[Baldwin]

Long Island has seen a tremendous increase in the # of families at soup kitchens for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Usually, they have the stereotypical single, white men. Over the last 5 years, it has grown to the point where the kitchens almost exclusively serve families.

Additionally, there have been marked increases in the number of thanksgiving food packages (containing turkey, cake, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes) to those with homes wh have trouble affording dinner.

[Revi]

I think I've seen it get even more depressed around here than usual. I've seen lots of people scavenging for bottles and even using a metal detector to search for coins lost in a playground. There are lots of people on the edge already in Maine. They seem to have been pushed off the edge lately. I think that the economy is going soft too. We'll see as soon as the summer comes. Maine is "vacationland" and if the tourists don't show up a lot of people will have an even harder time making ends meet.

[I_Like_Plants]

I also have a story for today...

I was leaving my favorite Pho place after having eaten, and noticed one panhandler leaving his "shift" for the day apparently, in front of the large arts and crafts store. Then I noticed the store now has two panhandlers, there's a lady too. Being as this is America, she's obese, and begs with a sign while leaning against her huge US-made old car. I started talking with her on the subject of the huge amount of fire and police sirens that suddenly went off, and kept up, as if every cop and fireman in Sunnyvale had ants in their pants. She mentioned it's been going on every day, and I volunteered that it may be training, since they have a training field over at the Wolfe st. station and maybe it's a class, and then they're all setting off their sirens as they leave each day. That makes sense, since there was a lot of "woop woopp" playing around type sounds. She then said that nearby, at a coffee shop, she saw over 30 SWAT type people come in, and everyone was having their coffee, and wondered if there was some kind of attack. But there wasn't, the SWAT types all had coffee too, then left. Then the lady said she wonders when there will be an attack here (and kind of motioned like holding a rifle across her body and fighting) and I said, Well.... and she said What about the shooting at that college, and I said well that guy was just nuts, tha'ts all, meaning also that we're not likely to be under attack...

But, friends are observing that a lot of "desperate" people are around, that people are losing their houses, of course the job losses are steady, so every week there's another So and so who lost their job......

Gas it up around $3.50 a gallon here, I'm not sure if that's it though because there are TONS of cars (by which I mean SUVS) on the road.

[Ayoob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seahorse2', 'A')yoob is back!

[strider3700]

tonights news reported that even at record gas prices canadians bought more SUV's then ever before last year. 54% of all vehicles sold could be counted as gas guzzlers but I don't know how they determined gas guzzlers.

Today home depot and the nursury where busy. On the weekend canadian tire was insane and even the roads while we where at garage sales where ultra busy.

Last week at the grocery store however the fruit and veggies selection was either ultra expensive or crappy. This is probably due to it being early spring and most of the stuff on the shelves was picked months ago

If things are slowing down it isn't showing up around here yet.

[jdmartin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('strider3700', 't')onights news reported that even at record gas prices canadians bought more SUV's then ever before last year. 54% of all vehicles sold could be counted as gas guzzlers but I don't know how they determined gas guzzlers.

Today home depot and the nursury where busy. On the weekend canadian tire was insane and even the roads while we where at garage sales where ultra busy.

Last week at the grocery store however the fruit and veggies selection was either ultra expensive or crappy. This is probably due to it being early spring and most of the stuff on the shelves was picked months ago

If things are slowing down it isn't showing up around here yet.

[PrairieMule]

I'm noticing the little things as well here in Dallas. Saturday, I went to the orgy of consumerism that is the Stonbriar mall in Frisco Texas. Not very busy for a Saturday. It seems like there are fewer selections of produce and the vegtables are getting smaller.
Also, I am seeing a lot less Camrys and Accords and more shiny new KIAs in my neighborhood.

[Zentric]

You guys talk about the novelty of witnessing poor-quality or missing produce. But maybe you should talk instead of impending hardships from the scarcity of honeybees...

[Chaparral]

More homeless, more road rage, more tension and anger in the public at large and I've been getting older coins as change. Every time a reccession comes through it seems as folks empty out their penny jars and some old copper pennies, wheat pennies, pre '64 dimes and the like make it into circulation where I snap them up and sequester them in Chaparral's strategic metals reserve.

[Sheb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seahorse2', 'J')ust confirmation that one needs a 9mm, not a 40, ammo is easier to find.

[strider3700]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Chaparral', 'M')ore homeless, more road rage, more tension and anger in the public at large and I've been getting older coins as change.

[gg3]

Chaparral, very interesting observation about old coins in circulation. That could provide a statistically trackable indicator. Hmm! I can see how to turn this into a research protocol. Get two rolls of pennies each week (total of 100 pennies), count up the number in each year, track the changes over time, correlate with the Dow and the NASDAQ.

Do this for a number of geograpic areas to offset local variation. Run the usual statistical tests for validity of correlations. Hmm..!

---

Something I've noticed:

Sales of new PBX equipment (office telephone systems) this year so far have been dismal. However in the last couple of weeks a few decent leads have come in, reflecting overall trends.

One is a company that was in an industry that benefited from the real estate boom but is now downsizing to a smaller office and going for more telecommuters (hence the new PBX). At the first meeting, the client looked me in the eye and said "we're going with you." They recognize they can trust my company because we're fair & square and we don't screw around with people. The underlying trend here is, decline in the real estate sector, and downsizing of related companies.

One is a company that is prominent in a subset of the renewable energy industry. They are growing like crazy, and need a new PBX to provide for growth capacity. At first meeting they were seeking discounts by reference to a competing bid (and of course I obliged: we want them on our roster). The underlying trend here is, increasein business activity in the renewable energy sector.

One is a school, that needs just the basics and is on a tight budget. The best way I can get them what they need without any fluff is to install equipment that is basically decade-old technology, which we have proposed and we will meet with them on Wednesday. The underlying trend here is, schools getting squeezed as usual, and having to be super-cheep about new infrastructure. Depending on what I see when I meet them, we'll probably also give them a decent discount on their wiring for the system (the cable & facilities are handled by a different business unit in the alliance, that holds the usual contractors' licenses for such things).

I'm going to make a wild guess that the next lead will be a Toyota dealership that wants the voicemail system to automatically post the week's current price for Priuses (what the heck is the plural of Prius?:-).

---

Now that we've had a nasty freeway collapse, it's going to be a really good thing for telecommuting. And that in turn is a really good thing for the sale of telecommuter-oriented PBX systems. Yes, I'm going to take advantage of a public disaster to promote my own interests. But only by way of marketing & sales, not by way of milking it or price gouging. Those are lines I draw based on business ethics: it's OK to go out and adevertise like crazy during a relevant disaster, but it's not OK to milk someone's misery or jack up prices to take advantage of a crisis.

We'll see what happens. A new PBX installation every week would be nice. Realistically sales will probably remain lumpy for a while.

[gnm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gg3', 'I')'m going to make a wild guess that the next lead will be a Toyota dealership that wants the voicemail system to automatically post the week's current price for Priuses (what the heck is the plural of Prius?:-).

[WildRose]

One thing that has been raising the hairs on my neck lately is price inflation with groceries. I live in Alberta, and of course with our boom economy currently the rents and house prices are much higher, but I have really noticed inflation in my grocery bills. With a family of five we are struggling to spend less than $1200 a month on groceries. Last week I spent $350 and honestly, where did it go. I am having to plan meals very carefully, we all take bag lunches to work and school and these do not contain convenience foods. I wonder if people in other cities are noticing their grocery bills steadily climbing.

Also, the cost of utilities is steadily increasing. I had a call from our local natural gas company asking if I wanted to go on one of their prepayment plans, supposedly to save our family money now that the gas is deregulated. The thing is, everyone I know who is on one of these plans pays more per year for their natural gas than I do. Of course, the representative from the gas company pushed the idea that being on a plan would protect us from rising natural gas prices. I just told her, no thanks, when the gas gets really expensive we will just use much less of it. I wonder what the utility companies plan to do when the costs of gas and electricity become really expensive and people cannot pay their bills or have to delay paying a bill for a couple weeks. To me, it seems ridiculous that these utility trucks would be stepping up their trips all around the city, disconnecting and reconnecting people to their utility supplies all the time.

A lot of people I know have had to scale back spending, especially for entertainment and driving. However, the malls and big box stores here still are crowded on the weekends. I only go shopping when I really need something.

[gnm]

Wildrose, Definitely seeing food prices increasing here. No more lunches out, I bag it everyday. And every trip to costco things have gone up a little bit more. I have saved receipts to compare prices on common items and over the last 3 years or so I have been observing average 9-12% annual inflation. Never mind energy prices - we all know how much they've gone up!

-G

[WildRose]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gnm', 'W')ildrose, Definitely seeing food prices increasing here. No more lunches out, I bag it everyday. And every trip to costco things have gone up a little bit more. I have saved receipts to compare prices on common items and over the last 3 years or so I have been observing average 9-12% annual inflation. Never mind energy prices - we all know how much they've gone up!

-G

[PrairieMule]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('WildRose', ' ') With a family of five we are struggling to spend less than $1200 a month on groceries.

[WildRose]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrairieMule', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('WildRose', ' ') With a family of five we are struggling to spend less than $1200 a month on groceries.

[PrairieMule]

WR-Sorry not being critical, I can relate to your plight.

In the summer of 1985 my growth spurt hit full steam right after I turned 15. I grew from 5'10 to 6'2 in like 5 months. From the time I was 8 until 18 I drank a gallon of WHOLE milk a day. Nothing was safe in the fridge or cuboard. Running the half mile on the track team kept me lean but requred more inputs. Drove my parents nuts, No kidding.

My dad just broke down and butchered a calf once a year. Saved a heck of a lot of money and I ate beef 3-4 times a week. Roasts, hamburgers, flank steaks.

[strider3700]

price increases on the things that I buy(I don't do the weekly shopping just the quarterly costco run usually) are somewhere in the 10-20% year over year increases. Meats being the worst.