Month: November 2008

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Gas prices are coming down

I am sure glad that the price of gasoline is coming down, but I sure wish that the price of diesel would come down more!  I use diesel in most of my farm equipment, and the price just doesn’t seem to be dropping very much, or very fast!  I seem to remember a time when diesel fuel was cheaper than gasoline, and I don’t know what caused it to increase the way it has.  This makes it very difficult for all of the farmers and the long-haul truckers and their companies to make a profit too! 

People are not going to be very understanding about how their food prices are going to keep going up when the price of gasoline is going down – they don’t realize that diesel fuel prices are still “up there” and that the cost of transporting their food is going to increase the price they pay for it.  Come to think of it, maybe this will be a good thing for farmer’s markets – maybe this will make their prices more competitive with the foods in the stores that were hauled in from hundreds of miles away!

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Japan announces it is in a recession

I’ve heard that Japan has announced that it is in a recession.  I think that the USA is in one too, and I don’t understand why the “officials” have not admitted to that.  Our economy is really horrible and has been for a very long time!  Almost every time I meet folks out on the errands that I have to run I hear that someone else that I know has been laid off, or that someone has had to close down their business because the customers just aren’t coming around anymore, or someone else has lost their house to foreclosure.  It really is a very difficult time for almost everyone that I know.  I think that the community is going to have to open up some more soup kitchens and homeless shelters pretty quickly!

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A heartfelt thank you to our Veterans

Every generation of my family has had its menfolk serve in the military up until this generation.  We have a long history of military service, and our family has seen a lot of wars.  I want to extend my heartfelt love to all of the menfolk in my family that have served in the military, and extend my sincere gratitude to all military families everywhere for the sacrifices they all make in service of our country.  I pray that the service people overseas will return home safe and sound and soon.

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Elections are over

Thank goodness the elections are over!  The phone has quieted down, the robocalls have stopped – THANK GOODNESS INDEED!  I was getting awfully tired of answering the phone about six times every night, just to be greeted by a pre-recorded political message.  I’d simply hang up on them, but it was a huge annoyance just the same.  I keep a phone by the bed in case there is an emergency and someone needs to reach me, but I do go to bed early (after all, I AM a farmer!) and I was being awakened every night for weeks with those stupid robocalls!  It has been nice the past couple of nights to be able to SLEEP!

As for the aftermath of the election, so far I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised that the celebrations have been so very peaceful.  I was thinking that the celebrations would be similar to the celebrations that happen after sporting events where the masses of people start to get a little carried away in their enthusiasm and end up damaging property.  I’m glad to say that around here it seems that has not been the case.

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I hope you voted!

I voted today.  I had a hard time finding a parking spot, the parking lot was full so I had to park about a 1/4 mile away down the street and walk the rest of the way in.  It surprised me to see so many people considering the time of day I went in – around 11am.   I had to stand in line for about an hour, which is a lot less time than I expected to stand in line.

I think the line would have moved a lot quicker if the election officials running the check-in books hadn’t spent so much time socializing with the folks coming in to vote.  I found it very aggravating to be hearing the all going on and on about “how’s your Aunt Sue?” and “Whatever happened to ol’ what’s his name.”  I wanted to get nasty and scream “This ain’t no ice cream social, ladies, get a move on!”  Maybe when I’m old and gray I’ll get up the nerve to do just that!

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November already

It’s hard to believe that it’s November already!  I had to turn the calendar page today, and saw the note I had written on it to give the pets their flea and tick medicines, clean the air filters for the furnace, and to set the clock back one hour when I go to bed tonight.  I wish that the government would just stick to ONE time and not keep switching back and forth between “daylight” and “standard” time.  It is hard to adjust to the time changes, and switching back and forth has NOT been proven to save any energy at all.