Wednesday, November 30, 2016

I Walked Three Miles...

...through the snow to school every day.  UP Hill, Both ways!
In three short days I will be Seventy Years Old.  As I get older it seems that 70 is the new 70! Meaning I am getting older and feel it.  Lucky me, I am still pretty strong, can lift my weight, still put in at least a half days work and I sleep through the night without getting up to pee!  I can think back now on "the good old days", my own youth.  Yes, times were different then, a Half Century Ago!
The economies of scale were different with far less extremes.  Then (1960's) a Chief Executive Officer of a company made as an average Six times the wages of his employees. Now it could be Thousands of Times their wages!  In the "Good Old Days"  (when America was Great!) we had a Progressive Income Tax structure.  At the Top, those who made over a Million a year, it went to over 90%.  Now, as a percentage of their income, these people pay Less than their Secretaries!
I never really had a good job in my youth.  I picked Pineapples in Hawaii for $1.25 per hour.  I worked on a Tender, the boat that collects the fish from the fishing boats and takes them to the cannery.  I made $50 per day on that job.  I made sewer pipes from creosote and newspapers and came home filthy every night after work.  I made a dollar an hour from that. I got married in 1968 while a Student at the University of Oregon and working at the local cannery.  I was making almost $2.00 an hour.
I have been thinking about then and now and have come to some interesting thoughts.  It is mostly math and based on my then minimum wage of $2. per hour to the Oregon minimum wage of $10 now.  That is 5 times more. Tuition at the U of O was $97 per term, so 5 times more would be $500.
In Reality, it has gone up over 30 times More to over $3,000.
I bought my house in 1972, admittedly a "fixer-upper", I paid less than $10,000 for it and was making minimum wage at the time.  5 times that would be $50,000.  In reality, if you could find one it would be closer to $150,000 now.  That is 15 Times the Money.
Before we bought the house we were renters.  On $2.00 per hour we had a nice little 2 bedroom house for $100 per month.  Five Times That Money, $500, will barely get you a room in a house now! The average rent for a 2 bedroom house is about $1,500 per month.  Fifteen Times the Money!
I remember distinctly when my Utility bill went Over $20 per month the first time!  Now it is Over $200 per month,  Ten Times the Money!
Cigarettes were .25 cents per pack and 5 times that should be $1.25.
A cup of coffee was .10 cents, should be 50 cents now.
Hamburger was three pounds for a dollar, a loaf of bread for a quarter.
You could actually Save Money and live on $2.00 per hour.  One year my wife and I wanted to go to Europe and we were still working at the cannery!  It was a five month season, starting with rhubarb, then beets, and corn and ending with carrots.  We saved all we could and in five months had enough saved to go to Europe, all costs and transportation, for three months!
We complain about the lack of goals for our youth today but frankly, ten dollars per hour does not do half as much as $2.00 per hour did in my youth.

Friday, November 25, 2016

BLACK FRIDAY!

Happy Day After, it is Black Friday and so far (the day is young) there have been THREE SHOOTINGS, all over Parking Spaces on this Glorious Religious Holiday For Shoppers!
We take Greed Seriously!

Thursday, November 24, 2016

It is Really Simple!

You don't need a bunch of laws.  You don't need new regulations.  We don't need the Dark Prospects of a Trump Administration.  We could enforce and Honor the laws and Treaties and obligations we already have.  Lets look at the Dakota Pipe Line.  It (the Demonstrators) is on Private Property.
The Pipeline goes through an Indian Reservation (that is OK, we have Never honored those agreements!), meaning it Belongs to the Indians.  God knows we took everything else!  The issue is Water, or the Law, or Private Property, of Rights of Indians or Oil, all depending on how you look at it.  It is no big deal to me if that pipeline leaks (lie they all do!), I live in Oregon.  We have clean water and lucky for us, no oil.  But it is Thanksgiving and we killed off a lot of Indians to appreciate this day.  Can't we talk about something nice?  The police don't belong on Indian Reservations, nor Private Property where no one is likely to get hurt.  The Only argument I can see to Stop the Protesters is WE WANT CHEAP OIL.  Yeah, Happy Thanksgiving!
Trump wants to same the compressor plant in Indiana. That is a good thing.  Don't send those 1,400 American Jobs to Mexico.  The Power is in US.  Don't Buy Crap from Mexico.  It is really That Simple.  Check the Tags:  made in Mexico, China, Bangladesh. Do Not Buy It.
I remember years ago, even Walmart tried to support American Made Products.  Next to each other, 2 products, American and Foreign with a $3 Dollar difference in price.  The American, better made and made here at Home didn't sell.  We want Cheap, face it.  Walmart knows this.
We have met the enemy and he is us.

Friday, November 18, 2016

If Gardeners Ruled the World!

In American Politics we don't have a Cabinet Position for Chief Organic Gardener but maybe we should.  I think people who like to garden should rule the world.  Our experience with the soil and nurturing tiny seedlings to full production is a transferable education applicable to any Cabinet Position.
We don't make quick uneducated decisions.  We research a lot, spending the Winter months pouring over catalogs, always wanting our next year's garden to be better than last.  We invest heavily in the infrastructure knowing the paths we create will determine which plants thrive and which may get stepped on.  We are protective of the smallest while honoring the biggest and want equal sunlight and nutrients for all.
We like diversity in our garden and realize that is Nature's Way.  Different plants growing together make the garden stronger, encourage pollination and help fend off dangers to the garden.
We realize that a garden is a lot of work and expect those who pick its harvest will contribute to its weeding and watering.  We are protective of its boundaries and will fence off predators.
We nurture and baby the struggling plants, hoping for their survival.  We save seeds from the successful plants, knowing their history and valuing their contribution.
We don't mind getting dirty and realize that this is a labor of love.  Many of us have flowers spread among the vegetables, liking their color and realizing their scent attracts honeybees.  Good for all of the garden.
Perhaps most of all, Gardeners enjoy sharing.  It is part of who they are and sharing their bounty with others creates the most joy.  It is a special kind of giving, not even particularly to people who may need it.  Just an act of giving because that in itself is so wonderful.
I have never met a gardener who didn't give something away!      

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

No One Wants the Truth

It is a bad sign when we blame others for our shortcomings.   The nasty Jews the Germans killed off in the War.  Oh, first just the "Bad Ones", the criminal Jews and no one cared, then the "probably criminal" and added the sick and infirm, the Gypsies to the list, then, of course "all of them" by the train car loads.
It is funny that Rural America pushed Trump to win this election.  Rural America and farmers.  Who will pick their crops now?
It is always bad when someone gets up the ladder by stepping on those below.  The Truth is Humans are a selfish lot and blaming others is the easier thing to do.
We are so quick to forget the oiling of  Louisiana, the Entire Coastal Area, Destruction of the Gulf Coast.  The Exon-Valdez oil spill that trashed the Alaskan shoreline.  The Dakota Pipeline, a bunch of Indians are after clean water, what the heck is that about when I can get bottled water at Walmart!
We want Cheap Gas and just won't admit it.
I think secretly we hate this planet, want to use it all up.  I see more Trash every day, the new normal.
We keep our cars clean.  It is just expected that we toss the garbage out the window!
The latest statistic I read:  we watch television (streaming Netflix) 600 hours a year!
The "New Normal"  live in a cubicle, throw trash out the window and watch Netflix.
and Cheap Gas, at any cost.  Seriously? 

Monday, November 14, 2016

No Politics, Please!

just blog about tomatoes and grandchildren and maybe the weather, oh, no, not the weather! The deniers are in charge and there is No Global Warming!  By declaration, they said so!  Life would be so pleasant if we just didn't talk.  as in, not voting, can't be bothered.
This "revolution" could have happened at any time.  We could have had our jobs back a long time ago.  We just don't want to go to any effort or expense to get them back.  It is easier to have others force this upon us.  We always had the opportunity to "Buy American", but face it, Walmart is so easy, just down the street, one stop shopping and cheaper!  We want cheap gasoline and will frack the hell out of the earth to get it!  Open up those coal pits and let the miners die of black lung disease, the air get filthy, the water poison.  Drill, baby, drill.  We have not destroyed the Oceans...enough!
    Is any one old enough to remember that previous to our entering WWII there were Serious Debates in our Congress as to which side to join?  We are just a hair breath away and it is frightening.
   We want to go back in time and "Make America Great Again".  Great but not gracious.  In the 1950's and '60's when our Freeway systems were constructed, when NASA was created and we did go to the Moon, we had a Progressive Income Tax.  In those days the wealthy paid their share.  Income tax went to 90% and they still grew richer.  No one is talking about that now.   I wonder where the money will come from?  Reduce SS, Reduce medical, Reduce Education.  It will come from the working poor.
   I am not really worried about all this,  History Swings this way and that and Our System still moves slowly.  Women will suffer now and maybe for 100 years to come, just more of what they had for the last Centuries.  I hear they are tougher.  Minorities have always gotten the short shift. We only believe in equality as long as we get ours!  I worry about the Planet, the garbage, the strip mining, the water and air we breath.  We have never been good stewards of this planet and I think we will get worse.
Like spoiled children.  What a Wonderful Gift we have been given, and we just trash it.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Discombobulated!

Is that really  word?  That is how I feel.  How you could ever explain American Politics to a foreigner is beyond me.  A reality Star for President! Seriously?  and naked photos of the First Lady to be on the Internet.  Really.  Sons who shoot endangered species for sport. Open pussy grabbing season. Open up the coal mines, bring on Armageddon, drill Baby Drill.  Cancel Row Vs Wade, set women Back a hundred years!  Tax Cuts for the 1%er's!  And I am worried about who he will surround himself with:  Sarah Palin, Mike Huklebee, Chris Christie, and others.
I am not mad at Donald Trump but I am disheartened at those who voted for him.  42% of single White Women!!!!  What in the World were they thinking?  It must be better to be loved by a wife beater than on your own.  I am reminded that female genital mutilation is favored by more African Women than men!  We simple fail to vote our own interests.
I think we can get over this, maybe recover.  There are more elections in two years.  I am not sure the Earth can take more trash and am more worried about that.  I don't want the water of Mexico or the sky of China.  Always wearing masks and drinking bottled water as the new normal.
Either way he will soon become our President, then we will see what we have done to ourselves.
Whatever happens don't blame him.  We did it.  and saying "I didn't know that would happen" will be the only excuse we can come up with because   we    are    that    stupid.