It is not a pretty story. At

least not pretty in so far as

the details that I have heard

from her.

You see, these two women were

partners in a thriving, successful

business.   The business was doing

well.

Then all of the sudden, at least

the way I hear the story, this other

partner decides she wants to buy

my friend out for 50 cents on the

dollar.  And that’s the way it was

written into the business contract

when they set up business, way

down in the fine print.

So the business separated the two

partners, and this woman got a

little money, but not nearly so much

as she would have gotten if she’d

been allowed to stay in the business.

She is depressed beyond belief, as

this was not just a business, but she

had invested her heart and soul

into in, and would never in a thousand

years have bought out the other

partner the way it was done to her.

She can hardly get out of bed.  Her

husband is at his wits end wanting to

know what he can do for her.  I

really do think she is clinically

depressed.  I only happened to

see her at the funeral of a mutual

friend.  Otherwise I guess she

is being a recluse and really

down in the dumps.  Worst of

all she is blaming herself for

the other person’s behavior, and

for having a business contract

where she trusted someone and

they took advantage of it.  I

personally wonder if this is

something she will ever be able

to recover from.. she used to

be such a strong and dynamic

person, but that was not the

person I saw recently.

you have food poisoning

and when it is just the flu?

I ate at a mexican restaurant

and people have been saying that

they have gotten sick there.

I just scoffed at that– what a

bunch of light weights that

can’t take a spicy jalepeno.

But this was not like that.  My

stomach was turned in a knot

and I was up all night.  I will

spare you from the graphic

details.

Now I am starting to think that

perhaps they have unsanitary practices

in their kitchen, and that people

may have actually be right about

getting sick from the food.  Why

would multiple people reach the

same conclusion after eating

there?

workplace that there may be

layoffs soon.

We thought we were pretty well

insulated from the economic

downturn, but I guess not. 

It is difficult for families.  Many

of my friends have adult children

who are moving back home, and

out of work or looking for work.

Even the adult children in graduate

school and college are now worried

that they may not be able to renew

their student loans.

It is so stressful with all the rumors

flying about the office. How do I know

what is true and what is just paranoia?

Maybe we are all ok and some worry

warts are just over-reacting when

the business stock sale price takes

a beating in the market.  I do not

know.

Personally I do not want to overreact,

but then on the other hand, I want to

have time to get prepared for whatever

news is actually coming down the

road.

I feel like throwing up.

What my cousin told me about

her husband.  That he decided he

didn’t want to mess with her or

the kids anymore so he got a newer

model, a girlfriend, and he has

moved in with her.  What kind

of a midlife crisis is this where the

innocent parties end up in economic

turmoil unable to make ends meet,

and the guy who made all this happen

is living a sex-filled life with some

younger woman who doesn’t know

any better about what a jerk he is.

This is especially difficult for me

because I have to say I always liked

the guy.  so what does that say about

me and my taste in human beings,

that I could actually have considered

him to be a friend and then he

betrays my cousin like that. Again,

it just makes me want to vomit.

quite unexpected.

I asent a note to my cousin whom

I had not communicated with in

some time.  We have kept missing

eachother on the phone so I finally

wrote a note.

And guess what I hear back?

Not the happy cheerful hi how are

you or all the latest about their kids’

activities and sports. No.  She tells

me that the two of them are getting

a divorce.  Well, knock me over with

a feather. I am utterly in shock.

I need to think about what I can

possibly say before I call her back.

Surely she is quite depressed and

out of sorts.  How will she ever

survive economically on her own?

What will she do without her

husband’s salay to keep her afloat?

She is no spring chicken either, so

this has got to be a devastating turn

of events.

to my friend.  I feel so sorry for her.

No sooner had they finished working

on their dream home and were about

to move in, than thieves broke in and

stole all the copper tubing right out

from the walls that hadn’t been drywalled

yet.  Imagine that!

I feel so bad for her, especially because

they had made a conscious decision to

go with copper for health reasons instead

of the more contemporary and cheaper

PEX tubing.  So this is how they get

repaid for their health consciousness.

And who stole it? Probably some drug

addict looking for money to get high with.

That is even more disgusting, that such

a low life person was inside actually inside

of their brand new home.  What a violation.

I would not blame her if she decided to

just forget the house and not move in.

I personally could not imagine myself

ever feeling comfortable in the house

after such an assault, even if they

were not actually in the house at the

time.  How could it ever be a home

after that? How could they ever

feel safe there?

and living out of a suitcase.

This has helped me realize that

hotels are the ultimately depressing

place. 

Nothing to do. Nothing to eat. Nothing

to smell except stale air.

I know some people like to get away and

be in a new environment, but to me this

only reminds me that I am away from

home and all that is familiar.

The longer I stay away from home the

more and more I spiral down into feeling

the heaviness of this environment and

I cannot wait to get out of this incarceration

and go home.

Things like politicians.

Just listening to some of our

local politicians talk and I am

ready to go look for some Advil.

They give me such a headache

and I find listening to them to

be such a downer.

Since commerce is down, they

are telling us that tax revenues

are down. That means that the

county government will have

to cut back.  Cutting back means

that they are going to have to

close the library and the courts

down at least one day a month

and probably more.  The people

who work for the county therefore

are not going to get a whole

paycheck because they will be

working fewer hours.

It is all like a big snowball that

grows and grows and the news

gets worse and worse as the

begininning thing that started

all this rolls downhill to disaster.

more of a survivalist.

By that I mean, that I am

focused more and more

on planing for the worst

and being prepared for it.

For instance, lately when

I go to the store I have been

buying extra canned goods

so that I can start developing

a year’s worth of larder in

case I lose my job.

Let’s say, for instance, that

there is a major truck strike

or that there is a major

disaster which wipes out

some of the transcontinental

highways.  In that event

goods will not be able to be

transported from Point A

to Point B.  Youhad better

have a stock of things like

essentials already at home

because the stores will run

out of them instantly within

a few days.  There will be

major runs on things like

food, Pampers, and toilet

paper.  Some things we can

live without like bananas, but

other things are more essential–

like a requisite number of calories

per day.

Now is the time to be planning ahead

for the disaster we hope never comes.

that I goofed up and froze up.

Some days I have a lot to say

and some days not.  It is what

it is.

Sometimes things look bright

and the economy looks like

it is about to turn a corner,

and other days not.  Sometimes

we wonder if there will ever

be a recovery sufficient for

most people to get back to

even where they started.

It is so sad that millions of

people trusted the stock

market and were heavily

invested.  Then the market

betrayed us.

If only we could get sufficient

recovery so that people could

keep on track with their

retirement plans of previously.

As it stands now many people will

never be able to retire.  And we

are talking here about the people

who had devoted energy and

money to their retirements.

Many people living marginally

have never even thought about

retirement or saved a penny

towards it.

We are heading many fear toward

a major depression that alot of

folks will not live long enough to

see us recover from.