Mar 21, 2007

I'm Back, But Not Normal

My gosh, the doorbell just rang and for a moment I thought that the aliens had come back. Stuie dived under the dining room table and I can't talk him out. I tried luring him out with a liverwurst dog treat, but no go. It was just the Jehovah's Witnesses, two guys, one old and one not so old, both in Kmart dress shirts and ties. I watched through the window as they shifted back and forth futilely waiting for someone to open the door. When they finally gave up they paced back and forth, trying to find the address marker for our house. The older man wrote the address on an index card. They apparently intend to try again. I used to have a sign warning Jehovah's Witnesses to ring my bell at their own peril, but once they stopped coming around, I lowered my guard. Now it is time for another sign to greet these two baboons when they return. Once we get past the FedEx guy and the USP driver, the list of people I welcome at my door gets fairly short. Unless it is a neighbor or a friend, I'd rather not be bothered. In other news, my internet service was off from sometime yesterday afternoon until this morning. What a hassle. I had to watch television and that is so 1990's. The big outage did give me the opportunity to finish the book Maxed Out. Maxed Out is the basis for the documentary of the same name or at least a work concurrent with the documentary, and based on the same research. In case you haven't heard of it, Maxed Out is a recent history of lending in America. I have to say that it is troubling stuff. According to the author, James Scurlock, we are headed toward big trouble over the level of public and private debt in the United States. Since Mrs. Sneed and I don't currently have, nor have ever had much debt, I have always assumed that over-borrowing is simply a character problem. That is to say, I believe that most people get into financial trouble because they can't say no to themselves. I think that Mr. Scurlock started from that same premise in doing his research, but now concludes differently. Several years ago Harvard law professor, Elizabeth Warren, wrote a book called The Two Income Trap,. She concluded from her research that overspending is not just an issue of not being able to say no to wants, but rather a fact of the American system. I oversimplify. Ms. Warren suggests, as Scurlock has also concluded I think, that easy access to credit has bridged the gap between rising costs and stagnant wages for many people, who find themselves maxed out on credit, simply trying to live. Here in our modest little city housing prices have skyrocketed in recent years. The value of Casa Sneed has nearly tripled since we bought it in 1995. Wages in this area haven't risen similarly, so Scurlock and Warren may be correct. I remain convinced that there a substantial character component in being financially responsible. The book also pulls back the veil on the lenders and reveals them to be a collection of schemers, determined to suck every last dime out of the consuming public that they can. Scurlock contends that they are aided and abetted by their wholly-owned subsidiary, the US Congress. Maxed Out is worth your time. In more Sneed-like news, I witnessed a screaming match at the gas station tonight. It would have become physical had not a couple of burly Costco employees intervened. It began when an old woman, driving a twenty-five year-old pile of junk, inadvertently blocked in a couple of 30ish women driving a swell new SUV at the gas pumps, leaving them stuck while the old gal got out to pump her gas. The younger woman began to yell at the older one to "get the hell out of the way". A suggestion that was not well received. The older woman stopped trying to pump her gas and lumbered over to the SUV, where she proceeded to tell SUV woman to f**k off. The screaming continued for another couple of seconds, before the driver's door of the SUV flung open just as a guy named Tony from Costco, thrust himself between the parties and restored order. To Tony's credit, he told the younger gal to get into her car and stay there until he could get her out. Then he told me to back up and let the SUV back out, which I was glad to do. Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky Tag:

5 comments:

Kurt said...

I just assume I will never be able to own a home, and I act accordingly. Plus there's always mobile homes.

Bobby D. said...

Maxxed out-- I heard most americans are in scary debt. I'd live in a hut with no plumbing rather than face scary debt.

I can never understand how people cannot understand how interest works on credit cards.
credit cards also give you the opportunity to 'treat' yourselfto stuff you don't really want. they have a "magic" feel for some people.
The old "I might die tomorrow" bullshit, too.I hear that a lot.

The only card i carry around with me daily is an Amex card which i have not used yet this month, and used once last month.

Credit cards are wonderful for travel --you can't travel without a card or two.

I do use the ATM and debit cards every week, tho.
but when you see your cash in hand, you can cut back on spending a lot better.

Bobby D. said...

Merle,

don't you agree that it is fun to 'save up' for stuff?
I like goals.

Merle Sneed said...

Ched,
I absolutely agree with you on that.

Sorry about the hut situation though.

Bobby D. said...

Nickled and Dimed by Babara Erhenreich (OK I am not sure of the last name) but it is a great book about min wage jobs . The min wage in this country is a sick joke.