If you have read this with any regularity, you know that I have been running my own small store for about a year. I have shared most of my frustrations with the endless red tape that is involved in opening a business now. I have posted pictures of the remodel, the expansion, and the building. For the most part, I love that I have been able to do this. Being my own boss is an exciting prospect, and knowing that my fate is in my own hands is both wonderful and scary.
On the other hand, I spent 78 hours working last week. I do not receive over time, of course. If I wish to make money, than I have to be open. I have said before that I would like to hire someone part time, someone that could be here when I was enjoying a half day off. So I wish I could hire someone for maybe 10 hours a week. It's not going to happen. It's not that I have a shortage in applications, no. I have maybe five to eight people per week who ask if I am hiring. Unfortunately, I am not.
I have listed the reasons before, but a new reason that I won't be hiring is the recession that is not only not over, it is dug in. My business is hanging in there. Luckily, I have low overhead, and I have no problem with long hours. The thing that I cannot overcome is this craptacular economy we are experiencing. I sell things to people. I also find things that people are looking for, and then I sell them those things also. A customer that taxes my patience often complains that I just buy things and sell them for more than I paid for them.You think? Welcome to capitalism 101.
The current, uncooked unemployment number sits at 14.58%. That's the real number, not the heavily redacted, eliminating the people who are underemployed, or the people who have stopped looking and given up, or the people who have run out of benefits. Can you imagine the panic of looking for two years and still not having a job??
How are we supposed to thrive when one in six people does not have a job? One in six people has no money coming in, or not enough money coming in. While it makes buying things for the store much easier, what is the point of buying things for the store if there is no one able to buy those items?
I don't want tax credits. I don't want some sort of easing of money. Printing more money is the reason that gasoline is so expensive. I don't want magic beans, I want a strong, robust economy where everyone who wants to work can find a job, a good paying job.
Get involved. Volunteer your time to a group that is working to fix the problems we face. Write letters, make phone calls, demand that your elected officials earn their pay. Learn to read their double speak, and don't accept it. If you didn't do your job, would you be able to keep it? Me neither. The Senate hasn't passed a budget in three years. That is one of the only things spelled out for them in the Constitution that they must do. If you just showed up for work without doing anything for three years, how do you think that would play out? Demand that the Senate do their job. You'll thank me later.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Good Job GOP!
I am watching with great sadness the destruction of any chance that this Republic has to defeat B.O. and his socialist agenda. Speaker Gingrich is "suspending" his campaign and we are stuck with mitt-for-brains. The money that he has spent to carpet bomb the opponents will pale in comparison to the money that every one's favorite Kenyan will spend to destroy him.
Factor in the slow dance in the moonlight that the msm is still enjoying and the only thing we can see is four more years for Obama to muck everything up beyond recognition.
Mitt Romney will say anything, do anything promise anything to get himself elected. Did the GOP learn nothing when they ran the last guy who had stood in line the longest? In a word: no. Mitt Romney has no core of beliefs. He has no guiding principles that he strives for. He is a stiff, over groomed, cookie cutter white guy. And while he is better than the craptacular fiasco that we have in place now, he stinks.
I have read the attempts to humanize him by his wife and others. That may be loyalty on their part, but the clip that will be played over and over is the casual bet he made with another candidate. The ten thousand dollars that he so casually offered will resonate with those like me who think ten thousand dollars is not an amount that you just toss out there, that is a serious piece of cash.
Romney doesn't get it. He has no idea of the stress involved in choosing which bills you can afford to pay and which ones have to wait. He has never had to choose between food and electricity, and he doesn't get it. Granted, B.O. tries to act as though he is a man who has been there. His pathetic story that he floated of watching his mother fight with insurance as she lay dying was touching. The only problem with it, is it is mostly a fabrication. She was trying to file for benefits for disability not her health benefits. He lied about the context of her argument with the insurance company, no surprise.
But back to our lousy candidate, Mitt Romney. The media is starting to point out how rich he is, how out of touch he is. He won't win, and we are stuck with B.O. for four more years. Pray for mercy, you'll thank me later.
Factor in the slow dance in the moonlight that the msm is still enjoying and the only thing we can see is four more years for Obama to muck everything up beyond recognition.
Mitt Romney will say anything, do anything promise anything to get himself elected. Did the GOP learn nothing when they ran the last guy who had stood in line the longest? In a word: no. Mitt Romney has no core of beliefs. He has no guiding principles that he strives for. He is a stiff, over groomed, cookie cutter white guy. And while he is better than the craptacular fiasco that we have in place now, he stinks.
I have read the attempts to humanize him by his wife and others. That may be loyalty on their part, but the clip that will be played over and over is the casual bet he made with another candidate. The ten thousand dollars that he so casually offered will resonate with those like me who think ten thousand dollars is not an amount that you just toss out there, that is a serious piece of cash.
Romney doesn't get it. He has no idea of the stress involved in choosing which bills you can afford to pay and which ones have to wait. He has never had to choose between food and electricity, and he doesn't get it. Granted, B.O. tries to act as though he is a man who has been there. His pathetic story that he floated of watching his mother fight with insurance as she lay dying was touching. The only problem with it, is it is mostly a fabrication. She was trying to file for benefits for disability not her health benefits. He lied about the context of her argument with the insurance company, no surprise.
But back to our lousy candidate, Mitt Romney. The media is starting to point out how rich he is, how out of touch he is. He won't win, and we are stuck with B.O. for four more years. Pray for mercy, you'll thank me later.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Animal Shelters Need More Money, Teachers Do Not
I have often said that if I ever win a lottery, one of the first things that I would do is open a huge no kill shelter in my area. A sanctuary that would take care of the strays, cats, dogs, small mammals, lizards, birds, whatever. I think about one hundred acres would do the trick, probably fifteen buildings and a clinic. I have imagined the place many times, it is a pleasant fantasy for passing time. I don't understand people who raise dogs or cats. Especially the ones who keep cranking out designer mutts or kittens for any reason. Millions of animals are destroyed every year. We don't need more of them. We need people to take care of the ones that they have, that would be kind of cool. While I don't like the idea of more taxes, I think that they would curb the people who get a pedigreed animal and immediately see dollar signs.
Almost every dog I have ever had has been one with some sort of pedigree. I'm not a dog snob, I just like basset hounds and Great Danes. But I have never bred any of my animals, mostly because of the overpopulation of dogs, but also because I know people who raise and sell dogs. Those people are not making the killing that some would envision. When you factor in the costs of the veterinarian, the food, the time, and the medicines, there isn't much of a profit.
The bane of my Mother's experience with breeding was the people who were looking for a bargain. Out of a litter of six, she sold three of them. I got one, and she ended up keeping the other two. Trust me, she didn't make a profit.
When some people buy a dog, they have expectations that are not realistic. Other times, they have to get rid of the dog for other reasons. The up shot is that animal shelters are full of registered dogs, and most of them will be euthanized before they can find a home. If you want a good pet that will love you for years, go to your local animal shelter. You will save someone's life, and they will repay you with love and adoration for a long time.
On the other hand, some folks in Wisconsin are still trying to recall Scott Walker-the genius who got their fiscal house in order. It's hard to feel sorry for a teacher who is asked to kick in another twenty dollars toward their health insurance when I am paying for mine one hundred percent.
While I appreciate that teachers have the important job of educating our children, I don't think that most of them are doing a very good job of it. In fact, I think that most of them are more worried about their own job security than they are concerned with our children being prepared to learn the skills they will need to get a job that will support them.
If you can get involved in your child's school, I would suggest that you do it. You'll thank me later.
Almost every dog I have ever had has been one with some sort of pedigree. I'm not a dog snob, I just like basset hounds and Great Danes. But I have never bred any of my animals, mostly because of the overpopulation of dogs, but also because I know people who raise and sell dogs. Those people are not making the killing that some would envision. When you factor in the costs of the veterinarian, the food, the time, and the medicines, there isn't much of a profit.
The bane of my Mother's experience with breeding was the people who were looking for a bargain. Out of a litter of six, she sold three of them. I got one, and she ended up keeping the other two. Trust me, she didn't make a profit.
When some people buy a dog, they have expectations that are not realistic. Other times, they have to get rid of the dog for other reasons. The up shot is that animal shelters are full of registered dogs, and most of them will be euthanized before they can find a home. If you want a good pet that will love you for years, go to your local animal shelter. You will save someone's life, and they will repay you with love and adoration for a long time.
On the other hand, some folks in Wisconsin are still trying to recall Scott Walker-the genius who got their fiscal house in order. It's hard to feel sorry for a teacher who is asked to kick in another twenty dollars toward their health insurance when I am paying for mine one hundred percent.
While I appreciate that teachers have the important job of educating our children, I don't think that most of them are doing a very good job of it. In fact, I think that most of them are more worried about their own job security than they are concerned with our children being prepared to learn the skills they will need to get a job that will support them.
If you can get involved in your child's school, I would suggest that you do it. You'll thank me later.
Monday, May 7, 2012
B.O. Can't Create Jobs, But he Sure Can Manufacture a Distraction, Can't He?
Anyone who has ever read my blog knows how I feel about Trayvon Martin. I think if he had been home, where he should have been, he would be alive today. Instead, while on another suspension from his school, he went out for skittles and who knows what else, and chose to attack an armed man. One of my favorite lines from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -"He chose poorly."
Before that was the stupid fake hearing that Pelosi tried to create with Sandra Fluke. You remember her? She was the activist that they tried to pass off as just another law student. The paid activist that went to a Catholic school and was shocked that they would not provide her birth control. She quoted a price of about three thousand dollars for her birth control. Unfortunately for her and Ms. Pelosi's fake hearing, no one did any research and the truth that she could have purchased her pills for twelve dollars a month-or less than $150 a year was quickly made public.
Now we can add the incredibly ignorant comments from the White House Operative Hilary Rosen who said that in her opinion, Anne Romney has never worked a day in her life. Mrs. Romney only stayed home, managing her home, raising five sons, and keeping things running while her husband was a businessman and then a politician. No work there. Ms. Rosen and her partner have twins. Am I to believe that neither of these woman are staying home to raise these children? Perhaps they should have just gotten a dog, as neither wants to stay home and make the sacrifices that Mrs. Romney has chosen to make.
But the worst part is that all of these things are simply distractions. Distractions from the left, distractions from B.O.'s White House, all attempts at smoke and mirrors to keep the collective minds from the miserable job he is doing as the CEO of our Republic.
What is the real unemployment in your area? Not the pretend, cooked number that they release every month in D.C.,but the real number when you factor in the underemployed, the people who have run out of benefits, and the people who have lost hope. In my area it is over 17 %. I bet it is close to that where you are also.
Don't be distracted by the steady line of baloney that the current administration is so good at manufacturing. It is only more crises that B.O. will not let go to waste. Keep your eye and your thoughts on the economy. You'll thank me later.
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