So, how are you faring in this economy?

I'm doing as well as I was before the down turn. I know enough people out of work now to know that the downturn is real. I have seen a big increase in the amount of people begging. One of the things that I had not seen before but what I do see now is white people begging in black neighborhoods. Not so much in the residential areas but places like the shopping centers or the major intersections. The other thing I have noticed is that there are a lot more white women that seem to be prostituting in the black areas. The reason I say this is because there really aren't many white people in my area and the ones that come in the area shop and go so the ones that are walking around aimlessly looking at every car ssem to be trolling.

I actually think the economy is about to pick up so I will be stepping up my efforts to get a career as opposed to another job.

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Permalink Reply by Compound Egret on May 31, 2010 at 6:58pm

Reduced work hours make things tight. A positive side effect has been learning to better appreciate what I've got as well as seeing examples of other people who have started over.

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Permalink Reply by Golem_3 on June 1, 2010 at 10:26pm

lookin to start my own business.
self-efficiency is something I'm focusing on (especially after what I've been through in my life).

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Permalink Reply by Compound Egret on June 1, 2010 at 10:31pm

Another negative indicator that would go into that "enticement" category. I pass by a used car lot that specializes in exotic high end cars every day. They always have a bunch of S classes, Porsches, BMWs, and Corvettes with some Rolls, Lambos or an occasional Enzo thrown in the mix. That place now has a giant inflatable dog with an American Flag tank top and flip flops sitting on top of one of their buildings. If a red 914 doesn't catch my eye, how's the dog going to do it?

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Permalink Reply by Golem_3 on June 2, 2010 at 9:04am

oh, I love me some tikkha masala, Madam Madon.

Compound, I thought you were about to type that you bought those cars, and gonna sell them.
lol

Around my way there are many many people that are unemployed.
This girl straight up asked me if I could give her some money, and she's not homeless.
Dudes are always waiting in the train station, right before the turnstiles, to get a swipe.
I give my unlimited passes away, after my day is done.
$2.25 per ride,...yo, that aint no JOKE.

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Permalink Reply by Rage_Proletaire on June 2, 2010 at 11:16am

Golem_3 said:

oh, I love me some tikkha masala, Madam Madon.

Compound, I thought you were about to type that you bought those cars, and gonna sell them.
lol

Around my way there are many many people that are unemployed.
This girl straight up asked me if I could give her some money, and she's not homeless.
Dudes are always waiting in the train station, right before the turnstiles, to get a swipe.
I give my unlimited passes away, after my day is done.
$2.25 per ride,...yo, that aint no JOKE.

What do you mean by "a swipe"? Are they jacking people in broad daylight?

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Permalink Reply by Compound Egret on June 2, 2010 at 12:23pm

Golem_3 said:

Compound, I thought you were about to type that you bought those cars, and gonna sell them.
lol

I'm not even close, Golem. I guess that's good though. I can only imagine what type of repair and maintenance costs go with the fresh cars.

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Permalink Reply by Golem_3 on June 2, 2010 at 9:12pm

Rage_Proletaire said:

Golem_3 said:
Dudes are always waiting in the train station, right before the turnstiles, to get a swipe.
I give my unlimited passes away, after my day is done.
$2.25 per ride,...yo, that aint no JOKE.

What do you mean by "a swipe"? Are they jacking people in broad daylight?

no, there's no jacking going on.
"Swipe" just means to slide your metrocard through the reader (to walk through those turn bars).
Dudes are always asking "yo, can you swipe me? Can you swipe me?"
Each swipe is $2.25, unless you buy an unlimted card.

and don't get me started on the dudes saying "loosies! loosies! loosies! I got dem loosies!"

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Permalink Reply by the outsider on June 3, 2010 at 1:42pm

Right now, I really can't complain. Beginning of last year, I was out of work for about six months before I finally found a job in June 2009, which was great but then three days into training, they went on strike for a month. We got called back to work and I kept getting steady paycheques.

At the beginning of this year, my expenses have increased considerably because I had to move (my apartment was infested with bedbugs) which meant higher rent. On top of this, my paycheque is currently being garnished to pay back taxes which makes things very tight financially. These days, some money is better than no money. Besides, the garnishment is only temporary. And being bed bug free is always a plus :-)

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Permalink Reply by Golem_3 on June 3, 2010 at 4:00pm

the outsider said:

Besides, the garnishment is only temporary. And being bed bug free is always a plus :-)

OH dude, I've seen bedbugs before. Good that you got the hell outta there. NYC has had too much of that, and its mainly because people are always buying used mattresses.

I owe the I.R.S. as well, but I arranged a payment installment plan with them.
They work with you, but they will definitely fuck you if you try to get over on them.

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Permalink Reply by Q.A.Bradford on June 3, 2010 at 5:54pm

I'm ok since I'm teaching English abroad, but the return home may be instant death... gonna keep applying abroad as my older sister suggested I do.

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Permalink Reply by Compound Egret on July 21, 2010 at 8:48pm

Compound Egret said:

Another negative indicator that would go into that "enticement" category. I pass by a used car lot that specializes in exotic high end cars every day. They always have a bunch of S classes, Porsches, BMWs, and Corvettes with some Rolls, Lambos or an occasional Enzo thrown in the mix. That place now has a giant inflatable dog with an American Flag tank top and flip flops sitting on top of one of their buildings. If a red 914 doesn't catch my eye, how's the dog going to do it?

Updates.
Dog at the car lot discussed above has been switched to a gorilla dressed like a hula dancer.

Local tough guy "combat sports" training facility has a big banner announcing that they are now teaching the mom friendly ZUMBA!

With some exceptions, the business level reminds me of a drought. Businesses of any kind are holding on to every last dollar and repairing instead of doing new purchases. I can't blame them because I'm doing the same thing. I'm selling my record collection pretty soon and looking at what else can go on ebay or craigslist. I know a few people that have moved or are moving back in with their folks. It is a little disheartening to see books I hoped to sell listed for .01 on Amazon, but If I bought them used for 2.99, I can't be too mad. I also started recycling my own crv bottles and cans.

Again, the unintended consequence of this whole era is appreciating the little things like the radio, gas in the tank, cold water on a hot day, and people you can laugh with. I'm looking forward to the next speculative bubble.

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Permalink Reply by NikkTemplar on July 21, 2010 at 9:06pm

2007: I was all set to move to a different state & start fresh. Then my boss's brother fucked me over and I had to go to Plan B. Then the government came in and fucked up Plan B...and since I didn't even think to wait two weeks for my luck to turn around, I threw up my hands & said 'fuck it' and threw in the towel for the first time in my life. That took some time to recover from (got into a real nasty borderline suicidal depression that lasted about a year), but I made ends meet. Odd jobs, donating plasma, rolling my own cigarettes, doing favors for friends. I was all set to start exploring different avenues (different places to move to, different career paths) and I fucked up and lost out on a cherry ass federal job that would have paid crazy fat bank for doing nothing. That one little mistake has fucked me over since then.

Now: I haven't worked in almost two & a half years and I'm practically unemployable. I'm scraping by on what little I can get my hands on. If I can get some money together to pay for bartending school, I can maybe start over...AGAIN.

I should have planned better back in 2007-2008. I'd be chilling in the ATX right about now, sipping on a beer & puffing on some good greens and not giving a fuck in a plush apt.

Fuck my life.