Thank you, Day One. I much favor cereal myself. Like you, I find myself getting lower rates than, say, last year.

Until recently, I received a free breakfast on weekends at my favorite local full service Marriott. They were, like other properties, advised to stop this practice.

My rate today was probably $15 or so less than what it was last year at this time. By paying for my own breakfast, the sum total was probably close to the same. And, hey, more points with the increased platinum bonus. Not too bad.

Many Marriotts closed their lounges on weekends some years ago. The Marriott with an open weekend lounge was, truly, the exception. I doubt that Marriott is losing customers in droves because of the change. Perhaps they did miscalculate about the bacon. The assistant manager I spoke with indicated that she has had to field many complaints about the change.

Still, I don't buy much into conspiracies at this level. I don't believe that Marriott came up with this new change just to generate hate and discontent and somehow pulled the six million dollar figure out of the air. And, all other things being equal, if headquarters is overstaffed, cuts can and should be made. But if the staffing positions can be justified, I still put a valued employmee's job security ahead of a little extra choice at breakfast.

You guys are probably keen to get the waste, fraud, and abuse out of government. If the government can get rid of its "pork," why can't Marriott?