Further notes on the economy by Bratprince

Well...I'm still not seeing much in the way of economic recovery here in Dallas or the rest of the country.

My VERY qualified partner is going on 7 months unemployed.

Today I agreed to "take Friday off" ..without pay as part of cost cutting measures at my company. I actually have an appointment that day so will be working, but I'm just thankful they didn't cost cut me out of a job.

Retail is a mess and I know the wholesale showrooms are posting huge losses.

I deal daily with very famous designers. For the first time ever some are reporting to me that they have NO clients at all. Unheard of.

As more and more of these businesses collapse or are severely hampered, less money will be spent on consumer goods, thus hurting even more companies. My spending has dropped to almost nil. I'm watching pennies...something if you know me I have never done in my entire life.

Yesterday a dear friend treated me to a spa day. He thought after my horrible stay in the hospital that I needed a little R&R. It was lovely..mani/pedi/massage...the works. We had a delightful light lunch at one of his favorite spots. After that we had to go to a North Dallas mall so that he could order new business cards through Crane (fortunately my friend is doing better than okay right now business wise). I couldn't believe the mall. Very upscale and not a soul to be seen. The mall was vitually empty. The normally packed Neiman Marcus looked like a ghost town with bored employees literally rushing up to us trying to sell everything from jewelry to cologne. Signs offering significant mark-downs were everywhere. When we got to Crane Stationery (usually packed with brides-to-be and uppercrust la-de-dahs looking for that perfect shade of robins egg blue stationery..there was not a person in the shop. The two employees were sitting at a table drinking coffee. It looked like they had been settled down for quite some time. During our hour there not another person entered. The glass elevators that took you from floor to floor were empty. The food court (we got some fat free frozen yogurt) was almost completely empty.

Obviously, whatever we are doing is not working. More and more people's jobs are in jeopardy (including my own) and as more people lose their jobs...inevitably things can only get worse.

I read the WORST opinion letter in the paper yesterday about health care. The writer suggested that he worked hard for his company and that he was a proud recipient of health care benefits. His suggestion was for all these lazy people to go get a job and get health care through their corporations. Well, let me tell you...Gary has even starting applying at places like Whole Foods and Lowes and still doesn't have a job. It infuriates me that these people that think they are SO secure judge those that cannot find a job. I'm not that vindictive (that's a lie), but I really wish that the writer of that letter loses his job and has to struggle a bit. Welcome to the world, Mr. Perfect.

It's not getting better and I am living it.

(P.S. Click on an ad at the bottom right of my blog. You don't even have to read the ad...just click on it. Every click and my blog makes a penny or two. Like I said, I'm counting pennies).