<p>I just sent in my modest, refundable deposit on a new four-door, all-electric sedan to be built by Tesla, so I guess that puts me firmly on the green bandwagon. Unfortunately, for those of you who are curious to hear how it all turns out, the delivery date for car "#1664" is the summer of 2012. Talk about delayed gratification.</p><p>On paper, this car sounds terrific. It goes from zero to 60 in about five seconds and will go 300 miles between charges.

In a dusty, dog-hair-strewn world of silent, super-smart canines, lies one of the nation's fastest growing hobbies according to the Wall Street Journal. It's herding sheep with so-called "working dogs" - border collies and Australian shepherds known for speed and brainpower.

Recalling that there's nothing more frustrated than an unemployed working dog, I was reminded of some of my friends, now retired, who experienced the same level of frustration.

We don't have to look far to see examples of the health insurance oligopoly taking unfair advantage of the public. Apart from the premium increases in the headlines, there is the more insidious increase in hidden costs.

My dog and I like to watch the squirrels trying to get into our squirrel-proof bird feeder.

The ones still slipping off the domed plastic roof at this late date must be the ones that didn't bury enough acorns. It's painful to watch. I'm reminded of how difficult it is to squirrel away enough money for retirement.

THIS STATE certainly has its share of Marie Antoinettes, and not all of them are female.

The latest collection includes the senior management of the University of California system whose annual salaries plus retirement benefits, under careful analysis, appear to run into the millions. Pausing to reflect for a moment, I'm reminded of a comment made by Steve Hebert, a friend from childhood who spent a career that included negotiations regarding pay for senior university officials. He pointed out that finding a college president is one of the hardest recruiting jobs.

The law of unintended consequences has dealt another blow to conservative retirees who have been investing in bank certificates of deposit and short-term debt like money market funds.

What next? A lawsuit plaintiff against a 401(k) plan sponsor (the employer) went ballistic and shot two people in a courthouse back in Missouri. His was one of the growing number of complaints launched in situations where 401(k) providers were charging investors what knowledgeable financial people would agree was way too much money.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said the rich are different. Hemingway added, "Yes. They have more money." This comes to mind as I read about the residents of an exclusive enclave in Montana who are suing Credit Suisse Bank because the bank loaned them too much money.

Then, there's the despicable behavior of Goldman Sachs who was selling mortgage securities short (betting that they would drop in value) while selling them to institutional customers.

With all this talk about Roth IRA conversions available to everyone in 2010, I don't see the attraction. It seems so simple to me to understand that if I don't write a big check to pay the taxes a conversion requires, I will have a lot more money, along with compound earnings, to pay whatever taxes I might owe on future distributions.

Plus, I control all the money and I have hedged my bets against what might be changes in tax policy or another market crash over the next 40 years.

While Congress marches toward health care reform, I'm surprised that I haven't heard two obvious arguments for why passage is so critical.

First, the 40 million uninsured Americans are not the same ones year after year. The average employee changes jobs every seven years, so this means that at any one time, there are 40 million uninsured. However, the number of people who can expect to be part of that 40 million at some point during their lifetime is easily more than 100 million or more.