It’s Spring in Sunny San Diego

Spring is here and a feeling of fresh and new is in the air.

Even in San Diego, where winter to us is repressive, to the chagrin of our northern and eastern countrymen, we welcome the newness of spring with relish. Gone are those nasty rain storms, cold nights and short days.

Seriously, that’s the worst San Diego winter has to offer, Nevertheless. The prospect of beautiful flowers in bloom, from the Carlsbad Flower Fields to the deserts and mountain fields, feels renewing to our spirits. The mountains are green, for now, the deserts are comfortable and the ocean water begins to warm. Storm driven surf turns to melodic 1 to 3 footers that leave waters at the cove calm and clear, and leaves happy water sports enthusiasts from I.B. to Oceanside. Oh, and best of all, baseball season starts! The abyss between football and our national pass time has once again been bridged and sports fans everywhere finally have a reason to sit on the couch all weekend.

However, not everything about spring is fresh, and new is not always better. For instance, spring is also the time we change our clocks and “spring forward”. I vaguely remember something about saving energy being the reason for Daylight Savings Time, but seriously, does it really matter if we turn on our lights in the morning or at night? The lights are still on, my electric bill remains ridiculously high, and I feel like a lemming, following for unknown reasons to an unknown destination. I don’t know whose idea it was. But it’s time has passed (no pun intended) and my new favorite person will be the one who finally does away with this idea. I don’t care which, just pick a time and leave it there. How arrogant to think on a whim we can decide what time the sun rises and sets. Someone greater than us has already decided and we should learn to live with it.

Spring also brings along a day that will live on infamously, April 15th, tax day. A day that seems to get worse every year and is especially frightening this year. And for those who say, “it’s not bad for me I get a refund”, realize you have loaned your money to the government for one year for free. Your refund is your money taken from you and returned with no interest or growth. I am pretty sure you could do better with your money than the government did. It’s also a day when people take stock of their situation. Small business people get a review on how they did last year and what they will have to change this year. While out tax rates did not go up yet, costs to businesses and employees did and are continuing to. Fuel prices in particular are way up. And that has, and is, affecting everyone. Fuel surcharges are common place in businesses and these costs can not always be passed on to customers, causing entrepreneurs to tighten their belts in other ways. People who work for these small businesses are caught in the middle. With the price of food and other consumables going up, working people have less money to get by on and where there used to be hope for a raise is now hope for keeping your job. You need to work harder and better to help your business survive, but improvement in individual circumstances has become secondary to survival. Global uncertainty and domestic polarization leave most people unsure of their personal future and that of the world as they have come to know.

One thing that is certain is things are going to have to be done in new ways. The current condition in both the private and public sectors is unsustainable. If we don’t change the way it’s always been done, it will all be done. From those that govern to those that are governed all will need to break the old mindsets and norms and create new ideas and ways of doing things that actually free the individual to be the best they can, do the best they can and set a future course that is inspiring rather than disheartening. Now that would be new…