The Lesson of the Moon Pie

A couple of weeks ago, I rode into town seeing gas in the $3.49 range and within a week, I was seeing $3.63-3.66 all around me. That was a wake up call to the fact that we are INDEED being hit with inflation.

When Gas prices go up, we can expect it to effect everything else from the shoes on our feet to the food at the store because it's all delivered to the final destination by a truck and that truck uses gas.

Here's another way I've seen it sneak up on me.  After having a decent meal in a little mom and pop restaurant in Decherd, Tennessee today, I was riding back to the office when the urge for something sweet hit me so I popped into a little convenience store, looked around for something to satisfy the sweet tooth and grabbed an old standby favorite, a Moon Pie.  I've been eating those things all my life but it's been a while since I have gotten one.  Walking up to the counter, I'm thinking this thing could hit me for anywhere between 59 and 79¢. The guy at the counter didn't even blink when he said, "Uh dollah an' seb'm cents, please."  Wow, my 59¢ good ole Moon Pie, with tax, is now $1.07?

The government has been denying that there  is significant inflation by choosing different reporting and calculating criteria.  But when my Moon Pie takes a 50% jump in price, now that's inflation.

I'm wondering how long a short term certificate of deposit at the bank can last below 1% now with the government (digitally) printing money at a record clip?  Hang on to your hats folks, this thing could get nasty.

Warm Spring Day In Tennessee

While yesterday was less than wonderful with temperatures ranging from the high 30s to the low 50s with gray skies, today was a gorgeous day. 

This afternoon, I explored local things near my hotel. One being something called the Old Stone Fort which is really an Indian mound but that's another story.

I walked some trails along the Duck River, managing to only fall flat of my face only once without breaking me or my camera. The tragedy could have been sliding off a 25 foot cliff into the waters.  It didn't look that deep but it was probably pretty cold and I wasn't ready for a swim.


Wild flowers were coming out along the rivers edge causing bugs to be out as well. While lying on the ground taking close-up pictures of some flowers, I had the uneasy feeling I was being watched.  I snapped off a couple of frames, slowly go up and saw a couple of Geezers (that would be someone my age or older) looking at me as if I were some kind of (please be kind in the comment section) nut.  I got up and nodded to them as if I were doing something important and headed back up the trail.  I suppose they don't see people wallowing around on the ground eye level to a dandelion very often.

It was a nice day.  I think there's even a full moon out tonight.

30 years ago, April 10

It's hard to believe how fast 30 years passes.  Little did we know how the roads would twist and turn as we started this journey which had no map or destination.

Tennessee

In case you had not noticed, I'm working in middle Tennessee and staying in Manchester.  When I arrived a week ago today, the gas station across the street from the hotel had prices of $3.49.  I have seen them raise prices twice in the last week up to $3.62 and three cents higher at the next exit.

April Fools

I wear hats much of the time

..these days and standing in the grocery store in Lenoir, North Carolina, intently reading the label on a jar, I felt a light tug on my jacket and turned to see a small older woman with tight curls in her thin blond (Clairol) hair.  She had this weird little impish grin on her face as she asked me without any introduction, "Do you know what kind of man wears the biggest hat?"

As my mind whirled trying to figure out if this was an off color joke or maybe just being a busy body attempting to make a point, I finally decided to bite and ask, "No Ma'am, I sure don't."
She gives me this Goober Pyle smile and blurts out, "The man with the biggest head!"

"OK..," I'm thinking, "What's this all about?"  I gave a nervous little laugh as my eyes darted around looking for the TV cameras.  If I had any notoriety at all, I would be looking for an Ashton Kutcher Punk'd crew hanging out but this is in hard core Mayberry RFD territory and wasn't likely.

With no film crews visible, I then began looking for an escape route down one of the aisles in case she pulled an ice pick or Beretta from her purse but just before I took flight, she perked up and said, "Made you laugh, didn't I?"

I nervously chuckled, "Yes ma'am, you did."  They say some folks laugh when they don't know what else to say or do and I was still looking for an escape route.

Still smiling, she perked up again, blinked her eyes and told me "Bye!", as she ambled off down by the pasta.

This Mayberry thing is going to take a little more "getting used to."