How are things?..part one..

[twotonevert]

Just in case Kevin doesn't pop back in on the thread he works for Electric Power Board in Chattanooga, TN and yes he is a lineman

EPB - Home

May be a good opportunity for you to come to the land of the Dragon

Thanks Don. I am a Lineman, but no longer work in the field. 16 years of climbing poles works on your knees!

[shawnski]

i am in auto business and business is down, believe or not lower price of gas hurt our business because we sold alot more ecnomical cars.
still surviving but beginiing of the year i bought a newcar, new house and new bike and maybe i should have waited but who knew it is going to get this bad.

[ditchdr]

I hate to say it but I am uber busy at the shop. I get on average of 12 to 17 bikes a week needing repairs or service, as well as selling a average of 3 bikes a week. I kind of thought since gas was down to 1.90 a gallon now I would slow down but i havent.. I had ot hire on a guy just to help me out.

One good thing Jessica ans I did a few years back we make up our minds to live debt free.. Everyhting we have it PAID for, Granted we lived on beans and rice for a while and sold a lot of stuff ( my busa) but we are much better off.. Times are tough here lately, but they are getting better.. People need to stop living their lives by what the tv says, stop buying **** they cant afford, and stop bailing out compaines that cant see a bad risk.

[mzrsq]

If you watch the news, you all Know Ohio is currently supporting the 2nd highest unemployment rate next to California. Things in my shop have been slow, but we are getting by. My wife on the other hand has been unemployed for 11 weeks now and is struggling to find employment. Businesses are not even hiring seasonal workers this year. Every time I turn the news on another business is closing or laying off. Was just announced The Cleveland Plain Dealer, a big Local Newspaper has layed off half of it's staff, another local radio station has layed off "ALL" of it's on-air personalities and is now just letting a computer play music...............Things are tough in this area of the United States.

[Dino]

I'm not a huge fan of my job, nor was I ever... But in these tough times, I don't complain about it anymore since a lot of the people around me in different professions are losing their jobs, getting laid off, etc. I feel for them. The police business, however, is booming. When broke people become broker, they steal more, rob more, pillage more, and generally cause even more trouble than they were causing before. This may be one of the few professions where job security is extremely good. Im earning a good steady paycheck, and so is my wife. We were fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of automakers offering 0% for up to 72 months! So we bought the little lady a new Ford Edge fully loaded. We are blessed to be where we are at this point in our lives. It also helps tremendously that we didnt buy things we couldn't afford, and we live within our means. Even though lots of people were buying houses way more than they could afford, we stayed happy with what we had and could comfortably afford so we didn't end up needing a "bail-out". It bothers me that the people who were conscious of their spending for the last few years will now have to bail out the people who weren't. Sorry for the rant.

You are not correct, history shows there is not an increase in crime assoiciated with a down economy.

[thrasherfox]

After 2012 it wont matter

[fiend]

It is slower than normal where I work. It usually slows down a little bit towards the end of the year but not this much. We were told that there will be no layoffs, and that they already have more orders for the first and second quarters of next year than they did for this whole year. Hopefully this is true and nobodys job is at risk. I started putting more money than usual in my savings account just to make sure I can make it if I do get laid off. So for now I am ok, but things change everyday so you can never really be for sure.

[SHADiGUY1]

i hate the economy

[HillbillyTom]

In the transportable tank business it usually slows down around and for a few months after an election, no matter what party is coming in office. We are very slow now, to the point of in the process of completely painting the shop.
As a rule, from past experience, it will pick up sometime in the spring (we hope). Looking at some 4 day weeks after the first of the year until it does, but no lay offs so far.
All my major purchase plans (GSXR 600 or a new dirt bike), and any mods on the Busa, have been put on permanent hold until things straighten up some.
Financial survival mode is now in place.

[runeight]

This was dispatched on Friday. To us, this is a big number. Another 6.5% is a deep cut.

r8

From: Fox, Gregory C
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 10:19 AM

Subject: TYE Furloughs

Gentlemen:

Earlier this week I provided you with updates on the economy and the financial crisis and its impact on BNSF. As we discussed, while the initial impact was primarily in the financial and credit areas, in the past several weeks we have seen a significant decline in business volumes across the whole transportation industry, and the outlook for 2009 is for a significant downturn.

In November, our traffic volumes were down by more than 9 percent, and the business outlook for December continues to soften. GDP less technology – a driver of rail volume -- is forecast to decline at least 6.5 percent in 2009.

As always, our practice is to talk to you about the state of our business, and what we need to do to provide for the long-term welfare of our company and employees. Our long-term outlook for the business remains unchanged and very positive. In the short term, however, we will see a significant downturn, and there is a lot of uncertainty about how severe it may be.

Given the uncertainty about the near-term future, and the volatility we have seen in the economy, we believe it is prudent to take steps to reduce expenses consistent with the most recent volume declines and the disappointing economic outlook for 2009. After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to begin furloughing TYE employees. At this time the Work Retention Boards have been frozen at current levels. Moreover, the Work Retention Boards will be cut in their entirety on December 15th.

Over the past several years we have been able to avoid the need for broad-based employee furloughs. In fact, this year we maintained the Work Retention Boards at historically high levels. Unfortunately, the changing business environment necessitates that we make these very difficult decisions. We simply don't have the volumes of business on some parts of our railroad to support the current crew base.

We have also taken additional steps to reduce expenses, capital spending and hiring, while continuing the investments necessary to run a strong and well-maintained railroad. We want to be prepared for increased volume when the recovery begins. As the year unfolds and we have more information about the economic situation, we will make further adjustments as required.

I will continue to communicate with you as we learn more and as the year unfolds.

Greg

[slep_rock]

Things are pretty good for the military, got plenty of engagements going on to sustain us for a while. Recruiters' doors are still open For those who can't hack the bootcamps; I can guarantee you there are openings in Afghanistan for you private security gun toters

[runeight]

For those who can't hack the bootcamps; I can guarantee you there are openings in Afghanistan for you private security gun toters

We will need them right here in a few more years at the rate we are going.

r8

[cipher5791]

I don't see it. Some stupid businesses go out [a shop that sells nothing but nascar trinketts??], and other businesses are in. I see new strip malls going up with new stores, and even some housing still going up. People driving everywhere, Best Buy full of shoppers, restraunt parking lots full as always, and movie theaters at least 1/3 full as always. aparently SOME ONE is not stopping.

+1
In my area, I see people out and about like there is no crisis. I work for a paper mill. We make paper for lottery tickets, cigarette cartons, medicine boxes, etc. My company is maintaining. They are making profit and investing capitol in our mill. My wife is teacher.
Some fields will suffer greatly and some will flourish even in a bad economy.

[HRHDi]

restraunt parking lots full as always,

I can tell you this statement is false. I work for a national restaurant company (casual dining - you know our jingle) and we laid off more than 60 people at our home office in the past 2 weeks - 10 in my department alone. Last Feb. we had the largest layoff in our company's history - 130 people. We haven't replaced the employees who have quit over the past 2 years or so. Our overall sales are down 4% over last year.

The only restaurants with increased or even stable guest counts are the big fast food chains like McDonalds and Yum Brands; and some quick casual like Panera Bread and Potbelly's. Subway's down, Wendy's is almost bankrupt, TGI Friday's and Applebee's is struggling and Bennigans is gone.

I'm safe in my job for the moment, but no one is indispensible. It's an odd paradox that I'm glad more families are eating home-cooked meals at home together instead of a noisy restuarant, but I love my job and the company I work for, so I hope some people keep eating out.

[Red05]

I don't see it. Some stupid businesses go out [a shop that sells nothing but nascar trinketts??], and other businesses are in. I see new strip malls going up with new stores, and even some housing still going up. People driving everywhere, Best Buy full of shoppers, restraunt parking lots full as always, and movie theaters at least 1/3 full as always. aparently SOME ONE is not stopping.

I can tell you this statement is false.

Nationally, you say restaurant business is down but WWJD's statement is not neccesarily false for his area, or mine (Springfield, MO) either. My wife opened a coffee shop December 5th and business has been beyond our wildest expectations. My point is that the gloom is not nationwide, and attitude is paramount right now. These threads proclaiming, advertising and almost celebrating doom aren't helping anything. I wish Obama's statements would take on a more positive aspect.

[F=MA]

I agree that there are isolated pockets in the country that are holding their own. I see them as I travel. I also see the Erie's, Buffalo's, Rochester's, Pittsburgh's, Milwaukee's, Detroit's, Charlotte's, Toledo's, Akron's, Ft. Myers', Las Vegas', New Orleans' out there. If one hasn't seen the big picture, the view is a little myopic.

Congratulations on the short term success of the new business venture, Red05. I sincerely hope it continues for you in the long run. We have some business interests that are performing well, and some that are not. This, at present, seems a great time to be accumulating assets, if one has the capital available.

I don't believe discussing current economic reality and current economic events is inappropriate...at present time it is likely the greatest challenge this country faces (I'll catch flak for that statement, most certainly).

I also can't fault leadership in Washington for being honest with us. The last administration vehemently denied the country was in recession until nearly a year into it.

I understand the "self fufilling prophecy" aspect of admitting there are challenges ahead, but integrity and credibility are paramount as well...and that was sorely lacking in the previous administration.

I also wish Obama's statements would take on a more positive aspect...but I wish even more that the underlying truth behind those statements would actually warrant the "positivity". At present, it doesn't appear to.

Recessions come and go. This one is of greater concern because unlike the last severe recession back in the early 1980's, the average American is already overleveraged. With consumer spending comprising 2/3 of economic activity in the country, how is the overleveraged American consumer going to spend us out of this one?

I believe that is a huge part of the underlying reason we're seeing so much "negativity".

These are my thoughts alone, any or all of you are free to disagree with them.

As always, best wishes to those among us who are feeling the impact of present economic realities.

[WWJD]

I don't see that any negative news HELPS anyone. But that is just me. I will continue to do my part by spending exactly as I always have to try to help support everybody else's jobs as they continue spending supporting mine.
The world does not grind to a complete stop when these things happen. We get through it.

[Red05]

That's it, I'm banned.

[F=MA]

That's it, I'm banned.

I'll go first.

WWJD news, in the sense of accurate reporting of factual information, helps anyone who is able to process it and act accordingly...regardless whether the news is "positive" or "negative".

If your employer (assuming you have one) announced to the media they were going to lay off 90% of the workforce over the next month, that would be the "negative news" you are writing does no one any good.

Such news would allow you to better prepare yourself for the probability that you are about to experience a negative life experience.

Among other things, I fly airplanes professionally. Would I rather have the radar cranked up and looking ahead eighty miles ahead while plowing through the blackness of night, or should I just not use it because I'm not going to like what the reality it is reporting is?

If you were my passenger, which would you prefer? If someone has a family to provide for, would those family members not expect the figurehead to be aware of potential threats?

If I had been a passenger on the Titanic, I would most certainly have preferred the negative news, than to have been kept blissfully ignorant of reality.

Aren't we all like that though?????

[djsin]

im lucky between 3 job if i see 8 hours a week