My New Year literally started with a bang. My neighbor ensured plenty of noise, bright colors, and bad karaoke. My dog didn't like it, but my wife kept him close, kept the television loud, and comforted him through his perceived threat of mayhem. The surrounding area was filled with loud bangs, which went on for long minutes, after the stroke of midnight. After that, with all the fireworks expended, it was quiet.
The Venezuela operation sure stirred the pot. One side thinks it's terrible affront to the rules of law. The other side thinks it is an example of the rules of law, and in between there are many wondering what's next. My thinking is that some foreign countries have lost their ability to influence, will stir up trouble every chance they have, and the covert operations by all will lead to some shaky times for the citizens of Venezuela. If I could give them at least one piece of advise, that would be to punish those manipulating elections are severely punished. Honest elections help with the process of dealing with dishonest politicians.
Tim Walz has reached the pinnacle of his incompetence. While some think he's corrupt, I think he's basically a well manipulated dumbass about to be thrown to the wolves. Many will applaud his leaving office, but unless a few dozen key figures are thrown into jail, the grift will continue. Reality says he's just a small fish in a big sea of corruption. Unless some good examples are set, the stealing of tax dollars will continue.
The local economy is in what I call the annual doldrums. Many companies have a fiscal year that ends on December 31, and the mad dash of budgeting is in progress. My experience in construction showed late in the fiscal year brings some companies to finish spending their budget, but not at the moment. Purchase orders were written for projects, but the work would not be started until after the new year. After that, the new wild guesses, wish lists, ridiculous wants, boiler-housing, budgets would be contemplated by the wizards of bean counting, and those with the power to allow expenditures would see who their favorites were at the moment. The money allocated the previous year now had to be shown as spent, so we had to hurry up and do something to cover somebody's ass. Otherwise, the money might be removed, someone would be dragged across the carpet, and we might lose some work.
It appears many in the media haven't become any smarter. Instead of reflecting, being honest, and understanding the errors of not reporting facts, too many are doubling down on ignorance, and complaining because their award winning shows are not winning awards with those that watch; and now have stopped doing so. They say you can't fix stupid, but the media is proving it can flourish if you keep feeding it.
We've had exceptionally mild, dry weather for the last month. We had one light freeze in the middle of December, but haven't seen any rain, or severe cold. I've seen this before, and it was a welcome sight for construction workers. Wet, cold weather shuts down projects, or makes it miserable to work in. I'm not in that environment now, but know there are many workers trying to offset the costs of Christmas with any hours they can get. This type of weather is what's needed.
