The only thing we’re worried about is the price of gas. Marine gas is always more expensive than gas at a gas station. Marinas, or at least those on the lakes around here, sell only 89 octane mid-grade gas, so it’s already more expensive than regular gas. Then add in the costs of the extra additives an the lower volumes of gas sold as compared to gas stations and marine gas can go for anywhere from $1 to $1.50 per gallon more than regular gas at a gas station. Boats like mine don’t burn nearly as much gas as the larger boats or those with engines that have a lot more horsepower than the one in my boat, but I will still be doing my best to keep my fuel costs as low as possible.
There is one upside to the higher fuel costs: less boats out on the lake. The last time gas prices were this high the boat traffic on the lake was about half of what we would normally see. There were even a couple of summer weekends where the traffic was almost non-existent even though the weather was perfect for a day out on the lake.
Only time will tell.
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Watching the news from Ukraine, reading some non-media reports, and discussions with old colleagues of mine, it appears things have gone wrong and are still going wrong for Russia’s military and Putin’s plans.
The media has called Russia’s withdrawal a “repositioning” (Russia’s term). What it is is a strategic retreat. As deployed they were getting pounded, seeing an increasing number of casualties and losing tanks, armored tracks, trucks, attack aircraft, and helicopters. They lost important supplies at a depot just inside Ukrainian territory and a fuel depot just over the border in Russia when Ukrainian forces destroyed them.
Some are saying the Russians are rethinking this venture, seeing its first attempt as an abject failure. Other are saying the Russians are regrouping and resupplying for a much larger offensive later this spring when the ground has dried out which will allow Russian armored units to travel cross-country rather than being limited to traveling on roads. This limitation made it easier for Ukraine’s air and ground forces to locate, attack and destroy Russian forces.
Either way, the invasion of Ukraine has turned out to be a debacle for Putin and the reputation of the Russian military.
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Add yet another state to the list of Constitutional Carry states.
The Georgia Senate passed the latest version of the Constitutional Carry bill passed by the Georgia House earlier this past week. Georgia Governor Kemp has said he will sign the bill.
After some back and forth between the Georgia House and Senate reconciling different versions of constitutional carry bills, the Senate voted 34-22 in favor of the latest version that passed the House earlier this week. That sends the final bill to Governor Brian Kemp who has said he’ll sign it into law.Once Governor Kemp signs the bill half the states in the US will be constitutional carry states. Half. What’s the possibility some more states will be joining the ranks of Constitutional Carry? I think we can count on states like New York, New Jersey, Illinois, California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts not becoming Constitutional Carry states.
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Prepare for the usual primal screams from our friends in the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex as Georgia is about to become the 25th state (that’s half the country, for you blue-staters) with constitutional carry on the books.
There are three other states presently working on Constitutional Carry: Louisiana, Michigan, and South Carolina. It will be interesting to see if any of those three will manage to see their efforts come to fruition.
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It looks like Disney CEO Bob Chapek and his management team are getting a lot of push back from Disney stockholders, with one of them warning him to “Get back to business, that is, excellence in storytelling, and stop wasting shareholder’s money on political crusades that have nothing to do with Disney’s business.” Disney’s opposition to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and its work to get it repealed. The people of Florida don’t support Disney’s position, nor to many of its employees.
If Disney pushes too hard it’s possible Disney’s Special Governing Arrangement could become history.
Disney has vowed to fight for the repeal of the law despite the fact that it reflects the values of parents throughout the state — as well as many of the company’s cast members (which is what Disney calls its employees).Were that to happen, Disney would have to deal with the governments of two different counties since Disney property spans across the county lines. Their time of self-governing would be at an end and would cost the corporation millions of dollars, something that would certainly cause a stockholder revolt and the very likely termination of Disney management from the CEO on down.
But, just as we’ve expected from Florida’s governor, DeSantis isn’t simply rolling over — he’s fighting back.
...DeSantis and other GOP legislators in the Sunshine State have mused about repealing the legislation that gave Disney its own governmental authority over the Walt Disney Word property over 50 years ago.
It seems the C-level execs have forgotten the one hard and fast rule of going woke: Go Woke, Go Broke. These guys had best rethink their decision to go down this path or they’ll all be looking for new jobs...assuming anyone would hire them after what they had done to Disney.
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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the ice is disappearing, the temps are rising slowly and in fits and starts, and where Monday will once again make its unwelcome presence known.