Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts

Friday, August 5, 2011

Market stumbles; Yogi provides words of hope

Yes, that’s right, it’s Friday and I was all set to tackle a provocative issue dealing with Jewish ritual. Then the Dow got my attention. As Yogi Berra once famously said, “It’s déjà vu all over again!"

In the last months I was working at that place with the printing press, I often sat at my desk monitoring the wires and watching the Dow – and my retirement savings – go down the toilet. It was a bleak and dismal time, not at all for the faint of heart.

I recall that for at least a year before the bottom completely fell out of the market, there was this constant talk of a recession. Everyone agreed that it was just around the corner when any fool could pretty much tell that we were already, um, standing in it!

If you’ve forgotten, it was on Sept. 29, 2008 – just about three years ago – that the Dow dropped 777 points. Yikes. Don’t look now, but it cratered again on Thursday, losing over 4 percent of its value, down a whopping 512 points.

Once again the “r” word is being mentioned by economists and bloviators of all stripes and colors. The global economy is teetering on the abyss and it seems there’s little in our economic toolbox to address the issue.

The cupboard is empty and our leaders and politicians seem fresh out of ideas after the recent little dust-up in Washington over the country’s debt ceiling. All the shouting seems a little silly now that we’ve been floored – again!

Susan, a friend and colleague, assured me back in 2008 that the market would rebound. It goes up and it goes down, but over the long haul it always seems able to advance, she opined. I nodded in agreement, but wasn’t convinced. Something felt different, something about the whole global thing that had taken hold of the economy over the last decade.

BTW, if you think it’s dark and frightening here, it’s absolutely nightmarish in Japan, Greece, Italy, Spain and Ireland. Like dominoes, once one of these countries tips over, the others will soon follow. Welcome to the global village!

The world has changed and continues to change. For a day, anyway, all seems a bit bleak and dismal yet again. But I take solace in something else Yogi – the New York Yankee Hall of Fame catcher and philosopher – had to say years ago: “It ain’t over till it’s over!” I’m choosing to spin this Yogism in a positive way; and here’s hoping that his words are prophetic.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Another reason to hold onto your library card

Having absolutely nothing better to do, I stopped by Borders in my little corner of the world over the weekend. As you no doubt know by now, the company is on life support and has only a few weeks to live.

The place was filled with bargain shoppers, all scrambling about looking for deals. The problem is that the vast majority of stock in the store was selling for higher prices than a week earlier when news of the company’s demise was first announced.

Apparently, when companies belly up and liquidators take control, the initial plan is to strip away any previous discounts, market everything at its list price and offer small deductions to anyone foolish enough to bite. As the deadline nears for closing the doors one final time, additional discounts are offered – that’s when it’s time to strike!

Last week, a day or so before all the dismal details became public, the lovely Miss Wendy and I stopped by Borders to feed my addiction for anything written by Daniel Silva. His latest spy thriller, Portrait of a Spy, became available on Wednesday. The list price is $26.99 – a huge sum for any book; but I was jonesing for a fun, fast read and, well, Miss Wendy had a gift card!

Borders was offering a whopping 30 percent discount – 40 percent if you were a member of its super-duper exclusive I-Love-Borders book club. After taxes, the book ended up costing $20 and change. If I had waited to purchase it over the weekend, now that HUGE discounts were being offered, the thriller would have actually cost me a few bucks more. Go figure!

BTW, Portrait of a Spy can be purchased online at Amazon for $14.05. Tack on another $10 for something else and shipping is free; and that pretty much sums up why the retail book industry is in free fall!

But I digress. I did mention that the store was packed with bargain hunters, right? They stayed busy grabbing up the few items – magazines, greeting cards, calendars, pens and other tchotchkes – that were deeply discounted.

I’ll probably return in a few weeks, if for no other reason than to say bye-bye. Guess it’s time that I start thinking seriously about purchasing some sort of e-reader. Meanwhile, glad I still have a library card.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Cuddly and cute and thinkng about tomorrow

I wasn’t sure if it was Chip or Dale, but a cute little chipmunk – well, aren’t they all cute? – has made my yard his playground for the last several months. And no, the bug-eyed fellow in the photo here is not the diminutive critter dashing about my property.

If I had time to grab my camera, this is pretty much what he (or, um, she) looks like. Heck, they might be cousins; both have that oh-so sweet chubby cheeks and wide-eyed stare thing going on. I’m just saying …

I imagine it takes another chipmunk to easily tell one from the other. My guess is the little squirrels – yes, essentially chipmunks are tiny squirrels – carry all sorts of exotic diseases, but from a distance they seem harmless and, well, cute

They also have a little something to say about the human condition. At least that’s what I was thinking when I spotted Emile – hey, I have to call him something – scurrying around my patio earlier this week. Chipmunks are obsessive-compulsive planners. Emile knows the days are growing shorter and cooler. It’s time to get ready for winter.

So my furry friend stays busy now collecting stuff to keep him and his family comfy in the coming months. We’re talking nuts and berries, the occasional bird’s egg, small frogs, worms and fungi. Yech! Oh, and a few bits of bread, pretzels and roasted peanuts! You know, your basic comfort food!

Here’s one additional factoid before I wrap this all together and wow you with my insight into chipmunks and what their behavior has to do with you and me. It turns out those chubby cheeks aren’t just about cuteness. Chipmunks have cheek pouches that allow them to carry multiple food items to their burrows for storage. Who knew?

So, Nor, what's it all mean? I'm glad you asked. The days are getting shorter and cooler. That’s meant as a metaphor. It’s time we started filling our, ahh, pouches with nuts and seeds. Another metaphor. Because I fear there’s a long, frigid winter stretching out in front of us and you can never have too many tasty worms hidden away in storage. Just saying …

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Feasting, forgetting in world gone slightly loopy

Another weekend and another fabulous meal and evening out with friends. Life can be a pain at times, but it's how you spend your leisure moments that adds flavor to the journey. This time around, the lovely Miss Wendy and I spent a few enjoyable hours at McCormick & Schmick's with longtime pals Denise and Stan, Susan and John.

There was a small reality check that came along with the evening's festivities -- food, drink and general merrymaking. More about that in a moment.

McCormick & Schmick's is an upscale chain of restaurants started and based in Portland, Oregon that features fish and fishy products. In our little corner of the world, it's conveniently grouped together with several other trendy spots -- P.F. Chang's China Bistro and Brio Tuscan Grill. On two little acres or so, surrounding a watery lagoon, you can feast on Asian, Italian or fishy cuisine. It's a happening spot, one huge, bustling parking lot servicing all three restaurants, the structures neatly surrounding the picturesque lagoon.

We all met, smooched hello and were quickly ushered to a little alcove just off the main dining area, a perfect spot to spend a few hours away from the world and its global concerns -- economic woes, oil slicks, wars in distant lands and, ahhh, endless yard work!

The eating games began with one, well, actually two platters of portabella mushroom and goat cheese bruschetta, delightfully and tastefully presented with an olive-oil-infused garnish. While my friends drank a bit -- can you say mojito -- I amused myself with the restaurant's seafood and roasted corn chowder.

It was good, perhaps a bit soupy for my taste, but a nice way to fill a few minutes before beginning the arduous task of studying the menu -- it changes daily and there are a wide assortment of hors d'oeuvres, side dishes and entrees offered.

Cutting to the chase, the winning entree it would seem was filet of flounder freshly delivered from Georges Bank, Mass., encrusted with Italian Parmesan cheese and topped with lemon caper butter. Such was the choice of three of my dining mates. Denise opted for the tuna -- bait rare, thank you very much -- and Susan selected the soft-shelled crab.

I feasted on lobster ravioli, sauteed with baby spinach (I imagine papa and mama spinach are in mourning) and cherry tomatoes in a white wine cream sauce. C'est magnifique!

It was late in the evening, long after we had nibbled away at the remains of our entrees and were still enjoying coffee and our shared desserts -- a sort of Bananas Foster-inspired creation and chocolate cake-ice cream-Oreo crusted thingy -- that I glanced into the main dining area and noticed only one or two other diners, surrounded by a sea of empty tables.

Earlier in the evening, busy chatting with my friends as we made our way through the restaurant, I hadn't paid much attention to the surroundings. I recall hearing much chatter and the clanking of dishes and dinnerware. But after some thought, I also remembered that Miss Wendy and I had zipped up to the valet parking area with no other cars in front of us, made our way into the restaurant and had to wait for only one other couple to be helped before our party was seated. The place wasn't empty; but it certainly wasn't operating anywhere near full capacity.

McCormick & Schmick's, I fear, continues to suffer from a faltering economy, potential customers still hunkering down, waiting for a flag of victory to be raised on Wall Street or in Washington. Despite reasonably good economic news in recent days -- job losses are slowing, consumer confidence growing -- there's a wariness about the land that will continue to be part of our lives as long as the Dow keeps bobbing up and down like a cork in a troubled and uncertain sea.

Wall Street, even with the white-collar thugs who continue to run the place, remains a pretty accurate barometer about all things economic. So I think in coming months I'll start turning to CNBC instead of the Food Network when planning any future outings. It's the friends, after all, not the place that's important when getting together. And I think we can all drink to that!

YOU LOOKING AT US: Northwest King Salmon (photo above) take a well-deserved rest at McCormick & Schmick's before becoming entrees.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Stress: A way of life


Thumbing through some old files, I came across a column I wrote in the mid-90s about "Gulf War Illness".

At the time, veterans of the Persian Gulf War were filing claims for a host of ailments and a special presidential panel reported that many of the problems were "stress related".

Well, duh!

The bulk of the column explores the causes of stress and what strikes me as odd and interesting is I could have written the column last week and it pretty much would capture what's happening in the world today and the challenges many of us are facing.

Here's a taste.

Stress has certainly been a factor for Persian Gulf Vets as they've attempted to make their case and bring it before the American people and the federal government.

And their struggle speaks of our age, the world we live in and many of us continue to find puzzling. The veterans are frustrated and angry. They feel like they have been used and abused -- and now ignored.

Sound familiar?

The demise of corporate America; layoffs and firings; families struggling to stay afloat economically and emotionally; separations and divorces; people alone, isolated adrift.

Frustration, anger, stress!

Welcome to the '90s (now we can add to the 21st Century) and welcome to the club.

So pervasive is this problem that an entire industry has grown up in recent years to help people, families, businesses and communities cope with the problem.

The answers are many and varied.

Focus and work harder. Scale back and simplify. Meditate on your belly button or on things divine. Jog or swim. Take up boxing, karate or ballroom dancing. Join a support group and make a friend. Find God, a therapist or a new hair stylist. Mix and match or pick all of the above.

Or stop, take a deep breath and take the time to figure out the problem, the options that are available, then make a decision.

And that's pretty much where many of us are today ... didn't have a good answer for the Persian Gulf Vets and their problems a decade ago; don't have a good answer today!