Foley sent me a memo last week. Said something like, “why don’t you quit whining about your fat eyes and write a Thanksgiving column that people care about.” I’m not going to be responsible for messing up the Trump economy, so I do what I’m told and stay off the unemployment line.
I can tell you this. I’m thankful that I am only 59 years old and I have a few years until I have to fully understand the senior property tax freeze laws. Based on everything I’ve read from Platte and Clay Counties, it apparently is much more complicated than originally presented. At least the implementation is more complicated. Just last week I read that we should no longer call it a “freeze.” I’ll start calling it a property tax “thaw” going forward. I like being government compliant.
I’m thankful that I once went to see former Vice President Dick Cheney speak when he came to St. Joseph in 2004. I liked the Republican party from those days. Even had a Bush ‘88 sign in my apartment window in the 80’s. I kind of fancied myself an Alex P. Keaton of northwest Missouri in those days. Look him up.
But…all good things must end and I’m kind of excited about the new Republican party that has emerged. Not the MTG wing, but the JD Vance and Marco Rubio wing. Politicians that push back and do not always act like they are above a fray may be necessary in this world of politics.
I’m thankful for college football. Also, I hate college football. The seasons give me a whiplash of emotion about my team and it’s probably a good cleansing for my soul. I love the anticipation of a new and budding season and especially love being lectured by coaches and administrators how much more money they need when they fall short of the expectations that they literally established.
I’m thankful for mega data centers encircling us in the Northland. I’m glad we will have computer chips capable of storing my years old x-rays, CT scans and mostly all my Facebook memories. If this means we don’t have water and electricity available, all the time, that is simply a cost of making sure I get that Meta dopamine running through my veins and I’m not going to complain. It might get cold in the winter, but I’ll be able to share my vacation photos from 2010 with all of you.
I’m also thankful that winter is about to drop the hammer on our Midwestern existence. “You won’t know a good day without having a bad day,” is what I tell my kids about such experiences. We are about to enter the “bad day” phase of that inspirational motto. I’m assuming the “good day” portion will appear in April or so, save your thankful thoughts for then.
Wait. I just reread the “memo” from Foley. We don’t send memos, not sure what I was thinking. It was a text. He asked if he could have this column early for a pre-Thanksgiving print date. I guess I misinterpreted that one, perhaps assumed a little more than I read.
Oh well, Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy this forced Thanksgiving confessional and some turkey and I’ll catch you next week.
(Guy Speckman can be reached reading Landmark employee memos)
