Federal Government Budget Cuts...

The federal government budget woes is affecting me more than I thought.  For one, my son (who is a senior and not in desperate need of his job, fortunately) is losing his job due to budget cuts.  The other major impact is the shorter hours at the post office. 

I had all these plans for Saturday, but ended up waiting in line for quite some time at the Post Office, because now that I am back to work, the reduced hours at the Post Office are having an impact.  We are so rural, there is no mail delivery, we have boxes.  The mail opens after I start work and closes before I get off work, and to top it all off, the Saturday hours were recently reduced to ONE HOUR.  That means, all the people who work normal business hours and who have packages to pick up or mail out have one hour a week to do so.  The line was quite, quite long.  The parking lot is tiny, too, so I had to park across the highway and scurry across (the surprisingly light for a middle of a Saturday) traffic roaring through at 55 miles an hour. 

Next time I have to do that, I am going to go early, get one of the six parking spaces and sit with a book an hour before they open.  I do know I have a package coming this week, but luckily, my son doesn't start school for a few days, so I am going to ask him to drive down.  I am finding that I love having a kids who can drive.  I try not abuse it by asking him to do errands, and I do worry if he is gone after dark (still needs practice judging distances at night), but wow - I don't have to wait until next Saturday to get the book I have been looking forward to reading! 

I know there are a whole host of ways the Federal Government is affecting farmers and ranchers, but since I eat what I grow rather than marketing it, I haven't been impacted so far, for which I am profoundly grateful.  We still have a long way to go on the path to self-sufficiency, but I am always excited when I am able to pull a whole meal together from things I have grown or raised - right now that usually means an omellette, but it still feels like an accomplishment to me.