Cynics would say money makes things happen. It makes the lights go on in our houses and on Broadway. It puts gas in our cars, as well as in limousines. Some say money can't buy happiness, but it sure can buy solutions for lots of unhappiness.

Government, elected officials and laws are meant to keep us from spinning out of control. Unfortunately, with government one size doesn't fit all. Republicans, Democrats, Independents - maybe it would help if we all took one hour a week and observed "Law and Order".

Politicians use spin to put a different slant on things they say and do, but they can't change things. Sometimes I think it's the gravity of the world situation that keeps us from being spun off.

Marriages are meant to keep families together, but divorce seems to have unlocked wedlock. People seem to be more loyal to the Pledge in their cleaning closets and the Promise in their refrigerators than they are to the pledges and promises in their wedding vows. Of course, if marriages were perfect, Mr. Clean wouldn't just get the ring out of our bathtubs, he'd wear one on his left hand.

Keeping up with the Jones - or the Steins or the Castillos - makes the economy go around. The economy would be in trouble if we didn't want more than we have, but wanting more and being able to afford more are different things. That's what turns credit cards into discredit cards.

What turns my head is the number of cell phones I see - in cars, on the street, in supermarkets, restaurants and movie theaters. Hot air can power a balloon. Maybe it powers the planet too.

There's no maybe about what powers me. It's time. My alarm clock tells me when to start my day and my watch tells me when it's meant to stop - and then it tells me when it actually does stop. In between, my wrist watch is my wrist conscience. In fact, it's so busy telling me what I should be doing or what I should have done, I expect to see it wring its hands.