Keeping it simple

A Friend is a Gift you Give Yourself

I am the type of person who really enjoys reading the newspapers.  I regularly read the local San Jose Newspaper and the Walls Street Journal.   Needless to say that much of what I read lately is of a negative slant.   Come to think of it, I think the newspaper industry, as well as the news industry, just has that slant all year round.  But I needn’t mean to talk on this topic. This topic I wanted to talk about is based on the thought a favorite aunt gave to me many years ago.  “ A friend is a gift you give yourself” is a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson Scottish author (1850 - 1894)

I challenge everyone to think about an old friend who you have lost contact with.  Think about the close best friend that you have not called in a while.   Take a moment to call, email, or write that person today.   How can you expect to have them as a friend if you never put any energy into the friendship.   Friendships and the joy they can bring, can overcome all kinds of bad news.    Friendships don’t depend on low gas prices, on good effective government officials, or on economists telling us we are going into recession or the next week an inflation cycle.  Friends just require the gift of your thoughts and your attention.   Have a good “friend” day!

Slipping, sliding, beeping and hidden

My sense is that our local economy is definitely slipping and sliding.  Let’s look at our local economy.  With gas prices hitting record levels, we don’t need to be experts that consumers are going to cut back on travel.    Expect more downward pressures on tourism.   Yesterday our state government declared an “official” drought condition with about 75% normal rain and snow fall for the season, but fails to demand any cut back in use of water.  The election this past week had anemic voter turnout of less than 15%.  We are starting to see businesses shed thousands of jobs, as announced today with two airlines announcing layoffs of over 5000 jobs. Where is the leadership from our government?  Let’s get back to reality and demand that our government leaders do more than sit on their hands.   Let’s start by asking for what can we do to increase the supply side of these equations.  If we need more jobs, what can government legislatures do to promote growth in business, which leads to more jobs.  If we need more electricity, why not create incentives to build more nuclear electrical plants.  If we need more water, why not create incentives to built facilities to reclaim sea water as drinking water?  Now you may not like the particulars of my suggested actions, but instead of just complaining about no nuclear, or no water desalination plants in my neighborhood, what is it that we can do to start creating solutions?  I believe we can create change to demand that our leaders start taking action.   

In a way we are all like sail boats.  Either the winds or the tides are going to move us.  Currently as we are in the slip and slide mode, we are more like the becalmed boat who is driven more by the tides.  If we want to start gaining movement, let’s hoist our sails and start moving forward.  We may have to tack as we move forward to reach our desired destination; but if we are moving, we will have much better control over where we are going.  So let’s get moving!