June 16, 2025
Good morning! Happy Feast of Holy Fathers — and, yes, Juneteenth has been an official (legal) national holiday here in the United States since 2021 — unofficially, but historically and culturally, since 1865. And, how about Flag Day? Though its practice seems to have ebbed, let’s not forget its origins. It dates back to 1777 when the Continental Congress approved a design — the stars and stripes of Betsy Ross lore — to represent the newly-declared independent nation. In 1949 the United States Congress declared June 14th as National Flag Day, though NOT as a national holiday. Don’t forget about the Foley, MN parade this coming Thursday… best parade in Minnesota each year.
- Being an old farmer I’ve often taken perverse pride in pulling weeds by hand the old-fashioned way, or by hacking with a hoe, but…
- … we wasted the better part of the weekend trying to get a motorized weed whacking machine to work.
- It’s a deluxe model, a gift from a generous son-in-law, but it came without an experienced operator.
- Operator error or fundamental design flaw?
- Archaeologists and anthropologists claim to have evidence of humans suffering from lower back pain as far back as 500,000 years ago.
- Ornithology tip o’ the day: Blue Jays LOVE (unsalted) peanuts in the shell.
- What is your go-to late spring meal — or, if you have already jumped the gun, summer meal? Are you less motivated to cook in summer vs. autumn or winter?
- Are there any parallels?
- Teams of oxen or horses to locomotives?
- Telegraph to telephone?
- Sailing ships to internal combustion engines?
- Aviation?
- From ignorance to education? (Perhaps we exaggerate with this one.)
- Refrigeration?
- The automobile?
- Medicine? (e.g., Anesthesiology only came of age 150 years ago.)
- Electronic computing?
- One thing appears to be almost certain: Do not leave the tsunami of artificial intelligence to chance.
- It might be hyperbole to suggest we haven’t ever in history seen anything like this, but we haven’t ever seen anything like this coming this fast.
- If you do not decide its existence in your world, it will decide your existence in its.
- It’s the Wild West out there right now…
- When farming didn’t pan out, my Dad moved us to town where he learned the science and the art of being a world class cheesemaker.
- I apprenticed at his side, mostly doing the grunt work — and there was plenty of that.
- His secrets to success: Cleanliness, precision, attentiveness, nuance, consistency, discipline, humility, an unrelenting pursuit of excellence.
- There are parallels and metaphors here.
- We are never done, you and I.
- Each day we engage once in again in the science and the art of what we do… we’re never done, we get up early, we begin again, one more day, we’re never cured.
- “What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar.” (Marshall, who was then-Vice President of the United States)
- Wait, that was a few generations ago, more than a century ago, actually.
- What this country needs right now is a really good fast-food chicken restaurant.
- Wait… Could that be true?
- Keep your eye out for Dave’s Hot Chicken which just sold for $1 billion.
- The founding entrepreneurs — using $900 — took the concept from one parking lot food stand featuring card tables to more than 300 locations in less than eight years. (Cohen)
- When you communicate your vision, does it cause goosebumps for your readers/ listeners?
- How about for yourself — again and again, no matter how many times you repeat it?
- Or, tears as an emotional reaction count, too — in addition to, or instead of, the goosebumps.
- If not, work on it some more.
- There is always something more to be researched.
- Green or blue?
- The Economist is reporting people are willing to pay $31 more per month to have a blue phone vs. a green phone.
- That is, the blue texting color of apple vs. the green color of competitors.
- $393 per year to be cool blue…
- Several in my family and circle of friends have green phones… I wonder what they’re thinking?!
- I’m not smart enough to know how, when, where, and why our society has a housing shortage — and on top of that, enormously unaffordable prices…
- … whether you’re renting, leasing, or attempting to buy, it doesn’t matter. Places to live and to lay your head at night are in short supply.
- And, those who build living spaces for people tell us there isn’t a profit in it right now (except at the very high end).
- Was there a time in history when all of this was in proper sync, or near-perfect sync? (U.S. Housing and Urban Development, 2025)
- “Everyone brings joy to this place, some when they arrive, others when they leave.” (sign on the Wall at Fishtale Grill in New Prague, MN)
- “A great idea cannot be predicted.” (Gast)
- “You never know who will have the next best idea.” (Fritz)
- In times of disruption, many organizations freeze their innovation spending despite its critical importance for long-term growth. (Banholzer, Etc., et al.)
- Wise words: Avoid that trap.
- Organizations that take a through-cycle approach to investing in growth… consistently outperform their peers.
- In fact, innovation can be a solution to weathering uncertainty.
- Companies can’t afford to wait until the world is calmer before investing in growth — especially since the duration of current volatility is impossible to predict.
- Instad, they should adapt their short-term decisions to the shifting conditions while striving to maintain a portfolio of investments that will fuel their long-term success. (Ibid.)
