it may make sense to put the rules into law at a later time, according to a document that is optional.
😤 UNREASONABLY ANNOYING
During setup at the Aspen Saturday Market, a bear ate baked goods from the Louis Swiss booth while witnesses filmed. Aspen police hazed it until a Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer arrived, and it climbed a tree and left on its own. Officials blame drought, which has cut into the bears' natural food, as they bulk up for winter. First customer of the day, no line, no payment, and it still got the pick of the loaves.
🤷 SOMEHOW ALSO HAPPENING
During the nor'easter, Drew Procaccino filmed a dorsal fin moving through floodwater on a street in Surf City, on Long Beach Island. The shark disappeared into a driveway while he was filming and was later seen swimming toward Barnegat Bay. Greg Skomal, a shark expert with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, identified it as a smooth dogfish, a species commonly seen in coastal waters. For a while, the street qualified.
I Almost Threw Out My Keurig. It Wasn't Broken.
Every cup from my Keurig started tasting weak, flat, stale — so I unplugged it and stuck it in a closet. Then I learned the dirty secret of grocery store K-Cups: by the time a pod reaches your kitchen, it's usually spent months going from factory to warehouse to truck to shelf. The flavor oils are long gone. Some brands even over-roast to hide it.
The fix wasn't a new machine. It was fresh pods from Angelino's, a family-owned L.A. roastery that roasts, packs, and ships within 3–5 days — straight to your door, from 39¢ a cup. Over 1,000,000 happy customers. 50+ flavors, no subscription required, and 15% off your first order, applied automatically at checkout.
❖ AND SOME OTHER STUFF ❖
Briefly, And With Limited Enthusiasm
▸ Private employers added 90,000 jobs in September, according to ADP. Forecasters expected 68,000. Pay was up 3.2 percent over the year, and people who changed jobs got 4.8 percent, so the raise is out there, at another company.
▸ A Maryland man won $50,000 with his old Queens zip code. His wife picked up the Pick 5 ticket for the Aug. 30 evening drawing, and 11694 came up. First on the list is new tires for her car, which tells you what tires cost now.
▸ A big pig ran loose before sunrise in Evansville, Indiana. Animal control, the sheriff's office and Oinking Acres Farm Rescue & Sanctuary cornered it in a resident's yard. Officials are still looking for the owner.
✦ THE ONE GOOD THING
Fine. Sloan is 12 and runs a diaper drive in Phoenix. While stocking food parcels at Nourish Phoenix, she noticed a bare shelf. Staff told her it was for diapers, always among the most requested items, and they had run out. She has been organizing since she was 7. She aimed for 22,500 diapers this year and brought 30,000. Prices are up 3.4 percent and she beat her target by a third. I am buying a box of diapers this weekend for the food bank in my town.
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THE GRUMP · (AND LARRY)