Gettin' by with what works...

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Some decades back a "jam box" ended up under the Christmas tree with my name on it.  Another small package had some cassette tapes in it... Alabama, Bruce Springsteen, and Fleetwood Mac.  I mostly used it while plugged-in since it took a small truck load of D-cell batteries to keep it running.  Amazingly, it still works and except for a small crack in the corner and a few scratches... it has somehow survived Van Halen through Roth and Hagar, Hank Williams and Junior, and had even aged better than Mick Jagger.


The ol' "jam box" has been hanging out the last few years on the wall of the barn.  It still plays AM and FM... and there's still a box of cassette tapes laying around covering the better part of classic rock and country from the pre-MTV era, back when MTV actually showed music videos.

Some folks will ask why I still keep it around.  Well, it works... it plays music... it plays Reds games... it plays old faded Springsteen tapes.  Some say "new" isn't always better, but actually "new" isn't always needed.  If I'm working in the barn, welding, hangin' out, changing oil... it keeps me entertained... and that's all I ever expected or needed from it.  No sub-woofer, no CD, just ol' music, talk, and sports.

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."  ~Philippians 4:11-12 
I must admit, it's taken a lot of years for me to be happy with just gettin' by, but my gal... that terrific redhead I married who grew up in pretty humble circumstances... has been a good balance for me.  I watch a lot of folks who were livin' high on the hog, or livin' beyond that and high on someone else's hog who are now suffering pretty badly, but really... many of 'em aren't suffering that badly.  They're just experiencing the difference between their desires and needs.  Most of us wouldn't be or aren't happy livin' on just what we need.  Heck, one look in our gun safe shows that.
I've done my best to live the right way
I get up every morning and go to work each day
But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold
Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode
Explode and tear this whole town apart
Take a knife and cut this pain from my heart
Find somebody itching for something to start

The dogs on Main Street howl 'cause they understand
If I could reach one moment into my hands
Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man
And I believe in a promised land
~Bruce Springsteen

So what's the point?  Well, I think this country is still headin' for a fall... at least financially.  If it actually happens, there will be a lot of folks who are going to have to just make do... or die.  If you haven't started thinking about it yet, you should.  
Why not think about times to come,
And not about the things that you've done,
If your life was bad to you,
Just think what tomorrow will do.

Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow,
Don't stop, it'll soon be here,
It'll be, better than before,
Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone. ~Fleetwood Mac
Maybe it's time to start... and get prepared for... Gettin' by with what works...
So what do you think?