Water shortage? Not here.

With most of our area under severe drought status and the lack of rain over the past three months, water rationing plans would be announced. As of today no announcements have been made.

Compare this to the Colorado River basin. Federal authorities have told the seven states along the river to come to an agreement or the feds will impose one. There will not be enough water for each state to get its allotment. California is entitled to take 4 million acre-feet of water, most of which is used in agriculture.

In a drought emergency, most farmers would go to the back of the line for water rights. The majority of our nuts, fruits and vegetables are grown in California. Expect shortages of these things to get worse for at least the next two years.

Shrinkflation, Part two

I noticed that condiments and canned goods contain more water than before. Not only are mustard and ketchup runnier, but they flow out so easy you get way too much on your sandwich, which causes you to buy more. Canned soups have over a quarter can of water, twice as much as before. I guess manufacturers can’t shrink the size of the product, nor can they raise prices, so now they are replacing product with water or other fillers. I wonder what they will do next.

Garbage sales

I have been noticing a lack of garage sales this year. People do not want to waste a weekend waiting to collect peanuts. What is available is mostly junk and used clothes. With newspaper advertising rates being high for the number of people you reach, sellers are using social media to sell items that have any value. Most towns require a permit to have a yard sale. Although the fees are modest, people don’t want the hassle of getting the permit. They would actually rather set stuff on the curb free to good home than sell it.

We have an area wide yard sale next month. I wonder if people will even bother selling or buying this year. With the economy as bad as it is, you would think yard sales would be a thing. There have been times when people couldn’t buy much, but now they don’t have much to sell either.

Election Day

Today was primary election day in Kansas. I got to vote in the primary today for the first time. I am still an independent voter, but there was a constitutional amendment on the ballot. I got to the polling place today and there was a line for my precinct, but not the other precincts. There were only four people in it and I left the polling place five minutes after I arrived, successfully filling in the one circle on my ballot.

When I got home, I realized the heat wave was back and pulled the fan out and put the AC unit back in the window. There is no relief in the forecast and I think the AC will stay up until Labor Day.