By Haddon Libby
One of my New Year resolutions is to figure out why my non-athletic wear pants shrank over the pandemic. Cheap Chinese craftsmanship, I’m thinking. This wardrobe problem must be due to the heat of the desert as my closet is warmer than the rest of the house due to a ventilation that seals off the closets from the temperature of the rest of the house. Not fully, insulated mind you – just enough to be fuel efficient and damaging to clothes.
That’s okay. Given how much food prices rose in 2021, I’m thinking that I should start eating less. By doing that, I will not only get to the point that I can get back into these shrunken clothes but may be able to reduce my food bill caused by higher prices.
To achieve a lower weight, my New Year resolution once again will need to focus on more exercise. The pandemic along with a growing and successful business meant that I have not been exercising like I use to. I could blame back issues although the doctor swears that more exercise will help speed the recovery from a couple of herniated discs although my back seems to disagree with him.
Drinking water. I don’t know why but I never drink enough water. Or remember to put on sunscreen. These are things that I really need to remember to do. And sleep more. They say we should get eight hours sleep every night. Given I work on East Coast hours, this means I would have to sleep from nine-to-five. Who goes to bed at nine p.m.?
I also need to realize that people are generally bad drivers…except me of course. Why does everyone seem to cruise slowly in the far left lane when they have two, three or four lanes to choose from? It’s like the left lane is for cruising along with those having no intention of changing lanes. I swear that most of these left-laners who are cluelessly slow are looking at their cell phones. At least on the surface roads here in the Coachella Valley, no one wants to be in the right lanes. As a result, we have a mix of people looking to turn right and those in a hurry darting through traffic. This mix makes our roads far less safe.
With the New Year, I have hopes and wishes for the Coachella Valley and the world around us.
I wish that people were kinder to each other and looked out for the less fortunate.
I wish that the people who make up the executive ranks of corporations would put people ahead of profits some of the time and make sure that the workers for their companies can live to at least a minimum quality of life.
To the elected people who are supposed to represent us in Sacramento and Washington DC, I wish that each of them would stop putting party and themselves first and try to improve the life quality of those who they represent. This means that Democrats and Republicans must compromise. We also need to relabel cable news networks as infotainment as most are filled with opinion pieces and very little news.
Another wish that I have is that we all make higher education a priority. Dumb, unskilled workers typically earn less than their educated counterparts…and America is getting dumber by the day.
We also need to think about what we need as a society to create better opportunities for all. A strong infrastructure is one. We must improve our bridges, electrical grid and power generation sources if we intend on moving away from fossil fuels. Right now, the US electric grid is as stable as a QAnon follower who just found out that you can’t get organic food in prison.
Generally, my hope is for less toxicity whether it is in the way we act toward one another or the world. We cannot be successful without better respect for one another or the world in which we live.
My plan is to do whatever I can to improve myself and society around me whether that is through my actions or attitude. It is my New Year’s wish that you join me in setting a higher standard for those around us.
Haddon Libby is the Founder of Winslow Drake Investment Management. For more information, please visit www.WinslowDrake.com
