Death of a Dream? nice...

Would you have guessed this was an article about California? That may be one of the most depressing article titles I have read in some time. The interesting part is that the article, after all the doom and gloom at the beginning, actually ends with a message of hope. If you have the time, it is worth a read.

Here is the link:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/185791/page/1

Global warming... looking forward to it.

It is official, it is never going to be warm, sunny and free of snow here in Cleveland. I actually got rid of my scraper/brush and now I just use a show shovel to get my car out. The next time the temperature is in double digits, I am going swimming.

The good news is that tomorrow I am going to but the DOW. That's right, the whole thing. It's low enough, it might just happen (or should I wait until it goes under 6,000 and buy it with my stimulus money?). The best line I heard describing the market was from Chuck Jaffe writing for Marketwatch (MSN), "With the stock market gyrating like a belly dancer on speed..." Amazing.

Do you remember the days?

Do you remember the days when you spent the weekend watching sports and sleeping? They seem like they were so long ago. Now I spend Saturdays changing diapers and reading books that are better suited for use as dumbbells (interesting, but quite heavy). I get my score updates from MSN and Yahoo sports, and then pretend to know what happened when I get back to school on Monday. I am such a poser (but let's face it, so are you). I am out like A-Rod...

What are you worth?

Once the "stimulus (read giving more money to failing businessmen who buy private planes and go on $400,000 retreats) package passes our national deficit will hit 11 Trillion Dollars!!! Which, if you break it down over the roughly 300 million Americans equals approximately $40,000 for every man, woman and child. I have a family of 3, that means I am on the hook for $120,000. Isn't that the price for an entry level home these days? Awesome. Good job government. Thanks so much.

Unemployment is up to approximately 7.6%, something like 598,000 jobs lost last month (No, Nancy Pelosi, not 500 million jobs lost each month - are we all working 2 jobs now?). Good news is more Americans are changing their spending habits - saving more, using coupons, incurring less debt, not speculating on rising home values (there's a big one). Now if only we could get the boys in Washington to do that. What am I talking about, of course they have our interests at heart.

Seriously though, could I just get the 120K I am on the hook for?

It's called a cell phone...

How rude are people that do not return phone calls? Of if they do, it is weeks later and it usually comes with a pathetic attempt at an excuse/apology. It's not like I ask for a handwritten 4 page letter in return, or a personal visit ripe with gifts. All I'm asking for is a return call. Let's face it, you and I both know you have a cell phone (that's the number I called and left 14 voice mails on last month, trying to make sure you weren't dead), and now we know that you look at the screen when I call, silence it, and hope I don't leave an actual message so you can pretend it never happened. Reminds me of dating...

So do me a favor - take an etiquette class, call me to let me know your life is so busy that you can't take 3 minutes to call me back (or are you one of those extremely busy people who microwaves your pop tart because you can't wait 90 seconds for it to toast?) and then shoot me an email or text while you are in line (we all wait in line at some point in life).

Better yet, realize you are just rude, apologize, and change your ways.

Can I get a piece?

The word of the day is..... Bailout!!! Yehawwwww!!! There is nothing like giving money to companies that keep losing money and being on the hook to pay for it through my taxes. Now that has to make you feel good. Another 825 Billion? All I want is a small piece (like 4 or 5 mill), you know, get a little breathing room with the bills. Does my stimulus money come out of the bailout? I am currently ATTEMPTING to refinance, so we'll see how that goes. I mean, my bank only got who knows how much of that 350 Billion that has already gone out. With a credit score in the high 700s you would think it would happen but.... no one ever really knows.

You know what I love about America (besides cherry pie)? When we run out of money, we just print more.

So, like I said, Washington, can I get a piece?

Too Capitalistic?

I believe it was Ben Franklin that said to motivate the poor to lift themselves out of poverty, we must make their poverty uncomfortable. I ask you, is that too capitalistic? Or perhaps unrealistic in the welfare minded community of today? Today ushered in the era of a new presidency, and the saddest part was that more people were excited about him being black than they were excited about his platforms and proposals. I thought it interesting that a great number of people voted for him for that very reason. It just goes to show the ignorance that makes up our society. In further support of that premise, if you ask the average person how much of the vote Obama secure in this election, I imagine you will get answers in the 60-70% range. The media has branded him the second coming to a point that all unbiased reason is lost. The true number is 54% (a bit less than the media would have to believe). It will be interesting to see how the media treats him as his presidency progresses. Don't get me wrong, I did not vote for him, but he is still the President, and unlike the classes folks in the mall today who booed their last leader, I hope he does a good job. I doubt he will follow Ben's philosophies, but then you can only have so many great leaders in the history of any country.