Don't get me wrong . . we are having another record year, full schedule through 2028 and we remain one of the top 5 dividend paying public companies in America.
But with unemployment continuing to rise in all areas, except government employment, debt rising 6 times faster than inflation and no defined tax policy I'm damn glad I'm not one of those 12% unemployed or one of the 1 in 7 American's living under the poverty level.
The mortgage thing this week will send the real estate market into a tail spin for the next year.
I've had one truckload in a month (the one seen above) and I don't know when or where the next one will be, and I won't get paid on it for another month.
Thinking of flying back to LA and riding my Z to Georgia next week to keep my mind off it.
One thing about being a driver, the road's always there & the wheels have to keep rolling so there's always a need for experienced jockeys.
May not be what you want but it pays the bills. I'm going back on the distance work again soon as we'll need the money when we buy the next house. Sucks, but needs must etc.
Actually, it is what I want. Unfortunately, due to my legal issues a few years ago, I am still restricted from having a commercial license.
I'm eligible to have the order rescinded, but it takes forever to get in front of a judge... and I have to do it in California.
Right now I'm looking at Sprinter vans so I can hustle some expedited airfreight. There's plenty of good money in it.
All my financials are tied up in California, can't open any new accounts or get a loan in Georgia until escrow is closed on the house.
So, I'm in a holding pattern for the next few weeks. Giving strong consideration to flying back to California next week and riding my Z1000 back to Georgia to fill some of the days between now and then.
My Buell biz is doing great and our pet supply/grooming biz is doing good also. However, I'm with Court. I think things here are going to get ALOT worse before they get any better though; in a grand scheme scale of things. I'm fortunate but I know alot of others are hurting out there......
>>>I'm fortunate but I know a lot of others are hurting out there......
That's part of the problem. Many folks are doing great. We're very busy now and will for a long time.
But there are 12-17% of the country that are out of work or underemployed.
It's the fact that there is no "plan" to do anything about it that creates the problem. Businesses have no clue what the tax environment going to be for even the next year. No one has yet read AND understood the 160+ new regulatory agencies that are buried in this 2500+ page health care wealth redistribution debacle. There are 7,000,000 less folks with health insurance than when it passed and the administration is granting waivers by the day as unions, large companies and others throw up there are and prepare to quit offering insurance.
The biggest problem is that those of us who are comfortably working see all this crap and we have closed the spickets of consumption.
In our house we've delayed several major purchases and really have our claws pulled in. We are both consuming and investing much differently.
It was telling to listen to NJ Governor Christie talking to that teacher recently. All he was asking was for the teachers to give up their raise for 1 year and to pay some small portion of their health care for a year. It sent the powerful teachers union into a terror. Part of the problem is that those of us who are working, teachers included, are having to pick up some very hefty tabs for those who aren't and the huge pensions that need funding.
It's certainly going to be an interesting next 18 months. I've long said the recovery wouldn't start until 2Q11 but I may have been overly optimistic.
Interesting times indeed and they are presenting some of the best opportunities in history. Good time to start a business.
I'm not sure. There was an article this week about Westchester County teachers averaging in the $90,000 range. Here is an old article, but this is Scarsdale and they pay in the $100,000+ plus range.
Remind me to tell you the story about the time they tried to get me to run for Mayor of Topeka, KS.
The problem with teachers is not hiring them . . it's firing them.
theres plans, but they dont line any pork barrel pockets so nobody listens.
The 'healthcare' 'reform' (because there is very little healthcare in it, and absolutly very few solutions to boot in it) is a joke. Even if you stick to the objectives they were trying to do, it could have been done without the 907 B in govt take over, hijacking and forced medical conscription.
None of the morons that wrote it have held licenses in insurance, healthcare, collections, or fraud investigations.... and you would be hard pressed to find ONE legislator that READ the bill before signing it. (at what point does that be come taxation without representation?)
My consulting biz is running full tilt, because the mess that they have created, doesnt solve any of the original problems, and compounds the landscape with unintended consequences.
Hype and Chains, One Nation under Obama.
( I NEVER thought I would be using my degree in Soviet, Marxist Economics domestically)
cash for codgers. Most of the legislation that they are trying to accomplish nationally has been imposed in Washington State 15 years ago. It is the reason I left the insurance industry.
Knowing what I know from that experience now... I am going to rake them over the coals with their own legal paper. The money in the bill isnt actually in improving a patients health, its in lawyer fees, consulting fees, and compliance contract adherance.
If you think your healthcare got improved by 2600 pages from Washington DC, you are one of those people that is inspired to do a better job at work because of a motivational poster.
If you think your healthcare got improved by 2600 pages from Washington DC, you are one of those people that is inspired to do a better job at work because of a motivational poster.
One of my young offspring is an insurance executive and he had reaped a better than $300K increase in salary as a result of "Obamacare". It tossed the ball into the court of those involved in administering, not providing, health care.
Interesting to watch the number of waivers being requested and granted.
The legislation is, as most of America long ago concluded, a joke.
