“President Bush said it's now time for a change in Iraq and he wants them to have a Western-style democracy like ours. So right now in Iraq, the economy is collapsing, businessmen are corrupt, and Hussein wants his son to take over as president. Sounds like mission accomplished.” -- Jay Leno
Like most American's these days my hubby and I have been glued to the TV watching the presidential debates, watching the stock market crisis unfold, watching the often hilarious comedy spoofs of our future elect. And although I find this stuff entertaining & often funny, I mostly find it VERY scary. Today it really hit home. Cody came home with bad news: he was laid off. No work. Something I've heard a lot in the last few years..
Yep, his boss went on vacation for 2 weeks in France & when he left all looked good. Coming back, all of his clients had pulled out. They can't afford the remodels due to the stock market. There is nothing on the books at all. No jobs. And these are clients in the Napa Valley & Bay Area with million dollar homes! Almost everyone is being let go, even employees who have worked for him for years. Cody already was laid off from 2 other cabinet shops in the last few years that had middle class clientele. These are upper class clients who make MILLIONS & now they can't afford it! What the heck is going on? Worse yet, where is he going to work now? We just moved last year to Ukiah for this job.
We can't sell our house as no one can get a loan, our renter left because she can't afford the rent 'cause she has no work, and now we are paying for rent in Ukiah & our mortgage w/ no 2nd income that we need. Thank goodness for our savings which already has been vastly depleted. It isn't like we can just go back to Cobb as there is NO work there. All 3 of the shops in Lake County closed. And of course this couldn't come at a worst time as we leave for Peru this month. What a crappy time to take a vacation! I'm just glad most of it is paid for already.
I know that Cody and I have been blessed and that we are still better off then most people even with him loosing another job, but I'm starting to think that maybe we could loose everything. I'm very angry about the US economy and that all this is happening. We can't even sell our biggest asset - our house - to go find other work in another town because so many people bought homes they couldn't afford, so many banks lent money they shouldn't have.
I know that we did the right thing, we saved our money, we invested smartly for our future, we didn't buy a huge $300,000 dollar home, we paid a huge amount down & have paid over 1/3 of our house off, we bought a small home and we upped it's value (it's still worth way more then when we bought it, we paid taxes, we have no debt except our house & a little bit on one of our cars, and yet we could loose it all because our government can't do it's job & because a lot of dumb corps & dumb banks, & dumb people in the US can't manage their money and they spend more then they should have. Everything that we have worked for could be lost and we can't do a darn thing about it. Already we've lost a ton of money from our IRA's & savings and now our best asset -our home - has become a liability. If we can't rent it out, how can we afford to rent someplace else?
We don't have the money for health insurance now either. If either of us gets sick we could loose all our savings & possibly our house. Both my brother & my sister owe over $40,000 for emergency health fees now. These days I live in fear that Cody or I'll need to ride in an ambulance or helicopter for some stupid accident and end up owing $60,000 or that the bank will call our house loan and we won't have the cash to pay it off.
I know that we will be ok and that my family will always help us, if they can. But it is scary and I am angry. I'm glad for a sense of humor though and that we have shows like SNL to make us laugh at this situation and lighten up this insane time. But I really have my doubts that anything, even the next President, could fix this mess anytime soon. And what are we going to do between now and then? And how much will we loose in the meantime?
3 comments:
I'm so sorry Denise. I will pray for you and Cody. You guys have been responsible with your money so you're still in a better position than people who haven't been (which is why we're in this mess). I too have been frustrated with the government. The more they mess with the economy the worse it gets. And neither one of the presidential candidates seems to have a clear plan. They don't live on a little place I like to call Earth. That plus they're full of CRAP. Its easy to become pessimistic. I guess we can just do the best we can do, and trust that God will take care of us. Keep hanging in there! I love ya!
Thanks Di you are very sweet. I'm sorry for the angry and pessimistic venting. I guess I've just grown tired and all of this is starting to really get to me. I do know how blessed Cody and I are and that we'll be ok in the long run. I love you too & hope things are ok with you and your family.
Man Denise, that bites. We'll be praying for you and Cody too. Everyone I know is worried. It is very upsetting that greedy, irresponsible Americans have ruined things for us responsible ones. Things will eventually get better, but you're right; it's probably gonna take a while. Hang in there! We love you.
Post a Comment