Slashdot Mirror
The Cost of 12 Days of Christmas
CtrlPhreak writes "PNC bank once again has come out with the Christmas price index, the cost of the 12 days of christmas. The result, swans cost 66.7 percent up from last year. The total cost rose 18.8 percent from the last year to a grand total of... $65,264.28, the largest percentage increase since 1987."
Actually this is probably a better gauge on inflation than the fictitious numbers they're feeding us from the goverment statistics.
:-/
All I know is, my montly bills are up: electricity, gas and phone. My market bill is bigger now than last year... and I don't think I am eating anything different. Everything is up except for the inflation numbers... go figure eh
~~~Please pass the salt, I hate unsalted MD5s
I've always wondered about the "12 Days of Christmas" song, and if it meant that you get just that gift for that day, and the chorous was tallying up the earnings, or if the singer got the gift again, i.e. on the second day you would have recived your second partridge and pear tree combo along with your two turtle doves.
:)
If this is the case you'd get 12 partridges in pear trees, 22 turtle doves, 30 french hens, 36 calling birds, 40 gold rings, 42 geese-a-laying, 40 maids-a-milking, 36 ladies dancing, 30 lords-a-leaping, 22 pipers piping, and 12 drummers drumming in all. That's one heck of a bounty!
Mewyn Dy'ner
Actually they could hire out a Canadian senator or judge because you address them as lord. Although of course I wouldn't know this from first hand experience.
10 Lords-a-Leaping
11 Pipers Piping
12 Drummers Drumming
So they are claiming that with unemployment still up, and orchestras laying off employess or going under due to lack of donations, the cost of talent is up this year. It seems like semi-pro musician and dancers could be hard for $100 a piece.
And what is it with the birds. I see them for sale along the freeway all the time for next to nothing. And a pear tree? Those are everywhere. Go and dig one up. I mean they are just trees.
It's christmas. We have no money. Be creative
And, btw, where are they shipping to? Longyearbyen to Cape Horn.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
According the the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CPI dropped in November by .03%. The main inflationary pressure in the US right now is from the weaker dollar. The economist and other right wing rags have been lauding the the weaker dollar as it should end up helping the US labor market while increasing the value of the cash in other countries to help increase their consumer spending. The xmas index is just about a small bag of goods with wild price swings.
The CPI is calculated over a rather large shopping bag of goods.
Combine the best prices. That way you end up with:
One Partridge in a Pear Tree $77.50 (Regular)
Partridge 15.00 (Regular)
Pear Tree 62.50 (Regular)
Two Turtle Doves 58.00 (Regular)
Three French Hens 15.00 (Regular)
Four Calling Birds 330.00 (Internet)
Five Gold Rings 183.75 (Internet)
Six Geese-a-Laying 150.00 (Regular)
Seven Swans-a-Swimming 3,500.00 (Regular)
Eight Maids-a-Milking 41.20 (Regular)
Nine Ladies Dancing 4,230.89 (Regular)
10 Lords-a-Leaping 3,921.44 (Regular)
11 Pipers Piping 1,600.00 (Internet)
12 Drummers Drumming 687.50 (Internet)
For a grand total of $14,872.28, which is $2,013 less than their estimate. Well worth the effort.
We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
As a jeweller, I'd like to know how they did that! At 72.25 each, that's dirt cheap. I know that they cost me more than that wholesale. Let's see... assume three pennyweights per ring(20dwt=1 Oz)...at 406.50/oz, that's 60.98 dollars each for the gold bought as 24K bullion. by the time it's refined to 18K sheet, and made into a ring, assume it's double the price. call it $122. That leaves no room for the retailer to make a profit.
I know it's a joke, but it would be funnier if it was accurate
~ a low user id is no indication I have a clue what I'm talking about.
According to this site. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is interesting because, while it seems whimsical, many believe the song was written in England as a catechism song to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith during the period when it was a crime to be a Catholic and Catholics were prohibited from practicing any aspect of their faith even in private. The song's gifts originally were hidden references to the teachings of the Catholic faith. The two turtle doves signified the Old and New Testaments, the eight maids a-milking are the Beatitudes and the 10 lords a-leaping the 10 Commandments.
So those of you into ancient babylonian religions II believe that is where we got dependence on 12 and 24), any comment on the fact that the total number of items in the song is 364 where as there are 365 days in a year?
I make my face look like this and concerned words come out.