jse Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 You must really be hit with financial hard times.......The retirees I know have a pool boy AND a Valet to take care of the parking.It is so hard to find good help these days. I am convinced the missus hates our 21yr old perfect bodied female maid. Oh life is rough. Duuuuuuude.....Ah herd dat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ishy Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 I think some bugger Madeoff with the yatch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jse Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Actually, it's sad to see a lot of good people on rough times through no fault of their own. We're in fairly good shape here in the Midwest (except up North) as the economy has been stable for a long time. We generally don't have the booms that the East and West coasts have, but it helps us avoid the busts too. Having moved out here from Silicon Valley, I saw the creeping insanity of housing, for instance, where the median price of a home went to over $600,000 after we left. Kinda like diamonds, where the value of the product is by consentual agreement and if enough people say "Well crap, that's just a pretty piece of carbon!", then the bottom falls out. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 (edited) Actually, it's sad to see a lot of good people on rough times through no fault of their own. We're in fairly good shape here in the Midwest (except up North) as the economy has been stable for a long time. We generally don't have the booms that the East and West coasts have, but it helps us avoid the busts too. Having moved out here from Silicon Valley, I saw the creeping insanity of housing, for instance, where the median price of a home went to over $600,000 after we left. Kinda like diamonds, where the value of the product is by consentual agreement and if enough people say "Well crap, that's just a pretty piece of carbon!", then the bottom falls out.Jon In these boom and bust areas, it just seems to me they created their own problems, the easy money creeps made a fortune, now they are out of work. The big headline yeseterday was "Home prices may never recover"!!!! Well, guess what, that is all because it was BS to begin with!!!!! How anyone could ever afford a median priced $600,000 house escapes me! As the taxes alone would kill you! Simply un-sustainable! Makes that cheap beachfront property in Arizona look really good and stable ! Specially after Cali sinks into the ocean! College costs for one kid are crazy, and doubt I could afford any more! One poor bloke at work just had twins! He is 48 years old now, good luck on that one! Edited April 11, 2009 by copemech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 JSE Posted Yesterday, 03:39 PMActually, it's sad to see a lot of good people on rough times through no fault of their own. We're in fairly good shape here in the Midwest (except up North) as the economy has been stable for a long time. We generally don't have the booms that the East and West coasts have, but it helps us avoid the busts too. Having moved out here from Silicon Valley, I saw the creeping insanity of housing, for instance, where the median price of a home went to over $600,000 after we left. Kinda like diamonds, where the value of the product is by consentual agreement and if enough people say "Well crap, that's just a pretty piece of carbon!", then the bottom falls out. Jon I have watched that really interesting show "Flip this house" and thought the people on there from California were/are completely NUTS!! $300,000 - $400,000 for a shell of a 2 bedroom house that has to be gutted and started over with, oh and a postage stamp sized yard. And then when they are done it is a beautiful home but the price tag on it is now $800,000 - $1 mil. Total insanity. The funny thing about houses is they are only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. Oh and the whole stack market thing, I don't claim to understand it much at all, but it seems to me that it is run by a bunch of women. Allow me to explain.........it is all based on emotion, A company that has done well for 20 yrs all of a sudden makes an announcement that the CEO is retiring, oh god the investors get all nervous and scared about who will take over, what will happen and stock prices drop or the CEO had an affair and is now getting a divorce, oops the investors are upset about his indiscretions and they pull out, stocks drop, etc. And this is what the value of our dollar is tied too??? It's all a bunch of hooey. Not sure if I explained myself properly but hopefully you get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jse Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 I have watched that really interesting show "Flip this house" and thought the people on there from California were/are completely NUTS!! $300,000 - $400,000 for a shell of a 2 bedroom house that has to be gutted and started over with, oh and a postage stamp sized yard. And then when they are done it is a beautiful home but the price tag on it is now $800,000 - $1 mil. Total insanity.The funny thing about houses is they are only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. Yep, in reality, they are all just pretty pieces of Carbon that you live in. The beginnings of "The Bubble" in California was a time to rejoice if you had property, "Whoopee! We're all gonna be rich!" Older retired folks were able to sell their homes for 10-30+ times what they paid for them, but then THEY had to move away as they could no longer buy a house at the fast-rising values. The building pressure and related stress of new home buyers was tremendous as the rising prices meant they better get something NOW or their financial ability would erode quickly (if you don't advance, you fall back, there's no standing still). "Regular" people-cops, teachers, clerks, factory workers, were pushed harder and couples needed to have both partners work just to keep even. The Land of Milk and Honey was rapidly becoming the Land of Bilk and Money. It was like the Tulip insanity in 1600's Holland when an entire estate would be traded for one bulb and when the market crashed, tulips were the price of onions. I guess, yet another example of forgetting history condemns us to repeat it....... I guess the problem is, that when you are in the cauldren with all the other frogs, you don't notice the constant temperature rise and everybody is swimming as fast as they can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomant Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 I have watched that really interesting show "Flip this house" and thought the people on there from California were/are completely NUTS!! $300,000 - $400,000 for a shell of a 2 bedroom house that has to be gutted and started over with, oh and a postage stamp sized yard. And then when they are done it is a beautiful home but the price tag on it is now $800,000 - $1 mil. Total insanity.The funny thing about houses is they are only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. Oh and the whole stack market thing, I don't claim to understand it much at all, but it seems to me that it is run by a bunch of women. Allow me to explain.........it is all based on emotion, A company that has done well for 20 yrs all of a sudden makes an announcement that the CEO is retiring, oh god the investors get all nervous and scared about who will take over, what will happen and stock prices drop or the CEO had an affair and is now getting a divorce, oops the investors are upset about his indiscretions and they pull out, stocks drop, etc. And this is what the value of our dollar is tied too??? It's all a bunch of hooey. Not sure if I explained myself properly but hopefully you get the idea. One word describes what you are saying, and that word is Confidence (you hear this word a lot if watch Michael Brown in a WTC ) Seriously though, stating the obvious but if people have confidence in a company they will buy stock. If that CEO has a good track record then they will invest. He then has it away with the Secretary and this means he has other things on his mind rather than running the business! You instantly lose confidence in the guy and the stocks plummet. This current situation is more complex. This has been coming for years and the people in the money knew it. But they were making so much money they didnt care. After all, they knew that the issue was so big that the governments would have to step in so it wasn't their problem. And what makes matters worse, even though they screwed up, they still getting their fat bonuses and pensions. Can't lose can they! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Atom, that is exactly the word I was trying to think of...........Confidence... Thank you. Here in the US a bunch of things over the last 10 yrs or so have been "deregulated" or regulations eased. Which of course opened up for more "risky" business practices, easier for those "in the money" to make more money.........etc etc..... At least that is what I believe to be the beginning of the end. Wish I could get one of those "screw it up, get paid millions to retire" plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Atom, that is exactly the word I was trying to think of...........Confidence... Thank you.Here in the US a bunch of things over the last 10 yrs or so have been "deregulated" or regulations eased. Which of course opened up for more "risky" business practices, easier for those "in the money" to make more money.........etc etc..... At least that is what I believe to be the beginning of the end. Wish I could get one of those "screw it up, get paid millions to retire" plans. I will give a dollar if you promise to retire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 (edited) copemech Posted Today, 12:17 AMI will give a dollar if you promise to retire! hmmmm retire from what.............I am not saying there is no deal just that we need to negotiate. Edited April 12, 2009 by ZIPPY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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