Coffee Chat

 

                                    "Man plans, and God laughs."

I've heard this so much lately. Which is ironic. I spent the month of January, trying to plan this year's projects, trying to plan for reorganizing and restructuring several areas of my life, and finding the means to do so. Then February came in like a beast, with possible shake ups that were not in my line of site, let alone even a thought for this year. So, again...I was planning, and God had other plans.

I really dislike disorganization and dealing with "surprises" that could be prevented with a little preparation. I have a few projects inside my home that truly need to be addressed. I want to get them done this year, but it's not going to happen as originally planned. Some of the things I planned to do, either the items have gone too high in price or the items I had on hand won't work. So, those projects are delayed while I figure out how to manage that. I have several outdoor projects that have to be addressed this year; one way or another. Some things are just maintenance, but things like my chicken coop falling apart..are necessary. Dealing with the mess that is my chicken and duck runs...that is not only a necessity but also a health issue. After 2 years of struggling to get any strength back into my back, I do not want to hurt myself anymore. Knowing that I have to make every inch of my gardens count, means really planning every inch I can possible spare. Watching how few bees I had last year, concerned me. Even though I had a few more flowers than previous years, I need to put more out, and keep drawing them for the pollination of my gardens and orchard. The wind through our farm has been an issue since we've lived here. I have planted several trees, but I know that several more are needed to help shield not only our home, but also our animals. Having the extreme hard water that we have, means the build in lines and appliances shortens their life spans even worse than the lack of quality workmanship. So, to fix that correctly...means a major overhaul in a 40 year old house. When you have done what you can, with minimal budgets, you find out quickly that you get what you pay for. Making things work because the price was right, ends up costing you more in long haul. 

As we are over a month into 2023, and the everyday news is pretty grim, it gives concern how everything will come to pass the remaining months of the year. 5 weeks into the year, and the number of people losing their jobs is horrible. The cost of goods and services are still increasing. The supply chain is still sketchy, at best. Local taxes are increasing. Employers are making the wrong choices in "you either have cheap labor or quality, loyal employees." Family units are being knocked out rapidly by strains on income/expenses, living outside their means and greed. Too many have lost the ability to differentiate between needs and wants - in turn leading to more debt. True conversations of talking WITH people, as opposed to talking AT people, have been left by the wayside. It's a mess. 

I have said for years, to make sure you continue to prepare. I get a lot of grief about this. While most of my married life, I have had to do a lot of learning; living in rural America is a different beast in and of itself. When we have lived 25 minutes to 2 hours from any town of size, that you could shop...you learned to plan and plan well. Sure if you live in a city, you have 24/7 access to about everything. In my neck of the woods, that is not the case, unless I want to drive 2 hours in any direction. Around here, the towns roll up at about noon on Saturdays, and are closed on Sundays. In 20-25 miles, I can get to towns that have about everything I could need...but that is not always a possibility if the weather is bad. So, you learn to keep a stock pile in the event of emergency or bad weather. That means forward planning. For example, I'm planning my gardens now, that will be planted in April, harvested in August/September, preserved, and utilized October through May of next year. We just took in a steer to be butchered, that will provide our beef for the next 12 months. Many of chickens are getting old enough they are not laying regularly anymore, so getting chicks this spring, that won't start laying for 7-8 months, means by Fall...I will start getting a few more eggs. Researching my chicken feed to see how my girls produce, where the nutrition lacks, and what supplements are required to keep production is all part of that planning process. The planning for raising a few feeder pigs, so we can put them in the freezer for the next year has been in the works for more than 2 years. While having animals is truly awesome, they have requirements that you have to plan for also. There is keeping track of how much hay you will utilize for each type of animal. For example, each full size cow, takes 1-2 bales per month through the winter to maintain their optimum health. Additionally, if you keep your cattle tame enough to keep them coming to you - to allow for vet checks, keeping up with any health issues they may have; you need to feed them grain, that works out to about 30 pounds per month, per cow. Then there is making sure they have constant access to water. Keeping fences in good shape helps keep them in their respective area and helps you avoid not only having cattle get out but also any issues of having someone hit them while they are out. Sheep are a little easier to contain, but they also need hay, grain, mineral, and constant checking. Chickens/ducks/goats, are the same. They need their feed, grain, scratch grains, hay, and water. Then you have to plan for bedding through the winter months. That means being able to get to a wheat farmer, that will be selling straw. None of this accounts for shelter for any of these animals. Shelter from the elements, for any animal - in my opinion, is necessary. I know there are a lot of farmers that have cattle and horses out in field year round without a barn of some sort. If that works for them, great. It doesn't for me. I will say it again, these animals provide for us, so we must provide for them. Neglecting animals is not something I will ever agree with! Every single animal, whether that be a dog, cat or rabbit or a farm animal - cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, etc. require time, effort and patience. If you don't have those...don't get animals! We are with our animals several times a day. When you pay attention to them, you can catch any issues usually pretty early. 

With preparations, you need to remember the little things we all take for granted. This could be toilet paper, paper towels, allergy medicine, dish soap, sponges, cooking oil, or a million other things. When asked, I tell people to take a day, and write down everything they have used/eaten/needed. That will give you a starting point as to what you need to have stocked in your stock pile. Seriously, I just realized last night, that Wal-Mart had been out of my allergy meds the past 3 trips I made there. Well, last night as I went to take my medicine, I realized the bottle was empty. I wasn't worried, as I went to my backups. Well, needless to say, I am clear out - as in there is none. So, to say even those of us who live the life of constant preps...we still miss things. I once heard someone talking about how to prepare, and they said it took a can of soup, 4 bottles of water, and a gallon of water...to survive one day, per person, in a worst case scenario. Could you ration that way? With the world in chaos as it is, I am personally seeing a more pressing need for constantly being prepared with as much as possible, for as long as possible. 

I know I have asked in different groups I'm in, but I will ask here too. Are you seeing the issue with employers bringing in unqualified help at experienced help wages or more? Here's what I am seeing and hearing. The employers are putting out help wanted ads. They are offering competitive pay, sign on bonuses, and benefits, and guaranteeing full time hours. The employees that have experience, have already been in their positions, are getting screwed. Not to mention the new employees are taking jobs, claiming to be full time, only to have their hours cut to part time, shortly after being hired. Not to mention the fact that skilled and experienced tradesmen are now making wages within $1-$2 per hour of the new hires. It seems to me that it's ass backwards. Why would you not reward your experienced workers, keep them happy and employed? The rough statistics I can find currently, show that 85% of new hire employees are trained and leave that new job in less than 6 months. When you have burger flippers making $16-$20 per hour, agricultural technicians with 30 years experience making less than $25, and middle management making $30 per hour...there is a gap in intelligence within business owners right now. 

During my business classes, obviously a lot of years ago now, we were taught: "you train your employees so that can leave, but treat them well enough that they don't want to." That is obviously not how businesses work anymore. The CEO's and Owners only care about their bottom line, how many "Yes" men they can get to just follow orders, and how they can line their pockets. I have always believed in small local business, and for the most part I still do, but some of these businesses have now taken on that corporate mentality. It's truly sad. I can remember, when I was in high school, the big talk was about loyalty. You took a job, many at the time were auto manufactures, and you retired from that company. You got an honest good pay, put in a hard days work, and retired when you were 65 with a good pension. That loyalty is no longer there, I believe this is due to the big wigs getting greedy. This is happening even more so now. You can't be loyal to a company when they take great pride in padding their pockets, while telling their employees to be happy living in poverty, while they expand their ivory towers. 

Sometimes, I wonder if we entered the twilght zone, at some point. Did some parallel universe collide? When did the ship upend? Everything has become so upside down. What was so morally and ethically wrong, is now celebrated. While those trying to live that old fashioned values, is desecrated.  It doesn't matter anymore if you try to live within your means, because a single bump in the road is going to throw you into debt faster than you can blink an eye. When people are purchasing vehicle for $100K, and homes for $400K; there is a massive issue! Yes, I am fully onboard with not spending stupidly. However, just in my area alone, you can buy an acre of ground for under $8K, and the value of it is less than $4K acre...this has become ridiculous. We have local farmers, upside in their land purchases by MILLIONS of dollars. They are never going to pay that off. The banks keep loaning them money, because they see cash flow, but also because a single farm loss of that magnitude would shut down a small bank. They can't afford NOT to keep loaning. Then you have the whole bank issue. When you go to purchase a home or land, at last check, you were required to put 25% down. I don't know about all of you, but I don't know anyone personally that has $100K just laying around. Sure, there are programs for first time farmers or first time home owners...but there is a big gap in the middle. For example, We looked at a property with 93 acres. The rough appraisal was $3200 per acre. That was fair enough, still too high, but fair. The appraised value was around $298K. With our bank, the down payment was 20% or about $60K. Seriously, who has 60,000 just tucked away?! Anyway, that would have cost roughly $15K per year to pay back over 30 years. Well, obviously, we did not buy that land. That land sold for nearly $8K per acre, and the new owners went in bull dozed all the trees, ripped out all the pasture and hay and it is now being row cropped. So, it's now a useless piece of dirt, that was destroyed because of stupidity and greed! We could have used more land, but I refuse to be stupid. We have properties that have sold for upwards of $10K per acre, taken from trees/pasture/hay/homestead, to dirt and flipped from some outfitter to a farmer or city dweller that will never utilize the land properly. They won't put any pride into building something for a family for generations to come. They will farm it, put tons of chemicals into it, deplete the soil and when it no longer serves a purpose it will be left behind as useless. Not to mention the damage that is done to surrounding properties by the chemicals, trash they neglect to dispose of, the wildlife that gets tangled in the net wrap left laying everywhere, or the coyote that venture to these livestock producers that throw their dead ones just over a hill and the proximity to neighboring livestock producers causes them to have issues with the coyote. Sadly, it's become all about money and greed. 

As I venture outside, I continue to pray that God helps to right all the wrong in this world. It will take his hand, to fix the tragedy we currently live in. It will be by God's grace that every person has a true opportunity for betterment. I pray that each of you are blessed with health, safety and that you allow God to guide your path. Sometimes we must stand, even if it's alone and with a shaky voice, for what is right and just. 

Be safe, my friends.