It's Starting to Rain

Remember how your parents told you to save money for a rainy day? Well, it has started to pour.

If you haven't started to save-start!
If you haven't eliminated unnecessary spending-cut! cut! cut!
If you aren't giving your employer your best efforts-begin tomorrow!
If you want something you do not really need-forget it and donate the money instead!
If you really need something-buy it! The economy needs your business.

Most of all, take care of the ones you love and they will take care of you...even on a rainy day!

Hand Guns

I read in the newspaper today about another senseless killing of a young man and the wounding of his brother on the near northside of Indy. Evidently, it was some type of dispute over a young woman. I don't know the details, but was the dispute worth someone's life?

What made this one different was that both boys were my next door neighbor's sons. The son killed was 27 years old. Now, his mother and father are spending this afternoon with friends and family grieving over a loss that takes my breath from my chest at the thought of ever having to experience such a tragedy.

I know the gun advocates will just bristle at the thought of another softie like me thinking that guns are responsible for this murder, but wouldn't things have been a lot better if these guys had just duked it out in the front yard until someone had a bloody nose, called each other some names, and then sulked back to their homes? No, I guess they think guns make 'em tougher.

I'll tell you what the perpetrators are. They're cowards. Oh, by the way, they are also in jail now for a long, long time. Now, they're going to find out what tough really is...soon enough.

So, on the day that our nation is going to elect a new president which more than likely will be Mr. Obama, may he not only change the way our nation exerts its power on misbehaving nations, but may he also take away some of the unnecessary force available to our youth.

Now, that would be about "change".

Wrigley Goes for a Walk

It was gorgeous outside yesterday! So, I invited the Mrs. and Wrigley, our Westie, to go for a walk. We took the Lockerbie route with the hope that there would be enough leaves on the ground. My lovely loves to walk through the leaves in the fall. But, the season is arriving late and the leaves are hanging on for at least another week.

We then took a left onto Mass Ave. It doesn't matter which route we take. It always eventually ends up going by the Starbucks. Mrs. AskIndyTed loves her tea and Wrigley likes the activity outside whether it has two (humans), four (dogs), or six (bugs) legs. I've never seen him go for a spider (eight), yet.

Anyway, there is a little shaded park just outside with a brick wall to sit on while you enjoy your beverage. That's when Chandice, a retired lady with bright red hair who lives above Starbucks in an apartment, walked up. She loves Wrigley. I know why. You can't keep from smiling when you see him. She lives alone and for whatever reason, Wrigley lights her up. We were soon caught up in conversation about the election and downtown churches. You know you are in for some conversation when Chandice shows up.

Meanwhile, I kept Wrigs on the leash so he wouldn't wander off during our chat when a homeless man stopped about 20 feet away. I normally try to avoid any interaction with the homeless. I am uncomfortable denying requests for anything from money to bus fare, so I just avoid making eye contact. Well, Dr. Wriggleby has no such limitations to prospective friendships. So, he walked right up to the man and gave him "the look". You know. It's the one that cute little dogs give you. That's when I noticed out of the corner of my eye, the man asked me if he could offer some of his dinner to Wrigley. It was nothing special. It was some kind of cake in a box. But, it was "his" dinner and he wanted to share it with Wrigs.

I was touched. Here I have the means to help him and he is offering his food to my dog. This Thanksgiving, I will be thinking of him and giving thanks for all of my blessings. I have many.

The Three Little Pigs & the Bailout

I hope everyone's parents read the story of the "Three Little Pigs" while you were in PJ's. If they didn't, you probably are homeless by now . If they did, I hope you paid attention to the moral of the story and avoided the fate of the "Big Bad Wolf".

Now, with the help of numerous schemes by brokers, bankers, and politicians to get folks into houses that they couldn't afford we are now faced with very uncertain economic times.

Never fear little piggies. It's an election year! It makes no difference whether your house is built from straw, sticks, or bricks. Nor is it important what you paid for it or even if you could afford it in the first place. The Feds are going to save your little wiggly butts from the Big Bad Wolf.

And who do you think is going to pay for all of it?

Everyone else.

McCain or Obama?

Everyone is so sure who should be the next President. Well, I'm not so sure. My vote drifts back 'n forth almost daily. I have two sons and my wife firmly in the O+ group and I have a daughter-in-law firmly in the MC squared camp. The east coast media comprised of all of the networks and the NY Times love Obama while the WSJ and conservative radio talk shows feel that McCain is the only one with the experience to lead the nation.

I think O+ and Mc2 are both credible individuals who have pressed the flesh and taken money from every special interest group on the planet. So, do they really represent who they are or what the money wants them to be? That's my dilemma.

Who will lead our country out of this economic mess and two front war that is draining our ability to be the vital leader of the free world? Who would want the job in the first place? Do you really have to be that vain knowing you will be despised by half of the people all of the time?

I'm on the fence and quite honestly I'm tired of thinking about it.

Aunts & Uncles

I just found out today that my Aunt G passed away. I was made aware a couple of weeks ago that she was not doing well and that if I wanted to see her I had better do it soon. Well, I got busy, distracted, or just forgetful. But, today I just felt that needed to be a priority, so I headed down to Greenwood to see her during my lunch hour.

Serendipitously, upon arriving at the front desk of Greenwood Village, the receptionist was the wife of the gentleman who got me over the hump in the sales game. Her mother, Ann, who is now 98, was my sons' babysitter back in the '80s. Then Dr. Hardin, who also in his '90s, walked in the door. I was surrounded by people I hadn't seen in years. That's when I found out that Aunt G had passed away that morning. I was late again. Dang it.

I was blessed to have a plethora of Aunts and Uncles. And, they were all very smart. They were a reflection of mainstream America. They all grew up during the Great Depression...hopefully the last one. Some served in World War II, others ran successful small businesses, two of them were nurses which seems to run in the family, and one of them took on the responsibility as head of the family when my grandparents died too young. They were all incredibly reliable when it came time to help out a family member. It was something my parents always did and now I know why. It was something they all accepted. Take care of your family even if they drive you nuts some of the time.

So, forgive me Aunt G for not coming to see you sooner. I'm sure you already have.

Three Things That Went "Thud" Last Week

There were three events last week that all made a resounding "THUD". One was O.J. Simpson's jaw as the jury read the verdict "Guilty" even if it was thirteen years late.

Second was Chicago baseball. You never expect the White Sox to do much. They actually win a series every fifty years. But, the Cubbies just can't finish a season. They broke my heart in 1969 and I will never forgive them. I haven't been able to watch an entire game since. They suck!


Third, were my retirement accounts. I do not know if the next Great Depression is at our doorstep, but it doesn't look promising. When I purchased my first car in 1966, it was better looking than it actually ran, much like the economy in 2007. My car required a quart of oil every week to keep running just like our economy needed sub-prime mortgages to maintain growth. Since I was in school and had very little income I was soon driving on four bald tires with no spare just like the economy was living on low-interest-rate adjustable mortgages with no chance of ever being repaid.

Well, the good Lord must have been watching over me. I didn't crash or even have the first flat tire for nearly three years. I eventually purchased a new car. Our economy has not been quite as fortunate and it has more than a flat tire and a sick engine. It's hemorrhaging and we can't find the bleeder. I even heard Jim Cramer of CNBC's "Mad Money" last night telling the world to salt away enough cash to last the next five years. How long was the last depression?

Anyway, when I was young, my only fears were being told "No!" when I asked a girl for a date and flunking out of college and getting drafted. Now, I'm too old to be drafted and since I've been married 34 years, "No" has a completely different meaning.

I think I'll just stop reading the newspaper and enjoy my grandchildren.

Michael Bloomberg for Dictator of the U.S.A.

Calm down. I haven't totally flipped out-yet. However, I had the pleasure of watching Michael Bloomberg being interviewed on "Meet the Press". I was quite impressed with his grasp of the current financial crisis. He gets it. You ask, what makes him so smart?

It's not that he is smarter than everyone. There are a lot of smart people in Washington, DC. However, unlike most of our elected officials, he is virtually unaffected by special interests. He's rich and he doesn't need their money. Hence, he can speak his mind and tell it like it is.

As for the dictator part, I really like democracy with the checks and balances in our government, but congress has sold out. They need to get out of the way.

Check out the interview (after the frigging commercial).

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26819490#26819490

Credit Crunch

Everyone should know by now that I am an old fart. That qualifies me as one of those "I told you so" people with respect to the current credit crisis the world is enduring.

You can blame the Democrats, Republicans, unscrupulous mortgage lenders, Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernake, Bush (pick one or more), Bill Clinton, the investment bankers, or just the stupid people who signed all of the documents at closing without reading them, let alone doing the math on their own to determine that they could actually NOT afford their home for the term of the loan.

Well, I'm laying the bulk of the blame on spreadsheets. Spreadsheets?!! I know you think I've lost it, but people never used to borrow too much money to buy a home because you never really knew what you could afford. The rule of thumb was NEVER have a payment exceeding 25% of you monthly net pay or NEVER borrow more than twice your annual gross income. If you forgot, the bank reminded you as they gleefully loaned you the money for anywhere form 8% to as high as 18% in the early '80's. You must be thinking, who would buy a home at those rates? You're right. No one or very few did because people could not afford it...that is until Lotus 1-2-3 invented the spreadsheet in the early '90's. The housing market exploded!

Suddenly, lenders thought they could loan more money at lower rates and borrowers thought they could handle larger mortgages. Wrong and Wrong. Somewhere in the 20 to 30 years of a loan, sh.. happens and you have to have enough of a reserve fund to handle it. Hence, here we are today. Everyone was feeding like pigs in a trough. Of course, you all know where pigs end up.

Live within your means, save 10% of your income, keep six months of income in an emergency fund (not part of your savings),and be glad you live in the U.S.A., that is at least until we sell the naming rights to a foreign country that holds all of the U.S Treasury Bonds. Let's see, where will we put the sign? Ah, I got it...on the forehead of the Statue of Liberty!