Monthly Archives: January 2008

Only 23 days into this crappy year and we have the following:
Tiff needs a root canal, hopefully it will really be done tomorrow.
Glenn has an ear infection.
Glenn will need a follow up with the doctor in a month.
Glenn got 3 shots tonight.
We have filled more prescriptions in the last week than we have in the last 5 years.
Tiff will need a tooth crown, which takes a least 2  more  dentist visits.
My mother in law is very  not supportive  If I didn’t know better, I would think she has autism.  Heck, she may have been living with it her whole life.
The stock market is on a scary roller coaster ride.
The weather has sucked since the opening of the new year.  Cold, snow, cold, repeat.

Ugh.  Life is not like the movies, you have to wake up the next morning.

Tiff was not able to get the root canal today, but worst case, it will be done on early Thursday morning.  I was hoping that the call at 1:00 was her telling me it was over, but it was just an evaluation. 
Tooth pain sucks and it will put anyone in a bad mood.

Glenn had a bad knock on the head tonight, so we decided to put away his piano till he gets older.  He won’t be able to play it if he gets brain damage.  I am sure there is no permanent damage, but it really sucks to see him in a little pain.  He doesn’t know any better yet. 

So we went to the mall to look around and stretch our legs.
Glenn got a cute gift that Mommy bought. There were a bunch of little craft kiosks around the mall, so he got a print with a cute saying for each letter of his name. Ironically, the man who sold it to us son is named Glenn as well, same spelling.
Went and saw a few watches while I was there. Very unimpressed by ESQ brand watches. It may be swiss, but the fit and finish were awful compared to the Seiko I was wearing. It also cost about twice as much as well. It was a chronograph with a cheesy digital display. Kinda like a $30 Casio or Timex, except it cost about $230.
Tried on a Bulova Chronograph as well. Solid end links, nice case, asstastic quartz movement. It only ticked once a second with no tenths or hundredths of a second dial. It cost over $330. For that kind of money I can pick up two (2) Seikos that the timing hand moves at 1/5 second intervals AND it has an alarm AND a dual time zone.
Methinks the Swiss are relying on their history a bit too much.

I don’t usually worry about it, but holy crap Batman, look at the economy!
Stock market:
Worst year opening since the Great Depression.
Housing Market:
The year to year foreclosure rise in measured in the 100% to 400% range!
The only time house prices have slipped this much is the Great Depression.
Only about half the ARM’s have reset themselves so far.
Savings Rate:
Since 2005, the savings rate has been NEGATIVE!  This, surprise, has not happed
since the Great Depression.  This means people are spending more than they are making.

Seeing a common theme here?  They only time indicators have been this bad was the Great Depression.
That is really really not a good sign.  After riding the 80’s stock boom, the 90’s internet bubble, and the 00’s Housing bubble, we are in for a hell of a correction.

Scary times.  I don’t think lowering the interest rate or giving everyone a check for $1,000 is really going to fix it.  The economy really needs a correction so the true value of the dollar is met again.  It will be a rough ride.  Japan had a recession for 15 years.  The difference there is they were saving 15% to 25% of their paychecks. The US has been saving -5% for a few years now.

So, I hope you have been saving and have a fixed mortgage with no credit card debt.  If you have been good, you should be fine.  If not, like most Americans, I think many of our citizens are in for a rough ride.  How long, I don’t know. 

But I was at MicroCenter today and saw an Asus Eee PC

It is a mini laptop with a 4g solid state hard drive, 8″ screen (800×400) and running Linux!
It was very easy to use and fast.  It is running a custom version of Linux, KDE applications.  They say it is compatible with Winblows XP, but I don’t really care about that.  The size was great!   The keyboard was small but usable.  Pretty impressive for $350.  If we ever get another laptop, this one may be it.  Small, great battery life and no moving parts, and it comes pre-loaded with Linux!