December 29.30.31

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Most of the snow is gone especially on the southern sides of buildings. I had intended to shovel what was still on our patio the warmer temps have saved me that. It is now 50F.

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New Year's Eve Eve as someone just said. A number of people have said they will be very glad to see the end of 2022. I understand that because I am also. My reaction isn't as strong as at the end of 2020 or 2021.

I wonder how this will impact the kids entering the job market or applying to college. Decades ago, when I began studies at Indiana U. Northwest after about five years out of high school, the school required I take basic math and English courses for the first semester. Everyone (or nearly everyone) was required to take those classes, considering the proficiency (or lack thereof) of a large proportion of my classmates, most of whom were recent high school graduates, perhaps it was more necessary than I thought at the time. On the other hand I have often wondered what schools are actually teaching considering the abysmal ignorance of history and civics displayed by our politicians.

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New Year's Eve--and no we aren't going out or staying up late. The new year will come in all by itself.

Another day (5 days ago) and another cryptocurrency platform goes tits up. And taking 55% of most customers accounts with it. The stampede to crypto reminds me of the various (and there were several) gold "rushes" in our history: a lot of people hoping to get fabulously wealthy without a lifetime of work. Very, very few got anything for their efforts. The women who ran boarding houses and did laundry probably got more out of the gold fever though they worked their fingers to the bone to do it.

I find this puzzling. U.S. Steel is idling its tin mill in Gary, In. The management says it is because imports make the mill unprofitable. They are keeping the Portage, In, plant open. However, sometime ago, when we started to see empty shelves in the canned cat food aisle, the stores put up signs which said the shortage was due to a shortage of tin used in the cans. The supply of cat food is still short with big spaces on the shelves and the price has gone up. U.S. Steel should be able to supply the metal for a profit even with the imports. Why can't they? If the plant does reopen, as the management says it plans, I predict that they will have a nearly completely new work force that will be younger and cheaper. That is generally how an unprofitable enterprise becomes profitable.