A Man Walking for 28 Years, Social Security Facts, and More

Tuesday, October 13th, 2026

Good morning! Welcome to The Tradesman, a 5-minute newsletter tailored just for America’s tradesmen.

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If you haven’t heard of him, allow us to introduce Karl Bushby.

Twenty-eight years ago, on Nov. 1, 1998, Karl started walking from Punta Arenas, Chile, with one destination in mind: his mother’s front door in his hometown of Hull, England.

He had no sponsors, only $500 in his pocket and two self-imposed rules: He could not use transportation to advance, and he could not return home except on foot.

On Oct. 5, Karl swam across the English Channel and set foot in his home country for the first time in more than 10,200 days. He now has only 248 miles to go.

What Karl has already accomplished is nothing short of legendary. He crossed the infamously dangerous Darién Gap, walked through several war zones, and became the first person in recorded history to walk across the frozen Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia.

And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. To see the full extent of Karl’s journey, click here. Trust us, it’s worth the read.

There are few feelings worse than looking at your pay stub and seeing all the deductions. Federal tax, state tax, city tax, and, every time without fail, Social Security.

At least we’ll get that money back someday, right? Well, not exactly.

When Social Security is deducted from your paycheck, the money is split between two funds: the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Money from those funds is then paid out to current beneficiaries.

In other words, your Social Security deductions pay for other people’s benefits, not your own.

In theory, the system will still be in place when it’s your turn to retire. But at its current pace, it may not be able to pay full benefits, largely because people are living longer and fewer workers are paying in for each retiree.

Here is a full timeline of Social Security explaining how we got here and what it means for you.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the Savannah Bananas.

In case you haven’t, the Savannah Bananas are one of six teams in the new Banana Ball Championship League, which is reinventing the way fans watch baseball.

Founded by Jesse and Emily Cole, Banana Ball puts the fan experience first, with rules that allow trick plays, midgame performances, fan-caught balls counting as outs, and more.

As a result, the league has taken off, culminating in its first championship Saturday, which included appearances by John Cena and Kane Brown.

Even more unusual, the championship aired without a single commercial break, thanks to a partnership with Liberty Mutual.

Love it or hate it, no one can deny it’s bringing a new kind of fan to baseball.

Nearly 1 in 4 Ohio students, 23.7%, were chronically absent last school year, down from 30.2% in 2021-22 but above the 16.7% pre-pandemic rate.

Chronically absent students miss at least 10% of school hours, and each missed day costs about 2.5 days of math learning.

Garfield Heights had the highest rate at 61.9%, and Columbus City Schools was at 53.8%.

Recovery to pre-pandemic levels could take five to 10 years, an Ohio State researcher said. You can read more about the report here.

What are your thoughts on crunchy peanut butter?