As many of you know, I have a small side business selling goodies on Ebay. When I'm not dealing with known wholesalers, I go on regular shopping trips, rushing through myriad malls and flea markets in myriad towns, in search of bargains that I can sell at a higher price on Ebay. These are, hopefully, bargains that not just anyone can find.
These pell-mell shopping trips have me walking through level-after-level of mall-after-mall and give me the same amount of exercise as a triathalon.
So this last weekend, I went on a long excursion which involved driving from the Tampa Bay Area to Gainesville, Florida (2 1/2 hours) to Atlanta, Georgia (5 1/2 hours) to Jacksonville, Florida (5 1/2 hours) back to the Tampa Bay Area (3 1/2 hours). May I add that it was literally freezing in Atlanta, which is something we Floridians aren't accustomed to. Bleah.
While in Atlanta, I went to the safe areas (there are certain areas in Atlanta, just as in Miami, where a white person should not set foot if they want to remain unmutilated). These are the nicer areas, where there are bound to be international travelers, locals, and wealthy business people.
Many malls were dead. The ones that weren't dead had people milling about but not buying much. Every store boasted a sale, and some stores had all their merchandise marked at half-off.
In one 'busy' mall, an anxious salesperson in a high-end shop begged me for news elsewhere. "Is it like this everywhere you've been?" she asked, when she learned I was from Florida. I said it was. "I think it's going to get even worse," she said in a strained voice. "If it's this bad now, I am frightened to see what it's like in January."
I did see more activity in the outlet malls. I went into a booming cookware store, where the three sales clerks were rushing about haphazardly, trying to ring and service all the customers who were packed into the store.
"Wow, you are busy," I said in surprise.
"Yes," one girl answered breathlessly. "We never expected this to happen - it's not like this anywhere else!"
My bet is that during a poor economy, people cook at home more, so the money that might have been spent on luxury items is being spent on blenders, mixers, and bread machines.
The luxury stores are hurting. I saw almost no one in any of the sunglass and jewelry stores except for Whitehall (a.k.a. Lundstrom) Jewelers, which is going out of business and has some amazing markdowns. Even then, the markdowns weren't amazing enough: People were milling about, looking, but not buying.
It's bad. We'll only know just how bad it is when we see the Black Friday sales figures.
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Monday, November 17, 2008
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Summary of Election 2008
To My Liberal and/or Socialist Friends
Congratulations. Barack Obama ran a brilliant campaign, he is an impressive orator, and highly intelligent as well as very hard-working. In many ways, he earned the Presidency.
Now you can move on to another blog, as the rest of this particular post is intended for someone else.
To My Conservative and Moderate Friends
First, the bad news:
The Democrats have control of Congress. But it should be noted that this is despite Congress' abysmally low ratings. Why is this? Obviously the American electorate wanted to send a powerful message to those who reign: "It's the economy, stupid." And apparently our current crop of voters don't understand that they aren't changing the face of Congress at all. What they believe to be 'change' is more of the same.
Control of Congress and the Presidency means that the Democrats have the ability to alter the face of America even more, with little-to-no checks and balances. We know that 'change' is not always a good thing and there will be many instances of change in the wrong direction as well as the right one.
We now have a racist for a President.* It's as if we suddenly woke up and found David Duke at the helm. In addition, we have a great deal of documentation to show he's unethical, as well. It doesn't bode well for our relationship with Israel. And it remains to be seen what it may do to us internally.
So what is positive in all of this?
The Economy is Bound to Get Better in the Short Run
That doesn't mean that Obama would have been any better at leading the nation than McCain would have been. But we will be riding on the wave of enthusiasm that comes with any change of administration. The fact that Obama is so different than Bush is bound to create a powerful sense of change. At first.
We Will Get Out of This War
The majority of us believe that the war's dragged on too long, with too little gain and too much expense in dollars and (more importantly) lives. Yes, we're doing better over there, but it came too late in the game.
We are not the World's Policemen, and we are not paid to be. It is time to get out.
We Will Have National Health Care
Many conservatives are scared of national health care. Although I understand the reasons, I don't agree with them. I do believe that national health care is needed, and I do not believe that the new administration will be able to create a program that will be an absolute failure.
Neocons (and even conservatives) have been trumpeting the terrors of socialized medicine for a long time, so it's natural to be afraid. But Big Business has run the show for too long, and many of us have suffered at its hands. Although this will negatively affect insurance and perhaps pharmaceutical companies, it is in the best interest of the people.
I lived in Sweden for a time, where they have national health care. I was actually hospitalized there (for free) and was very impressed with their kindness and competency. I do believe it is possible to make it work. It is not perfect, but no system is. And, it's been embraced by so many other civilized nations. If it didn't work, it wouldn't be in place. I grant you that it may not always work well, but I do believe it's better than our current system.
The Supreme Court
At this time we should remember that our Founding Fathers did build in a Supreme Court to supposedly serve as a speedbump to them taking great strides in a socialist direction. It is not supposed to be subject to voters' whims (although it is, indirectly, as all justices are appointed by the President). For now, it is likely that it will not undergo much change, and with any luck, that may make a slight difference.
A More Educated Electorate in Four Years
Over the next four years, we will all be at the mercy of a very left-leaning Democrat party. For many of us who remember the Carter years (I was a young child then) it's a scary thought. But those who don't know history are bound to repeat it and we will see new lessons learned over the next four years. This may shape the nation into a more educated electorate and may open the doors to a better system in four years.
The News Media
Although the news media has been slavishly devoted to Obama, we can hardly blame them after years of George Bush bullying them into servitude. To have a truly free press, they must be unfettered. And we need a free press to tell us the various sides of the issues out there. I hope and believe that Obama will allow the press to have more access to him and his administration, whether he agrees with their agendas or not.
This isn't to say that we shouldn't be alarmed about the looming return of "The Fairness Doctrine", which is a dichotomous term at best. We can get into that discussion at a later time.
Conservatives Get to Re-Group and Re-Vamp Their Parties
The Republican Party has grown far away from its constituents. So many have become disenfranchised that they have either gone Independant, gone to another more conservative party, and/or crossed over the line to vote for Obama out of spite.
Many conservatives were urged to vote for Barack Obama to send a wake-up call to the Republican Party. Although I didn't agree with this extremist view, I would have done it if Hillary would have been at the helm, since she was less left-leaning than Obama.
Why is the Republican Party failing? A new breed arose in the Republican party called neocons and these neocons became what the Democratic party was in the 70s - corrupt, influenced by the almighty dollar, in thrall to Big Business, with an increasing deafness to the voices of the people.
If the Republican Party has learned their lesson, they can win the White House back in four years. But if it remains as it is or grows even more liberal, it will never have any influence in America again.
* Obama is anti-Semite: His Muslim friends report this unanimously and we have additional independent reports that back this up, as well. He sat in Jeremiah Wright's church for over twenty years, as Wright preached racial hatred against white people. There is no room for racism in national politics, no matter what color you are. We can only hope that he will be able to rise above these base feelings.
Congratulations. Barack Obama ran a brilliant campaign, he is an impressive orator, and highly intelligent as well as very hard-working. In many ways, he earned the Presidency.
Now you can move on to another blog, as the rest of this particular post is intended for someone else.
To My Conservative and Moderate Friends
First, the bad news:
The Democrats have control of Congress. But it should be noted that this is despite Congress' abysmally low ratings. Why is this? Obviously the American electorate wanted to send a powerful message to those who reign: "It's the economy, stupid." And apparently our current crop of voters don't understand that they aren't changing the face of Congress at all. What they believe to be 'change' is more of the same.
Control of Congress and the Presidency means that the Democrats have the ability to alter the face of America even more, with little-to-no checks and balances. We know that 'change' is not always a good thing and there will be many instances of change in the wrong direction as well as the right one.
We now have a racist for a President.* It's as if we suddenly woke up and found David Duke at the helm. In addition, we have a great deal of documentation to show he's unethical, as well. It doesn't bode well for our relationship with Israel. And it remains to be seen what it may do to us internally.
So what is positive in all of this?
The Economy is Bound to Get Better in the Short Run
That doesn't mean that Obama would have been any better at leading the nation than McCain would have been. But we will be riding on the wave of enthusiasm that comes with any change of administration. The fact that Obama is so different than Bush is bound to create a powerful sense of change. At first.
We Will Get Out of This War
The majority of us believe that the war's dragged on too long, with too little gain and too much expense in dollars and (more importantly) lives. Yes, we're doing better over there, but it came too late in the game.
We are not the World's Policemen, and we are not paid to be. It is time to get out.
We Will Have National Health Care
Many conservatives are scared of national health care. Although I understand the reasons, I don't agree with them. I do believe that national health care is needed, and I do not believe that the new administration will be able to create a program that will be an absolute failure.
Neocons (and even conservatives) have been trumpeting the terrors of socialized medicine for a long time, so it's natural to be afraid. But Big Business has run the show for too long, and many of us have suffered at its hands. Although this will negatively affect insurance and perhaps pharmaceutical companies, it is in the best interest of the people.
I lived in Sweden for a time, where they have national health care. I was actually hospitalized there (for free) and was very impressed with their kindness and competency. I do believe it is possible to make it work. It is not perfect, but no system is. And, it's been embraced by so many other civilized nations. If it didn't work, it wouldn't be in place. I grant you that it may not always work well, but I do believe it's better than our current system.
The Supreme Court
At this time we should remember that our Founding Fathers did build in a Supreme Court to supposedly serve as a speedbump to them taking great strides in a socialist direction. It is not supposed to be subject to voters' whims (although it is, indirectly, as all justices are appointed by the President). For now, it is likely that it will not undergo much change, and with any luck, that may make a slight difference.
A More Educated Electorate in Four Years
Over the next four years, we will all be at the mercy of a very left-leaning Democrat party. For many of us who remember the Carter years (I was a young child then) it's a scary thought. But those who don't know history are bound to repeat it and we will see new lessons learned over the next four years. This may shape the nation into a more educated electorate and may open the doors to a better system in four years.
The News Media
Although the news media has been slavishly devoted to Obama, we can hardly blame them after years of George Bush bullying them into servitude. To have a truly free press, they must be unfettered. And we need a free press to tell us the various sides of the issues out there. I hope and believe that Obama will allow the press to have more access to him and his administration, whether he agrees with their agendas or not.
This isn't to say that we shouldn't be alarmed about the looming return of "The Fairness Doctrine", which is a dichotomous term at best. We can get into that discussion at a later time.
Conservatives Get to Re-Group and Re-Vamp Their Parties
The Republican Party has grown far away from its constituents. So many have become disenfranchised that they have either gone Independant, gone to another more conservative party, and/or crossed over the line to vote for Obama out of spite.
Many conservatives were urged to vote for Barack Obama to send a wake-up call to the Republican Party. Although I didn't agree with this extremist view, I would have done it if Hillary would have been at the helm, since she was less left-leaning than Obama.
Why is the Republican Party failing? A new breed arose in the Republican party called neocons and these neocons became what the Democratic party was in the 70s - corrupt, influenced by the almighty dollar, in thrall to Big Business, with an increasing deafness to the voices of the people.
If the Republican Party has learned their lesson, they can win the White House back in four years. But if it remains as it is or grows even more liberal, it will never have any influence in America again.
* Obama is anti-Semite: His Muslim friends report this unanimously and we have additional independent reports that back this up, as well. He sat in Jeremiah Wright's church for over twenty years, as Wright preached racial hatred against white people. There is no room for racism in national politics, no matter what color you are. We can only hope that he will be able to rise above these base feelings.
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Benefits of Taking a Lower Income Job
If you can and do read, listen to the radio, or watch the news, you've heard how much our economy is trembling over the abyss of a depression (at best). To my surprise, not everyone is informed about this, however.
I was at a local JC Penney store this weekend and found some great deals. I mentioned that it was wonderful to find such prices in this economy. The single mom who was ringing me up blithely said she had no time for the news, and didn't know what I was talking about.
She lives shielded behind work, kids, and the latest reality TV shows. She'll only know of the impact when she gets laid off, or the school supplies are ringing up at a higher rate than before, or if Hollywood suddenly goes bankrupt.
She apparently hasn't been fazed by the increased grocery bill yet, but perhaps she's on government assistance. She did say she was voting for Barack Obama, but only because he was cute and he was "a brother". His stance on issues is unimportant, apparently. I believe she is representative of the general mentality of the majority of the electorate. The dumbing down of America has been successfully achieved.
Yet she has a job while those of us who are looking for meaningful work are having a hard time even getting a rejection letter, let alone an interview.
One of the places I use for my job search is The Ladders. Along with that membership comes a regular newsy little email. In today's advisory email, we are told:
"In a typical year, U.S. employers hire about 4 million people at the $100K+ level. In boom times, that can get as high as 4.5 million. In a recession, it drops to 3.2 million or a little more. That certainly is a big swing, but when you realize there are still 3.2 million chances in a bad year, I hope you’ll agree with me that the situation is not completely hopeless."
That sounds enheartening until you realize that if there are 4 to 4.5 million jobs available in that bracket per year during a healthy economy, it's a pretty sure bet that they get filled. I'm certain that Bill Gates doesn't sit around during such times, idly asking his advisors why certain top job spots haven't been filled that year.
So realistically, the competition will be fiercer, and overqualified people will be settling for jobs in which every conversation ends with "Would you like a hot apple pie with that?"
However, there is always a benefit to finding such a job if they'll take you. That is, if you can beat out all the illegal aliens who are willing to take the job for less pay under the table.
Benefits to Getting a Lower Income Job
1. Usually there are less demands on our intellect. This gives us time to work on the books we never wrote, or take up a hobby or foreign language at night. Basket weaving might be a good trade to learn, as baskets and straw hats can be sold on street corners.
2. There is less stress, as there's less responsibility. We can leave the stress to those manic fast food managers who worry about the consistency of every milkshake and the color of every french fry. All we have to do is find out if that rotund fast food junkie wants to Biggie Size it.
3. We can enrich our lives by doing something we've never done before. How many people can say that they've scrubbed out a nightclub bathroom after a long night of debauchery with puddles of puke and streams of urine? Soon we'll have tales to tell that can be passed down to our children's children of Grandma's Interesting Job during the Great Depression Redux.
4. We can learn to value what we have. I remember my grandmother's tales of how she only had one pair of panties and one bra during the Great Depression. She would wash them out every night and wear them again the next morning, even if they weren't fully dried. For the rest of us, some slightly tattered underwear will be a valued object as long as we have more than one pair to rotate through.
5. We will eat healthier. Or we won't eat at all. But since most Americans are overweight, this will fix our growing health crisis. Of course the next health crisis may be scurvy, but we'll deal with that when we come to it.
6. We will get closer to nature by finding it, killing it, and learning to cook it. And roadkill will always be an option as well (there will be the added benefit of our roads being cleaner).
7. There will be less landfill and garbage produced, as we learn to recycle everything that we can use. Juice cartons can be used for tinder in case we can't pay the electric bill. Plastic containers can catch the rainwater if we can't pay our water bill, either.
I'm sure there are many additional benefits, and I would welcome any and all contributions to this list.
I was at a local JC Penney store this weekend and found some great deals. I mentioned that it was wonderful to find such prices in this economy. The single mom who was ringing me up blithely said she had no time for the news, and didn't know what I was talking about.
She lives shielded behind work, kids, and the latest reality TV shows. She'll only know of the impact when she gets laid off, or the school supplies are ringing up at a higher rate than before, or if Hollywood suddenly goes bankrupt.
She apparently hasn't been fazed by the increased grocery bill yet, but perhaps she's on government assistance. She did say she was voting for Barack Obama, but only because he was cute and he was "a brother". His stance on issues is unimportant, apparently. I believe she is representative of the general mentality of the majority of the electorate. The dumbing down of America has been successfully achieved.
Yet she has a job while those of us who are looking for meaningful work are having a hard time even getting a rejection letter, let alone an interview.
One of the places I use for my job search is The Ladders. Along with that membership comes a regular newsy little email. In today's advisory email, we are told:
"In a typical year, U.S. employers hire about 4 million people at the $100K+ level. In boom times, that can get as high as 4.5 million. In a recession, it drops to 3.2 million or a little more. That certainly is a big swing, but when you realize there are still 3.2 million chances in a bad year, I hope you’ll agree with me that the situation is not completely hopeless."
That sounds enheartening until you realize that if there are 4 to 4.5 million jobs available in that bracket per year during a healthy economy, it's a pretty sure bet that they get filled. I'm certain that Bill Gates doesn't sit around during such times, idly asking his advisors why certain top job spots haven't been filled that year.
So realistically, the competition will be fiercer, and overqualified people will be settling for jobs in which every conversation ends with "Would you like a hot apple pie with that?"
However, there is always a benefit to finding such a job if they'll take you. That is, if you can beat out all the illegal aliens who are willing to take the job for less pay under the table.
Benefits to Getting a Lower Income Job
1. Usually there are less demands on our intellect. This gives us time to work on the books we never wrote, or take up a hobby or foreign language at night. Basket weaving might be a good trade to learn, as baskets and straw hats can be sold on street corners.
2. There is less stress, as there's less responsibility. We can leave the stress to those manic fast food managers who worry about the consistency of every milkshake and the color of every french fry. All we have to do is find out if that rotund fast food junkie wants to Biggie Size it.
3. We can enrich our lives by doing something we've never done before. How many people can say that they've scrubbed out a nightclub bathroom after a long night of debauchery with puddles of puke and streams of urine? Soon we'll have tales to tell that can be passed down to our children's children of Grandma's Interesting Job during the Great Depression Redux.
4. We can learn to value what we have. I remember my grandmother's tales of how she only had one pair of panties and one bra during the Great Depression. She would wash them out every night and wear them again the next morning, even if they weren't fully dried. For the rest of us, some slightly tattered underwear will be a valued object as long as we have more than one pair to rotate through.
5. We will eat healthier. Or we won't eat at all. But since most Americans are overweight, this will fix our growing health crisis. Of course the next health crisis may be scurvy, but we'll deal with that when we come to it.
6. We will get closer to nature by finding it, killing it, and learning to cook it. And roadkill will always be an option as well (there will be the added benefit of our roads being cleaner).
7. There will be less landfill and garbage produced, as we learn to recycle everything that we can use. Juice cartons can be used for tinder in case we can't pay the electric bill. Plastic containers can catch the rainwater if we can't pay our water bill, either.
I'm sure there are many additional benefits, and I would welcome any and all contributions to this list.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
