A Labor Shortage, Inflation, War in the Middle East, A Surprise Baby

“Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.” — Ronald Reagan

Good morning, how are you? It’s again a little chilly here in the valley, but I suspect it will warm as the day get’s along. I slept like a rock; we had dinner at our daughter’s house, watched her future husband hit the first pitch out of the park for the Charleston River Dogs; they did go on to lose, but it’s a long season, you don’t learn from your wins. Touche’ cliché’

I took my wife to pick up her car and then headed up to Muncie, where I was planning on visiting some friends. As I got on the bypass, I noticed my normal exit of highway 32 was closed; some massive road work was done, so I thought, well, the next exit I can get Starbucks, so I drove up and headed to get a cup of coffee.

Since I live in different communities, I constantly make observations about the quality of life in a specific area. I must say the roads in Muncie need infrastructure assistance.  The patch from the bypass to Mcgalliard is an embarrassment; what if we had a process to collect funds from all, and then we could all chip in and fix our roads. Wait?

As I pulled into Starbucks, something was wrong; there were no cars, there was a sign on the door. It seems my Starbucks has closed. I headed to my next appointment, no longer having time to make the quick stops I had planned; I parked at Roots Burger bar and sat in the parking lot cleaning up email. We had our company-wide chat at noon; I joined via my laptop in a parking lot.

I finished up and headed to meet my friend for lunch. I’ve known this man for 20 years, we have grown our businesses together, it’s always nice to get his insight. I shared my story about Starbucks, and he shared they were not closed; they did not have enough labor to open. He mentioned another local business that has been struggling to open due to a labor shortage.  If you pay people $600 a week to stay home or allow them to work and earn $330 after taxes, most are choosing to watch Ellen and not work. This current system is broken. There are 8 million unfilled jobs, and people are living off the teet of our grandkids.

As I drove to Muncie, I heard about the gas shortage on the east coast. It seems a pipeline was hacked, and I thought, wait, “pipelines are good?” I wondered if the new administration was sorry for canceling the keystone pipeline, killing all those jobs, and another fuel source.

It’s Jimmy Carter all over again.  I’m old enough to remember that under an Orange Man Bad (OMB) administration in January of this year, we had peace in the Middle East; now rockets are flying, war is imminent, what the hell is going on.  

The cost of goods continues to spiral up out of control; many builders have to pull their estimates due to a 30 percent or more cost increase in building materials. There is a vehicle shortage, and things are looking pretty bleak. Buckle up, buttercup; we are in for a two-year ride from hell.

I stopped by and saw an old wizard. Al is a friend but a common-sense guy, successful, and we chatted about our current state of events. He said even if you paid me to stay home, I would go to work; it’s my duty to work; how can you hold your head high if you are stealing from others? He blamed the next generation and their work ethic, but I think all ages are guilty of theft, choosing to take unemployment rather than put in a hard day of labor. Oh, and don’t forget, taxes are on the rise! Come on, man?

Oh, but I digress. I do have an incredible story to share. I talked to a friend I have known for 40 years. She shared a recent event, and I thought it a miracle, so I’d like to share it with you. Natalie is 21, works two jobs, lives with Mom and Dad, has a good boyfriend, planning on moving out and getting married one day. A couple of weeks ago, she called her mother; she was having some medical issues and was in extreme pain; she wanted her Mom to take her to the doctor. She was scared.

They arrived at the doctor’s office, and they began checking her out. Early in the observation, the young lady was asked, “is it possible you are pregnant?” The young lady said, “impossible; I’m on birth control, nature has not deviated its ordinary course, no I’m not pregnant. Upon further checking, they discovered another heartbeat; Natalie was going to have a baby and had been carrying another human unbeknownst to her, her boyfriend, and family for the last nine months.

At 3:00 a.m., a young boy was born, 6 pounds, healthy, happy, and Mom was allowed to be there during the birth. I asked how she felt, and she said we thought she had something majorly wrong with her and to find out it was a baby, a miracle, we were excited, the baby and Mother are home, the father is leaning into his new role, soon the kids will get married and begin life together. Sometimes something bigger than ourselves works in mysterious ways.

I’ve got a busy day, another day in the car, running Zoom meetings, connecting with other humans. My teaching and training business is beginning to take hold; our other small business is humming along despite the economic and societal threats. We are well-positioned to weather this storm, but I fear for those less fortunate. Our trees are full of nuts; we can make it through a long winter or two, but what about those that don’t have nuts, those that have hollow trees, or worse, no trees at all? 

“Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.”

— Ronald Reagan