This past summer, we stayed at Oakland House Seaside Resort, in Brooksville, Maine, along the Eggemoggin Reach in Penobscot Bay. The property is large and consists of several business entities. We lodged in the hostel,…
The Moab Giants Dinosaur Park
I have written about Moab, Utah many times. The natural beauty of the region around the town astounds the senses: two national parks (Arches and Canyonlands), innumerable canyons, the La Sal Mountains, petroglyphs, pictographs,…
Wage Slaves in Our National Parks
This past January, twenty-seven year old Ryan Hiller died when a tree fell on his tent cabin during a storm at Yosemite National Park. Tent cabins are structures with concrete flooring and walls, canvas roofs,…
On Vacation
Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate is going on vacation for awhile. I've run out of things to say. Thanks for reading.
Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die (Working)
We were in a Wal-Mart in Richfield, Utah. The greeters at the door were an elderly man and woman. Both were in wheelchairs. At a grocery store in Colorado, an old man bagging groceries was…
It's Still Slavery by Another Name
Right-wingers like Fox’s Bill O’Reilly are fond of saying that whites don’t have a monopoly on racism. Some black people hate whites, so they are racist too. Whites must stop being racist, but so must…
If I Were a Rich Man
When the great populist Huey Long was campaigning for governor of Louisiana, he wrote some clever slogans and songs. One song began: "Every man a king, for you can be a millionaire." Back then, in…
Occupy Wall Street and the Celebrity Economists
The Occupy Wall Street movement has transfixed the nation. In just a few weeks, it has spread from Manhattan to hundreds of towns and cities, and it has now taken root in other countries. It…
A Good Job Is Hard to Find
In 2010, about 139 million people, on average, were employed in the United States. What kind of work did they do? Here is an interesting table constructed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics: These occupations comprise…