Out of Sorts

 I have felt out of sorts lately, and I'm not sure why.

The weather is about the only thing that is good at this time, with sunny skies, no wind to speak of, and daytime temperatures in the upper 70s (nighttime temps are in the 40s). 

First, my freezer stopped freezing and the refrigerator wasn't very cool. I was able to get a repair man to the house who quickly diagnosed the problem. For $625, he fixed the problem.

The recent Republican debacle in the US House of Representatives, which saw a small group of ultra-right wing nutcases oust the speaker of the House with no replacement lined up, sent the government into a tail spin. Let's not forget that the US government is currently operating under a continuing resolution that funds the government for just more than 40 days.

Our southern border is being inundated by illegal immigrants to the tune of some 3 million last year. Recent days have seen 9:300 illegals literally running across the border each day. Our cities simply cannot handle this huge influx of migrants. They do not have the resources -- money, rooms, medical care, food or anything else -- to accommodate these people.

Some 1.3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan have been told to leave the country by the end of the month. 

Gun violence continues to take nearly 50,000 lives in the US each year.

Prices are through the roof. An item I bought last October for $4.99 and in January for $7.99 is now $21.99. Talk about inflation!

Businesses continue to suffer because of a shortage of workers. There is a shortage of nurses. There is a shortage of school bus drivers. There is a shortage of other bus drivers. There’s a shortage of teachers. There’s a shortage of doctors. There’s a shortage of retail workers. There’s a shortage of restaurant workers. What I don’t understand is, why? 

Russia's war on Ukraine drags on amid reports that support for providing weapons to the Ukrainian army is beginning to waiver in some European countries and among the far-right faction in the US. Anyone who believes that Putin will be satisfied with conquering only Ukraine is badly mistaken, just as appeasing Hitler in the late 1930s did not stop his megalomanic drive for more and more territory.

And of course, there is nothing I can do about any of these situations except to limit my exposure to news reports. That is difficult for me to do, as I spent my career working with members of the news media. I am, to put it bluntly, a news junkie. A local friend has told me that she, too, is feeling out of sorts for no clear reason.

But for today, I am going too try to enjoy the beautiful weather and the opening day of the 51st Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.