It has always been my belief that if you wait for a politician to make your life better, pack a lunch, your going to be there a while.

The US by far is the most charitable nation on the face of the Earth. I know a good portion of the world thinks everyone here is either a Paris Hilton or a Mike Jackson sycophant but that is just because the media never follows the average joe/janet around.

When a disaster strikes anywhere in the World, the US is the first to step in and offer assistance, not China, not Russia, not [Enter the next 'big threat nation' here]. This is one reason why the US holds such a dominate position in the world.

The worst enemy to the US is fatalism and self deprecation. We always seem to think that we are not good enough; a two sided coin which helps us to strive to be the best, yet dooms us to never be satisfied. Lately everyone seems to think the US is coming to an end, which is the same thing I have been hearing for the last 38 years of my life.

I myself say, chin up, live your life without worry of who is in office and what they can do for you. Make society better by being a better person.

Don't raise your children in fear of the boogie man (i.e. child predators and pedophiles) or in chicken little theorem (the great depression is coming, the great depression is coming). Let them live the childhood you did. Even at the worst crime rates, the chance of children being abducted and or abused are comparable to when YOU were a kid. The only thing that is different is the 24 hour news machine who's only mode to profit is through scaring the hell out of you that you must squeeze your children tightly and not let them breath.

Forget what Washington is going to do to or for you and just endeavor to make the most of what you have. I have always agreed with the saying that the door of opportunity swings on the hinge of opposition.

Just my Pollyanna way of life I guess.

I tell ya, KYH... I spoke tonight w/ friends & former co-workers at an Alaskan lodge operated by Princess Cruises, and they are really feeling the pinch. They atttribute it to gas prices and the overall general bad economy.

Like most cruise-ship companies that go to Alaska, well over 75% of the passengers are quite elderly. The ships that dock and unload passengers that are then shuttled to various land excursions and hotels & lodges are still seeing high numbers with 110% (overbooking is always a factor) vessel & property occupancy, (most folks save for years to go to Alaska, so if they were budgeting/planning to go this year- they still are going), but the folks' spending habits are drastically changing.

The restaurants & lounges at the lodges, (which granted- are quite pricey) and the art galleries, gift shops, junk stands, etc. are seeing record-low spending. Land excursions like helicopter flightseeing tours, sailings and whale-watching, guided fishing tours, etc. are really suffering. Folks are only doing that which is included in their package deal and nothing more. One lodge has a camp ground with a small general store that sells limited food items and camping staples to their RV customers and they are seeing hotel guests in record numbers hiking down the mountain to shop at the store, and housekeepers are seeing all kinds of food-goodies stashed in guest rooms, that they normally don't see.

Folks are finding creative ways of saving any way they can.

I have a very unique personal situation- and granted, I've been spoiled, but... here's MY deal. I've enjoyed the luxury of working/living at work-camps that catered to my every need. 2/3 of the year I lived at camp and had everything provided for me. I never had to buy my own food, laundry supplies, fuel, etc. Only time I spent money was when out of camp while on RandR, or for some personal toiletry items. Now, for the very first time in MANY years, like everybody else- I fill up my gas tank 1-2 times per week, I buy groceries weekly, etc. And while I am not complaining- and while most certainly don't sympathize (nor would I dream of asking them to) I find that compared to what I was regularly paying for these items 10++ years ago before working in these environments that provided me w/ so much, today's prices, especially in the last year or more are much higher than I can really comprehend. I guess that's to be expected since I was living in a spending vacuum for so many years. But golly- it's weird! I honestly don't know how folks do it. And if it gets worse.... gadzoooks!

Jafo just FYI:

I love your "Pollyanna" style, I myself would rather live that way that the opposite!

I am not totally unrealistic and I do see and hear the changes in times and as CAG pointed out the spike in prices are indeed going to have to make an impact on our lifestyles, and it is most definetley hurting many people, just imagine those who have a long commute to work, and their new gasoline exspeneses.

But I love your healthy attitude and admire you keeping a positive outlook, and the philosophy that "I will do the right thing no matter what!" Keep on keeping on my friend!!!

And you are sooooo right about politicians:)

Cathy

I once went through something similar, Chubby. We were living in Boston in the late '60s, where we shopped at Haymarket Square and in the wholesale meat market. In Boston, unlike most cities, consumers could shop at the wholesale butchers as long as they purchased complete primals. But then they'd even cut it up for you.

Last beef tenderloin I bought, divided into steaks, roasts and other cuts, cost me 94 cents/lb. A complete rack of center-cut pork chops was something like 25 cents. Etc.

Then I moved back to New York, and walked into a supermarket. Thought I was going to have a cardiac.

But it's not just that you've been living in a spending vacuum. The incredible price run-up is truly a sudden spike.

There are several factors. It was bad enough when gas prices were the only driving force. But then came the ill-advised energy bill that congress pushed through for political reasons. Nobody on the hill, apparently, knew (or cared) how corn-based our economy is. The fact is, the price and availability of virtually every food product in America is directly or indirectly tied to corn.

So, when you put all your marbles in a basket labeled "corn-derived ethanal" everybody except congress critters can see how that will effect the economy. But maybe they don't realize how it effects them and their livlihood.

Here's an example:

Because the price of corn is at all time highs, farmers have converted to corn in record numbers. Among many other factors, this has lead to a wheat shortfall. Which means flour prices have skyrocketed. Which in turn means the price of bread and pastries becomes less and less affordible. So, just as in the days of poor immigrants, day-old and two-day-old bread and pastries are being bought because they're affordible and fresh-baked isn't.

But the trickle-down can be carried even further. A favorite bait among bear hunting guides are day-old pastries they used to buy inexpensively from the bakeries. But now people are buying the day old stuff for their own tables, which means the guide cannot afford to run his bait stations, which means he has to go out of business.

But I'll bet you the sport who's having trouble finding a bear guide doesn't once think that he can't enjoy a hunt because his congress critter voted for the energy bill.

The really sad part is that it's all based on a fallacy. There isn't enough land in the whole world to produce even a small fraction of one percent of our energy needs. Ethanol, as a viable energy source, is as big a joke as the methane conversion trend of the 1960s.

And I ask the same question you do. How can anyone with any sort of reasonable job afford to feed his children when milk is four and five bucks a gallon?

Kyh You Buy A Milk Goat!

Your Post Really Makes Me Stop & Think!

Wow, Wow, And Wow The World Is In A Pickle.....

Do You Know Why Solar Energy Has Never Really Taken A Hold? I Truly Believe That People Are Missing The Boat On The Most Available Resource In The World, Until It Explodes That Is, And Then We Won't Have Any More Woes Lol!!!

Kyh This Is My Favorite Motto: Laugh To Forget But Don't Forget To Laugh!