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One of the reasons I spend more than half the year in Hong Kong, and have started a company there, is that I don’t have much hope that the U.S. economy will recover in a way that will allow me to make a decent living anytime soon. Wall Street may “recover” but that’s got nothing to do with most of our real worlds. Bottom line is the U.S. has lost the bulk of its manufacturing jobs (except for things like military hardware), and they’re not coming back. The lack of available capital has stalled the development of alternative, innovative new businesses. I’m very disappointed that the Obama administration hasn’t put the entire weight of its political power into support for new, small businesses in future-oriented industries.
dipster if anything happens we can just set up shop like all the vendors in soho where we work selling cornball tshirts, sharpied sunglasses, and books about rolling joints!
I’m more positive than I was as it seems the laying off in my industry(asset mgmt) has abbated for the near future and according to andy and friends in the hotel industry things are picking up for the fall and holidays. Restaurants are busy, though not mobbed like they were in 2007/2008. I don’t know of anyone who has cancelled their vacations, though no one is shopping. People being choosier about their purchases.
Oh, man, don’t get me started, but suffice to say, I can’t use those three words together. Ultimately, it’s how I found brownstoner, looking for advice (way too late in the process). But if I had found it earlier, I would have blogged it and avoided lots of mistakes due to the collective wisdom here.
BTW, we really must have run out of things to talk about if we are discussing renovations on the OT. Have we run out of cats, tiaras and possible conquests for DIBS? Sooner or later, any conversation inevitably to houses and real estate. Why should this site be any different?
My status changed as the economy tanked & I’m in better shape than I’d been because of not paying $1100. a month on health insurance since I now have Medicare & that’s a jolly nice cushion. As a freelance I’ve been careful about finances since you can’t be sure you’ll get work all the time – even in the hayday of my industry -before PowerPoint- when I was making major bucks. Among my younger friends, there appears to be a lightening of their worries – for a while I was hearing major angst about college funds but they’ve abated.
There are a few who, like Rob, are pessimistic but often that’s a function of personality, not an objective assessment of conditions.
snappy, i dont see the recession lifting at all. i think people are lying in the media to calm people down or something or make it look like they are doing things to improve the economy even tho they really are just f’ing it up even more. i honestly believe that 2011-2012 will be the worst two years in american history, both financially, socially, culturally, etc. i really think we are going to completely unravel as a country and completely become undone and / or obliterated in every possible way.
i really think people need to start thinking long and hard before they bring children into this world.
One bit of kitchen advice, Never, ever use a black cooktop. You will see every little bit of grease, splash, etc and be forever cleaning it. Even when you boil water, you will see spots that would never be visible with a white or stainless cooktop.
And DO NOT use marble in the kitchen except maybe for a separate “baking area.” Marble will eventually stain, absorbing the minerals in the water…it’ll turn brown around the sink faucets as you splash. This will be true of any marble but it’s the white marble that will show the stains.
I have a question for everyone. I was thinking about this last night. If you choose to answer, please give me your personal opinion…not just what the political pundits are saying or what you believe to be true based on the news, etc.
Do you feel like the recession is lifting? Are you optimistic at this point? A few months ago I asked you all if ‘these hard economic times’ had changed your spending habits in terms of buying more generic brands, etc. Most of you said yes. Are you still tightening your belts? Have you found yourself still shopping/eating out etc. less than before? Or, have you found that over time you’ve eased up a bit on being cheap? If the latter, was that intentional or something that just happened slowly without thought? Or do you feel like this economic crisis had no affect at all on your day to day life in terms of spending and saving? What do you observe in your immediate neighborhoods and with close friends and family?
One of the reasons I spend more than half the year in Hong Kong, and have started a company there, is that I don’t have much hope that the U.S. economy will recover in a way that will allow me to make a decent living anytime soon. Wall Street may “recover” but that’s got nothing to do with most of our real worlds. Bottom line is the U.S. has lost the bulk of its manufacturing jobs (except for things like military hardware), and they’re not coming back. The lack of available capital has stalled the development of alternative, innovative new businesses. I’m very disappointed that the Obama administration hasn’t put the entire weight of its political power into support for new, small businesses in future-oriented industries.
dipster if anything happens we can just set up shop like all the vendors in soho where we work selling cornball tshirts, sharpied sunglasses, and books about rolling joints!
*rob*
I’m more positive than I was as it seems the laying off in my industry(asset mgmt) has abbated for the near future and according to andy and friends in the hotel industry things are picking up for the fall and holidays. Restaurants are busy, though not mobbed like they were in 2007/2008. I don’t know of anyone who has cancelled their vacations, though no one is shopping. People being choosier about their purchases.
It seems the recession is just starting to hit my industry, so I am keeping my belt tight.
“most satisfying renovation”??
Oh, man, don’t get me started, but suffice to say, I can’t use those three words together. Ultimately, it’s how I found brownstoner, looking for advice (way too late in the process). But if I had found it earlier, I would have blogged it and avoided lots of mistakes due to the collective wisdom here.
BTW, we really must have run out of things to talk about if we are discussing renovations on the OT. Have we run out of cats, tiaras and possible conquests for DIBS? Sooner or later, any conversation inevitably to houses and real estate. Why should this site be any different?
My status changed as the economy tanked & I’m in better shape than I’d been because of not paying $1100. a month on health insurance since I now have Medicare & that’s a jolly nice cushion. As a freelance I’ve been careful about finances since you can’t be sure you’ll get work all the time – even in the hayday of my industry -before PowerPoint- when I was making major bucks. Among my younger friends, there appears to be a lightening of their worries – for a while I was hearing major angst about college funds but they’ve abated.
There are a few who, like Rob, are pessimistic but often that’s a function of personality, not an objective assessment of conditions.
snappy, i dont see the recession lifting at all. i think people are lying in the media to calm people down or something or make it look like they are doing things to improve the economy even tho they really are just f’ing it up even more. i honestly believe that 2011-2012 will be the worst two years in american history, both financially, socially, culturally, etc. i really think we are going to completely unravel as a country and completely become undone and / or obliterated in every possible way.
i really think people need to start thinking long and hard before they bring children into this world.
*rob*
One bit of kitchen advice, Never, ever use a black cooktop. You will see every little bit of grease, splash, etc and be forever cleaning it. Even when you boil water, you will see spots that would never be visible with a white or stainless cooktop.
And DO NOT use marble in the kitchen except maybe for a separate “baking area.” Marble will eventually stain, absorbing the minerals in the water…it’ll turn brown around the sink faucets as you splash. This will be true of any marble but it’s the white marble that will show the stains.
I have a question for everyone. I was thinking about this last night. If you choose to answer, please give me your personal opinion…not just what the political pundits are saying or what you believe to be true based on the news, etc.
Do you feel like the recession is lifting? Are you optimistic at this point? A few months ago I asked you all if ‘these hard economic times’ had changed your spending habits in terms of buying more generic brands, etc. Most of you said yes. Are you still tightening your belts? Have you found yourself still shopping/eating out etc. less than before? Or, have you found that over time you’ve eased up a bit on being cheap? If the latter, was that intentional or something that just happened slowly without thought? Or do you feel like this economic crisis had no affect at all on your day to day life in terms of spending and saving? What do you observe in your immediate neighborhoods and with close friends and family?