How much more do CEOs make than their employees?

Remember when you were a kid in school and your teacher adamantly told you that it was necessary to learn this excruciating process called mathematics because you would eventually apply it to your adult life?  Fast forward to you sitting in your boss’s office receiving your annual smack-in-the-face wage increase.  Here we are in the middle of a minimum wage debate with presidential campaigners talking about the earnings of CEO’s and hedge fund managers, and you get to go home and tell your spouse about the so-called generosity of your employer.  It's time to dust off the old abacus.

"Kugleramme". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
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I work a 9ish to 5ish for a large U.S. corporation.  The CEO of that corporation makes (let’s round it out to) 18.5 million dollars a year.  I, like most people, earn remarkably less.  This got me thinking…  How much more does the average CEO make than the average American worker?  Others have done the math, but like teacher always said, you have to show your work.  I hope you’ve been stretching because we’re about to crunch some numbers!

Let’s say the CEO is an overachiever and works 60 hours a week, while the average employee works 40 hours a week.  I’m being generous, because my company ‘encourages’ full-time workers to work 39 hours a week with a one hour buffer for early arrivals or late departures.  In other words, they schedule us for 39 hours and expect us to only work 39 hours a week, robbing us of four hours of pay per month.  Arg!  Let’s also assume that everyone gets the benefit of a full-time position, and enjoys the added perk of paid vacation, receiving pay for all 52 weeks of the year.  Finally, let’s enter a world where all the employees of the company earn $15 per hour for an annual salary of $31,200.  What a wonderful company this must be!

If our CEO is also paid for all 52 weeks in a year, he earns approximately $5900 an hour.  That's right, $15 vs $5900.  Whoa.  But okay, that’s not greed, that’s just healthy stock market returns, proving that shareholders approve of what a great job the CEO is doing.  That seems fair?

The average worker in my scenario at $15 an hour is earning 25¢ a minute, while the CEO is making $98 a minute.  Sixty seconds of work for a worker might buy a phone call, while one second of work for the CEO could buy a fairly substantial sandwich from any dollar menu in town.

Now let’s really blow our minds.  The state of Washington currently has the highest minimum wage at $9.47 an hour.  This translates to 16¢ a minute.  The CEO makes $98 a minute, while the average worker earns 16¢ in the same amount of time.  My mind is blown.  How ‘bout yours?  Another thing I noticed is that when you break down the numbers, it doesn’t seem like it would be all that painful to increase your workers’ wages from 16¢ to 25¢ a minute.  Depending on the number of employees working for the corporation and the number of locations, branches or offices, the additional cost per item or service could be almost negligible.  Additionally, the CEO could take a smaller earning, still live well, and reduce the cost increase incurred by paying workers a living wage.  Dan Price has done it. 

Some may read this and reply with a ‘Trickle up Poverty’ remark, or some other such nonsense about lazy people who want something for nothing.  The truth is that the average American needs a bit more, while the kind folks in charge could do with a bit less.  Hillary Clinton can indeed be wealthy and fight for the financially struggling.  Saying she can’t is like saying I can’t march for Ferguson because I’m white.  Puh-lease!  Besides, doesn’t a rising tide lift all boats?  I’m asking…

More fun with numbers:

Gravity Payments CEO takes 90% pay cut to give workers huge raise

A Wal-Mart worker making $9 an hour would have to work 2.8 million hours to match the CEO’s pay

Hillary Bashes the Rich, But How Many Millions Does She Have?

Would Walmart’s Prices Spike if They Paid Their Employees More? 

What Are the Top 7 Reasons Why We Love Star Wars?

How is it that we never tire of Star Wars?  What is it about this franchise that keeps us not only interested, but actively obsessed?  I'm asking you, Gen Clever...  Give me seven reasons why the moment the second teaser trailer for The Force Awakens hit the Internet, our hashtags, profile pics, and social media statuses immediately became Star Wars themed.  

Image courtesy of koratmember at FreeDigialPhotos.net

1.  The Force.  The Force is the thing that other space movies and adventure franchises lack.  Love and skill will only get a young hero so far.  The Force is that element of potential we all 'search our feelings' to find.  The Force is why I take T’ai Chi classes.  The Force is to be respected and feared, like fire.  Fire can warm us and light our way, but fire also burns and destroys.  The Force is basically G-O-D to a Star Wars fan. 

2.  Lightsabers.  Obi-Wan said it best: "This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. A more elegant weapon for a more civilized age."  Lightsabers cut, burn, melt, stab, deflect, and remove any pesky appendage that might get in the way.  They are of the Force, and in order to be used masterfully, require an intimate understanding of the Force and also perhaps the time and skill to complete the Lightsaber Building 101 course presumably taught at the Jedi Academy.  While some (Han Solo) would say "ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side", if you can weild a lightsaber, you'll never have to worry about someone sneaking up on you in the dark.

3.  The sounds that space makes.  The ships, the lasers, the droids, the creatures, and the lightsabers clashing create an endless happy dance for our ears.  Whether it’s a John Williams Overture, or the Doppler Effect brilliantly generated by sound engineers, Star Wars sounds are phenomenal and unlike any other!  They are also unlike the sounds of actual space, which would make for a terrible waste of surround sound!

Artwork by Akira Yashiki

4.  The ships.  Star Wars has an exhausting array of spaceships. Small, large, fast, deadly, we got ‘em.  Live on a ship, blow up a ship, infiltrate a ship, hide a ship, or race a ship. The Millennium Falcon is the Mack Truck of ships; a little mud on the tires and a driver that’s all heart underneath the scruff.  Meanwhile the Empire’s Star Destroyers are more sterile than a hospital clean room.  I’m in a long term ship with these ships.  I couldn't help it even if I wanted to.

Image Courtesy of FreeMediaGoo.com

5.  The Clothes.  Stay with me.  Not the hair, the clothes!  Robes and tunics are awesome.  Hooded robes are even more awesome!  Somewhere between a robe and a kimono, we have the samurai-like apparel that Jedi Knights wear.  There are also capes and boots.  CAPES AND BOOTS!  No one in Star Wars wears flashy colors or silly patterns, (with Padme Amidala being the occasional exception).  We all wanted to Cosplay Star Wars before Cosplay was even a thing we had heard of.     

 6.  Bad guys that are SO GOOD.  We suffered through some terrible cinema knowing that our devotion would later be repaid.  We love watching Anakin go Darth.  We love to hate on Jabba the Hutt.  We fear the Crimson clad Imperial Guard, and they’re just the Emperor’s lackeys!  They've got nothing on the Emperor himself.  Not to mention Boba Fett, Grand Moff Tarkin and all those 'wretched scum' at Mos Eisley…  What’s not to love to hate?

7.  Droids Droids Droids!  You need expertise?  There’s a droid for that.  If you ever find yourself trapped in a trash compactor with three of your closest friends, you’d better hope you have a droid as part of your posse.  In fact, R2-D2 saved the day more times than Yoda says ‘hmm’.  And let us not forget that it was C-3PO who convinced Luke to encourage his uncle to purchase R2-D2 from the Jawas after Owen initially decided R2 was 'not the droid he was looking for' and chose R5-D4 instead.   How much teddy bear fluff would be on the Endor forest floor if R2 had never come into Luke’s possession, had his restraining bolt removed, and fatefully led Luke to old Ben Kenobi?  Think about that for a minute.

It is these seven reasons (and infinitely more) that keep us watching, reading, listening, repeating, purchasing, and lovingly incorporating the Star Wars universe into our own.  It is these reasons that allow us to forgive and/or overlook characters like Jar Jar Binks, or the controversial Greedo scene ‘reshoot’.  This franchise has changed us, become a part of us, and for these reasons we will celebrate every May the Fourth and spend our hard-earned duckets to go see The Force Awakens at the theater on opening night, and probably several nights thereafter.  May the Force be with us, always.

I own no rights to Star Wars, the franchise, it's merchandise, Disney, or anyone or thing that has to do with it.  The text written here is my own original thought, work, and opinion, shared with love. Photos in this post belong to their original owners (not me) and are captioned with appropriate credit and used with permission.  No copyright infringement intended.  I only offer my humble rambling opinion.  Thank you.

Is Orange the Underdog of Colors?

The answer is an astounding YES!  Unless you frequent The Home Depot, there is a serious lack of orange in your life. I have no theory as to why,  but I do have sufficient evidence to support this tragic fact.  The world is a cruel place dominated by primary colors and seconded by all those shades of gray. Orange has suffered a cruel and undignified fate.  

Automatic dumper at the co-op orange packing plant, Redlands, Calif. Santa Fe trip (LOC) Delano, Jack,, photographer

What about Orange Is the New Black you ask? Hasn't this been a fashion win for orange?  In case you are one of the 19 people that hasn't streamed this little gem, let me fill you in.  The general population of inmates actually wear khaki. Yes, khaki.  Orange is designated for the newbies, the fresh meat, the outcasts of the prison population.  To add further insult, a county jail in Michigan has changed its jumpsuits from orange back to the old black-and-white jailbird stripes. Apparently there is something worse for women to wear than horizontal stripes. Sadly, that something is orange.  

There is a well-known web series starring an orange character.  That sounds good at the outset, but trust me he's no peach.  While humorous to viewers, *spoiler alert* The [appropriately named] Annoying Orange generally annoys the other fruits and veggies hanging around.  Nobody has a Crush on this guy.

How did blue ever get its gloomy reputation with a color like orange around?

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Pac-Man features an orange ghost named Clyde.  Clyde is the black, or shall we say orange sheep of the Pac-Man world.  The rest of the Ghost Gang, Pinky, Blinky, and Inky have more consistent patterns and give more chase to Pac-Man than Clyde.  In the classic Pac-Man world, Clyde is goofy and dim-witted. He lacks the villainous nature of the other ghosts.  In Ms. Pac-Man, Clyde is re-gendered and renamed Sue.  Clyde, the Orange ghost, becomes the boy named Sue... Heartbreaking.

I do appreciate that Sesame Street gave Bert an orange best friend named Ernie.  I also recognize that there are several orange "Pony"s to teach us the magic of friendship. However, the orange Power Ranger remains a wannabe's sweet reverie and the painful truth is that Scooter from The Muppets is a behind the scenes guy who'll never experience the celebrity of Gonzo or the recognition of Kermit. 

Meanwhile, these neat statistics show that orange has the lowest percentage of colour use in triband flags, coming in at a wimpy 3.23%.  Only three colors score lower than orange for flag desirability.  The three unfortunate colors are brown, gray, and surprisingly, purple. Purple must be feeling pretty bad about itself right now.  The percentage of country flags containing orange is somewhere between 0.2% and 0.6% according to Time.com.  Orange never gets to have any Fun with Flags. Further proof lies in the fact that professional sports teams sport orange quite sparingly.  See for yourself!

What may be the final nail in this citrusy coffin is Marvel's answer to DC Comic's lone orange superhero.  What's more underdog than a seahorse riding Atlantean who talks to dolphins?  Why Captain Citrus of course! Clearly what The Avengers need is a member with ties to the Florida citrus industry who draws power from the sun and defeats evil by making smart nutritional choices.  Have you ever wondered what would happen if an actual orange became a superhero? Well now you can stop wondering and have your life back. Seriously, take it back.

The comic book universe is severely lacking in significant superheroes that don a costume of orange.  There are some villains quite fond of it but without delving into superhero colour theory, this fact only aids my case.  I am a dedicated advocate for the underdog and my hope is that orange will one day rise to the top. Imagine a world where Dorothy could proudly follow the ORANGE brick road. Perhaps that kind of thinking is too far forward. Perhaps you think Orange Julius has had its fair shake. Perhaps you are one who can appreciate both red and yellow, but finds no satisfaction in their coalescence.  Why must orange suffer so? Won't you please give orange a chance?  I'm asking...

I own no rights to the color orange or any of the people, companies, persons, or franchises mentioned, their merchandise, or anyone or thing that has to do with it/them.  The text written here is my own original thought, work, and opinion, shared with love. Photos in this post belong to their original owners (not me) and are captioned with appropriate credit and used with permission.  No copyright infringement intended.  I only offer my humble rambling opinion.  Thank you.

Eggstreme Jelly Beans!

It is practically tradition that I share a string of random images for Easter, because I'm not sure what else to do after the eggs are found and the chocolate is eaten.  So here ya go!

The Classic

The Update

Best use of Bunny Costume EVER!

The Uneggspected...  or is it?

Peep Hilarity

Nerdy Easter Eggs (They aren't edible)

Roger and Jessica Rabbit

Vincent Price as Egghead on 1966 Batman TV Show