Average Joe, Middle-Class Manny, and Barely Hanging on Bob, Spice in my Rice

Mar 16

"At the end of the day, no amount of investing, no amount of clean electrons, no amount of energy efficiency will save the natural world if we are not paying attention to it - if we are not paying attention to all the things that nature give us for free: clean air, clean water, breathtaking vistas, mountains for skiing, rivers for fishing, oceans for sailing, sunsets for poets, and landscapes for painters. What good is it to have wind-powered lights to brighten the night if you can't see anything green during the day? Just because we can't sell shares in nature doesn't mean it has no value."
— Thomas L. Friedman

Good morning; I slept in until 5:30; tomorrow and Friday will be a 4:30 a.m. rise and shine time. The month's third week is hectic, but I like the activity. My Oura ring tells me I'm going great, movement is good, readiness is optimal, as is my sleep, I feel good, eat less, move more; it's a simple recipe for life.

I attended my monthly board meeting yesterday. Although it was in Golden; we had all but one show up in person; it was good to have a face-to-face meeting. We shared updates about our businesses and personal life, my personal life is a 10 out of 10, and my business is a 9. We have found a good rhythm these days, both personally and professionally.

We talked about the macro issues, war, rising inflation, how that will impact our businesses. Is inflation transitory, or is it here to stay? I shared I believed that there was a wave of opportunity on the horizon. The pandemic exposed the lazy people in society; I don't see them returning to work anytime soon. On the other hand, those of us who like to kick ass will be rewarded with wealth and treasure.

I left there and grabbed some lunch from a client in downtown Denver. I met my wife and Bay at the condo; we are moving things out, getting them ready to be photographed. I suspect we will sell it when we are back in Indiana; we have a few more items to move before it's ready to show.

We met a good friend and a new friend yesterday. The new friend ran retreats and wondered if we might host an event or two at our home. So he will be coming out to walk through and see if the space fits the need. It sounds like an excellent opportunity to connect with other like-minded humans.

We got home about 6:00; that was a 12 hour day for me; I enjoyed the hustle. I made a sizeable chopped salad; my wife made Rubens, we dined with cousin and Bay, and then played a game of Euchre. Finally, we watched a movie, and we were in bed by 9:30. I slept like a rock waking up at 5:00 and snuggling with my bride.

Today is an "office" day; I have a lot of work to review, get out the door, make some calls, follow up on a claim or two. In between, I have five meetings with clients and staff. We have dinner with some friends down the hill this evening; I think this will be a good day.

In the news, it sounds like there are some good movements in the peace talks, although Russia continues to bomb places where there are a lot of babies and puppies. I honestly don't know what to believe, how much spin is in every story; I have shallow trust in our media.

On the way home, we listened to NPR; the story was one of the trifecta of race, war, and climate change. They took the pandemic out of rotation due to the low number of listens. This story was about the sex workers who got killed in Georgia and how the act was racially motivated. They shared that the systemic racism that has been showered of Asian women has made them a target for hate, abuse, and death.

The following story was about a report that does not hide the shading of her reporting. She realized she had an opinion and that opinion should be included in her reporting; I don't think that that is good journalism, but you do you, and I'll do me, and forever we both will be free.

Another story of interest was about the Colorado Gas Producers. Did you know they had wells that were not in operation? They claimed that it was too expensive to go back and turn on older wells, but we could produce more fuel. There was a time in the not too distant past when we, the United States of MF America, were exporting oil and natural gas to other nations.

But then old Joe decided to kill the XL Pipeline, costing thousand of Union jobs. His green friends don't like fuel; they want the world to run on sunshine and puppies. So they don't mind oil, but only when obtained from foreign lands. My house is solar; I'm doing a little bit to help the environment, but let's move to the renewable energy approach with logic and ration.

The narrative today is if you have an EV, you don't need gas? But unfortunately, the average cost of an EV is about $55,000, which might make it tough on the Average Joe, Middle-Class Manny, and Barely Hanging on Bob to find enough coins to complete the transaction. So again, our next car will be an EV, doing our part, but we are very fortunate and blessed. I'll use our solar to charge our EV car and have a tiny carbon footprint. But I will share reducing your carbon footprint is not cheap.

Well, there you go, a return to a bit of spice in my rice. Today's rice soup is sponsored by logic and reason. Just ideas and thoughts make sense to me, maybe they make sense to you, or perhaps you think I'm a moron. Can I say moron, or is that one of the words we can no longer speak? I might do a piece on forbidden words. If you write about terms, can you get in trouble? Today, my color is cream ash, and my pronouns are Zippitty, Do, Dah, Day. Finally, all you men, buy your wives flowers tonight and thank me tomorrow, you are welcome. Happy Hump Day!

Word Soup

Average Joe, Middle-Class Manny, and Barely Hanging on Bob, Spice in my Rice

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