I was watching the Olympics last night when a commercial came on for a video I could buy that would celebrate Michael Phelps' 8 gold medals and also give me some home movies or "behind the scenes" footage of Michael swimming and whatever else he does in the 15 minutes per day that he's not in a pool. I said to my wife, "We really should get that."

She looked at me and smirked.

Nothing against Michael Phelps, but, come on, who really wants to buy and own and watch more than once (if that) a video about his Olympic victories with a little extra footage thrown in? The only people who might want such a thing are those caught up in the moment who think they're getting some awesome piece of history. How many times do you think that video comes off the shelf after, say, September? (To be fair, if you were a young competitive swimmer, I could see you buying this video as a motivational tool to "keep your eyes on the prize" as they say.)

I'm no better than you; I've bought a lot of things on the spur of the moment or in the spirit of the experience that I never looked at again. (That beaded necklace from Spring Break 19xx looked pretty cool in Daytona Beach, but that was about it.)

But I will not be seduced by Michael Phelps toothy smile that is soon to be on every packaged good in America. And neither should you.

(Don't worry, Michael will still get rich without you.)

The headline might be a bit dramatic, but it's true that more and more merchants in Europe and elsewhere will not accept credit cards without the "Chip and PIN" system —- an embedded chip in the card along with a PIN number (similar to that you are probably accustomed to with your ATM card).

You, however, don't have a PIN associated with your credit card, do you? Unfortunately, as this L.A. Times article reports, it's not an easy problem to fix:

Here's the catch: Americans cannot get such a card through U.S. card issuers.

So what do you do? Well, one way to be sure you always can get by is if your bank offers a combination ATM / debit card with the Visa or MasterCard logo. That has a PIN, so you're OK. But of course this means the money will come straight out of your checking account, so you'd better have enough in there to cover your purchases. Of course, that's not really credit anymore. It's also a bit less less safe, in that it's harder to get your money back if a merchant stiffs you in some way.

The Times article also suggests that some merchants will let you get by if you also have a picture ID, although this doesn't help you if you're trying to purchase something via an automated machine that isn't staffed by humans.

It's certainly not impossible to get by with your American credit card, but it's becoming more work to do so, so take this into consideration if you're hitting Europe any time soon.

If you read this blog regularly (and you know you do), you may have noticed that I cast a skeptical eye on money-saving ideas that require maximum effort for minimum savings.

This year's gas prices have created all kinds of ideas on how to maximize your gas so you can save a bit. One of the ideas offered has been to buy your gas in the morning:

Buy gasoline during coolest time of day - early morning or late evening is best. During these times gasoline is densest. Keep in mind - gas pumps measure volumes of gasoline, not densities of fuel concentration. You are charged according to "volume of measurement".

Does this sound like a good tip? Maybe. According to Snopes, even if it were undeniably, 100% true, you wouldn't save much:

Even if the temperature/volume issue were a real and significant one, one has to consider the amount of savings to be gleaned from such a scheme. Assuming that a motorist typically bought 15 gallons of gasoline per week at $4.00 per gallon, and assuming that by carefully choosing to fill up at a particular time of day said consumer could realize a 1% savings, we calculate the total savings to be gleaned over the course of a year at about $31. Would that reward really be worth the potential inconvenience of adhering to a rigid fill-up schedule week after week?

Now Consumer Reports says that you're unlikely to get any savings by filling up in the morning, because fuel stored in underground tanks does not necessarily get cold overnight or heat up during the day:

Today's double-walled tanks work just as well at keeping fuel warm as keeping it cool. If fuel is warm when it's delivered to a station, it'll still be warm when it's sold a few hours later, whether that's five in the morning or two in the afternoon.

In other words, spend your time on more worthwhile pursuits, like maybe the pursuit of more money instead of pursuing miniscule cost savings at the cost of your time.

I would probably never do this, but as a vegetarian I was fascinated by Nora Dunn wringing every last ounce out of a bunch of soybeans to make mass quantities of soy milk, veggie burgers and tofu:

The last batch of soy beans I processed cost $1.50 and produced 24 meals. Want to know how? Read on...

It's amazing how far she makes the beans go. I was almost going to do it myself - until I got to this step:

Line a large pot with a pillowcase (or cheese cloth if you have an abundance of cheese cloths lying around) and pour your blender mix into the pillowcase. Then, squeeze the pillowcase for all it's worth! This is best accomplished with two people: one holding the pillowcase over the pot, and the other squeezing the soy - you'll definitely need two hands and some elbow grease for this one.

Putting a bunch of wet soybeans into a pillowcase and then squeezing them (not to mention convincing a friend to help me) sounds like a recipe for a messy and unhappy Justin McHenry.

This is why I'm a bad do-it-yourselfer. When the going gets tough, I get out of there.

But if you have a lot of gumption, Dunn has a lot of other interesting articles at Wise Bread, such as Paint A Room and Wash Your Face: More Uses for Powdered Milk Than You Ever Imagined. (I've never really imagined any, which again shows why I'm no good at these things. Dunn sees powdered milk and wonders what else she could use it for.)

(By the way, Nora Dunn is not the same Nora Dunn that used to be on Saturday Night Live.)

One of the unhappy side effects of the housing market collapse/credit crisis is that many innocent people have to suffer, too. For one, your house is probably worth less than you thought it was until very recently (and you may even owe more on it than its current market value). And for two, the actions of others have cast a net of suspicion on you.

An easy example is American Express's recent statement that the company is now using local housing market data as one factor in determining whether it will give out credit. This has nothing to do with your home in particular, or your payments on your home, or any aspect of your credit history - it has to do with things such as the number of foreclosures in your area, the drop in home values in your area, etc. All things that you can do nothing about (unless you move, of course).

No one said life was fair. But here's another reminder, just in case you were starting to think otherwise.

Another airline is forcing you into credit-only onboard - as of August 5, Alaska Airlines began offering "the convenience of a cashless cabin. Passengers will no longer need to hunt for cash to pay for on board purchases..."

And, by the way, now that you have the "convenience" of a "cashless cabin", you should know that "Cash will no longer be accepted onboard."

I don't have a real problem with going credit-only, but I think it's sort of lame to call it a "convenience" when you force your passengers to use credit only and prohibit cash. The only party that is 100% guaranteed to consider this "convenient" is the airline that no longer has to deal with cash.

Anyway, just an FYI if you're zooming in or out of Alaska.