Jobs
Jobs are pretty scarce right now. Especially the ones that pay more than peanuts. My Mom, I think, has finally found one that will help them out. It only took her 4 months of looking. It's crazy what people are forced to go through right now.
I'm guessing that
health care jobs are about the only ones that are as available as they were before.
I read somewhere today that foreclosures are still getting worse and that the experts are surprised by that. That seems to point to a lower bottom for this stuff before we start back uphill again. What will the bottom of this be? When will we be able to start to improve things? What is America going to look like on the other side?
Let's hope we don't have to wait long to find out.
Family Vacation
I have a buddy whose family goes on a trip to North Carolina every year. I'm sure that rental places are very appreciative, but I have to wonder how much fun it is to go to the same place over and over.
Sure there is the aspect of tradition which adds to the fun. Plus you get the chance to really know an area and therefore don't spend your whole vacation hunting for a specific type of restaurant.
The down side is that you don't get to see new things. You can only take so many vacations and I think that seeing as much of the world as you can is more appealing. There are so many great sights to see.
In the end I think both are fine but I will almost always vote to go somewhere new.
Debt
I think that we make a lot better choices now than we used to. I used to feel like we had the "Right" to buy nice things from time to time and that we deserved that. At different times we have spent way too much money on stuff like computers, pots and pans,
baby bedding and even a high end water softener.
All of those decisions were mistakes that we are still paying for today. Thankfully we have gotten a lot smarter. Now I realize that what I deserve is the debt we have and the only thing to do is to be as frugal as possible and pay it off. We are now pretty close to paying off the last of our credit card debt. By my count it will be gone in 3 more months, Lord willing.
After that I want to start knocking out our car debt and saving some money for emergencies to defend against the problems that started all this in the first place. Some will tell you that debt is a part of life, but I contend that it doesn't have to be. Hopefully we will be able to make that a reality for our family sometime soon.
Eight Hundred
Not that often that you hear people referring to
toll free numbers anymore. I'm guessing that that is because of cell phones. Most people still have to pay for the minutes even if the call isn't long distance or tolled.
I often try to remember that when I am at work and need to make a call. It's easy to just grab my cell phone but if the number is an 800 number then it is easier to use my office phone and save the minutes. Given that we are on a low minute budget, every little bit helps.
I wonder how long it will be until no one has a land line phone? I have one right now but only because cable internet isn't an option where I live and I wanted dsl. I looked into satellite internet but it is way too much money for the limited bandwidth they offer. Of course they can afford to charge that much because the majority of their customers have no choice but to use them. That has to stink.
Great Coverage
Is there anything that they won't insure these days? I saw something recently about
travel insurance and it got my brain whirring about what would actually be covered in a policy like that.
Does it cover things like lost luggage or reservation cancellations, or is more for insuring that your travelers checks don't bounce?
I do have to say that whoever originally came up with the idea for insurance was a genius. He or She was able to get people to pay good money for something that they didn't want. Let me say that again. They are paying for a service that they hope to NEVER use. How awesome is that? Add on top the fact that insurance is usually required for a lot of things and you have yourself a pretty nice racket.
Now all you have to do is create penalties that discourage people from ever making claims and you are rolling in the dough. Oh wait, somebody already did that too.
Here We Go Again
I have never personally tried
weight loss pills. I don't really know anyone who has either. Obviously they sell well so someone must be buying them. I'm kind of an old school guy when it comes to weight loss but I'm curious to hear stories from people who have tried them. What worked, and what didn't. How did you feel, and how effective was it for you. Did the weight come back or were you able to keep it off. Let me know, I'm curious.
Still Not Good
I read the other day about a guy that went to a car dealership and the place was deserted. He said that a lot of the cars had dead batteries from not having been turned over in a long time and that some of the keyless entry fob's were even dead. I guess it's pretty plain that people just aren't buying right now. Unless it's food, gas, or something important, like safety equipment.
I mean, other than necessities, who is paying full price for ANYTHING right now? Unless it's on sale I'm not interested. Or if I have to buy it, I'm at least going to find a coupon or maybe by one used.
I just feel bad for anyone working in sales or retail right now. It isn't pretty and it doesn't appear to be getting any better. I personally think that we are in for the long haul on this one. That people are going to have to be much more frugal for the next few years until some sort of innovation comes along to drive the market back up (ie the internet)
Tighten those belts...
Back In The Gym
So finally my sore foot has healed and I have been back in the gym this week. I can really feel the two months I took off as my strength is really flagging. It's frustrating to feel like I have lost a lot of the gains I made but that is just part of the process.
Staying fit is a life long battle and it is one in which the gains are much harder to attain than the losses. Take too long of a break and months and months of work can be stripped away.
I'm doing something new now called Functional Mobility Training. It's something that Andrew Heffernam talked about on his blog and it was basically just something he threw together but I think it will benefit me a lot. The idea is that it helps your joints regain and maintain their independence from other parts of your body. Your lower back for instance (an area I routinely have trouble with) can get to a point where it is essentially fused with your hips and those muscles don't work independently anymore. This helps to revers that.
Other than that I'm just hitting the major exercises that everyone should do. Squats, deadlifts, lunges, chin ups, presses, rows, and some chest and ab work as well.
My hope is to take things a little easier load wise in the hopes that I can stay in the gym without any more "time off".
The Theat-ah!
It would be really cool to have a home theater room at your house. I have never really had that privilege although I have had a nice stereo for sound with my tv.
Berkline seats, 60 inch plasma, surround sound, and a blu ray player would go a long way to getting you started. Unfortunately I'm not in the market right now, but it is one of those things that's fun to think about.
It's one of those things that I doubt I will ever get around to doing simply because there are other things on my wish list a lot higher up. I would much rather outfit my shop with every tool imaginable for example than to have someplace to watch movies.
What is high your wish list? We all have one, even if we haven't gotten to it yet
