a broken heart lasts longer
So this is the worst depression since the Thirties? Idiots buying houses with money they didn’t have lose them? Auto makers using the same basic engine design from the Great Depression can’t compete? Banks giving money to people to buy houses they can’t afford need government bailouts?
And now the worst is over? Sophia just got another biotech job and a raise. Not bad for a two month “lay-cation”. Stocks are up. I’m cutting down trees and hauling garbage for people. Cigarettes are seven bucks a pack. People still smoke. Things aren’t bad.
I was hoping for a melt down so we could start fresh. Looks like it was just a few bad months where the fully leveraged got fucked and guys like me who recycle aluminum just had to drink at home instead of the bar. Yeah I was pissed when someone stole my scrap steel hid behind the holly bush, but if that’s what this Depression drove men to, big deal.
Four of us got laid off this week at SB. Still feels like a goddamn depression to me. Anyone have a need for a Jill of all trades?
Comment by jb — May 14, 2009 @ 5:58 am
I suppose it could be the worst since the 1930′s but that doesn’t mean it’s nearly as bad as the Great Depression. Auto makers’ problems have little to do with their engine design and much more to do with their overhead to produce a car (labor), that problem hasn’t gone away. Homeowners are just one small example of the bad lending that has occurred since the feds decided to hold down interest rates. Many different ways to slice the current situation. Maybe this ‘depression’ is a wave that has passed you over but has yet to hit others.
Congrats to Sophia. Sometimes bad situations are opportunities for something better. Best wishes to JB in her search for her next opportunity.
On another note, Wisconsin legislature is debating the outlaw of all indoor smoking, state-wide. Was it really just 15 years ago that I was sitting in history class in Budapest, smoking Marlboro’s?
Comment by Lyle_s — May 14, 2009 @ 7:50 am
They finally tore down Pier II, Lyle you worked there aye? People are spending money all over the place in Portmouth.
Comment by poopies — May 14, 2009 @ 3:49 pm
thanks, lyle. i know i’m a lucky girl. my old company from which i was laid off is closing its doors at the end of the month. more and more people are still losing their jobs. i came out of this round unscathed, but i don’t kid myself into thinking that i’m now completely spared from the current global recession.
humbling:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/04/02/business/economy/economy-user-photos.html#/0/
Comment by sophia — May 14, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
I’ll not be harborin’ fond memories of that shanty. I be happy to be placin’ the black spot on Pier II! Be strugglin’ to be makin’ pieces o’ eight for buyin’ me grog and wi’ lily-livered homersexuals be propositionin’ me ’round every turn. Keelhaul be a finer spot fer a landlubber than to be toilin’ in that hole. Not even gentleman o’ fortune Davey Pecunies be makin’ that galley tolerable fer me.
To Hell wi’ a wannion, Pier II! The snowheads be jumpin’ straight in the brine now instead of eatin’ their 4:30 dinner!
Comment by Lyle_S — May 14, 2009 @ 5:32 pm
Shake your machine Lyle. You sound weird.
Comment by Rolston — May 14, 2009 @ 7:13 pm
i still believe the cost of management and lack of innovation is why american car companies are in so much trouble. How can it be bad to pay labor? They’re the ones that spend 90% of their income on local disposable goods and services. But again we disagree, and that’s fine. I’m starting to only care about dump trucks and the cost of insurance.
JB, I heard through the Courtney grapevine you all got the axe. Do you wanna come over for a special Craft nite next week?
And for the record, Pier 11 is the first job I was fired from. I never tried serving again.
Comment by Rolston — May 14, 2009 @ 10:27 pm
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2008/06/04/088884.html
Plenty of Ford and GM cars in that list. I’m not sure what you mean by innovation but the Prius doesn’t check in until #13. That’s the only car on the list I would call radically different than your run of the mill car.
So, Ford and GM make cars that people want to buy (Chrysler not so much). Now, neither of those manufacturers are wildly successful overseas so if you call that a lack of innovation then I might be inclined to agree with you. Nonetheless, the big difference between those 3 car makers and their competitors is the UAW.
United Auto Workers has done a great job over the years of looking out for theirs. That’s what their supposed to do. And, on the surface, you are correct about paying for labor. However, when the union agreements result in too much cash going out and poor productivity levels in the plants, people eventually get laid off by the thousands. So, if you had to choose between thousands of people getting laid off or taking a pay cut comparable to what non-union shops pay, which would you choose? This chart sort of explains my point (http://www.heritage.org/research/economy/images/wm2162_chart1.gif). For an hourly wage job to ‘pay’ this high is rare, to say the least. Union auto worker might be the least unique skill set in the US to earn such a high wage (comp and benefits) compared to the average private sector job.
I’m not totally anti-union. When the worker is the clear underdog (Wal-Mart, for example), I’m all for it. Eventually, though, the balance of power shifts and there’s little that can be done to correct it (UAW, Teachers Union). Chrysler going into bankruptcy might just save that company. GM is likely doomed. Obama will kowtow to the UAW and may force GM to make ‘innovative’ cars that nobody wants to buy.
Comment by Lyle_S — May 15, 2009 @ 1:41 am
That sounds awesome, man… I have a cookie recipe I’ve been wanting to try. Thanks for the well wishes, Lyle, mighty thoughtful of you
Comment by jb — May 15, 2009 @ 5:47 pm