Semi-random thoughts

● The current Dear Abby is every bit as good as her mother. Maybe better. She's much better than the advice columnist Newsday uses--although that might be partially due to the fact that they run her column in such a small space.

● Someone commented on a friend's FB post:

when you start using words that a ph.d. candidate doesn't know in your facebook status then...

(well, i don't know but i wanted to point out that I have no idea what "sartorial" means)

A PhD candidate!?!! I learned that word in junior high school (I think it was in connection with an excerpt of Carlyle's Sartor Resartus that we read for English class). Anyhow, I checked his profile and found out that he goes to Stony Brook--so I would take any PhD granted there with a good-sized grain of salt.

● My Amazon Visa card is being upgraded to a Visa Signature card. The big difference is that there will be a new category of rebates. I'll get 2% for gas, dining, and drugstore purchases (and office supply stores also, according to the fine print). My American Express Blue Cash card gives me 5% for gas and drugstores (and supermarkets), but only 1.25% for the others. So it looks like I'll be using the Visa in restaurants and Staples starting in October.