One of my favorite afternoon activities is refreshing this handy report from the government, which provides a daily update on the national debt to the penny. It sounds depressing I realize, but there’s something kind of hilarious about the debt as well–namely, that most people still apparently believe that it will one day be paid off in full.

As the number rises, this disconnect between the reality and the conventional wisdom gets a little funnier. Dark humor, granted, but humor nevertheless.

In any case, imagine my surprise today, when the national debt seemingly plummeted $18 trillion overnight!

This might be a problem…

Perhaps President-elect Trump already somehow made good on his subtle suggestion to default?

Sadly, no. Now, it’s back to normal. But for a little while today in government records, the US national debt almost looked manageable.