Thoughts for the Day, May 6, 2026: I paid $5.24 for a gallon of mid-grade, and it is only going to get worse.
Pump Shock
On Sunday, as Leah and I were driving home from a weekend in Brighton, I stopped to fill my Taurus SHO with gas. My SHO takes mid-grade so I am used to paying higher prices. However, I was shocked when the pump registered more than $80. I have had the SHO since 2017 and I have never paid more than $55 to fill my tank.
The sad part is that I know it is only going to get worse before it gets better according to a recent article in The Atlantic. Here are excerpts from the article.
The global economic damage from the first two months of the war has been stark. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been reduced by about 90 percent, from some 120 to 150 daily transits to a handful, according to a new dashboard by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. This week, Brent crude reached its highest level in four years, at $126 a barrel. The gas-station billboards that line so many American roads reflect the increase: The average price of a gallon of gas hit $4.18. Trump met with American energy executives at the White House Tuesday to warn them that the blockade may persist for weeks or more. Prices of other goods, such as pharmaceuticals, have also spiked. The World Bank forecasts a 16 percent rise in food-commodity prices this year, driven by increased transport costs and the supply squeeze on the fertilizer industry, which relies on exports from the Gulf. The International Energy Agency has said that the world is on the brink of “the biggest energy security threat in history.”
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I cannot believe I missed this.
I cannot believe this slipped by me. It becomes especially important as President Trump’s budget for 2027 recommends significant increases in the Department of Defense spending as it needs to replenish its arsenal after the war with Iran.
From Military.com: After eight failed audits, pressure remains high for the Department of Defense to demonstrate concrete progress, not just long-term promises.
The Department of Defense has failed its department-wide financial audit for the eighth consecutive year, underscoring long-standing challenges in tracking how the nation’s largest federal budget is managed.
Auditors examine whether systems accurately track spending, assets, liabilities, and inventory. That includes everything from payroll and contracts to facilities, vehicles, aircraft, ships, and spare parts. The process also evaluates whether internal controls are strong enough to prevent errors and ensure reliable reporting. Repeated audits have identified weaknesses such as inconsistent documentation, incomplete records, and gaps in inventory tracking
The failure does not indicate fraud or missing funds. Instead, it means auditors could not verify the accuracy of the Pentagon’s financial statements with enough confidence to issue a clean opinion. Still, after eight years of unsuccessful audits, the results continue to raise questions about accountability and oversight.
In February 2026 U.S. Representative Mark Pocan, Democrat (WI-02), co-founder and co-chair of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, and U.S. Representative Andy Biggs, Republican (AZ-05) introduced the Audit the Pentagon Act, which aims to increase transparency and accountability in the defense budget. See my Quote of the Day
I will be following this closely in the future. The Department of Defense gets my Onion of the Day
Thank you Nancy for bringing this to my attention.
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Fiscal Management is an Oxymoron
Inch by inch, step by step, we get closer to the financial cliff. It’s coming and it will not be pretty. Let’s not let the War in Iran or the Epstein files distract us from paying attention to the blocking and tackling of managing taxpayer money.
From the Wall Street Journal. Over the past several decades, leaders and lawmakers from both parties have aggressively added to the deficit by spending much more money than they have brought in through taxes. The annual gulf—called the deficit—just adds more and more red ink to the blob, I mean, debt. The deficit in 2026 is projected to be $1.9 trillion.
The government can only sustain this by borrowing more money. And it has to pay interest to borrow money. This has now become astronomical on its own, with interest payments projected to breach $1 trillion this year. Roughly $1 out of every $7 spent by the government this year is going toward interest on the debt.
Neither party has a political incentive to do much about it. So, the debt snowballs.
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The Pistons
After coming from behind by winning the last three games against the Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs, the Pistons took game one last night against the Cleveland Cavaliers primarily because of the play of the guys coming off the bench, especially Daniss Jenkins.
It is ironic to hear Duncan Robinson call the journey of Daniss Jenkins, unique considering how unique Duncan Robinson’s journey to the NBA was. Robinson is one of only a handful players in NBA history who started their college career as Division III players and had successful careers in the NBA. Here is what Robinson had to say about Jenkins following the game yesterday per the Detroit Free Press.
“His path is unique and takes a special level of will and character,” Robinson said. “The talent is there, but what stands out is his unshakable confidence. He’s been overlooked his whole career and uses that as motivation. It’s fun watching him play with that energy on both ends. Having another ball handler out there makes a big difference for Cade. We see the work he puts in every day, so it’s great to see him have this moment. He deserves it.”
“That’s been our identity all year, just getting energy from basically one through 11, 12, however many we play,” Robinson said. “I’m happy for (Jenkins), he’s been building for it all year. His journey is unique, and it takes somebody with a special will and character to have that story. He has unshakeable confidence for someone who’s been overlooked his whole career, and he just wears it as a chip.”
See my Video of the Day
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The Tigers
The Tigers are hurting. In the last two days the Tigers have put two time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal on the Injured List (arm surgery) and starting second baseman Glayber Torres (oblique strain) This combined with 10 others on the IL, including starting pitchers Justin Verlander, Casey Mize, Troy Melton, Jackson Jobe and Reese Olson, starting centerfielder, Austin Meadows, starting shortstop Javy Baez, and key relievers Will Vest and Beau Briske will make 2026 a very challenging year.
Fortunately, the Tigers are in the weakest division in the American League, so they just need to hang close until the above players recover.
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Dick Sarns
When I served as Interim Executive Director at Packard Health, I had the privilege of working with Dick Sarns as part of the Development Committee. Dick and his family have been supporters of Packard Health for many years. He and his family were instrumental in the revival of Packard Health because of their generosity, which in addition to direct financial support, included a donation of a multi-million-dollar facility which allowed Packard to initiate a major capital campaign.
Dick Sarns is one of the most fascinating people I have ever met. His contributions to health care are unnoticed by most people. However, anyone who has had open-heart surgery or phyical therapy has probably used one of the many pieces of medical equipment he developed through his companies, Sans, Inc. and Nu Step, Inc.
The last three times I required PT, the providers had multiple Nu Step machines in their facility.
Dick Sarns passed away on Sunday, April 19, 2026, at age 98.
Born June 20, 1927, in Mount Clemens, Michigan, Dick served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was stationed in Japan after the war. Returning home, he took classes at Lawrence Tech and the University of Michigan while working at Argus Camera Company, Buhr, and Strand Engineering. When he designed and built a house for his family on Hewett Drive, he included a workshop that became the first headquarters of Sarns, Incorporated.
Founded in 1960, Sarns, Inc., designed and produced medical devices to assist rapid advances in surgical knowledge. Dick’s first inventions were a sternal saw for heart surgery and the Dingman mouth gag that is still used today in cleft palate surgery. The company made its mark with the heart-lung machine used in open-heart surgery. Sarns heart-lung machines, built in a factory on Jackson Road, ultimately served more than a million heart patients worldwide. A Sarns machine was used in the world’s first heart transplant and in the first artificial heart transplant. When Dick and Norma sold Sarns, Inc., to 3M in 1981, they ensured that all 200 employees kept their jobs and profit-sharing plans.
Dick and Norma’s next company was NuStep, Inc., founded with their son Steve, to design and build a “total body recumbent stepper,” an exercise machine for people of all abilities. The Sarns family constructed manufacturing and office buildings on Venture Drive for 100 employees, and sold NuStep products to health facilities, gyms, and private homes around the world. Dick led NuStep, Inc., as president and CEO until he was 90 and sold the company in 2017. He continued going to the family office, working with his sons, until his last days.
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Contact your Congressperson
Contact your congressman by following these easy steps This can be done in a few easy steps.
Step 1: find your congressman by clicking on this link, Find Your Representative | house.gov
Step 2: Put your zip code in the proper space.
Step 3: Click the button “find your representative””
Step 4: In the new page that comes up you will see a picture of your congressman. Click on your congressman’s name under the picture.
Step 5: In the new page that comes up, Click on Contact Me at the top of the page and then click on Email me.
Step 6: Fill out the information as required.
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Quote of the Day: “For years, the Pentagon has failed audit after audit while Congress continues to write blank checks. That’s unacceptable every taxpayer dollar—especially when we’re spending more than $1 trillion on our defense annually, and we’re facing a $38 trillion national debt. The Audit the Pentagon Act imposes tangible consequences for bureaucratic failure. A strong national defense demands both readiness and fiscal responsibility. The era of endless excuses must end.” Representative Andy Biggs, AZ Republican
Orchid of the Day: The Detroit Pistons. Four in a row. Let’s make it five on Wednesday.
Onion of the Day: The Department of Defense. See above story.
Question of the Day: Why haven’t the major media companies made a big deal about the Department of Defense failing its audits? This should have been big time public news after the second failed audit.
Lyrics of the Day:
Listen to me. Ooh war, I despise ‘Cause it means destruction of innocent lives
War means tears, to thousands of mother’s eyes When their sons go off to fight and lose their lives
I said, war (h’uh) Good God, y’all! (What is it good for?)
Lyrics of the Day for April 29, 2026. Free Bird by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Video of the Day: #4 CAVALIERS at #1 PISTONS | FULL GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS | May 5, 2026