All Things Bubba

Yesterday's unemployment report was ugly. The fundamentals are just so bad. As ShadowStats argues, "real" income has been declining in the US since the early '70s. Households adjusted to this by sending women into the work force, so there were two incomes instead of just one, and then by increasing debt - credit cards, HELOCs, etc. Now we've hit the wall, and the hangover could last for years. Even if people want to keep spending, they don't have the income, and their access to credit is being cut off.

Should be interesting to see how this affects baseball. Last year, a lot of players had to accept less money than they expected - to the point that accusations of collusion were made. My feeling is that teams are more willing to spend this year, but who knows.

And speaking of jobs...for those of you wondering what Bubba's family business is...someone left a comment saying that his dad has a large lawn maintenance company. That seems like something Bubba would be good at. After all, an outfielder should be an expert on grass!

Seriously, he's said in interviews he likes working with his hands, and it seems like he would have the opportunity to do that in a lawn maintenance business, if he wanted to.

A Pew survey came out last month, about which occupations produce the most happiness and well-being. The key to happiness, it seems, does not necessarily involve big bucks or an Ivy League degree. The business news media glommed onto the fact that people who own their own businesses are the happiest, but what I found most interesting is that farmers, ranchers, foresters and fisherman are among the happiest workers, despite low pay, hard work, and long hours.

Perhaps that's a reflection of the kind of person who is attracted to those jobs. But I wonder if part of it is simply being outdoors. There's all kinds of research that suggests that people need contact with nature. Being outdoors in natural surroundings makes people less stressed, and eases depression. A gift of flowers improves people's moods more than a non-natural gift of similar value. Looking at nature even makes you nicer.

I, of course, have a job where I spend most of the day at a desk. I could do more field work, but engineering field work usually involves unappealing surroundings such as construction sites. Maybe I shoulda majored in landscape architecture or something.

Labels: Bubba Crosby, The Greater Depression