The Economy

Well, once again the stock market, indeed the economy is tanking! You say, "Once again?" Yes, cycles of ups and downs occur and we have watched them through our 35 years together. What does it mean? Perhaps it means that we all start to look at longer work-lives, maybe that we need to find skills and abilities that will translate into barter-able talents and gifts, maybe that we simply understand that some of us won't be retiring!

What am I looking at? I'm hoping that the market will turn around, that we will recover enough that I will indeed be able to retire - but realistically, I may be working a couple of part time jobs into my 90s or longer. I could handle this Photo Tech job for a long time to come. However, in the short term, as much as I like missing the tensions and torments of trying to work with the political chaos of the church, I just might need to go back into a church in hopes of getting a salary that will pay bills, put more into the retirement account and provide better medical insurance than most I could find.

Also in the short term is continuing to talk to others about Barak Obama, whom I truly and fully hope will be our next President, because I have a horrid feeling that if McCain-Palin win will mean the market will REALLY tank, that we will become so embroiled in middle east unwin-able wars that we will end my generation's life in a quagmire that will make Viet Nam look like a summer picnic.

I listen to the talk of families forced out of their homes because a landlord used their rent checks to build personal wealth and ease of life, avoiding keeping mortgages current and being more than willing to give up the property rather than be responsible. I am proud of the Cook County Sheriff taking a stand and refusing to evict renters who kept up their rent payments, even though their landlord didn't keep up on their payments. THAT is AMERICAN! It happened in the Great Depression, and if it doesn't happen now, we will all be so far in the hole, there will be no bailout, no rescue available to help us.

My advice? Start finding ways to put money aside, pay off bills and develop those skills that you can barter - you know, "I'll mow your lawn for six months if you will help me build bookcases." "I'll can two bushels of tomatoes if you will help me fix my car."

God help us all!