What do those crazy numbers mean?

In December 1975, Mrs. Grace (Owen) Muzzey died at the age of 73. Grace, born in Concord, N.H., had had the distinction of having been assigned Social Security number 001-01-0001. However, she had not been the first person to be given a SSN. That distinction went to a John David Sweeney, Jr. who in mid-November 1936 received SSN 055-09-0001.

The numbers, you see, represent, in part, where you were born. The first three digits is your "area number": If you were born in Florida your number would fall between 589-595. The next two digits is your "group number": kinda like a region within an area. The final four numbers are simply your "serial number."

It is estimated that as many as 1 billion numbers can be assigned using this system. So it's likely, considering the way the economy is currently going, that the system will run out of money before it runs out of numbers.

There was a lot of controversy about a person's privacy and their civil rights being violated when the program was first proposed. But the supporters of the program "promised" the opposition that the numbers would never be used for anything other than Social Security business. Well, you know what happened next. I personally was turned down for satellite TV service because I refused to give them my SSN. And try and claim a dependent on your income tax without a valid SSN. In fact today a SSN can be assigned at birth.

Spit for me
There has also been civil rights issues raised about a proposed law requiring anyone "arrested" for a felony to have his or her DNA entered into a national database. The ACLU is saying it's okay to register a convicted felon's DNA but not a person simply charged with a felony.

I'm willing to gamble a McDonald's Wednesday (or Sunday) 49 cent hamburger that in the not too distant future all newborn children will have their DNA entered into a national database.

A Senior. Already?
We got our copy of AARP, the older people's organization, magazine the other day. On the cover was 55-year-old senior citizen Ron Howard. Opie a senior? Why I remember watching him kick stones in "The Andy Griffith Show." Of course being a child actor he would have had to sign up for a SSN.

Another interesting article in the magazine was one on "Really Short Stories." AARP's challenge to its readers was to write six-word memoirs. As a guide they published this story written by Ernest Hemingway: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Now that's both thought provoking and poignant.
My contribution: Leaves fall. Buds emerge. Seasons change. Vicuña

In my story about King Kenneth a few weeks back I mentioned gloves made of vicuña: a South American animal related to the llama and alpaca. I wasn't sure from what recesses of my memory I dredged the reference. That is until a friend of mine e-mailed me with this reminder.

Back in 1958, Sherman Adams, President Eisenhower's chief of staff, was forced to resign the position for accepting a coat made of vicuña wool from Boston textile manufacturer Bernard Goldfine. Sherman's resignation stopped the probe of whether the coat was a gift or a bribe. Most people had never heard of vicuña before that incident. And I would venture to guess few have since then.

According to Wikipedia: "Vicuñas produce small amounts of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can only be shorn every 3 years. When knitted together, the product of the vicuña's fur is very soft and warm."

Overheard
Overheard at the checkout counter: Welcome back Harry Potter.