TB’s Random July 4th Weekend Ground Report – Tourists, Economic Indicators, Medical and Buc-ee’s

Instead of posting in the opener I thought the news I have might be better placed here since there are multiple topics and detail. Consider this a diversion from the norm during the hot lazy days of summer.

Since the major vacation travel season is upon us I wanted to report that absolutely nothing has slowed the descent upon eastern TN and the Smoky Mountains by droves of people in record numbers. Granted, our location makes it easier for a lot of the nation to get here in a day’s drive, but it is still an incredible amount of tourism volume, which is stretching local resources thin. Due to this ever increasing record influx, even more tourism related projects are underway or planned including expansion of Dollywood’s resorts and those of the Wilderness Lodge. To go with that the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation purchased a large tract along the primary Interstate 40 exit with plans to add a large festive retail project. This has added pressure to begin construction of another Interstate exit one mile to the east, with property rights previously secured in past years. When built it will only add more to the already crazy environment. All of it is too much to keep up with for this old boy.

It is a rite of passage in America to take a summer vacation when the kids are out of school and people will do so no matter their situations. When the huge influx increases this dramatically here, it is a contrary indication that household incomes are either stretched thinner or there is real fear about the direction of the economy. Average Joe and Sue come to this area for the most part. When times are good they spend more for transportation, travel farther and go to more expensive places like Disney, Universal, popular beach resort areas and such in the eastern U. S. During those periods their stays in our area over the past twenty years have been shorter, around three to five days on average.

This year the visits are for at least a week like it was during The Great Recession and around 9/11. Dollywood and the GSMNP are bursting at the seams. When the economy is in decline or on shaky ground they come here even more as there are a diverse number of things for entire families to do that cost less. It is also when more decide to move here permanently and when employers have the ability to fill their job openings with quality workers, which is exactly what we are seeing. Even the real estate market prices are holding up despite mortgage interest rates rising rapidly due to the population influx and demand for properties. Another sign the economy is in overall decline despite the existing housing prices remaining high is the lack of new home construction. Contractors are extremely busy with backlogs up to a year for remodels and renovations. They have next to no new home construction jobs. The vast majority of construction projects underway are commercial in nature. There have also been several large residential development tracts underway or even recently finished – that have no new houses under construction in them.

This influx of new residents will slow to a crawl if things proceed per the usual and will add to the unfilled job openings. People who want to move here will be unable to sell their homes for what they need in their more economically challenged areas. When that happens the market also cools a bit here. With our family connections in real estate in the area, we will know when that happens and it will be a solid indicator the overall economy is in even deeper trouble than the macro problems that are already present internationally. Our nation’s economy is just treading water with its nose above the waterline due to swimming in a deep pool of debt with insufficient economic activity to offset the atrocious deficit and federal government spending. Spending national treasure at the demand of NeoCons is putting us in a precarious position regardless of the prospects for war.

PDT and supporters can fix it if given the opportunity. Barring that the globalists and DS will do all they can to tank it so they can bottom feed on our misery.

Jab Damaged Friend

Knowing the roads were packed and living near it, I was dreading getting out in the traffic to go to a surprise, impromptu 85th birthday celebration of our dear neighbor friend. She is the widow of my deceased best friend. She is one of those I have discussed previously in openers as being Pfizer jab damaged and she tells everybody she knows. She endured blood pressure spikes with the first shot followed by a TIA two days after the second. This condition later led to a bad fall in her home when she passed out one evening. This aggravated existing back and knee related issues as well as receiving a light concussion. She had a double knee replacement surgery about ten years ago and feared she had damaged one of them as it did not work right after the fall. She had dealt with migraine type headaches off and on through the years that she deemed were more related to her lifelong vision problems. However, they became much worse after the fall. This led to her following the traditional path of medicine to find relief; which included physicians, specialists and therapists with related prescriptions for increased blood pressure meds, cement concoction injections into her affected spinal areas, and physical therapy for her back, knee and leg issues.

Nothing seemed to provide any measurable relief. During her visits with the docs, some openly acknowledged that the jabs had apparently severely impacted her health. There are more and more acknowledging that reality around here. She is like family to us; wifey and her are as sisters and she has closely followed our grandson’s progress with his health issues. She also tracked my wife’s elimination of meds and use of our chiro, with the BVD therapy potentially on the horizon to address her vertigo issues. She knows about all of our family medical issues and the misdiagnosis of same along with related meds that did not work.

It all finally sunk in. She saw her BP situation the same as wifey’s. She began a process of weaning off the meds despite her physician warning her it was a bad idea at her age. Except it wasn’t. Her BP readings had gone way too low for an extended period and the meds made her feel awful. Now after several months of being off the meds, her BP is as normal as a 30 year old. I mean like 120/70 type normal with no spikes. The exact same response my wife had when she weaned off nearly a year ago. No spikes, perfect BP.

With all of the failed attempts to address her spine and knee issues with traditional methods, physical therapy and after her orthopedic surgeon said he was out of ideas, she finally gave in and visited our chiro to get an evaluation. It was her last hope and she was not looking forward to it. She is a stubborn woman who never gives in to anything she faces, which is probably her secret to how she has remained active and independent for so long. As a result, she did not want to admit that her best friends and son were right all along for recommending the chiro who has helped us over the past several years.

🤣

She finally began treatment this week after her recent evaluation. She had one hip over 7 mm off, which would have caused her knee and lower back (lumbar region) pain. Her atlas and cervical spine areas were like my wife’s, with a curvature pushing her head too far forward to remain balanced, causing her to look down as she walked, a common malady as we age, especially with women. Add in she was misaligned at the atlas, which is a known contributor to headaches/migraines/TMJ. This would probably explain the increasing severe headaches since her fall.

As to TMJ, our daughter has dealt with it periodically since being a teenager. The chiro adjustments have eliminated it. There is an adjustment method used for the condition that has worked great for her. The adjustment makes a popping sound as the jaw is manipulated and will scare you if not prepared for it. However, you will have immediate relief if done correctly.

Our chiro is obsessed with knowing everything medically about her patients they are willing to share. In short, she cares about the person she treats and sees the full picture of health. Our stubborn friend felt confident enough after the evaluation/x-rays to give her access to all of it. In addition to beginning some adjustments on the primary areas of concern, the chiro will complete her review of the files to make sure she provides the best care she can to improve our friend’s quality of life for as long as possible.

I promise you, our friend will soon state she wished she had done this sooner in her life just as all of us have. Im looking forward to hearing the admission. 😎

Seek likewise if you are encouraged to go this route. Find the right chiro who knows the modern techniques and how the body works, someone who is not anti-traditional medicine if it is the appropriate course of action. You need one who is willing to admit when he/she cannot help with an issue as much as one who says he/she can. Will continue to report the progress of our family and this friend periodically.

Buc-ee’s?

We enjoyed listening to our friend explain what was happening to her in lawn chairs with other family and friends on a hot, Canuck-caused smoke filled afternoon in front of 120 fuel pumps and EV charging stations with what seemed like a million tourists in the parking lot of …

https://www.wyff4.com/article/bucees-world-largest-tennessee/44343171#

This lady’s review really explains what it is about well.

This massive complex is an anchor tenant on the Cherokee owned property at the interstate exit. Some of you may know what Buc-ee’s is about. Others may need to read the links. All I can say is…

WOW!

This company has their game plan and operations figured out. They also have the best smoked barbecue sliced large brisket sandwich I have ever eaten. It was time to press the pause button on the Keto diet for a meal. That big ole sammich for $8.49 with a bag of store fried potato chips for $2.49 that I split with wifey and a 99 cent water plus tax was consumed with hundreds of new tourist friends as they fueled up, fed their faces, shopped and went to the cleanest restrooms this side of momma’s house.

I have no idea how only six cashiers can process that many people through check out lines that quickly. There was literally no wait to speak of at all. It seems the average stay in their stores is 19 minutes per management, which is mind boggling when you see all the food, drink and merchandise that is in there. We could have spent an hour or two looking, but didn’t because there were too many people since it had only been open a week.

They will employ 300 people at above market wages and benefits when the remaining construction is completed on their huge carwash operation. Starting base pay for store clerks and food service is $18/hour. If you are an academy accredited law enforcement officer, they will employ you as private security with all company benefits at a starting pay of $45-50 K per year. Perfect jobs for early retirees who want something to do while still making good wages. Also good for younger folks planning a managerial career because the related compensation is above market with a company that is expanding and providing great opportunities for advancement. They run a clean, orderly operation and pride themselves on safety.

Go to one if you have the opportunity. You may love it, you may hate it, but I doubt you will have no opinion about it. We loved it after expecting not to like it all. We came home with a couple of Buc-ee’s red tie dyed baseball themed t-shirts for the grandsons to prove it.

Happy 4th, QTree.