Mid Range Plans

Spring -a time of limitless opportunities. My budget: the reality of doing much much fewer things.

I’ve got work to do on the boat, but do I set it up for just local sailing or do I prepare to haul it south next winter and spend a lot of time on it? Different levels of upgrades.

Are we going to go south at all next winter? Sailing? Camping? Both? Maybe instead we’ll spend another winter in NH. If we decided to spend the winter up north, the house is going to need some heating upgrades.

I’ve got a long list of considerations like that. It’s been on my mind. Can’t plan for them all.

Currently dealing with unexpected vehicle expenses, but unexpected expenses should be expected. It’s always something.

Of course, there’s existential threats out there. Maybe what I should be planning for is WWIII? That doesn’t sound like fun at all.

-Sixbears

Unpushing the button?

Okay, so President Trump actually launched an attack on Iran and then canceled it before anything physical happened. I’m having a hard time processing the whole thing.

First off, launching such an attack really could be the start of a full blown war. According to the Constitution that’s not the way it’s supposed to work. Yes, Congress has given up huge chunks of its responsibilities, but that doesn’t make it a good idea.

Did we just come within hours of the start of WWIII? While I might be overreacting, but who’d have thought that the assignation of just one man by a random Serbian could start WWI? Historically, tensions can build for years until a spark ignites the whole pile of tinder. There’s no good way to predict how things will sort out. What if Russia and China decided to help its Iranian ally? Stuff happens.

Some wars have to be fought. Some don’t. Others are blundered into. Before anyone gets too hawkish take a good look around. How many of your friends, kids, or grandkids should be put into harm’s way. It’s not just soldiers who die in war. Civilians bear the burdens as well. In recent conflicts the US mainland had been fairly isolated from retaliation. Wars have been kept “over there.” That could change. Then again, when it’s your kid who comes home in a box, the war has come home too. How many come back from war, physically somewhat sound, but a PTSD mess?

I’m not one of those people who think it’s inevitable that we go to war with Iran. However, I’m not in charge of anything. There’s some analysis that Trump held back because we don’t have enough assets in the region yet. More men, ships and equipment are on their way right now. That implies they expect a significant conflict. We shall see.

-Sixbears