Yes, there is an article in today’s New York Times about sit-down restaurants filing for bankruptcy.

I guess this consolidation has been underway for many years.

Prices aren’t only rising in restaurants.

Many types of businesses are charging more.

So, our reaction must include one direction or another.

Either we cut costs and/or we increase income.

I am still seeing “help wanted” signs in store windows.

In today’s “work at home” world, you may be able to work and not need daycare.

Cutting costs should begin with discretionary expenses you can do without.

Hopefully, you don’t have to cut services you need.

I hope this blog gives you some thought starters!

If not today, when?

I’m sitting here at my desk trying to think about a topic for today’s blog.

The window next to my desk looks onto the front yard.

And a robin decides to make a visit.

They are regular visitors now that Spring has arrived.

They go about their business looking for food.

But, they couldn’t care less about the issues people think about!

As long as they can find food, they’re good.

You can always spot a robin with that big ORANGE breast.

For some reason, robins emote in me a sense of “all is well!”

How about you?

If not today, when?

You and I know it’s the key to longevity.

But, more importantly, regular walking is the best path to a healthy body.

And that’s what motivates me!

For the past two years, I’ve walked up and and down my driveway 20 times each morning.

This daily routine gives me a strong heart and lungs.

I know if you are an older person like myself, you don’t want to exercise regularly.

I understand, but you won’t find an easier exercise than walking.

And on a bad weather day, you can walk inside at a local mall.

Start out with short walks and build up the distance over time.

What do you say? Will you give it a try?

If not today, when?

The Reverend Jesse Jackson had a saying, “Keep Hope Alive!”

That saying is so much needed in the lives of milliions!

It’s up to us to “Keep hope alive” for our brothers and sisters who are hopeless.

And their children.

It’s hard to have hope when your children are hungry and your family is homeless.

Charitable organizations have seen a big decline in recent contributions mainly because so many people are concerned about their own families and their future.

We have to take a hard look at our own situation and decide if there is some way to help either with clothing, food, household items or with a monetary donation.

Do your best. If we all make a small effort, it will end up being a big success..

If not today, when?

Don’t be paralyzed by fear of the future!

Accomplish something positive today!

I’m suggesting that you make each day count.

Yes, it is possible to build great tomorrows by making each today better.

Does that mean you shouldn’t plan for the future?

No, of course you should, but you will build a better future by making today a building block.

If not today, when?

New York CNN — 

Restaurant industry icons where Americans went out for decades for wings, dinner, and celebrations are facing a crisis.

Hooters filed for bankruptcy this week, the latest casual dining chain to go belly up.

Red Lobster, TGI Fridays and Buca di Beppo also filed for bankruptcy in the last year.

Meanwhile, sales at Denny’s, Applebee’s, Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, Red Robin and Cracker Barrel’s are dropping, and they are shuttering hundreds of restaurants.

Casual dining chains typically cater to lower and middle-income families looking for a sit-down meal, but diners are abandoning these companies as their disposable income shrinks.

Wow! We have enjoyed those restaurants.

They will be missed!

2,500 people were working at their desks when their building collapsed!

This disaster recently occurred when an earthquake hit Thailand.

Thank God for an ordinary day!

Do we take our personal safety for granted?

With the many recurrances of climate change, we’re witnessing frequent calamities.

Think of the fires that hit beautiful California!

My message today is BE GRATEFUL!

If not today, when?

Sometimes it’s easy because both parties are proactive.

If it’s up to you to take the initiative, it’s easier if you two have some common interest.

Such as an athletic team.

It’s not unusual for one friend to take the initiative more often that the other.

So, if you are the primary initiator, don’t be discouraged.

You can also call your friend about a news item that will be of interest.

There is nothing more powerful, however, than an in person meeting.

We rely on text messages too often.

They are too impersonal!

If the friend is important in your life, take the time to call.

Friendship takes nurturing. That is why it is almost impossible to have many “good” friends.

You have to be willing to make a committment.

It is like the pig and the chicken being invited for breakfast. It was easy for the chicken but the pig had to make a commitment!

If not today, when?

Are we capable of it?

Especially when we’re still angry?

Many of us can’t or won’t overcome the anger.

And so the offender lives the rest of their life unforgiven.

It is obviously a major blow to their self esteem from which they may or may not recover.

This act of forgiveness is the highest kind of forgiveness with no strings attached.

I ask again; are we capable of a “no strings attached” kind of forgiveness?

If not today, when?

Reeling, perhaps even fearful, Europe may have finally come to its senses over its self-defense needs in the era of Trump.

“It is as if Roosevelt welcomed Churchill (to the White House) and started bullying him,” European lawmaker Raphaël Glucksmann told CNN.

In a month when US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Europe “PATHETIC” for “free-loading” on defense in a group chat with administration officials (which inadvertently included a journalist for The Atlantic), the continent has been shattering decades-old taboos on defense.

Policies are on the table that would have been unthinkable just weeks ago.

The biggest change came in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy.

After the federal election, chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz won a vote in parliament to scrap Germany’s constitutional “debt brake” – a mechanism to limit government borrowing.

In principle, the law change allows for unlimited spending on defense and security. Experts expect the move to unlock as much as €600 billion ($652 billion) in Germany over the next decade. (CNN)