I've had many thoughts, but I've been so busy, I haven't quite made it to a keyboard.
As you can see, when the Harley is not running, we have to take the Cadillac...
Just to soothe your concerns, I don't REALLY have to ride on the bumper....
Anyway, the bike is fixed. Thanks to Hal's Harley Davidson, and Dave in their parts department, it's back in one piece. They really helped me out.
This Packers thing... I hear so much crap, I just am not sure what to believe. So I'll make this real simple for you: Teddy T has to go. I was so hoping Jones would come in and hire a new GM right away.... with another year to consolidate his power, how are we ever going to get rid of Ted??? Sigh....
Anyway... I am a solid gold doggie. We established that a few months ago. Lotta mixed signals in the economy. A couple things baffle me. Last week, the monthly consumer confidence printed, and it was expected to go up, and it went up even more than expected!!!
Whaaa??? What planet are you people living on??? Gas prices crossed the line into record territory... wages remain flat... Home prices continue to soften, and sales continue to soften. My utilities are up, my cable is up, my taxes are up, and the interest rate on a new loan (if I want one) is up!!! Why are you optimistic again?? Need I even point out that Jim Doyle has his eye on your wallet, and he's starting to drool?? You think the taxation living hell that is Wisconsin is going to get cheaper???
With your house, let's be kind and say "not rising" in value, you aren't going to be able to go and get another home equity loan... which is not a problem for me per se, but will be for the vast majority of the clowns out there, who continue their consumption month after month, year after year, with more & more creative financing. And, if you haven't been paying attention lately, this is a consumer driven economy. We don't make anything here anymore, and we don't export anything. Thus, if the US Consumer stops spending 103% of their income each year, this economy could implode.... (btw, I'm not making that up, we've been running a negative savings rate as a country for several years now...)
Raising rates, and shutting off the "home equity tapper" could put a real crimp in the huge spending that's been rolling for the last 3 years, at least...
I kinda thought that right now would be a good time to buy an Escalade. I was wrong. There's no deals to be had out there... Again, I scratch my head. With the price of Premium unleaded north of $3.60, dealerships apparently have dudes wandering in all day long who want to buy an Escalade, that might get 16 to the gallon. I was thinking I'd wander in there and say "I wanna buy an Escalade", and I'd be like Julia Roberts in "pretty woman", a lot of sucking up... nah. Once again, I was a victim of incorrect thinking. Obviously, these mythical confident consumers are out there throwing money around.... (shakes head)
That's okay. My Tahoe is fine. All that extra cash, I'll plow it into Gold, Silver, Uranium, Oil Company Stock, and Platinum, and in a few short years, I'll buy an Escalade and a house to park it in with all that beautiful money.
Actually, I was chronicling my quitting smoking. This is day 115. Now, my whole life, I've heard people talk about how much money could be saved if you didn't smoke. And it's true, I kinda roughly figured I was dropping around $130 a month on cigs... rough number. So, theoretically, I should see this $130 a month washing up in my checking account, right??
I SHOULD, yeah... I DON'T, but I SHOULD. And I'm working through my rage issues... as my good buddy Jake showed me first hand, you can be a good doggie, but if you're poorly socialized, and have some aggression problems, your life will be 50 times harder than it has to be.... no wonder people smoke...
Also had a real funny thing with my checking account. I all the sudden see that I have a "reserve balance", and they're charging me a finance charge... Huh?
It turns out that I went overdrawn... a pile of checks, from all range of dates, "mysteriously" hit my account the DAY BEFORE my direct deposit check went in.... Hmmm. Things that make you go "Hmmm..."
And in the true hallmark of an ex-smoker, I called the bank, demanded a manager, and released my pent-up rage on him.... Wasn't very satisfying. He coulda cared less. These banks are sooooo freakin' huge, your threats to "take your business elsewhere" mean absolutely nothing to these guys. Nothing. Less than nothing. We'd need to put a vacuum guage on it, to measure the "negative" quantity of care.....
So, watch your bank carefully... the predatory practices continue..... watch your statement, watch it... seriously, I was lucky I caught this at all... and then, the funniest part is that they open a $400 "reserve" loan, but when money goes back into the account, they don't pay that off. No no no no noooo, silly puppy. Nah, they APPLY a $20 a month payment to that balance, and let it ride at 22% interest. Heh heh, ya like that??? Yeah. Whew..... these people. Just watch your statement.
And watch yourself there, grease is leaking out of that huge Culver's Bacon Cheeseburger and dripping in your lap.... You lucky dog!!!
Until next time!
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