| Last week was really different. There was a pirate on Main Street in front of Blockbuster. When was the last time you saw a pirate in Red Bluff? |
| Lately, I've seen a lot of businesses advertising this way. Mostly, these are cell phone companies and internet services. They don't put a lot of thought into what they're doing, either...just a person holding a sign with the name of their business. Good for Fisherman's Bay for coming up with something very original. I get bored easily while driving and I like to look at interesting things. A pirate is about as good as we're gonna get. I wouldn't hold out hope for anything better than this. Joe and Jonah ate at Fisherman's Bay and they say that the food is great, try it out! A few of you were put out with me because I didn't write anything 2 weeks ago. I had finals, okay? I'm happy to report that I passed my classes with A's. I don't know why I obsess over my GPA. I like straight A's. I am still upset over getting a B in floral design even though it was years ago. I thought my designs were very nice but that I was marked down for spilling my coffee on the instructor's books. Online classes work best for me. |
| Other serious stuff... Skip it if you're depressed or just want to be in denial. Reading the state and national news has been eerie. Yes, reading! If you're only watching the national news, you're not getting the full story. We all know about how America fell into a great depression and came out of it by borrowing money to give people much needed jobs. Ever since, our country has had a debt...now 9 trillion dollars and growing! Our mortgage problems are adding to the mess. Today, the Federal Reserve stepped in to help our nation's fifth largest bank as people lost confidence and started getting their funds out. There was a liquidity problem...not enough cash there. The BBC explains the situation pretty clearly. This is a huge deal and it surprises me that it is not one of the most popular or most-viewed US news stories. No, Eliot Spitzer's prostitute has that top place of honor as do the hospital workers who were snooping in Britney Spear's medical records. Here's my point...yes, I do have one! We will soon be getting rebate checks from the government. $600 for each working adult and $300 for each child. Finally! We are within the income requirements to actually get something from the government! I don't know that these checks will really stimulate the economy because everyone I know will be paying bills or adding to their savings accounts. We have 3 children and will get $2,100. I can assure you that we won't be adding to our wardrobes or buying anything just for the sake of spending money. I say a sincere apology to the analysts who thought we would hit Walmart or the mall with this little windfall. These guys are smarter than I am...I don't know how to solve national economic problems. I would not have chosen this route so I am glad I'm not running the country. All I know is that it kind of makes me sick inside...to think of a government in debt giving money to people in debt so they can stimulate an economy slowed by debt. Like I said, I don't know anyone who plans to go shopping with their rebate check. I guess I have an odd way of viewing things because I wonder if it would help the economy more if people used the money to get out of credit card debt. Wouldn't that be a long term solution...if someone pays off a credit card and has a little extra money each month that they can use to stimulate the economy? Then it would be an ongoing source instead of a one-time spending spree. That makes more sense to me, but then I don't have the experience with a federal budget. I only know how we have to operate our family budget. I'm sure theirs is more complicated than mine because we have to stay within our means and not spend more than we make...forgive my ignorance. I think like a mother. Being a parent, my main concern is my children. If our family needs to reduce its spending, we start making budget cuts where they won't affect our kids. We put our children's needs above our own. We might have to go without, but they don't. Our state government doesn't share my simplistic sacrificial maternal mentality... Anyway! I know we're supposed to spend these rebate checks and not save them. Who knows? Maybe when the check actually arrives I will discover we need a new computer...or a television...or bathtowels...maybe Pez dispensers... It's enough to make you want to yell "Arrgh!" |
