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Post by The Curmudgeon on Feb 19, 2009 3:22:50 GMT 2
It won't have escaped anyone's attention that, financially speaking, the world is screwed. Banks have no money, businesses are folding (over in the UK, shops and chains are closing down at a frightening rate. Woolworth's, for example, a 99 year old institution, collapsed) and everyone's respective incomes are being stretched tighter than ever before.
So how has it affected YOU? Not wishing to jinx myself, (I touched wood as I just typed that.. you never really realise how superstitious you are until you TYPE that you're doing it), right now Mr and Mrs Curmudgeon have come out pretty much unscathed at the moment. No idea what the future holds for us, but we're still living the same lives, buying the same stuff, doing the same stuff - as we've always done. So far so good, then.
But what about you Dwellers? Have you noticed a rise in shops and stores closing, a hike in prices everywhere and that general feeling of all-out DOOM that 2009 is probably going to be remembered for?
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Post by trashcanman on Feb 19, 2009 13:41:14 GMT 2
When fucking Google and Microsoft are struggling, you KNOW it's bad. I've been blessed with a secure, well-paying job at an immensely successful company that has the good sense not to mess with the banks so we're as good as a single-income family can get. We're still broke, but we aren't starving. But goddamn is there a lot of stuff I want to buy! Truth is, I'd be high on the hog if it weren't for my financially-challenged other half. I'm frugal and sensible; she's a walking bankruptcy waiting to happen. We balance each other out that way. Next time, I'm marrying a punk girl. Jesus Christ, our shower is cracked and rotting our house out from under us. Great timing, no? Now that is going to hurt.
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Post by The Curmudgeon on Feb 20, 2009 0:07:00 GMT 2
Ah, Trashy, you old romantic. And they say love is dead, huh?
I would be class-A SCREWED in money if it weren't for Mrs C. She manages ALL the bills, pays them in time, keeps books and records and receipts.. stuff I would be totally lost with. I think I would be about 100 grand in debt and a rent boy by now if she weren't around.
You have to fix your shower? Ouch. We had to repair our entire bathroom after we first bought our house because the entire floor was rotten and the walls were falling apart. It would have cost 12 grand but we told the insurance company there was a bust pipe when we were on holiday and they actually bought it - talk about dodging a bullet. Hope you get that shit sorted, Trash.
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Post by InvisibleWolfMan on Feb 20, 2009 12:18:02 GMT 2
As for myself, I'm doing alright. I've now been reduced to two working days a week but Finland has a good set of unemployment benefits, especially when you belong to a union. I basically manage to get close to 80% (give or take a few) of my original pay before the shift and so long as I'm not overspending (God help me, DVDs and food are the only chinks in the armor) then things are fine and dandy for all bills considered. Well, in my opinion this world has been too automated for too long. Just because we can roll out 500+ cars a day on an assembly line doesn't mean we have to. More time and careful consideration should go into the production of each product produced, no matter what it may be. Machines should be there to assist rather than to outright replace people and the pace should be slower but steady. There should also be a rotation system where people get a few days work each week and a few days off. No more long hours or overtime. There should be salary caps for management level employees (does someone need more than 1 million a year?  I think NOT...) as well as entertainers and sports stars (here's a tip, you overspending bastards.....you do not need "BLING" nor a car for every half person you have working for you). And we all need to realize though we COULD spend $20 on a newly released item, why do that when we can purchase it when they knock it down to $5 within a few months? Seriously, I can walk in a store and have to DIG through 2,000,000,000,000,000,000 copies of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL to find a copy of SPACEBALLS with little to no luck at all. It's enough to make one puke. And these things go on sale all the time...ALL THE TIME. Yet I also find there's a 3 billionth release of THE EVIL DEAD...as if the first 299 billionth release hadn't cut the mustard. It brings me to the point we are recycling and regurgitating what is already there and already suitable. Companies should now put time and effort to release a quality product the first time around and keep it that way. If it's music, books or movies there should be a way that people can order direct from a company the same release if it's not on the shelf. No...we've gotta wait for some remix or remake of it to "spark" interest in what already exists. It's a sad state of affaris. For many generations now, the lesson of MORE IS NOT ENOUGH seems to intesify. This has made many "scum suckers" out of many people within our parents' generation all the way down to the generation that will replace our replacements-in-waiting. I want to wake up in the morning, comfortably eat my breakfast and see my family, get some work done (whatever that may be), rest, do something more, eat, spend time with my family, relax in the evenings and go to sleep. What I DON'T want is to run like my life is ending in 2 seconds constantly for another 30-60 years!!!! Fuck that shit, I'd rather catch VD from Paris Hilton on a bad day and die within 24 hours of catching it then say I worked an 18 hour a day shift for 44 years STRAIGHT after I typed this message. I've actually wanted to write up another rant that would've incorporated this issue amongst others but I think I'll just keep it going within this one and add to it. It promises to be livelier that way.  |
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Post by trashcanman on Feb 21, 2009 13:30:40 GMT 2
Yup. These idiot companies beat their golden gooses to death and then want the government to bail them out. That is different from the welfare they so despise how? Oh, right, relatively small amounts of money given to the poor opposed to billions of dollars given to billionaires. Obama, you'd better know what the fuck you are doing.
I love and adore my wife, C, and the fact that I can lovingly make fun of her condition while sticking by her is a testament to that. True love isn't pretending you partner is perfect; it's knowing how fucked up they are and just not caring.
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I think NOT...) as well as entertainers and sports stars (here's a tip, you overspending bastards.....you do not need "BLING" nor a car for every half person you have working for you).
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