It’s the end of 2022 and it’s been a weird year.
The price of everything has gone up, while the size of the package has diminished. It’s called “shrinkflation” and it sucks.
China, where the Covid-19 coronavirus originated, is now suffering big time from the plague, while other countries that were really hit hard by the bug in 2020 and 2021 are now moving on from the thing. It’s poetic justice, I guess.
The Ukraine War, which started in 2014 when Russia “annexed” Crimea, is still going strong. Amazingly, the Ukrainians are holding their own against their neighboring Russian bullies. It could be another Afghanistan debacle for the Russians, whose army resembles the Keystone Kops.
President Joe Biden was pilloried shamelessly when gas prices skyrocketed during the past year due to the Russia/Ukraine war and skullduggery by the international oil cartels. For a while, there were “Joe Biden did this” decals stuck on gas pumps near the price per gallon indicators. Weirdly, now that gas prices are receding, no one is giving President Biden any credit.
(Not that they should, as the Chief Executive does not control energy production or prices.)
Speaking of Presidents, ex-Prez Donald Trump has had a rough year, with a lot of legal problems, Congressional hearings on the Capitol Riot, and the poor electoral performance of high-profile candidates that he endorsed. The man is radioactive now, and even right-wing politicians and Fox News talking heads are distancing themselves from the M.A.G.A. cult/grift. Trump’s announcement that he is running for President again in 2024 was received by the public like a fart in church.
Speaking of cons, cryptocurrency exchanges took some beatings in 2022. I have read a lot about this newfangled digital currency and have never figured out what it is and why I should own some. It seems like every month we hear about some crypto exchange being looted or going bust, which is weird because one of the prime arguments for ditching banks and investing in crypto was supposed to be its superior security. I think I’ll continue to keep my nest egg in my mattress like my forefathers did.
The dimwits who made asses out of themselves in the service of election loser Donald Trump on January 6, 2020 are being shipped off to jails and prisons, as they should be. They are lucky, though: had they protested a Trump policy by attacking the White House, they would have been machine-gunned to death. What’s weird about the whole circus is that the instigator, the guy who incited the riot, unleashed the mob, and then retreated to the White House to watch the chaos while enjoying a cheeseburger, has not been charged with sedition.
Criminal behavior should not be condoned by anyone, of course. However, I saw something in Yuma, Arizona recently that makes me laugh. The local high school’s mascot is the “criminal”, as in the Yuma High “Criminals”. WTF! However, the mascot name makes sense when one understands that the original high school was destroyed by fire in 1910 and was relocated to the former Yuma Territorial Prison. Classes were held in the former cell blocks and assemblies were held in the infirmary for three years until the city reclaimed the property in 1912 for the city jail. The “Criminals” mascot was officially adopted by the school district in 1917 and it is the only high school mascot in the U.S. to be copyrighted.
The 2022 Oscars telecast featured some criminal activity of its own when actor Will Smith rushed on stage and slapped comedian/presenter Chris Rock for a bad joke about Smith’s wife. It was a weird incident, made even weirder when Will Smith was called to the stage later to accept a Best Actor Oscar for some movie that he had starred in. It’s hard to believe that the Oscar telecast now has less class than the Golden Globes. John Wayne would be appalled.
Back in 2021, home prices were sky high and new homes were selling like hot cakes, particularly in Mesquite, Nevada where we live. Pulte Development Company was building homes at a torrid pace (despite warnings about diminishing water supplies) for California ex-pats (mainly) and mortgage rates were down to 3 percent. Kaboom, along came the recession and new home sales have cratered, resales are few and far between, and interest rates are near 6 percent.
I think the economy will get worse before it gets better. Of course, no one knows what will happen for sure, even the “economists”, the stock market, the banks, the Federal Reserve, or our elected officials. They do their best, I’m sure, but it’s one big crapshoot with a zillion moving parts, some of which we don’t control (like the war in Ukraine, the oil cartels, Covid-19 epidemic in China, etc.). Even Elon Musk in selling Tesla stock, for God’s sake. The guy bought Twitter for many billions of dollars and seems Hell-bent on destroying that company. It’s weird, I tell ya’.
This week we spent a few nice days with our friends the Quinns in Yuma, Arizona. And, then, for inexplicable reasons, we screwed the pooch and were asked to leave. It broke my wife’s heart, as Peggy Quinn is like a sister to her. Weird, it was. We had to retreat to Las Vegas to nurse our wounds.
While we are out of town, our son Jeff and wife Carol are “housewatching” in Mesquite along with their dog “Chongo”. He is a large pitbull who looks scary but is an 80-pound Teddy Bear.
Our dogs get along great with Chongo, who is pack leader when he visits. Only two problems with Chongo: (1) He occasionally “marks” stuff in our house; and, (2) he is a pit bull, and most RV parks don’t allow “aggressive breeds”. This will be a problem for Jeff and Carol, who have recently become full-time RVers. The shame of it is that Chongo is a very easy-going and loveable guy, while all RV parks allow Chihuahua dogs, which bark incessantly and often display aggressive behavior toward other dogs. I believe that all Chihuahuas should be euthanized but, hey, that’s just me.
I’m beginning to think that maybe I’m just weird and I’m the guy who needs to be put down.
Accordingly, tonight’s meal (on Christmas Day) will feature a Stauffer’s lasagna for Charlie and a Banquet penne pasta bowl for myself, warmed to a delicious temperature by our RV’s trust microwave oven. We will top off our feast with chips and onion dip and a few chocolate chip cookies, washed down with some adult beverages.
An appropriate conclusion to a weird Christmas season.