Small Things Count

Every once in a great while, I read a book I think is worth recommending. I just finished The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah. It’s the best depiction of the Dust Bowl in the Southern Plains of the U.S. and lives of people forced from that region to migrate to California. They weren’t welcomed in their new home and struggled with poverty, homelessness, and lack of jobs in this land that they’d heard would offer them jobs and a secure new life. The story follows a woman from her childhood through adulthood, relationships, and growth as a person. The characters are engaging. The story moves along. And descriptions add to the story and characterization, not just to word-count to sell books at a higher price (a pet peeve of mine). Give it a try.

My son and his fiancé are so frustrated. It’s only a few days before they have to submit names to get a seating chart done for their wedding. And ninety (yes, 90) people have not responded one way or the other to the RSVP on the invitation.

They can pare down that number a little. They know, for example, that a few older people live too far away to be able to make the trip, and some out-of-state friends can’t afford the trip. That still leaves a lot of “unknowns.”

This is a common problem. Some people assume that a non-response means “yes, I’m coming,” while other people think not responding means “no.” Unfortunately, neither my son nor my almost-daughter is a mind-reader.

The “R” in RSVP means “RESPOND.” Either way, let people know your intentions.

This is yet another sign of the loss of consideration and civility I see around me. A small thing, perhaps–but not to the people planning a major event in their lives.

THEY HAVE IT MADE!  They can start work as young as 8 years old and work the farms for 9-10 hours as day under our glorious sun. Sure, they sweat a little in the 100 degree heat, but it’s good for them. They should be grateful that, at their age, they can earn $1000 a year to put into the family funds, which (with 4 worker in the family) can add up to $12,500-$14,500 a year–plenty, since they live so simply. Which is good for everyone, because if they got paid more our food prices would go up.

Half of the migrant kids don’t have to attend boring school regularly or graduate high school.  They don’t need to because they’ll spend their lives moving around anyway.  Besides, they know they have job security because they can spend the rest of their lives as migrant day laborers.

Other kids don’t have it so good.  The still-in-effect 1930s child labor laws, which don’t apply to farm-workers,  prohibit kids from getting those good agricultural jobs until they’re older, and they won’t let the kids work as many hours. Other kids, then, have to find jobs at the local burger joint or whatever instead of having a healthy outdoor job of picking fruits and vegetables.

There’s something wrong with this system, don’t you think?

Many single-serve coffee pots have a reservoir that catches over-spills.  Keep a container by your coffee pot to dump this water into (you’ll be surprised how quickly the container fills) and use it on your house or yard plants.

[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. For a description of the book go to My Free Books).

You’ve decided to give in to the kids and get a dog. But you want the perfect breed for your family.  So you go online and search.  Be careful! Some ¾ of those online dog sites are fake. They aren’t where they say they are or even have pups for sale. Right now, this is especially true for Yorkshire Terriers and French Bulldogs because they’re so popular. What often happens is that they end up claiming they never got the money you sent them, or they add new, usually large, fees after you’ve paid them (for insurance, shipping, etc.).

In 2020, more than $3 million was lost, with a median loss of $750.

To be safer, if you fall in love with a dog online, insist on seeing the animal in person or the seller and dog on Zoom or Facetime. Even then, they could pull a bait-and-switch. My recommendation is frequent trips to the local animal shelter or going on NextDoor or some other community-based social media where other people know the person. There are many dogs who have been abandoned or a family needs to re-home.

Once you add a pet to your family, enjoy its unconditional love. And keep reminding the kids that they said they’d take care of it.

We all have those thoughts. You know, the ones we know are bad and we feel guilty about thinking. Today’s Thursday Thought quote tells us how to handle them.

Do you have a nervous habit of tapping your fingers in a certain pattern over and over again? Or something you repeat to bring you “luck” when facing something stressful? Magnify that by 1000+ and you’ll start to understand what a person with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) lives with every day, every minute. It’s especially hard on children.

I recommend two excellent videos to help you understand OCD. After viewing one or both, you’ll have a good perspective on their challenges and some treatments, which can help you recognize the condition and be more patient with its sufferers.

View the James Callner, MA, videos and learn more at https://www.ocdcoachingvideos.com/

Seniors are prime targets of scams.  Learn what the most common ones are and why seniors are sucked in (https://scambusters.org/seniors.html) so you can protect yourself and your older loved ones.

I remember two decades ago, when we were all Americans. We clung to each other, cried with each other, consoled each other, and drew close as a unified family. As one, we got angry at what had been done to us and determined to rebuild rather than cower and give in. It didn’t matter what color our skin was, what part of the country we lived in, what version of God we worshipped, how rich or poor we were, whether we had a prestigious job or no job at all, what political beliefs and ideologies we held. All that was set aside, because our HOME had been attacked!

Over the last 20 years, that feeling has been replaced by hatred, suspicion, division, partisanship, acceptance of lies, and me-ism, and it saddens me deeply.

I want that American spirit back, the one that we had after 9/11. It shouldn’t take another tragedy. All it takes is each of us becoming determined to recapture the family-feeling we had back then.

Today’s Thursday Thought quote looks at trust–its cost and permanence.