March 29, 2024

Kind of an interesting world we live in right now

The new key word for the month of April is “Social distancing.” Also masks are becoming more of a wardrobe choice. We have one reporter who is pretty good at matching up his mask with the rest of his wardrobe. My cousin from Nebraska made a mask and sent it to me. I’ve got to say it’s the first mask I’ve ever got since I was a kid and did Halloween masks.

Besides social distancing, other new words that are getting lots of air play right now are “Coronovirus,” “Zoom” and the current word champion that seems to be used in every other sentence – “unprecedented”. Yes this is an unprecedented event that will change the way we do things from here on out. The term “Black Swan” event may end up describing this event if the virus keeps on going for several months. The unemployment rate will continue to go up the longer this goes on. I’m hoping this is not the case.

Shopping

Although inflation has already taken place in several areas, gasoline pricing has me confused. Crude has been down to less than $20 a barrel for a number of weeks which should mean gas at less than a dollar a gallon (which is happening in several states). But we were paying $1.98 up until yesterday while I see on T.V. that it is $1.20 in Des Moines. Yes, it’s going down, but not as much as it should. Of course, where are we going at the moment anyway?

A trip to the grocery store has also become a bit of sticker shock. I’ve been buying eggs for 50 to 68 cents per dozen over the last few months. Now all of a sudden they are $3.19 a dozen, From a nickel an egg to over 25 cents per egg. No, it won’t break me, but there still has to be plenty of chickens out there doing their “thing” everyday. Also, hamburger was $1.79 pound three weeks ago, now you’re lucky to get it at $3.50 pound. And many blends are over $4. I’m not sure what the black market price on toilet paper is at this point, but I thought by now the supply should be growing since 75% of it is made in the U.S. I still see empty shelves on the paper supplies most of time I’m out. The good news is, the bread supply has seemed to show back up.

Dairy

The dairy farmers are sure having a rough time. I see they are just throwing out thousands of gallons of milk per day. Even the cheese folks can’t help out due to there is no where to store all the dairy products. We have millions of tons of cheese in storage, maybe it time to get it out and start distributing it. A lot of the dairy problem is that people have went away from milk. Lots of folks do cashew, almond, oat or soy products now.

Classic

The new word for ESPN is “classic”. You can now watch classic football, basketball, NBA, NASCAR, soccer or any other sport that happened over the last hundred years. “Classic” in this sense means a replay of whatever game or event happened many moons ago. Maybe we could call it Classic ESPN!

Keep smiling

We will all get through this event. People just need to keep a positive attitude. Just because you wear a mask doesn’t mean you still can’t say “Hi!” or ask folks how they are doing. Being afraid of each other is not what this is about. This is a disease that will pass in time and the vast majority of us will be here doing our thing. It’s a time to slow our “roll” down a bit and stop and count all the blessings around us.

Treat your fellow humans with kindness and also support as many small local businesses as you can. We need them and we want them to be here after the “all clear” is given for us to go back to our new normal.

Thought for the week

Happy Easter! Don’t forget it is a time to celebrate even if you are social distancing.