Beech Tree News Network

Fourth of July celebrations seemed to go well. The weather was great, the Catfish Festival was fun, the city provided an outstanding fireworks display, and my family’s gathering was relaxed. Since then, my thoughts have turned to three random topics: cost of living, post-4th of July, and social media.

Cost of Living
When shopping for the recent holiday gathering, I wondered how prices in our region compared with prices in other regions. The website msn.com reported that Kentucky is the cheapest state in which to live while New York is the most expensive – as ranked by CNBC (http://money.msn.com/personal-finance/americas-cheapest-states-to-live-i...). Reportedly, the average home price in Kentucky is $244,299, the average home price in New York is $1, 358,917, while the national average home price is $294,127. The average Kentucky doctor visit is $89.17, the average New York doctor visit is $103.25, while the national average doctor visit is $101.16. According to msn.com, America’s 10 cheapest states to live (in order) are: Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississippi, Indiana, Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The states reported as the 10 most expensive states to live (in order) are: New York, Hawaii, Connecticut, California, Alaska, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Maryland. On a personal note, I’m thankful for our low cost of living.

Post-4th of July
While cleaning up following our 4th of July celebration, I found a couple of unopened boxes of sparklers. Thinking about food and fireworks, I asked friends and family whether they had any “left-over fireworks.” Based on their responses, only 20% still had unused fireworks. I also asked whether their 4th of July celebrations included over eating. Not surprisingly, 70% admitted they had over eaten (Confession:  I spent too much time at the dessert table.).

Social Media
A friend told me she had seen 4th of July pictures of my family on Facebook – pictures I had not seen at the time. Social media is amazing. “Did you know that there are more devices connected to the Internet than there are people on the entire planet?” (www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/100-social-media-stats_b33696; for 2012). Some interesting social media statistics include:
•    Every minute, two million queries are googled.
•    Since 2012, 1.2 billion minutes have been spent using Pinterest on the Web.
•    4 billion video views are seen on YouTube globally every day.
•    Out of the 6 billion people on the planet, 4.8 billion have a mobile device while only 4.2 billion own a toothbrush.
•    On average, people interact with their mobile devices 40 to 80 times a day.

These random topics – cost of living, post-4th of July and social media – were linked to my holiday experiences. Song writer and Aerosmith rock band member Steven Tyler has said, “Maybe life is random, but I doubt it.” And, I agree.