THEY WILL DROP THEIR PRICES OR GO OUT OF BUSINESS:
Before The Editorial . . . As Always, Thank You to the People who Contributed this Month to Galganov.com. I Realize that Times are Tough, as was Reflected in the Amount of Financial Support Galganov.com Received for this Cycle, which is Even More Meaningful for the People who were Able to Contribute . . . For Which I Am Eternally Grateful.
Personalized Thank You Emails Will Be Sent Within The Next Few Days.
TO GO OR NOT TO GO . . . THAT WAS THE QUESTION:
Anne, The Boys (The Falconator & The Mac-Attack) And I Are Planning Our Winter South.
I WORRY A GREAT DEAL ABOUT AMERICA’S LEFTIST DEMOCRATS:
This Is An Inescapable Truth . . . The More Competition – The Cheaper It Is To Live.
Whether The Democrats Win Or Lose The House & Or The Senate, just their Serious Socialist Presence on the Political Scene, and the Real Possibility that they Might Take the House and or the Senate, Is Enough To Harm America’s Economy In The Here & Now.
And Why As A Canadian Should That Worry Me?
Canada & America are so Intrinsically Locked into Each Other Economically & Socially, that When America Gets the Sniffles, Canada Gets the Flu.
It is Not a Secret that the Cost of Living in Both Countries is Rising Faster than Most People can Afford, and with the Prospect of a Communist-Leaning Congress on the Horizon . . . It Is Only Going To Get Worse.
BUT IT IS NOT JUST COMMUNISM WE HAVE TO FEAR . . .
As It Is . . . American & Canadian Oligopolies are Destroying our Freedoms, while the Inclusion of Communism will Finish the Job . . . Both Of Which Are On Our Governments.
ANNE & I ARE A PRETTY TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF A RETIRED COUPLE:
Before Leaving Myrtle Beach This Past April, Anne & I Reserved our RV Place for the Coming Winter (2026-27) with a Non-Refundable Deposit, and a Guarantee of Place, But Not A Guarantee Of Cost, with the Hint from the RV Park Management where we will be Staying, That The Price Should Not Go Up By More Than $50 Per Month.
Being Canadian, $50 USD Equals Almost $75 CDN, which Might Not Sound like Much, but, If You Multiply $75 By 5-Months, That Equals $375 Extra Dollars For The Season Plus the Cost of RV Stops (4-Nights At An Average Of $100 CDN Per Night) on the Route South and then Back Again to the North, and the Cost of Gas . . . Which At That Time Seemed Manageable.
But The Best Laid Plans Of Mice & Men . . .
We Never Anticipated the Continuous Rise in the Basic Cost Of Living to the Extent it Has Become . . . In-Spite of the BS we Constantly Hear from our Governments, as to How Prices are Coming Down, Because They Are Not.
And We Didn’t Anticipate the Rise in the Cost of Fuel, Where One Lives In Canada, Runs About $7 A Gallon, which is Unconscionable Theft by Government Taxes & Petroleum Industry Greed.
When We Are Towing The RV, We Are Lucky To Average 10-Miles Per Gallon.
And Then Came Trump’s War Against Iran . . . Which I Am Not Knocking, since Paying More Today to Keep Iran from Going Nuclear Tomorrow, is a Cheap Enough Price to Pay to Stop Armageddon. Either Way – We Are All Feeling The Consequences.
WITH THE INCREASE IN THE COST OF LIVING – ESPECIALLY TRAVEL . . .
Some Businesses Get-It & Adjust . . . Some Businesses Can’t Overcome The Greed.
Because Of The Unforeseen Costs . . . Our Winter Plans Have Been In Limbo, Since Affordability Became a Major Factor. Before Scrambling to Make Different Winter Arrangements . . . I Called the Family-Owned RV Park where we Loved to Stay Last Year to Assess the Cost Damage they will Impose on this season, Fully Anticipating The Loss Of Our Deposit & Winter Getaway.
Some Comparable Corporate RV Parks in the Myrtle Beach Area Raised their Rates because of Dwindling Business . . . Especially from Canada, so I Expected No Less.
QUESTION IS . . . DO YOU WANT A BIT LESS – OR NOTHING?
I Called Our Park & Asked What Our Rate Will Be For This Winter’s Stay?
Imagine My Surprise, When I was Told How Much the RV Park was Looking Forward to our Return Stay (They Remembered Us & The German Shepherds) . . . and as an Acknowledgment to the Disparity in the Currency Between Canada & America, And The Increased Cost Of Everything . . . They Dropped Their Seasonal Rate Substantially.
Last Season . . . Myrtle Beach Saw A Drop Of 30% In Canadian Travel. And Last Year’s Economy Wasn’t as Bad as the Economy we are Facing Today. But it is Not Just Canadian Travelers who are Re-Thinking their Travel Plans, Since Money is Tight Everywhere, And Too Many Businesses Are Asking Too Much For What They Offer.
Guess What We Did Other Than To Say Thank You? – We Told Our RV Friends.
Anne & I Took a Friend Out for Lunch to a BBQ Chicken Restaurant About a Week Ago. It is a Nice Family Place, Nothing Spectacular, with Daily Specials all Priced Similarly. The Food was OK, Certainly Not Gourmet, but OK Enough Not to Complain. And Then I Got The Bill . . . $84 Including Food, Tax & Tip.
We Didn’t Drink Any Wine Or Beer . . . And Had No Desserts.
WE DON’T GO TO RESTAURANTS – SAME REASON YOU MIGHT NOT EITHER:
Anne & I Love To Entertain At Home. And I Pride Myself With Being A Good Cook.
Anne & I Usually Entertain 4-People Plus Ourselves . . . And We Hold Nothing Back. I Buy the Best Ingredients, and Generally Cook from Scratch. And at the End of the Day . . . Feeding 6-People – Including an Appetizer, Main Course, Refreshments & Dessert . . . with Enough Left Over for at Least Another Meal for Anne & Myself . . . Generally Costs Two-Thirds Less Than Feeding Three At A Restaurant.
ANNE & I NEVER USED TO COUPON OR COMPARE SHOP . . . UNTIL NOW:
If We Needed Or Wanted Something, We Would Just Buy-It, since all Products were More or Less Priced Close Enough to Each Other . . . But Not Anymore, Considering Inflation, Shrinkflation and the Fact that there are Many things we Learned we Could Do Without . . . We Have Become Far More Judicious In How We Shop.
REAL FREE ENTERPRISE – GUARANTEES FREE & FAIR COMPETITION:
If Manufacturers, Growers, Importers, Wholesalers, Transporters, Distributors, Retailers, Restauranteurs – Etc . . . Won’t Compete In Earnest . . . Guess What? – We Can Do-It For Them. Simply by Picking & Choosing What we Buy, the Price we are Willing to Pay . . . And To Whom We Are Willing To Give Our Money.
Oligopolies Are In Their Own Way As Bad As Communism . . . Both of Which we Can Defeat, as Long as our Governments Get out of the Way by Not Choosing Winners & Losers, by Not Stifling Innovation with Draconian Regulations, and by Not Taxing & Tariffing Honest Competition up the Ying-Yang.
If You Think We Don’t Have A Political Say In A Free & Affordable Economy – Think Again.
Best Regards . . . Howard Galganov
