I guess I just don't get it!

The more I try to understand our economic situation the more confused I become. I have no problem understanding thousands of people who have worked hard all their lives are losing their jobs every day. I understand why companies are asking employees to cut their hours or agree to a lesser salary so the company can stay afloat. I also understand why our dollar isn’t worth what it once was. I can‘t, however, fathom a billion in debt let alone trillions. . I understand that people are being more conservative with what little money they have and are concentrating on essentials. “So what’s my problem?” you ask.
It goes back to an economic class. The theory being, cost is a result of supply and demand. Another theory being, demand had little significance if the consumer’s ability to pay was limited. That little piece of information seemed reasonable when the professor explained it. Consumers appear to be conserving fuel in the face of government warnings. The price of crude oil is dropping as predicted by my economics professor’s theory. However, the price at the pump is defying that same principle by going up. I think the consumer got the message but the retailers are in denial. My wife and I went out to eat last evening with some friends. We use to go more often but now select our times. After all, the least we can do is our small part in stimulating the economy. Much to my chagrin, I realized my economic professor’s theory is not what it appeared. I perused the familiar menu and was shocked to find a substantial increase on every item. Did somebody miss the fact that people have less money? Did someone fail to educate the owner that demand is waning on luxuries such as eating out? Have these folks been totally ignoring the news concerning our economy or are they just trying to make as much as they can before the economy crumbles completely? (I think the term is GOUGING in some circles). The Auto dealerships are crying the blues while advertising they are almost giving cars away in order to get them off the lot. If you compare today’s prices to those of two months ago, the only difference is the advertising. It appears you are getting the vehicle cheaper but they now include a down payment or trade in value as part of the advertised BIG savings. You may save a few bucks. I doubt it will be what the LARGE totals seem to indicate. The sad reality is the only place you really get big savings is those businesses who are liquidating due to bankruptcy.
Our new President is intent on spending his way out of this mess. I honestly believe he is a smart man but he must have failed history. If he reads his history book, he’ll see that this strategy has failed every time. I can only hope he understands the solutions for short-term recovery and long-term recoveries are mutually exclusive. The only way the economy can recover in the long run is to stimulate businesses who hire people who will then pay taxes and buy things from other businesses who hire people who will pay taxes and buy things…oh well I’m sure you get the picture. As bitter a taste as it might leave I some of your mouths it may even require tax breaks for business owners in order to give them an incentive to support free enterprise. Oh, and by the way, I know I’m being fussy here but where does a government who is already trillions of dollars in debt find someone willing to invest another trillion or so to support their failed system? Isn’t that what some in the auto industry expected?

Incompetence and restitution

Some things just piss me off. Chief among these is rewarding incompetence. It is bad enough when incompetence causes me discomfort but unacceptable when it starts screwing with my bank account. I know politicians are incompetent but understand I have no choice but to put up with it as long as they can hide their inability from a majority of voters. The latest on a long list of incompetents, politicians notwithstanding, is the Hilton Resort Hotel in Myrtle Beach, SC. Jeannie just returned from a “Red Hat” convention. They splurged and went to the Hilton Hotel. Not Hotel 6 or some grungy little hole in the wall being ran by people with thick accents. The “red hatters” spent the extra money to go first class. Little did they know Paris, not Conrad, trained the desk clerk. Jeannie’s part of the bill shared by four other party animals came to $53.04. That’s not bad for a couple of nights in a first rate hotel even though she likened the food to bland hospital fare. I subtracted the amount from her checkbook and went online to make sure the charges were as stated on the receipt. I suppose it’s obvious I trust no one. Much to my chagrin, but not necessarily my surprise, I found a slight error in the charges. It appears they have charged her $330.24 instead of $53.04. That’s not much money by the Hilton standards but can be substantial to someone on a fixed income. I know they will make it right but I have to wonder how it happened in the first place. These numbers have no relevance to each other. It’s not as if someone transposed a number or even added a number to the front or rear end. It’s not even as though they charged her for the other four guests because the entire bill was only $275.28. Of course, I can’t investigate it until 8:00 in the morning because the accountant in charge of these trivial matters won’t be back until then. In fact, the accountant wasn’t there when the clerk charged the wrong amount. In fact, the accountant hasn’t been there for the entire stay. In fact, the accountant will probably have to investigate this matter before it can be resolved and Jeannie’s checkbook will remain $277.20 short. In fact, no one will suffer the consequences of their deeds because it won’t be worth the time or money. They will simply refund the money after they investigate and assume the customer will be happy to have their money back. In fact, they will be WRONG! This customer expects more from a company whose charges are based on their name, not their abilities. Of course, they might offer us a free night or two at another Hilton of our choosing. That will go a long way in repairing their tarnished reputation with me. Okay, so shoot me, I’m a little bit of an opportunist.

History in the making

While at work yesterday in our first, and with any luck, our last snowfall of the year, history was in the making. I had no need to worry I might miss it because I knew I would see it in its entirety most of the evening. I suppose everyone has a reason for considering the inauguration of our first African American president historical. President Obama has a daunting task and I hope he is successful in solving the monumental problems he agreed to take on. As I watched and listened to our new President and studied the crowd as the cameras panned, I find it interesting that we, as a nation, find it so amazing that a black man is actually President. While we should be celebrating his abilities, intelligence, and youthful exuberance, we, instead seemed to be celebrating his accomplishments in spite of his skin color. Now don‘t miss understand my position. I think we have made tremendous headway since Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. Maybe not as much progress as some would like but headway nonetheless. That he is of African decent should simply be coincidental. He is not the first or only Black man who is intelligent enough to be President but he is the first who brought his case to the American people and was able to convince the majority of his credibility. Let there be no mistake. He will make good decisions and bad decisions just as all humans do. He will have successes and failures just as all Presidents have. He will not be as popular with some people four years from now and he will be more popular with others just as all Presidents have become. I hope he helps us work our way out of the financial crisis we find ourselves in and he manages to bring some measure of peace to areas we are not at peace with presently. I guess my greatest hope is he will be truly historical and the next election will find individuals running as Americans without the labels of “African“, “white“, “man” or “woman“. It is historical, even if sad, that we finally seem to have elected a President on what we think they might be able to accomplish without letting race or gender hinder our responsibility as voters.

Back again and brrrr...

I made it back safe and sound! Here we go again with this “sound” thing. By definition, I suppose it indicates, at the very least, partial sanity. Some who know me may disagree with that assumption. At any rate, we got the trailer loaded, on its way to Goldsboro, and even managed to do some work at my uncle’s house. I went to see my aunt twice while there and she seems in good spirits. I can only hope this is the best thing for her and being with her family will make her happier. As I visited her in the facility she is leaving, I was once again reminded of how blessed I am and even though I hated to lose them, I am so glad my Mom and Grandmother could stay at home until the end and be in complete control of their senses. I was back at work today and will be back at it tomorrow as well. The weather is supposed to be treacherous tomorrow. A wintry mix and a high of 37 is the guess from our weatherman. I know that sounds ridiculous to those of you in the north. In reality, that is about as bad as it gets here. It also leaves a lot to be desired when car washing is on the agenda. Oh well, this too shall pass and we will get back to our winter temperatures in the 50’s. I received an e-mail from my son in law about how different parts of the country handle bad weather and it was right on target. When those of us at the beach are freezing, our counterparts in the north haven’t even thought to break out the heavy jackets. Of course, when it’s 98 and the humidity is 90% we are sunbathing while our northern counterparts are inside with the air conditioning wide open so I guess it equals out.

Getting old ain't fer sissies

I changed the play list for those of you out there in Cyberville who log on just to hear a few tunes while you do other things. In fact, that is pretty much what I do after I check other blogs I enjoy. I’ll be away for the weekend again so no updates until I return. We have to get all my Aunt’s “stuff” loaded in the trailer so her other nephew can get it to Goldsboro. Some of her family there are going to get it set up and then come get her on Tuesday. I’m not sure if she is looking forward to going into assisted living but I think she knows that’s her best bet and it will get her out of the nursing facility. She will be closer to her family but I don’t see how they could possibly care for her any better than my cousins have. This is one of life’s sad moments and all we can do is be there to help in anyway possible. I went up last weekend and she was 100% better than the last time I saw her. She will never be able to live without assistance but she has her wits about her and can move around in the wheel chair. Who knows? She might be doing wheelies in that bad boy by the time I get to Goldsboro to visit. Having spent a few months in a wheel chair, I have more knowledge of what she is going through than I care to have. Take care while I’m gone and keep it between the ditches. As Hoyt and Delbert would say, “If you see goober, tell him I said duh huh. He’ll know what I mean!”

A "PONZI" is a "PONZI" by any other name

As I listened to everybody but the Pope bad mouth Bernard Madoff for stealing money through a “PONZI” scheme I began to wonder exactly what a “PONZI” scheme is. I checked with WIKIPEDIA and found the following definition:
A Ponzi scheme is an investment operation that pays returns to investors out of the money paid by subsequent investors rather than from profit. AKA Pyramid scheme/ AKA Matrix scheme.
This guy stole from the poor and rich alike. No one can accuse him of discrimination based on financial status. I have no doubt Madoff is a thief and should be punished accordingly. We all know his attorney’s will tie this thing up with investigations, technicalities, and appeals until Madoff is either to old to care or dead. That, in and of itself, is sad enough but not what really makes me mad. The thing about all this that gets my boxers in a bunch is the definition itself. Any reasonable person understands this scheme will run dry sooner or later depending on how much money is siphoned out while paying the initial investors. It sounds like Madoff was running the largest “PONZI” scheme in history but the more I thought about it the more I realized he’s just a small fish in the pond. We have a scheme several times larger than his. It’s disguised as a government program we call “Social Security“!!!

You might be a dummy if...

Just about the time you think you’re getting computer savvy the cyber boogey man jumps out and slaps reality back into you. I’m a tad anal about being neat so I decided to clean up my blog so folks wouldn’t have to scroll through everything to find the new posts. I thought I was putting the old ones in the archives. I hadn’t paid much attention until my computer savvy daughter asked me what happened to all my posts. OOPS, I guess I’ll have to start from scratch and change my settings so the old posts go into archive on their own after a specified time. Every time something like this happens I feel as though I know just enough about computers to be dangerous. I guess I could blame the teacher but I’m self-taught with a nudge from the old computer for dummies encyclopedia. As a matter of fact I graduated from windows, to Windows 95, to windows 98, to windows XP. I’m beginning to think the operative word in this series of educational material is “dummies” and have come to the realization that when you attempt to educate yourself with books that, by their own admission, are for dummies you ought not be surprised by the ultimate outcome!

Finger exercises

I’m sorry about not updating the blog for such a long time. Unfortunately, nothing has really caught my interest. We have been on the go for most of the holidays and the next couple of weeks are going to be busy as well. I suppose I could write about Blognavich or however he spells his name but Rush Limbaugh has been wailing on him for the last few days and I can’t hold a candle to Rush when it comes to bad mouthing corrupt democrats. Funny how he never seems to get the scoop on any crooked republicans. With the economy in the toilet, Humas and Israel killing each other, the war in Iraq still going strong, Iran talking trash, healthcare costs exploding, etc., etc., I really don’t give a hoot what they do to the governor of Illinois or the guy he appointed to take over Obama’s senate seat. They need to read the constitution, let the man in the senate, and quit spending money we don’t have trying to make the opposition look bad. I honestly think Limbaugh ought to thank the democrats for his job security. One thing that seems odd to me is the rhetoric coming from the Obama camp. It seems he has seen the light on a number of issues. Every time I see him, he is explaining why he can’t do it the way he said he would when he was telling us he knew all about the problems facing our country and declaring to be the man to fix them. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go exercise my index finger. I’m thinking of going into politics and I’ll need it to be strong and straight for pointing at the opposition when troubles arise.

SIGH