Movie plots to teach about inflation
One advantage of getting older is that you’re allowed to watch stuff you missed the first time around. James Bond movies, for example. I was too young (and highly disinterested) when the early movies had big screen presence. Over the years, the plot lines blurred, and the music became familiar. And now, thanks to the cable network’s need to fill holiday hours with stuff people might want to see, there’s a marathon underway.
I didn’t realize how much monetary inflation had changed the power of the plots. For example, in Thunderball, the premise was that you could hold the governments of the world hostage. A few bombs, in exchange for $300 million! That won’t pay for a second string hockey arena any more. On the other hand, the gadgets are fun. Imagine controlling a satellite telecomm link with a cassette tape as the data set.
For some reason, the last few batteries we’ve bought to keep some older laptops powered have turned out to be less than ideal. The full charge point is coming in at around 40%, and the “return policy” means spending almost the price of a replacement to ship the faulty part back. Poor value. I figure that we’re going to endure, until the next machines are ordered.
Looking at solar panel arrays, again. With a bit of DIY, I can probably cobble together enough parts to charge something. Food for thought. The sun doesn’t always shine, but there should be enough “radiation” to keep a radio power pack on trickle charge.
