Ping Swingman or Bldg contractors-remod specialists.

[Leon]

Double that number and you can but a new 2000+ sq.ft. home on a 7500 sq ft lot. in the Houston area.

[Ed Pawlowski]

There are some really good dealers and independent shops but the auto repair industry is loaded with sleazy shops too. I'm sure everyone here has stories about them.

The money you cheated the dealer out of is better spent taking your wife to dinner and enriching the restaurant staff.

[krw]

Does your neighbor work for a dealer? ;-)

Some cars are easy to work on, some next to impossible to do this sort of thing. I've stopped doing any maintenance on my cars. I don't have the time and I have other things I'd rather bust my knuckles on.

[krw]

I don't know how sleazy ones stay in business because there are so many good ones.

Or buying a (Fes)tool. ;-)

[OFWW]

AMEN!

[Bill]

I witnessed him replacing some of his windows, with an assistant. I'm just waiting for the right time to bring it up! ; ) Maybe I should hand him an ad from the telephone book?

[krw]

Be prepared to duck. ;-)

[Bill]

Having recently heard the term, I think what he really has is "Rodney Dangerfield Syndrome".... I think some medical people invented the term for use in their discipline. It may loosely correspond with having a job you hate. It's an interesting phenomenon, but not nearly as funny as Rodney Dangerfield was (I liked him).

[krw]

I see a lot of people who hate their jobs. I think your "Rodney Dangerfield Syndrome" may explain a lot, though it's not clear which is the cause and effect. I'd guess that low esteem leads to hating one's job (and everything else). If you don't like your job, find a new one. Some will (can?) never be happy, though.

[Leon]

Is our neighbor an idiot? You will spend that money sometime or another.

[Leon]

Their customers haven't a clue.

Having a clue. ;~)

[krw]

You wouldn't ever SAVE it, right? ;-)

[Leon]

There is that, but you save it to spend it.

[krw]

Yeah, on things like food fifty years later. ;-)

I thought you were going to come back with the point that "saving" is investing, which is even better than spending, economically speaking.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I know people that hate their job, but when asked why they don't change you hear "the money is good" Money is important, but not everything.

If I had a job I did not like I would have retired 5 years ago, but fortunately, I like what I do and the people I do it with. But I have cut back to 3 days a week now.

[Bill]

That's certainly not true in today's market. You practically have to pay people to take your money--they (the banks) can basically get money for free from the Fed. Obviously, the Fed wants you to spend--that's the whole point of giving away money at 0% interest rate. I worry that if and when it changes, we could see quick a dip from the DJIA at 18.5K. Incidently, that side affect could really affect consumer consumption/spending. I mean, people may stop eating! ; )

[krw]

Yeah, I've been there too. The last five years of one job were awful (the first fifteen or twenty were great, then it went downhill) but there are always other jobs that pay well. It might take some work or a venture outside the comfort zone to get there. In my case, I had to move (ended up being three times in four years) but found an even better place to be.

The bigger problem is that some will never be happy.

I told my wife that I'd retire if my job was no longer fun. She told me that it had better be fun until at least next summer (mortgage paid off). ;-)

[krw]

That's arguable, but you have a point. If you look at the economy as a whole, saving is better than spending. Though when everyone is spending (what they don't have) like a drunken sailor, including government, maybe it is better to become a prepper and invest in freeze-dried food. Stock plenty of ammo, too! ;-)

The bottom line is that you have to diversify pretty widely, right now. I still don't think it's as bad as it was in the late '70s. The "misery index" said it all. You could easily borrow money at significantly lower interest than inflation. At least we're not that upside-down, today.

The problem is going to be when interest does increase, the government won't be *able* to pay the interest on the Obamadebt. Rates have been artificially held down by things like QE1/2/3 but they can't go on forever. The bill for Obamaspending will come due!

[Bill]

From what I have heard, neither T nor H said anything about cutting spending...

[krw]

T _has_ made some statements about people being able to (and should) work for themselves. That's a start, but you're right in at least one way. Both would challenge Obama for the deficit prize.