How Bad Is It For You?

Just wondering how all this crappy financial news every stinkin' day has been affecting you. I get so tired of hearing it because there really isn't anything I can do about it. Actually, we have been blessed to be doing not too bad right now. Perfect timing has never been our forte, unfortunately. It seems that we are always out of step with everyone around us. A couple of weeks ago, we got some really great news about my husband's job. Under any other circumstances, this sort of news would make people go out and celebrate, but, like I said, our timing is never right. My husband's brother-in-law just lost his job. Our retired parents' nest eggs shrank down to almost nothing in the last few weeks, and the housing market is still messed up. So what happens with us? We get the news that my husband will get a promotion and be transferred back to Fort Wayne--right where we want to be! This was very unexpected, but still great news. It seems selfish of us, though, to talk too much about it when so many loved ones lives are in such turmoil right now. We will have to sell this house so that we can buy a house in Fort Wayne, but still, it doesn't sour the good news for us. I believe that everything will get better for all of us . . .eventually. Heck, I'm still happy that at last George W. Bush will be out of the White House. He will leave a terrible mess that we will all have a part in cleaning up, and his "legacy" is in the toilet, but at least we will get a much needed change in personnel, and that is not so bad when you think about it.

Low Down, Dirty, No-Good. . .

There are not really any words that are sufficient in describing what I think about AIG and what they did with $440,000 (that's almost half a million folks!)of our $85 billion given to them to bail them out of the crap hole they had dug, but I will give you a list of some words that might come close: disgusting, appalling, arrogant, selfish, stupid, ridiculous, criminal, disrespectful, irresponsible, unacceptable, sh*tty, shameful, unforgivable, disgraceful, insolent, contemptible, dishonorable, disheartening, offensive, felonious, malicious, wicked, malevolent, sinful, repulsive, outrageous, sickening. I am sure there are many other words that could be used to describe this criminal behavior by AIG. We should all be enraged by this and call for heads of the people involved with this. If any of the rest of us everyday, hardworking people did such a thing, we would be sitting in jail. What AIG did is the same thing as stealing, and there should be consequences for their stupidity. That's just my opinion!

Bush Rushes in to "Save" Economy

Make no mistake about it, I am not a fan of President Bush. I never have been. I recall the day he took the oath of office. I had a bad feeling about him and just felt like our country was in for an interesting ride, to say the least. All the bad feelings I have had for President Bush have pretty much been proven. He is not a good leader. He is not all that bright. He was in the job for the wrong reasons. We should never have trusted our country to this man. The state the country is in right now, at this very moment, makes me sick, and while all of it cannot be blamed on one man, I attribute most of it to him and his cohorts. The emergency measures the government has had to take today should never have had to happen. Lazy leadership, and greed are to blame and who better to blame that the man at the top. Maybe it is his last hurrah--to rush in and save the day so that he can go out of office feeling like he has not been the cause or the catalyst for much of the troubles we are facing now. He messed up, plan and simple. He is leaving a terrible mess for the next group of leaders to deal with. I don't like it and it never should have happened. I can't wait for President Bush to leave; go away, never to be heard from again. God help the next President! It is going to be a huge undertaking to even take baby steps toward mending all that Mr. Bush has torn apart.

Can't Stop Spending Money!

Today, the bad news is that Americans have hit a new low in their view of the economy. The outlook hasn't been this negative in twenty-two years, so "they" say. I know things are bad. I know that my own situation isn't great, but certainly not as bad as others. It makes me sick that my husband makes a six-figure income, and yet we seem to always be scrambling to have the cash necessary for the everyday things. Gasoline prices have certainly taken their toll on our bank account, so has the cost of feeding a family of six. Nothing seems easy lately, except spending money. I don't understand it. I know things are not good, but I still seem to be spending money. It seems like each thing requires that another thing be purchased. For example, we have this new house, and in order to make it look good and in order to take care of it, I have had to purchase rugs to protect the hardwood floors, plants, trees and flowers to put around the outside of it, paint for the rooms. . . it seems like it never ends. The other big expense has been our trip to Florida this summer. We have been planning this thing for two years. Before we have even gone, we have spent money on airline tickets, rented a condo for the week, purchased Disney World tickets, and spent money on bathing suits and small toiletries to take with us. When we get there, we will need to purchase food, and gasoline, etc., etc., Do see what I mean? If it is this way for my family, who is indeed blessed richly, what is it like for those who do not have the income my husband does? We Americans seem to be getting awfully weary of the dismal state of things. We need good news and hope, and soon!

The Price of Oil Makes Me Sick!

Since we have moved, I have not been driving very much. There is nothing that I really want to drive to like I used to. Here, the only places I drive to with any regularity is the grocery store, the bank and the girls' schools. Today, I had to go to the bank and on the way, I pass two of the three gas stations in our town. One is a BP and the other is a 7-11, and they are right across the street from each other. The 7-11 gasoline price was $3.28 and the BP price was $3.29. There is a Shell station a little farther up the street, and I am sure their price was well above the other two, since they always are higher (why would anyone go there, I wonder?) Anyway, the price of gasoline is sickening. I thought gas at $2.50 a gallon was a lot, but now? What are we, average American people, supposed to do? When is this upward climb going to stop? Something must be done. Eventually, I will have to do some driving since where we live has no place to shop except for groceries, so we are stuck driving twenty miles to simply purchase underwear and socks. All we have been hearing is how little the dollar is worth, how the real estate market is terrible, and how everyone is worse off now than they were just a couple of years ago. I am so sick of it, all this stuff makes me feel hopeless. The countries who have the oil keep getting richer and richer, and America seems to be slipping farther and farther into financial ruin. I'm frightened by all this. The dismal economy makes it difficult to maintain a positive outlook for my children who are dreaming of what careers they will pursue, and what kind of lives they will lead. I'm heartsick.