Now that the world has crashed, are people thinking about 'stuff' (i.e. 'possessions') differently?
Are you?
January 26, 2009
Soot and Ashes Serious Question of the Day
Now that the world has crashed, are people thinking about 'stuff' (i.e. 'possessions') differently?
Are you?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
36 comments:
Keith,
As I see it, there are two answers to that question. As for myself, and I believe many others who have not had a voice in our country, I have watched in wonder as many in this country have all but run over others in their pursuit of "more." We are told the good times are over, but for some the good times never came because we stuck to the basics: live within your means.
As for the other half, the current squeaky wheels in our society who would have had us believe that the old rules didn't matter anymore, that we were only limited by what we wanted our monthly payment to be? They still don't get it, and all you need to do is look at the stock market today: 62,000 jobs cut and the market was up at the close. "Sure, it sucks to be you, but look at all the money our company will save." Assholes.
How many times can Yun and co. play the same game without getting their ass handed to them by the media. Exibit A and B below.
On a month-over-month basis a positive change in existing home sales...
On a year-over-year basis however there was...
You get the picture.
Here's what we all need to be thinking about:
BAY CITY, Mich. - A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said.
Marvin E. Schur died "a slow, painful death," said Kanu Virani, Oakland County's deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy.
Neighbors discovered Schur's body on Jan. 17. They said the indoor temperature was below 32 degrees at the time.
Schur owed Bay City Electric Light & Power more than $1,000 in unpaid electric bills, Bay City Manager Robert Belleman told The Associated Press on Monday.
A city utility worker had installed a "limiter" device to restrict the use of electricity at Schur's home on Jan. 13, said Belleman. The device limits power reaching a home and blows out like a fuse if consumption rises past a set level. Power is not restored until the device is reset.
The limiter was tripped sometime between the time of installation and the discovery of Schur's body, Belleman said. He didn't know if anyone had made personal contact with Schur to explain how the device works.
The body was discovered by neighbor George Pauwels Jr.
"His furnace was not running, the insides of his windows were full of ice the morning we found him," Pauwels told the Bay City News.
How the F*CK can we allow this inhuman shit to happen in this country while we pour trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars in to the already fat wallets of executive fat asses???
How, dear God, can we sleep while we know this is going on??? It's way past time to forget the houses, cars, tvs, and other childish things and think about PEOPLE for a damn change.
Ironically, I have been shopping more than usual, for the past 2 months. As prices have dropped precipitiously on lots of things I have been looking for.
I am not buying anything extravagant, just things I have needed for awhile and went without. And pricing has been great.
To answer your question, for those who have been shopping all along - expecially on borrowed money - I bet they are looking at all their crap a lot differently. It's dead weight. And not worth much on the grey market.
Browsing thru pawn shops, they are stuffed w/ inventory and they don't have to pay much for crap right now.
BTW, Wonder about all those people who bought so much crap they had to store it...you would think with those McMansions they would have had a place for it. Watch for sales of abandoned "storage units"...
Wow the story about the guy freezing
while the fat cats looted the treasury is a crying shame in a so-called civilized Country .And this poor guy was just down on his luck by a thousand bucks ,while a certain CEO buys a 87 thousand dollar rug in a recession .
Boy are the rich in another world ,and these are the guys that are
running the show and slashing our jobs and calling for slave labor and taxpayer bail-outs . Ought to be a law against this ,bet there is a law against it ,but its being ignored ,,,oh right ,the lawmakers are ignoring the laws and making new laws .
I don't feel like buying anything right now ,except food .Everything I have is paid for and I only have a mortgage I can afford monthly . My savings income has crashed by 80% ,but I still won't invest in the stock market or any other Casino they try to get me to invest in .
Yeah, i am. If i cant buy it with cash, i cant afford it. End of story. (beat the devil aka "the banks")
"How the F*CK can we allow this inhuman shit to happen in this country while we pour trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars in to the already fat wallets of executive fat asses???
How, dear God, can we sleep while we know this is going on??? It's way past time to forget the houses, cars, tvs, and other childish things and think about PEOPLE for a damn change."
I totally agree.
This is a terrible story. A "limiting device"? What? Criminal in my opinion. Someone should have helped this man. Shameful.
Yall are crazy - Obamas gonna fix evrythang INCLUDING this REPUBLICAN mess. Stock market gonna be up, pork bellies gonna be up --- it's all gonna be up. GO OBAMA!
I've been the same: I save when all the sheeple are overextending themselves, and then I wait for the recession to fleece them all by buying their possessions for pennies on the dollar. I love recessions and this one is better than never. Bought Cartier and Bvlgari watches for peanuts, properties, locked low Euro for next trip to bankrupt Europe, you name it. I'm having lots of fun!
Never changed my strategy, never will, since it has been good to me. Oh, and I love to take advantage of socialist freebies, paid for by liberals who subsidize my assets and lifestyle with their taxes. Can't wait for what Barney Frank & Friends will be offering shortly.
BAY CITY, Mich. - A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said.
Marvin E. Schur died "a slow, painful death," said Kanu Virani, Oakland County's deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy.
Buh buh Al Gore and Pelosi said that we should be sweating all over, since the planet is sooo hot. How that can be? Pay up the next Ponzi scheme, suckers!
YES
I am also trying to convince others why they should feel the same way. It's tough work.
GO CARDINALS!!!!
People will be forced to live within their means. This is a good thing, but it will cause extreme suffering to the retail and financial systems. The systems were dependent on credit heroine, which will be taken away from the junkies.
No different for me, in that I have always lived well within my means. Problem for me is accumulated wealth. Will the currency be devalued? Will the purchasing power of that wealth be destroyed? Will my 401K become useless? I never imagined I would fear my own currency--US Dollar.
Yup,
I have realized that worldly possessions will only enrich the baad bankers; so I’m moving to an Arab country were only his majesty deserves material possessions, and little me will strap on a magic belt that with the push of a tiny button, I will not only instantly be surrounded by my very own hotties, but will assure his majesty's reign for another day, so that my children can do the same.
I was watching 60 minutes last night about the town where DHL (hope that's the right letters) was laying off/closing down.
One man said he was old fashioned and he thought maybe he'd have a night where they turned off the electricity and used kerosene lamps and played board games.He wasn't joking. That said to me, oh, that's where we're at now.Who knows how often that might be necessary, but that it can be spoken of.
I am that sort of person myself, but I am thoroughly ridiculed by my family up until the very night the electricity has been turned off. My family hangs on to modern life until the bitter end. However.
I do own such things as camping equipment, kerosene lamps, and so on. And we are creative, so we'll muddle along as best we can should such a time come again.
Personally, I do believe it will come to that across the boards; it will not be uncommon for many to live together, for better or worse. For any wood available to be burned for warmth. I remember during an ice storm in Portland in 1979 or '80, we were one of the last neighborhoods to lose electricity, and so we had not used up our wood. Finally we lost power and started cooking in the fireplace. We had children I'd never seen show up,nor did my own children know them, but we all ate as long as there was food. I was a single parent with a small budget, but the kids were cold and aren't children always hungry? There is nothing as bitter as a person who remembers that as a child no one cared what happened to them.
I hope we do our best in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.
I would suggest to people, build a hay box/straw box/fireless cooker, or read up on how to build one.
And make a solar cooker from plans on web. Find out how to make a small heater/burner and not burn your house down in the process,or buy a wood stove.Read up on old ways of keeping warm, ie heating bricks and wrapping them, putting them in your bed, and turn off the heat, unless it's so cold your pipes would freeze.
Mostly it is our thinking which needs changing. My parents never would have thought of leaving the heat on at night; of course we lived where it was temperate, and only snowed now and then.But my son, always has his heat on until just recently; it goes off when possible.
For those who've never been poor,
the funds for energy assistance are definitely limited and do run out repeatedly in the course of a winter. You must have a plan B.
Grandma PKK
That picture of the Lexus reminds me of all those "Lexus: December to Remember sales event" commercials with the voice overs of the guy with the marbles in his mouth. I'm glad those are over for a year.
If you can't pay cash for your car over $20k, well that's beyond me. About one of the worst investments a person can make. Do people not take a look at depreciation, insurance, maintenance, deferred investments when buying an expensive car? Probably never.
They're thinking they'd rather have the cash!
The world hasn't crashed yet. We still have a long way to go for this to be called a crash.
Sad to say, the poor, poor man who froze to death while billions and trillions and gazillions of dollars are pumped into the banks is too sad beyond belief. I swear, I am too the point where I am just about to not pay for anything anymore. As far as I'm concerned that, as a taxpayer, I pretty much OWN every company/bank I owe money to. If I owe student loans, a car loan, a mortgage payment and PMI, here is my take as naiive as it may be. I already OWN, as all of us do, citibank, fannie bank, JPMorgan Chase, AIG and Chrysler financial so as far as I'm concerned, I should be debt f@@@ing free. Am I shopping?? Besides socks, underwear...no, I"m done, I need nor want more "stuff"
Old HP'ers have been telling folks, for more than 2 years, to get out of the market and go cash, get a piece of land, start an organic garden, build a bunker, buy guns and ammo, gold, and store lots of food and water. But nooo, we were tinfoil, Dopes & Co. used to mock us.
Don't come crying now. Reality is settling in.
omg omg, my bigshot friend+wife from Bay area decided to extend his European vacation to 40 days...during a freaking depression! His pink slip was waiting for him on the desk, when he arrived. Good luck with that credit card bill from the trip!
OT. Picture of Stallone, shirtless, while making movie (with Mickey Rourke) in Rio:
http://tinyurl.com/boawfs
Not bad for a 62-year old.
Nope. I have always been conservative. When I can I buy quality stuff that can be repaired rather than thrown out. Recently needed a snow shovel. Looked around, all I could find (I don't live in a heavy snow fall region but with global warming being what it is we have had record snow fall, like breaking records set in 1940) had a plastic shovel portion attached to a wood handle. like the plastic will last. i refused to buy it, borrowed one from a neighbor.
We buy a new/used car every 10 years or so over the past 30 years. I have bought just 2 new cars in my lifetime and one used one.
living in our second house, yes renting from the bank but I could pay it off if I wanted to. rented all other times.
I own two businesses and two multifamily apartment complexes that have positive cash flow.
Get used to it. Anyone who thinks the bureaucratic big socialist government will be any kinder or better than the bureaucratic power companies is kidding themselves. Clearly, that poor man needed assistance of some sort. He might have even had the money to pay the bills, but been a bit adled at age 93. Hell, a lot of 93 year olds are not that used to using credit, having come of age during the Depression. If he was like the clowns we are bailing out, he would have just HELOCed his house to go to Florida for the winter. Why did the Power Co. not refer him to Social Services or notify a neighbor? You know, just a simple human kindness. I smell a lawsuit.
In NY we had a 5 day power outage. We had to call the gas company to our house, since my DH left a gas burner on, after cleaning up a boil over, and then went to work. DH was frazzled with all the wood chopping, fire burning, tap trickling etc, necessary during an outage. Either that, or he was trying to kill me. I was in bed, keeping warm in our 42 degree house with the dog, a down comforter and a book. When I got downstairs to build a fire, I realized I had been breathing some pretty bad air.
The gas company came to check our house. We still had no power, but they found our water heater hook up did not meet code. No problems with the gas level in the house, as I had opened all the windows. We had a vent problem regarding the length of the outside pipe vent of our new water heater, which had been installed by a certified gas installer less than a year ago. The gas co. disconnected our water heater! Nothing like being kicked when you're down! So not only did we not have power, but we had been denied hot water, until we could install a new system. Even the guy from the gas company said the existing system was unlikely to cause a problem, he just had to follow safety guidelines. You really do not want to let these people into your house. They have to bring it up to current code if they do any work or disconnect stuff until you get the work done. Those busy little code-writing lawyers in government are doing the utmost to protect us from ourselves... Never mind that we were suffering in the cold, living in virtual 18th century mode, and a day or two away from draining the house and finding somewhere else to stay.
Retrofitting our one year old heater was $1600(yeah, twice the price of a simple water heater installed), so we put in a new expensive tankless system. At least with the new system we got $800 dollars back in energy credits from various government agencies. I don't know how people without money handle this crap. You know all those people I keep hearing about who have to do everything on credit, unlike that poor old man.
We are all going to have to learn to play the game, since the government will be controlling more and more of our lives in the future. ALSO, before you buy any energy using appliance, check for rebates online first. The deals are good and you will learn which models to buy. Now you know what I've been buying.
There's nothing wrong with having nice sh*t, I think we, as advanced organisms, should pursue the gratuities of our cleverness.
It's just when we start seeing monkeys driving a Hummer two blocks to pick-up some bananas, we should worry. It's too bad we can't find a better way to run a world without buying crap. We could be buying other sh*t, like pyramids or statues or very large buildings stuffed full-of paintings and golden crosses. The things that hard-working people did at one time, not that long ago.
My point is, no-one now really likes to work, period. But, everyone wants sh*t, it's actually a scientific discovery that someone made called, are you ready for this, "the preservation of energy" .
We are biologically programed to be this way, like it or not. This is also the thing we have to fight against to go forward, that's another reason we need both, "nice" things and a sense-of right and wrong, monkey's in Hummers are wrong......
If you live in a cold climate wait until the end of winter (if you can hold out as the sales kick in during this time) and buy yourself a nice down zero degree F sleeping bag. I bought one from REI - a good one will set you back $250 or so but it's worth it. I climbed up Kilimanjaro using this sleeping bag and can say it kept me very warm even when it got to single digits F (-15 C) at night high on the mountain.
A good sleeping bag is a great, relatively inexpensive insurance policy that most families living in cold climates should consider. It could save your life one day.
Remember to keep it open and lofted (not packed into the stuff sack) while storing to keep the insulation effective.
-Mike H.
Just got out the 20 year old plastic snow shovel. It's about 2 inches shorter than when it was new due to erosion of plastic against concrete driveway. Still works great.
First snow of the year in DC. I guess they're right about global warming since we're well below average snowfall.
I hope the sarcasm isn't lost on the fools who don't understand climatology and statistical outlyers in a small sample survey.
Mike Hunt is right. Down is a great answer to cold temperature emergencies. I grew up in a cold climate but didn't know about the wonders of goose-down so I shivered under several layers of regular blankets until a German co-worker told me I needed a down duvet comforter for winter. I was like huh? She said all Germans use goose-down comforters. A Canadian friend told me the boy scouts in Canada sleep outdoors in winter (in the snow!) using down sleeping bags. I became a believer. So now I am never without my down comforters and throws. They trap your body heat and keep you totally toasty. Those geese know what they are doing! Down is the best insulator God ever created. It's a great insurance against the kind of cold weather emergencies that killed that poor old man in Michigan. Get one!
Just had to share this:
Who would ever have thought you could walk into a retail store, corner the manager, and get him to lower the price of a product? The assumed expected response is either a sneer or a chortle, right?
A few months back our ‘over-the-stove’ microwave (4-year old General Electric – never buying an appliance from THEM again) crapped out. Finally got around to looking for a new one, and last weekend went to Lowes. In the appliance area there were a bunch of marked-down appliances grouped together, including a top-of-the-line American-made Frigidare model with a tag that read: “Discontinued stock. Original price: $398. Now $250.”
Putting to use what HP and S&A has taught me, I told a salesperson to bring the manager. Without giving him a figure, I told him that I would buy the microwave if he could give me a better price. Again, in any previous time, this request would have likely generated a good laugh, right?
The manager said $200, so I plunked down the cash and bought it.
Just like with a house – the asking price may be $398K but if it only sells for $200K, than that is what the house is worth. While food, tuition, insurance, and other things that you can not live without are increasing in price, houses, cars, and appliances are indeed seeing deflation.
For anyone who has to purchase a new appliance these days, try lowballing the asking price. You may just be surprised!
-Mammoth
When I think that the $1400 that Merrill Lynch exec John Thain paid for a TRASH CAN could have paid Mr. Schur's electic bill and saved his life, I want to puke. I want to puke right into that waste basket. Then I want to take John Thain and lock him, naked and shivering, in a 32-degree room with ice on the windows and see how quickly his value system changes. I am outraged by this whole fiasco.
re:"monkey's in Hummers"
Back from the Klan rally early, are we?
Keith you know as well as I do the second the limit on their credit cards are lifted they're going shopping. Will bring home as much useless Chinese shit their leased SUV can carry.
Stuff defines them, just like the commercials say it should. It's an addiction made worse by intensive phycological trials in marketing departments ferreting out what hardwired propensities humans/specific nationalities have to make us stay hooked on products.
For a lot of folks it'll be like quitting smoking or getting off heroine.
I hope the sarcasm isn't lost on the fools who don't understand climatology and statistical outlyers in a small sample survey.
Baloney. Here's a US map with official temperatures for 2008, from National Climatic Data Center/NOAA:
http://tinyurl.com/5bgs9e
As you can see, the country is cooling. Now be an obedient sheeple and go pay carbon taxes to Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
I came across an interesting new phrase...
Nouveau poor
In regards to the elderly man who froze to death, if that District Attorney had any balls (or any ambition) he should subpeona the records of that electric company and who authorized the policy to place the limiter on houses when the temperature is below any reasonable amount, such as say 45 degrees.
And charge them with manslaughter.
That ought to get some fat cats attention.
Yeah, I don't need stuff as long as I can yak it up in here.
Because the Blogs warned me of what was to come starting around 2004, I took heed.
I sold my Rental Properties at the height of the Boom.
I took the proceeds and paid off my principal residence, my cars and all the revolving debt I had.
I built raised garden beds in the backyard and am on my 3rd crop. I am getting better at it as I go along and can now grow about 40% of everything I eat. I am targeting 75%. I can't have chickens or other animals in the Neighborhood because of the HOA rules.
I purchased replacement AC/Heat units for the house that are sitting in storage if they crap out; try living in Phoenix in the Summer without AC.
I have been installing home built solar panels on my roof, and am producing about 15% of my total usage so far. I intend to continue until I am generating 100% and have some excess capacity.
I added layers of insulation in my attic.
I bought an old Mercedes 300D that runs on Bio-diesel. I have been collecting oil and running it in the car. My Garage looks like a Science Project.
I got with my LDS Church going Mormon neighbors and purchased a large variety of long shelf life food. I didn't go crazy, like they do, but I have enough food stored to feed my wife and I for about 6 months if it came down to it.
I bought some gold and silver.
I bought a handgun and some ammo.
I still have my job and make 6 figures but my wife was laid off about 5 months ago.
I have cash and silver in the house and money in the bank.
I could hunker down and wait out a prolonged recession without really getting hurt that bad, even if I lost my job, which is a real possibility if everything continues to go south.
I have no sympathy for someone who doesn't pay their heating bills and then freezes to death. Get a coat from the Salvation Army already.
In the mean time, I keep my spending in check, I don't go without some luxuries like High Speed Internet, Cable, Ipod, Blackberry, Laptop and I haven’t stopped eating at restaurants or going to the movies, YET>
But I have been working on being recession proof for about 5 years.
Just in case.
No Mortgage, Energy efficient, Food Independent debt free and armed.
Anything of "real" value: collectables, antiques, etc., are going for outrageous top dollar, to those in the know. I am off of Ebay for over a year now, but I still use it to keep track of the going prices of my collectable interests. Desirable classes of items are still going for WAY too much.
Just everyday bling is dropping in price, big time.
People just are not buying.
Mammoth has the right idea about asking for a lower price. Usually "clearance" items have been written off inventory (many years in retail here,) and it's up to the local store PTB as to what an item sells for. The store would like to get as much as possible, of course, but the primary function of the clearance rack is to clear the stuff out and make room for the next round of new bling!
Never, never, never hurts to ask!
Post a Comment