It was just back on Jan. 5 it was 60 degrees here in Creston. But by the next week, winter reared it’s ugly side. Now it seems to be in a fixed position of “go gettem.” We haven’t seen much of the sun lately and the cold snowy days are already getting old. Last year was one of the wettest years in history. The precipitation part seems to be carrying over but the cold weather is something new compared to the last few winters. The weather forecasters are looking for more of the same over the next month. Lets hope they are wrong and spring comes early! Old man winter is back and there is not much any of us can do about it.
Super
The “big football game” is coming up Feb. 3. The Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots are this years finalist. The Rams opened up as the favorites but became the underdog just as soon as the bets started coming in. New England is now a 2 1/2 point favorite. You can still buy tickets to the game in Atlanta. But they start at about $5,000 each. The good news is that you can buy a $2 hot dog or $5 beer at the Atlanta stadium to help make up for the price of the ticket. What a deal! My front room with my 50 inch TV will be my preferred seat of choice. The hot dogs will get replaced with some smoked meat of my choice and the fizzy waters will flow freely throughout the game.
Wow
Iowa is now the state with the lowest unemployment in the country. We can even feel it here in Creston. We are having a tough time finding help to deliver our papers. We have several walking and motor routes that need filled, so if you know of someone or would like to make a few extra bucks on the side, give us a call. Taylor County has the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 1.5 percent with Adams County not far behind at 1.9 percent.
Iowa has many counties below the 2 percent mark. I know a lot of businesses are looking for help and not having much luck. It looks like the general service industries are starting to suffer with the lack of help situation. The rural areas are also in desperate need of people. The high taxes in Iowa are one reason we are not seeing much of a population gain. Plus, there are less young people now to take over for the baby boomers!
Hurry
The price of first class postage stamps goes up this Sunday. First class stamps will go from 50 to 55 cents. If you buy forever stamps before, then you can save a little money down the line on your postage. But time is short. You only have until Saturday to save some bucks!
Up
Thank goodness the stock market took a turn up in January over the December swoon. Your 401(K) statement in December probably didn’t look so good. But if the market stays up this next week you should see a recovery of about half of the December loss.
Go to work
The Government shutdown is headed for its fifth week. If we could just get our politicians off their high horses and do what they are paid to do this thing would be over. Too much party-ism anymore. The “My way or the Highway” has to stop for the good of us all.
Cheaper
I see the online TV channel suppliers are having a rate war. Netflix just raised it’s prices and Hulu just lowered it’s prices. They are all going after Amazon Prime. There are more and more people unplugging from cable to escape the ever increasing cost of cable. I just got a new TV for Christmas and it is a lot more friendly towards all the new systems. My biggest problem is there are 250 channels and still nothing good to watch!
Thought for the week: To invent you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. Thomas Edison