nuts to this!

As predicted it's really really cooooollllllld in the shop today.
Got a rad 60s black vinyl sofa (8' knoll lines but made by selig) in this morning, and I think we'll be able to bring in one of the lacquer dressers tomorrow. Flurry of activity this morning, answering emails looking for ship quotes and chatting with old and new customers.
Looks like the economy is going in the direction we all feared. 2012 is coming!

There's a new shop that opened recently and while I don't agree with some of their business tactics, I still feel a twinge of sadness for them. This is not the time to open a new untested business. Personally, being intimately familiar with what it takes to really get a business going and keeping it going, I never like to hear that someone is floundering.

We're doing ok and I think with careful steps everyone can make it through till the elections. New presidents give people hope. Today's economic stimulus announcement fell a little flat I think. I know 500 to 800 per person adds up to a colossal amount, but it's not much more than a small band-aid on a gaping wound. To put it in perspective, 500.oo is a half months rent for apartment dwellers in most mid size cities, and a 1/4 mortgage payment for most. It's great, but really, 500. just isn't what it was 20 years ago.

500. does not start a business, keep people from losing their houses or jobs or buy a months groceries for a family of 4, I'm just seeing that whole 'give a man a fish, teach him to fish' saying at work here.

I have no intention of running for President and I'm sure I'd make a really bad one, opinions are like elbows and all that. However, in a magical land of make believe what I'd like to see is this:
Major incentives for companies to begin manufacturing in America again, and end to tax incentives to keep production operations overseas. There is a lot of having it both ways at work over the last decade.

The whole overseas operations has become an ancient whipping boy by now, but it really has nailed us to the wall. Dollar Stores are a way of life for most and without the people crying out for bread, there is no real incentive to make a drastic change. Though something needs to be done. The cheaper products can be sold for, the lower the quality is and a vicious spiral begins.

US produced goods have been replaced by cheaper foreign goods for decades but now it seems to be at the point where almost nothing is really produced in the US outside of cottage industries in niche markets. The cheaper goods have to be replaced more frequently but at a lower price than buying one quality item that will last for years. Instead of saving for that one Dunbar couch that will last more than a lifetime, people are buying 199. faux sofas at Target and other inexpensive retailers and though the sofa has fallen apart within 6 months, 199. every six months for a decade* seems cheaper than 3 grand in one go. *from ages 20 - 30 people spend a terrific amount of money on crap quality housewares and furnishings*
The plethora of cheap and lack of quality has also helped to make it difficult for a whole generation of people to tell the difference between the two without using the price tag as a guideline. Just because it's pricey doesn't mean it's worth it.

People don't notice their dollar doesn't go as far because the quality items have been replaced by cheaper goods. Once the quality becomes an issue, it's often too late to find a better alternative.
The dog food produced in China is a good example. The tainted filler was in 90% of the dog foods available. The only alternative was make your own or buy organic American dog food at 4 times the price. A lot of dog owners were put in a terrible position to chose between feeding their dogs something that wouldn't kill them or buying groceries for themselves. True, I am talking and focusing on the lower end of the economic ladder, but nothing is worse than getting your legs knocked out from under you and the base of the economic pyramid is a heck of a lot wider than it used to be.

It might be naive but it seems to me that if we had continued to produce within the US we'd be a little more financially stable than we are now. And yes I'm one of the 'this is a war for oil' believers. I also subscribe to the theory that the best way to win a game is not to play. Hey I'm an 80s kid, War Games was powerful stuff for a 12 year old.

Seems that researching and developing cars that ran on ethanol or fuel alternatives would have been a better use of time and young lives than a war. Would have boosted the economy and possibly (maybe) could have produced an American car that wasn't in the shop on a consistent basis. Lots of bright stars have been snuffed out on all sides of the fence during this war...
Making peace seems to be a heck of a lot cheaper than making war but then peace isn't very profitable..
Oooh we're getting dark..
The cold weather has me on a philosophical rant.