Sunday July 27, 2008

Am I a lucky guy or what?!?! If the election were held today Barack Obama would be my President! He holds a commanding lead in the race...to be the Prime Minister of England or Germany...and something significant in France...not quite sure what it is but it is probably le gross legume...so I guess that the good news because things aren't quite settled yet here in the U.S....because we all know that our European brethren have done such a splendid job in politics the past thousand years or so...therefore it behooves us to consider carefully their counsel of political leadership...knowing that they are always 'spot on' in politics....

...Anyway, there are other more important things to discuss...most notably the economy...which is clearly not a strength for either of the Presidential candidates...but there are three things that continue to concern me...really distress me is more accurate...that just don't seem to get the proper amount of attention for a healthy and vibrant economy...including the ongoing credit market tightening which is a result of the mortgage mess...because for five years banks and lending institutions were throwing money at anyone...hmmmm....let's see...Do you have a pulse? Dheck! Do you have a job? Check! Not sure how much you make? Check! Bad credit history? Check! Too large of a loan for you? Check! OK here is your loan! Enjoy! And make sure to go to Home Depot and spend some more money...

...But now the opposite is happening in the restriction of credit...I sat in on a "Business Rountable" recently of construction and real estate leaders of San Diego and I have to tell you that it was pretty dire in the lack of construction and development funding....the pipeline is really running dry and we are not going to feel the effects of this for a while...the banks have clamped down so hard that only the very wealthiest can get loans for projects, homes, businesses...and this is going to really bite us hard in the future...

...And the dull work of infrastructure continues to be neglected...I mean why build bridges when we have the important work of banning transfats from California restaurants to tackle...(man, I have been losing sleep over that one! Thanks Arnold for protecting me!)...but all the while our roads and bridges and highways are neglected....and at the end of the day these are really the unpaid bills of the future generations because infrastructure is really dull stuff but has a huge impact on everything that we do in society...and the politicians and most of us just don't get it...

...All right, since I have forgotten what the third thing is in the economy that really concerns me...but the whole banning of transfats in California really chafes me...couldn't we have tackled this problem in a bit more comprehensive way? Like actually getting school children away from their text messaging and video "grab fanny" and instead have them moving around the playground during recess? Like having them throw a baseball or play tag or have fun on a swing set? Oh wait a minute...most of those things are now illegal because they caused an injury somewhere somehow...so let's ban those items...but wasn't there some sort of a benefit to those old "Presidential Fitness Tests" we did every year at Temperance-Kutner Elementary in Clovis?...those darned pull-ups I absolutely hated... (thanks to the Ataide side of the family bequeathing us bad hearts and thin arms...not exactly the stuff of longevity or physical strength)...but the other stuff I could do OK...well, at least not the worst in Mrs. Locke's class...dear old lady that she was...

...Did I tell you about my confrontation with a little old lady in a parking lot in San Diego? Seems like she didn't like the fact that I drive an SUV...

...So my freshly minted son in law Dustin and his dad are getting into my 2004 well worn Yukon at Liberty Station...and they make a comment that it is really tight getting into the space and opening the door...which it was...and Agnes Frankenberry is walking behind my car as I am opening my door...and she says as she passes in a fairly loud voice "Well maybe you should get a smaller car"...so I immediately went up and thanked her for the great advice as I had never considered such a thing...she was like a walking Suzi Orman, Dear Abby and Judge Judy all wrapped up into one cute little package...well, maybe not...

...what I actually said to her as she was walking away was "This was a great car to help raise our family and haul everyone around to school and work events"...and she made a sound that actually was like a "harumph" and kept walking...and I have to say it really bugged me that she would hurt my Yukon's feelings like that!...but the funny thing is that it really makes no sense for me to sell old "Yukie" for the following reasons:

*She is paid for (a rarity these days)

*She is fully depreciated

*She really does get pretty good mileage (17-18 city/20-22 highway)

*I drive very little in the Yukon (after all, we do have a Volvo)

*Friends and family love to borrow the Yukon to haul things

*The SUV resale market is terrible (big surprise!)

...but the most important reason is...that I should be free to decide what I want to drive...

...So please if I am a bit slow to jump on the Prius bandwagon...cut me a bit of slack on this topic Agnes! Yukon owners have feelings too!

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...One last thing...

Just in case you missed it check out Will Ferrell's accepting the ESPY Award for Tiger Woods...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NX74uQUIPLo