What is really going on?

HATS THE PROBLEM?

Have you noticed how capitalism is not delivering the goods lately?  In this country corporate control is now a strangle hold!  They have us by the throat and the pocketbook.  They have managed to keep wages low while the price of their goods are soaring...
Gas is over the top and yet its not about a lack of the product it's the new  capitalist approach learned during the Pandemic.  They can cut jobs, cut production and RAISE prices and get away with it. 

There's less beans on the shelf...and they have not amped up production or logistics, and yet they raise the price and it just keeps going. 

This is not just at the pump it's all over the place.  Airlines are cutting flights...and raising prices while they say we have no pilots...what happened to the pilots they fired?? Did they all die?

Schools have no teachers, stores have no clerks, banks have no tellers, so long lines, empty shelves, and we keep showing up! WHY? Because we have no choice!! We are locked out of our own  future. 

Take note of the baby food issue, that could become an issue for the medicines people need, medical care, and the right to get yourself to that job you got no raise for! ONLY when the govt stepped in and forced the baby food industry to step up and the GOVT imported food was the shortage issues given some relief....

THAT is socialism...at work NOT CAPITALISM,,,,the state had to step in because Capitalism FAILED...and is failing! All those screaming about not wanting socialism better not partake of the baby food least they be called hypocrites. 

Fascism will never work!!  Are we creating a fascists system by using capitalists to do it?  Everyone is LOOKING for Joe Biden to do something about the prices of gas, to force them to make more gas, people that is Fascism...so which do you want??? I agree gas prices should be lowered, but by pressure of the feds to pass HIGH taxes on the producers, to stop subsidies, either it is capitalism or its not.  

70% of American's want gun control...the nut cases who own guns are the ones stopping that from happening!! WHY is there no shortage of guns and ammo??? If the Congress won't pass the laws we need then let them tax the shit out of the ammo, the guns, tax them right off the shelf! 

THEY raise the interest rate to control our spending, so why not use that same tactic across the board??? TAX THEM out of favor. 

We must get back to small mom n pops who will keep these Capitalists in check that are pressing us into the idea of Fascism!!

Im not afraid of socialism, at least we get SOME Thing for our Money...not just paying a stalled Congress passing laws to make life easy for the very capitalists that are failing the tax payers who are funding those subsidies.  

The cookie cutter communities are all exactly alike....All our eggs are in the same basket...what could possibly go wrong?  Everything!!

NO more mergers they buy out the competition and this is the result!

SO what did our leaders do here in SC?  They made it impossible for the government to shut down churches...Churches remain open no matter what the hell is going down!! Save those souls and fill up those plates that get pa$$ed around!! 

Unfreakin' believable...Why can't those church goers meet in each others homes??? It's so fake!

AND these huge freakin companies, don't let them fool you THEY can hire people if they want to!  My son just went thru 2 months of trying to get a job...he applied to all sorts of jobs, Retail, Food Industry, Driving industry, and those jobs have yet to be filled...so is there a shortage or are they just refusing to hire, and forcing more hours on the ones working?

He was hired by a longtime family business that has been in this town many years....I don't know if he will thrive there or not but they had a notice on the door, HIRING he applied and he was hired....those big corporate stores with Hiring on the door, he applied, they didn't hire.  And they have not filled those jobs! 

Progress?

ELL, I GOT ONE THING ACCOMPLISHED

If I can make progress one thing per day IM happy.  I am not big on getting 'er all done in one day anymore...that was then this is now...So the trouble with the car continued and we went to the old tire dealer we used to use before he got soooo busy he never had time for us, and he is no longer open on Saturday and seems to always be short handed...but we decided if his parking lot was not overflowing we'd give him a try...

Right away he found the problem with the shaking of the front of the  car...another of the  used tires we purchased had a knot in it, so the steel belt was about to go which would surely mean another blow out this time on the front so we bought one more tire...he checked the other one so far its ok....the shaking went away! So it didn't need a wheel alignment after all...

NO MORE USED TIRES!! Not worth it lesson learned. 

Son begins the new job tomorrow...it's only 25 miles round trip daily but still better safe than sorry...

AND I made my Chiropractic appointment.  Wednesday 10 am...Hope he can help me...it's the same guy I have gone to years ago! In fact I used to do his table upholstery...Im sure he has all new ones by now...and I wonder if he will remember me.  

I just hope he CAN help my hip flexor problem!

AGING

HERE  IS the MAGIC?

Since my hip has been giving me misery I have lost a lot of interest in getting up and facing the day.  I can see now why my Mom had so many issues with her life when she found herself in her 80's no longer able to drive or even to live alone after being independent for so many years.  I am not depending on anyone at this time, but I sure am not able to live the way I did just a year ago.  

I still don't know what the problem is with my hip it has gotten some better but it's still painful to go without pain killers...I tried that, could not stand the pain.  On days when I am determined to do some walking it's so stiff the next day it will barely move...I try to stretch but trust me it's too painful to do more than  a couple of stretches...NOW my left elbow is showing symptoms of tennis elbow.  Is it possible I have some immune disorder attacking my joints?  Jeepers...

Never once in my mind thought my body would stop be from living my life the way I want to live it.  I can walk a little bit but hiking, or going on trails is out of the question with my hip/leg the way it is currently...I can not bike at all....and even my gardening chores are difficult....I can't pick it up high enough to get good clearance, the long thigh muscle is soooo sore it may be torn.  I thought rest and taking it easy would solve the problem.  The NP I went to said she agreed that chiropractor may help so Im making an appointment this week, I hope they were on weird hours last week due to the holiday, then both my sons car and mine needed a tire once I saw his blow out the way it did, I got right on getting one on the front of my van where I had a tire with threads shining thru...so that shot the short week to  hell....anymore taking your car to a garage is a long drawn out process....we were to pick up his car Wednesday that didnt happen, so I ordered my tire they never have the right size in stock...and then we came back at 10 am, Thursday to pick up his car and put my tire on we got back home at 2 pm...it took all day!

So Friday I did NOTHING! Still he needs a wheel alignment so tomorrow morning we're back on the road leaving a car etc...and he starts a new job on Tuesday at 8 am that's what we're trying to get his car up to snuff for daily driving to work.  I hope this job is the magic one for him he has been thru so many jobs in the past 8 months..he even did Pizza Delivery which put his car thru hell...so that ended up being more cost than it was worth. 

Anyways back to my new found lack of ability...now I understand what mom went thru but she didn't go thru till she was 80...I hope my hip will heal and I can resume some sort of normal life...my thigh muscle gets so tired easily and it really requires a lot of effort to put one foot n front of the other...and sometimes my knee wants to lock and that causes pain and the feeling that Im about to fall down..

Another issue Im having is food! I always loved to cook and be creative with food even tho Im mostly vegan.  Now a days I just don't care...its like I don't want rice, pasta, veggie, I don't want cook, and once it's cooked I don't enjoy it or even care to eat it! I went back to eating bread, and that's all I do cut a piece of bread  put some topping on it and eat it...I cooked up a whole pot of penne pasta cut up fresh basil, olive oil, cherry tomato and ate one serving, the dogs got the rest...I really don't know what is going on except I just can't be bothered and I don't enjoy anything anymore...

I recall how many times I told my Mom, "just enjoy your senior years and don't worry about what you can't do anymore." 

No wonder she just frowned at me when I said that...now I get it. 

:o(

The funny thing is my sis told me she is going thru similar issues!! She has blood sugar problems, and that means she can't just let her diet go to pot...she has low energy, cant sleep, gets tired, and is bored with her diet...I guess these are all symptoms of aging?

Part of aging in place is accepting what you can't change I guess...and that is the HARD PART.

Wander Women...

ANDER WOMEN

Some of you may enjoy following along on this epic journey of two women, Kristy and Annette as they travel across the USA on the Rails to Trails system...they are currently in WA and in the episode I have posted below they are  crossing their first state Line, they began about a week ago...it's super fantastic to see this type adventure...something I wanted to do myself...but allowed life to stop me.  I wanted to do it on horseback when I was in my 20's if only I had listened to my dream...

GEE WHIZ

HAT A DAY!

So my son and I had a pre arranged plan he wanted to get an oil change so I was going to follow him and then we would take off together to Walmart to get some things then take him back on the flip of that.  So we got about 4 miles from home I was following, then he sort of swerved a bit then his rear tire BLEW OUT...

Glad I was behind him and not some lunker in a log truck or something...So we made the first left that we could make...

He said he felt this bummmpingggg and thats when he swerved, he knew something was about to happen...

And it was no easy task changing the tire in this dang heat...but he did it, I assisted by handing him this and that.. Finally we continued on...it was one of the Used tires he purchased not even a month ago...

So he had to stop for gas and we wanted to check the air in the spare we put on etc..

So we pulled into a gas station and checked the air the spare was good but his other rear tire had only 18 lbs in it...wth..

So we brought out my battery bank that has a air inflator on it, and hooked it up...while doing that we noticed the tire has a nail in it!! 

I'll be damned! So we stopped at the oil change place its a small business one guy who does not have dependable hours....(the other more dependable guy retired) So that didn't work, so we headed to another one in Lugoff, a small business...That one decided to close this week to have his entire parking lot repaved...SO we ended up at a regular bigTire n lub so we could take care of all that...Leave it for a nail fix, and when we had the rear tire off we noticed he had NO brake shoe on the right rear wheel...WTH? The whole thing caliper, and rotor and all looks completely worn out to me!!

So in the end, a simple oil change turned into purchasing a new tire, a tire repair on the one with a nail, oil change and a brake job! Had to leave the car cause they didn't have the tire in stock...it had to be ordered...will arrive in the morning on the early shipment.  I don't like doing one brake but he has no money and Im probably going to have to help him out just to get all that done.  
AND  I have a front tire that absolutely needs to be replaced...I was thinking of getting a used tired but after I saw how that one blew up I've changed my mind on that. 

What was supposed to be a simple ride to town for a $50 oil change and back took 4 hrs and will most probably be in excess of $500!! IM exhausted...At least I have my son riding with me IN case I have a flat he can change it!! We live too far out to ride around without a spare tire...

I HAD planned to go try to see a rare bird, the Ruff is at the beach he has been there 3 days now...I Hope he hangs on till both our cars are riding on good rubber again! 

I used to think horse n buggy too expensive but now Im about to change my mind! 

If we were only made of copper....

E'D BE SAFER!!

IN SC, We have to get a "scrapers" permit now a days just to bring our non ferrous metals to the scrap yard.  Before thieves decided stealing the wire right of the walls and the AC units disappeared from churches, there was no permit required...BUT due to this rash of metal thieves, new rules and laws were immediately put into place.  The past 2 years it was; Go to the Sheriff's office, show your ID and get a paper permit with your digits on it and good to go-- Once you get to the scrap yard, they enter your permit number and what you sold and what you were paid...THIS identifies any items that may be stolen. 

This YEAR since catalytic converters (platinum, palladium and rhodium) were added to the STOLEN LIST, the whole process GREW!! From just a copy of your Drivers License, to  three pages of questions to answer, they take a photo of you, you have to present your Vehicle Registration as well as your Drivers License AND renew it every 2 yrs. 

IT was MUCH easier  for that 18 yr old boy to buy 2 Semi-Auto Rifles at a gun show and walk into a school and gun down children and teachers than it was for me to sell my aluminum cans! 

And the other 18 yr old who went on a rampage last week and killed some grandmothers who were shopping in a grocery store because they were black!!
The lives of living breathing humans are not as valuable as the precious metals I guess...OR else there is no way ONE could walk up to a show or a store and walk out with two machines invented for KILLING humans...with no background check, no permit, nothing!!

AND yet when we got our "scrapers" permit...it's done at the SHERIFF'S office!! NOT gun permits..

check it out for  yourself..

https://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/state-gun-laws/south-carolina/

I can't carry Copper Wire, Aluminum, or any other NON Ferrous metal without a permit!! I can't sell it without this permit...but people can carry a gun, carry a weapon, conceal it, and then bring it out and kill me with it. 
Just for S-n-G check out the "LAW" pertaining to these metals:

https://law.justia.com/codes/south-carolina/2012/title-16/chapter-17/section-16-17-680

IF I did sell these metals without a permit it's a felony!! ONLY 2 yrs of metals being stolen and something is done about it!! Guns murdering kids....nothing done, Guns murdering blacks nothing done, guns murdering movie goers, mall shoppers, your neighbor...road rage, 
NOTHING DONE!! Year after year...nothing. OH actually something has been done, Republicans have made it easier to get guns, to own guns, to get away with using guns to kill others...that has been done...laws to make it EASIER, not restrict, not control, not to track, but to make it easier!!

 DID YOU  know that in this state (SC) since Death sentences have not been carried out due to the lack of the one DRUG they used for the purpose, is now suddenly not available, they have put back the Firing Squad as a means to accomplish that?? OUR Congress voted  IN FAVOR OF IT,  Even tho Morphine, or Fentanyl, or even Insulin would do the job!!  A nation of gun toting lunatics is what this country has become...never mind the zombie apocalypse, it's the gun toting lunatics. 

IF you want to LIVE, NEVER VOTE REPUBLICAN!!

Changing life..

HO reads this?

Apparently no one.  
Doesn't matter,  it's kind  of become a diary of what is all wrong in my life...or should I say the changing life...

My hip problem continues but I'm about to do something about it, at least hopefully.  Tomorrow I have a regular NP visit to get my thyroid prescription refill hopefully for 6 months and not have to deal with that.  Since I had covid I picked up a cough and it has stayed with me...it sometimes makes me short of breath...I don't deal well in humid air or cold air.  I smoked in my youth so probably now Im paying the piper on that front.

At least I seem to have my BP under control...But the pain meds don't help in that regard so Ive back off for the meanwhile till after my visit to the clinic.  I really don't want to add any medication to my life...IM dealing with it as best I can with OTC. All I have to say is NO, thank you when she tries to insist that I do.  139 is right on the border. By the new standards that is the beginning stage of hypertension. A female my age they want the range to be 131/77.  

I just took it from both sides and got 139/74 pulse 92...

Before I started the otc meds I was in the 150 range I think IF I could get rid of the pain meds it will be even better, I have not been getting a baseline for a while....

Anyways it's funny how when the closer I get to 70 the more the things that used to be my priority have changed...just walking without pain is now my priority.  I can't do any of the things I want or love to do....hiking, birding, gardening without pain! I did plant my garden in pots...I muddled thru and now I have plants to tend but they are getting little care.  My grass is high and the last couple of storms stix went unpicked...or I just toss them off into the woods which is what I don't like doing it creates an imbalance.  BUT for now it is what it is. 

I had projects in mind that I am now not even considering...Like washing all my windows inside and out.  I may be able to do inside one room at a time but I can't get on the ladder not even the short one...So outside if I do them it will be A squirt with the hose.  I can not remove all the screens....that would be a huge job...I have so many windows I know I've mentioned it before.  Like 20! And 4 doors with glass...2 are French doors, then  on the porch/laundry room there is 5 more windows and a pair of full length doors that I made myself out of plexiglass...still has to be cleaned. 

I read using dishwashing soap is really the best...so Maybe I can mix some in my hose end sprayer and do the outside screens and all at once. 

Do what I can and let the rest go I guess...