Pop, Pop...

            Traffic on the floor this morning is looking positive. As many of you know, I work in an industry where discretionary income is the driving force. I’ve worried about what the national economic problems will do to my source of income. The cold, wet, nasty winter days eventually give way to the bright, somewhat warmer days of spring. Since the beginning of February, we’ve had several warm days with temperatures in the sixties. With these warm days come customers swarming the shop because they are ready to ride again.  I get tired of the slow days of inventory and “finding” things for my crew to do in the winter, and I always welcome the change that brings customers through the door. This translates directly to a positive impact on my income, and in this situation, the more the merrier.

            Locally speaking, the economic impact has not really been seen yet in my line of work. I am still seeing customers come in to spend their hard-earned dollars on everything from tires to windshields. Tax time is always a nice boost to our business and this year has proven no different so far. I can only hope it stays this way.

  Sitting on the couch last night, breaking open the new boxes of Girl Scout cookies, the wife chimes in.

"Baby, why do you do this? Why are you bringing things like this home?", as she bites into the new Dulce de Leche.

 I'm not as impressed with it as she, and I finish chewing one as she asks for another. I crack open the box of Tagalongs.

"That is the one", I said, as I chomped down into the chocolaty peanut butter goodness.

"Give me one".

 "Oh, these are mine", I retort. "Why do you gripe about me bringing them home in one breath, and ask why you can't have any in the next?"

 "Baby, come on", she replies.

 "I'm hiding these, and you can have the others", I say, obviously testing the waters.

 "Baby! That's not right. I'm your wife!"

 I reluctantly gave her another and then took the precious commodities into the other room for “safe keeping”. Hah.

 They really are ridiculous, and I’m an instant buyer when anything with chocolate and peanut butter is offered.

 Last weekend, I finally took the plunge and entered the local pistol shooting competition at the gun range. While I didn’t place last, I didn’t do as well as I expected or hoped. I was toward the bottom of the standings at the end, but it wasn’t the end of the world, and I’m officially hooked on pistol shooting again, even though I had to pick up my ego and throw it in the back of the truck on the way out.

  I go back and forth, with interest (and “me time” spent) bouncing from pistols to rifles and back again. Getting to shoot with good friends makes a difference, and it’s a ton of fun. Having most of the equipment I needed to get started also helps. The Glock 22 in 40 S&W is my tool of choice, and the Production (watch the cool video) class of USPSA is the game. It mixes real-life scenarios in with just plain fun. Targets are both paper silhouettes and steel plates, all shot while being timed. Rounds sent down range in any given stage can vary from 20 to 50 or more, depending upon one’s skill with a handgun and the amount of ammo one carries on hip. There are no limits to how much ammunition one can carry, but in Production class, magazines are limited to ten rounds each, and most competitors carry six magazines at the most. I’m sure next weekend will involve some more practice, because it was obvious I need it. I’m not a bad shot, but when the buzzer goes off on the timer, it changes the game more than you might think. Adrenaline and the pressure of being timed plays a part, and the quickest shooters with fastest times are usually at the top of the leader board at the end of the day because they learn to control what the body does naturally.

In Decline

   One of my best friends sent a text to me last night that put a smile on my face. It was a sign that I'm making a difference, even if it is in my own little world.

"Have u seen cover of latest Newsweek? I thought of u."

Of course, I'm not a subscriber, so no, I have not seen it. I will get to read it after she's finished, though. The cover basically states that we are all Socialists now because of the latest government bailout. Of course, I've known this all along, and have pointed out socialists and their agendas a few times in the past while hanging out with friends. This is what made Jen think of me when seeing the cover. It usually revolved around Clinton and his life partner Clinton. 

Of course, Pelosi is the worst of the active politicians, not to mention a complete imbecile, and she is one of the biggest supporters and compilers of this latest "Tarp II" or whatever the PR rhetoric is today. It's comprised of mostly pork and spending for specialist groups and will do little to help the economy. Unfortunately, there isn't an easy answer, but the path along which we're currently being led by the uneducated and ignorant in office is a path to destruction. Whether that destruction will be mild or catastophic has yet to come to light, but I am among the Austrian School thinkers that hope we can steer away from catastrophy. 

I read a good article this morning that clearly explains my thoughts. It's not nearly as heavy as some of the stuff I've tried to explain to my wife and good friends. Everyone can benefit, even if they don't agree with said viewpoint.

http://mises.org/story/3321

This website has tons of good articles, and if you have time, I recommend browsing. 

Coming Around

A month, almost to the day. A mere 24 hours short. That's how long it's been since my last post. Sure, a lot has happened, but I haven't really had anything to say, to put out there on the world wide internets. I haven't figured out whether I'm just not into it anymore or if it's a passing phase.

We (the wife and I) were at Angie and Jason's this weekend, having a blast, when something came up that prompted Angie to fetch the laptop. Oh yeah, we were watching, and freely commenting on, a show about the forty greatest metal songs of all time when Marilyn Manson came up. Of course, no discussion (with liberal assistance of adult beverages) of the guy is complete without mention of his hot wives (by Jason and I mostly), and Dita Von Teese prompted Angie to Google it all. Anyway, before finishing with said laptop and continuing our conversation about hot, famous chicks, Angie proceeded to travel to my blog and mention that there was not a recent post. Hmm. Yes, I know. At that point, with little prodding from Sailor Jerry, I said, "I'm done with the blog".

Well, I'm obviously not, as I sit here and write this, but it did get me thinking. Why blog? Why put it out there when it will just have to swim against the current that is the ocean of blogs already out there? I don't have an answer for that one. I think maybe it was a way to keep in touch with friends at first. I don't have many readers, though, so it's morphed into something more for myself. Something that lets me put my thoughts down on paper, if you will. While not really anything highly entertaining, and nothing really informative, it is something that allows me to vent. A release.

Over the past several months, and several blogs, I've chosen to stay away from talking about the economy. The reason for that is because of the fact that it is all completely petrifying. I am absolutely awestruck at how many so-called analysts and experts there are in this great country of ours that are absolutely clueless when it comes to basic economics. It is completely beyond me why these 'experts' seem to think that printing more fiat currency (i.e. government paper) will supposedly stimulate the economy. This country is already in an unprecedented amount of debt, and The Fed chairman and the appointed board think that they can always just sell more T-Bills and Bonds to subsidize this crazy "Federal Bailout". Basic economics, a class available to most in Junior High or High School, tells you that it is ludicrous to pay off one debt with more debt. Why does the federal government of the United States of America think it's possible for them? Because ever since the Bretton Woods agreement, our ego as the "world leader" has grown more and more every year, to a point where it is now getting us all (as citizens and taxpayers) in trouble. The complete detachment from a gold standard in 1971 started what will ultimately be, in my view, the destruction of the U.S. Dollar as the currency the world aspires to own, and maybe the destruction of the dollar as we now know it. If foreign countries continue with a plan to slowly remove themselves as buyers of U.S. T-Bills, T-Bonds, and U.S. investments in general, we will be in big trouble. This, to anyone that has even a modicum of economic knowledge, will lead to unprecedented inflation. Inflation of the likes we've never seen, and a U.S. economy in shambles. Goodbye government entitlement plans (ie Welfare, Medicare, etc). Goodbye government as we know it to be a controlling national entity. State governments would be your rulers in this world, many of which would likely secede from the union if that were to happen.

I know, I know, that's crazy talk. It really is, and I'm not sure I still have a complete grasp of what's happening. I hope it gets turned around, I really do. Unfortunately, buying a turnaround, labeled as "TARP", "Stimulus Package", or whatever, for something that amounts to several trillion dollars, is not the yellow brick road to an answer we all seek.