We’re fucked?! Let the good times roll.

So Vulcan read the news, or felt the pinch himself, posted his concerns here, and it got me thinking.

Garamet posted a "recession?" thread last week and, if you skim the five pages, the smart ones <imho> figured we were already part-way through the recession. That unemployment data usually starts to increase in the middle of a contraction, and doesn't really peak until the end of the recession. And that with a bit of luck (and with only minor meddling by politicians) we'd be back into black at some point by/during the summer. But that the lag between indicators like unemployment rates, and the publication of GDP data (after the results are revised once or twice), will see us into October before we start to see news of the end of the recession gain traction in the press.

Second quarter GDP data are reported at end of July and August, and then "final" data is out on September 28. 3Q data aren't released (the "advance" data) until October 30. November 4 is election day. Unemployment results will be published each month, but as we already know the unemp’t rate will max out around the time we return to growth, so election season will probably see the peak of the reported unemployment rate, and the masses will erroneously think we're at the worst of the recession. [McCain will need luck to distance himself from “Bush economy” in the 8 weeks leading up to the election.]

But what is the actual situation for you today? Fucked? Or feeling some good times? [Maybe you sell fertilizer?]

Foreigners are welcome to vote, it's a private poll for obvious reasons. Since we're probably all still part of the same larger economic picture (despite what some economists may be arguing about "decoupling"), it won't invalidate the poll results if there are votes by those unfortunate enough to be born of non-yanks or outside of U.S. soil. Our recession can be your recession too!

Same old, same old for me...

Same here.. nothing new

I'm between homeless and Donald Trump.
In other words, I have a good recession-proof job, discount food prices (military retirement benefit) decent weather, cheap mortgage (fixed rate too) so I can't complain I guess. Same boat all my peers are in.

Thought I'd buy a Prius & crush it into a cube, for a tree ornament in my yard. Maybe I'll get 2?

My job is pretty much recession proof, but my wife's employer filed for bankruptcy today. They'll probably close about 20% of their stores and trim the workforce a bit, but I'm confident that my wife's job will be safe... She's was up for a promotion before all this mess started and she's like 2 minorities rolled into one.

I'm in the market for a solid gold shotgun to hunt homeless vermin.

Tex's tip of the day: Sterling Silver is better for killing both the homeless and putting down the occasional vampire uprising. Now get out there and be somebody!

I'm doing fairly well, I guess. My car is paid off, and, barring any major shakeups, I'll be debt free aside from my house by the end of the year. I locked in a pretty good rate when I bought the house five years ago. It needs some maintenance, mainly new storm doors and new carpet, but otherwise it is in good condition.

Now that I think about it, things could be better:

My house number is "this end up".

When I go to KFC I have to lick other people's fingers.

I have to do my drive-by shootings on the bus.

Any man who doesn't want to crush a Prius cube for his yard is unAmerican.

Two minorities? Black and...?

We have some debt (car, home, small credit card balance), but it's manageable. I have a recession-proof job, even though the raises barely keep up with inflation. My wife is "low person on the totem pole" where she works, but she does a good job and is safe. We may need to change a few spending habits for a while, but we're ok.

Could be a lot better...but considering all the health costs I incur and the rising cost of..well, everything...oil being the worst culprit up here...it could also be a lot worse.

Yes...a "double dipper". In the Army that is hitting the promotion jackpot.

Er... aren't there MORE females than males both in the world and this country?

It can always be a helluva lot worse but no real change except taking a few more bucks out of the pocket for fuel and commodities.
For the most part our quest here for financial independence free of debt is in full swing though anything else in a positive vein is welcome. Stuff breaks.

In one sense I'd sure like to see natural gas take the spike oil has, I'd certainly not squawk but I know as long as it stays where it's at it won't have a runaway reaction like ripples on a pond that oil and biofuel are causing.
I'm fast becoming of the mind the economic war fortold of as a heads up to me as a kid may well be enguaged as we speak.

I awake with the understanding I am better off than two thirds of the planet's population in many respects, and I respect that and am thankful for what I have.

Sounds like Zel might have one hell of a guns or butter decision to make in the near future...

Doing pretty well here at the moment. My wife's job is going gang busters, my job appears safe for the moment and I've got a lot of opportunity to pick up extra cash in OT, my son is in an amazing daycare provided for my work. We are out of the bills from my cancer last year, and I just bought a new car, the best one I've had yet, a Chrysler 300 Touring.

I'm the least fucked I've been in a long while.

When am I not getting fucked in one way or another?


The Best of Times: Fucked.
The Blurst of Times: Fucked.



J.

Got a better-than-average raise and bonus in March.
Manage to pay off the credit card bill every month.
The house is worth 2.5X what we paid for it (though a recent assessment was lower than the previous).
We qualified for a home equity credit line and we're getting the house sided next month.
One more year to pay off my car.

On the other hand, my irresponsible 33-year-old niece in Florida just got fired from her job in a stable, which supplied her with a trailer to live in on-site. So she and her daughter are jobless and homeless again (this seems to happen to her way too often).

Fucked? No. But then, I do cringe when grocery shopping these days. On occasion, the German equivalent of 'you must be fucking kidding me!' must have been heard from me.

Point is, I'm lucky because I have two incomes (from working and from rent). My working income is extremely average with no raise in sight as the company has lost money again last year (why nobody fires the managers, I don't know. But they hire more of them and nothing changes). If I had to rely on that income, I'd have to curb the little lifestyle I have. Also it's a great plus that I don't pay rent or mortgage. I can completely understand people getting in trouble now and that's despite unemployment still being at a 50 year low. Which, btw, is my reason for not seeing this as just another glitch in eternal growth. This feels different.

Lets turn this around. Farmers are making more money now and they can afford a house cause the prices are low.

The company I'm working for is going to fold in May and I'll be out of a job, but I knew it was a high-risk thing going in a year ago. I'm actually pretty optimistic about the near future.

I'd be real interested to learn that phrase!

Fughedaboudit!!

Werewolves.

Silver kills werewolves.

Some vampire lore includes a vulnerability to silver. I think the Blade movies touched on this as well.

True, but females are underrepresented in most industries... So when a competent and motivated woman is identified, they tend to groom them to be upwardly mobile.