Employment, housing, and the need for heat-fixers

Dark, cold, and relying on the oil heat which I will leave set on 62-64 degrees. Part ordered for the pellet stove; we pray it's the right one, the answer to the conundrum. If it's not, then who knows? Maybe we will (finally) get a professional's opinion. That said, G consulted with a professional, who said it is a good guess that what is wrong is the exhaust.

I, for one, am exhausted.

That said, it's interesting that out of three people G called and left messages for, only one phoned him back. There is a dearth of tradespeople, both locally and nationally. I suspect they are swamped with calls, and when there's too few people, we have to wait. Same with medical care of all sorts-- waiting for eye appointments and dental appointments is expected, and the wait is several months. 

When I hear there are "no jobs" I wonder where folks are looking. Pay rates are generally a hell of a lot higher than they were pre-pandemic, and there are help wanted signs all over town. We have essentially no substitute teachers at school, and that only requires a high school diploma. The going rate for a sub these days is pretty sweet-- it ranges around 130.00/day. So, where are the applicants? 

I hear the doom and gloom pronouncements about employment and the economy, but the reality I am seeing does not match up with the rantings of politicians and their loyal followers. Maybe if some of those followers went out an applied for jobs instead of attending rallies...? I know, that's simplistic, but it's also very frustrating. 

The biggest problem is the cost and/or lack of housing. We lose workers when they have no place to live. There are many people who turned their "extra" homes into short term rentals or who bought vacation homes to escape to during the pandemic. The price of rent is absurd, too-- just because they could get that kind of money when people were running and scared is no reason why it costs what it does now. If the pundits want to rail on about anyone in particular, they could target the price-gouging landlords. If local town and city planners and select boards want to do something useful, they could work towards renovating empty business buildings into livable housing. Some place are doing just that, and it's a good plan. I wonder what it would look like for a town or city to buy up those empty properties and rent them out, as a source of income for the municipality. Hm. "Town Housing" may not be glamorous, but it would be useful. It would both clean up potential eyesore buildings and it would provide much-needed housing for workers. 

In the meantime, I am wrapped in a huge, fuzzy bathrobe over a flannel nightie, drinking hot coffee, and my hands are getting rather cold. I hope the heat works at school-- yesterday, the only place I could get truly warm was in my car. Oil heat is so fleeting; it's only warm while it's running. Soon after, any residual heat evaporates, and I am, once again, grateful for the plethora of blankets I have around the house. 

Take care, stay warm, and hope that the part for the stove is the right one.

C