November 4, 2024
Good morning!
Happy birthday #60 to my brother… born as I’ll always remember on the Goldwater vs. Johnson election day. We are on the Eve of another Quadrennial Election, a hallowed tradition in the United States since 1788. How long will we sustain this tradition? And, it has changed greatly, it is not the same as it was in 1788, is it? Not by a long shot. A voting booth or polling place in 1788, for example, would not have hosted nor welcomed _________, ________, ________, or ________. (fill in your own blanks)
- Later this week we will make a pilgrimage to pay our respects to one of our heroes, Hiram Ulysses Simpson Grant.
- We’re running low on missiles.
- Duh-oh! Did no one see this coming?!
- They are making a significant capital investment in the city park just across the street from us, which is very good to see.
- We need more parks — please — lots more parks
- Chili’s, hardly a top dining destination for most, is at the moment running circles around other fast food/ casual restaurants.
- How are they doing it?
- Old fashioned business savvy, we’re told: The right price for the right customer enjoying good service while eating the right foods at the right time in the right places
- How will we solve the housing shortage (crisis) — and why did we plan so poorly?
- Can it be fixed in time for these next generations; will it be fixed; by whom?
- The latest data: On average, it currently requires nearly 45% of an average family’s income to cover the costs of an average (median) home. (Federal Reserve, 2024).
- Yes, lots of data to pour through here and lots of hypothetical scenarios, but go ahead and see if you can find the pony Ron always talked about.
- For nearly fifteen years the cost of home ownership had held steady at about 30% of income, but it had also been higher for a stretch before then. (Federal Reserve, 2024)
- Many people blame the plague, but the plague at most simply amplified an existing problem, it didn’t create the problem.
- And now we learn that during and immediately after the plague, a surge of more than 185,000 single family homes were purchased by institutional investors rather than by families. (Burns)
- How do you move two Pandas from China to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington City?
- Federal Express!
- Logistics! You’ve gotta love logistics and all humans involved in it — which is most of us, believe it or not.
- You have to wonder, what was the cost of insurance — and, did the plane make a requisite stop in Memphis?
- We finally learned what it is that Pandas eat besides bamboo: Cornbread! Yes, Cornbread… not sure if with butter and honey, or just plain.
- One of my favourite readers wrote to tell me I needed to say more about my embarrassing maladies — and so I shall, a little bit.
- The doctor in question was scolding me for eating too much of the bad foods; e.g., ice cream, pasta, pizza, onion rings, French Fries, potatoes, bread, burritos, cookies, Cheeto, Etc., Etc., et al.
- Why? I offer no excuse beyond getting tired of cabbage, kale, broccoli, blueberries, chicken breast, green beans, brussels sprouts, apples, radishes, olives, lettuce, and gin… though not so much the gin.
- At the little cottage we rent in far Downeast Maine we are sometimes included in some of the grassroots civics experiences.
- Things like the sacred coastline, the fragility of low tide, erosion, historic preservation, the ecosystem, and the microeconomic realities of lobsters, farmed salmon, and wild blueberries.
- The neighbors will sometimes meet at an old schoolhouse built when Tom Jefferson was President.
- Things get discussed, almost always respectfully, over a pot of chowdah, a cup of (strong!) coffee, and dessert if you’re lucky.
- (Blueberry season lasts for only about two weeks, so the other fifty weeks are without the famed delicacies.)
- These hearty people live together, work together, farm together, raise their families, go to churches, recreate, and for the most part want and expect similar things from life.
- It is a good reminder of a society Alexis de Tocqueville cautioned could lead to individualism at the expense of society and the common good.
- Our neighbors in Maine, it would seem, are rugged and independent individuals — but, they simultaneously value the good that comes from associating with each other while searching for and wanting the common good.
- And, we have to include Donne here, don’t we? No (person) is an island…
- Is it too soon for 2025 predictions?
- Probably not; we are, after all, an anticipatory society and getting more and more so each day.
- So, everyone thinks of her/himself as a marketing expert — and in a way, we all are since all final decisions get made at the point of purchase.
- Informed by Murray, here are a few things to ruminate on:
- Business-to-Business communication will move toward Tik-Tok style
- Intimate connections will beat crowded convention halls every time
- Micro communities, yes — mega-influencers, less so
- Business-to-Business influencers will move from the fringe to center stage
- Collect your own data, manage your own data, trust your own data, protect your own data, learn from your own data
- Hyper-personalization will thrive — if it isn’t already
- Communities, small communities — Coke might still be it, but it has dozens of new competitors
- There is always room for creativity… and boredom is out (You get one, maybe two seconds)
- Artificial Intelligence, say it again
- When/ If customers willingly sharing their personal data = solid gold
- Turn on a dime — technology will make it more and more possible, and important (formative evaluation is the old terminology; do it)
- Summary statement: We’re back to doing business over the General Store counter, person-to-person, one at a time, but FASTER.
- The latest news on the energy and carbon emissions front is not optimistic.
- Even as renewable sources of energy increase dramatically, worldwide carbon emissions at best remain somewhat statistically unaffected?
- Why? Because of the soaring demand for energy, especially electricity. (More! More! More! Could I have some more, please?!)
- So, to get ahead of this beast, something will need to change dramatically. (informed by EA Global Energy Review)
