Dear Ma, I hope you’re doing well up there in Heaven, we are ok down here in Dallas.
We are surviving just fine, although things have changed so much in the last few years, and I ain’t talking about for the better…it’s worse! The ugly Covid has changed the way most companies do business. Pretty much all companies are hiring because of the seemingly endless employee shortage. There are so many people opting to stay home and collect unemployment and it’s killing lots of small businesses!
Everywhere you go there are “Help Wanted” signs in the front window. Lots of small companies have reduced their hours of operation & many have even closed up & gone out of business because of the employee shortage. Not only is it next to impossible to get employees, but we also can’t get some parts because the big companies also are fighting the employee shortage as are the manufacturing & shipping companies!
In other words, Ma, allow me to vent please: I believe that unemployment benefits have been so substantial and so easy to get, that a lot of LAZY people who are able to work are not willing to work! If somebody needs unemployment, then they should get it, but if they are just milking the system, then they should not receive government benefits! It’s hurting our industry and it’s hurting our country, but oh well, the strong will survive and the milk will eventually turn sour!
So on a good note, Ma, Bigun (Lena) and I just returned from Sturgis and it was awesome! This was my 35th consecutive year, I just love them Black Hills! We got to do a lot of riding around & we also did some industry obligations. The group I ride with, the Hamsters USA, raised $536,000 in one night for the children of Lifescape in the Black Hills!
Think about that Ma, OVER HALF A MILLION DOLLARS was raised to support children in need, up there in the Black Hills area! We also raised money for the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame as well as Meals on Wheels for Spearfish, SD! I’m pretty proud of the Hamsters USA & I’m extremely proud to be a member of that esteemed organization!
The rest of the week in Sturgis, Bigun and I rode around the Black Hills & enjoyed hanging out with our Hamster pals & Industry brothers & sisters, many of which we only see once a year. The weather was great for riding, as usual. In the 50’s every morning & 80’s in the afternoon with no rain! Meanwhile, back here in Big D, every August, it’s in the 80’s in the morning & 100 degrees every afternoon!
So yeah, Ma, that week-long pilgrimage to the Black Hills is a much-welcomed escape for me and Bigun! There’s something special about riding them Black Hills on a Custom Chopper, especially when your little girl is also riding a Custom Chopper right beside ya, it don’t get much better than that y’all!
Meanwhile, back to the crummy Covid, now that the new variant is here, it’s like extending all the protocols that we thought we were done with. I mean, lots of places are now requiring masks again and some companies are mandating that all the employees get vaccinated, and a few retail businesses are requiring proof of vaccination before you can enter their business.
Oh boy, so Ma, all this has gotten very political, ya know, whether to get vaccinated or not, or even to require masks or not. Evidently, a large part of the population doesn’t believe what the Government is telling us. I’m not a political person, but I will say that I do believe in the United States Government, no matter which party is in the White House and when they told me to get vaccinated, well, I got vaccinated! I reckon those people who have such a distrust of the American Government, should just move to a different country and see if they like it any better…I’m guessing they won’t!
Anyway, Ma, I better go for now. I’m gonna express my right as a free American and go get on my RF Custom Shovelhead and lay down some miles to clear my old head! There’s lots of problems in this world, but there ain’t no other country, or state, or city that I’d rather be living in!
