Ha!! I can remember when it rose to $0.50/gallon and I was flabbergasted. I know what you mean... I am beginning to sound like my dad (who was an adult during the depression) who used to go on and on about how he worked for $5 a week and his room and board was $3 (the same story I heard over and over, whenever he encountered something outrageous like a $2 hamburger :)). Robin

Hey, that would be me doing the squealing... I thought it was awesome! This is exactly the sort of thing the guy was talking about in the article (elastic bookmarks, book bungees... all the same).

But don't you think it's a little presumptuous to assume that the very existance of a book bungee that costs over $10 means that a lot of people are buying them when they shouldn't be? There have always been nicer, more expensive wares available to those who can afford them... all the way back in world history. I just don't get the connection between that and consumerism. If people are buying things they can't afford, then yeah... that's a problem. But it's their spending that's the problem, not the availability of the product. Those book bungees are really cool, btw. Just as cool as a circa puncher or desk apprentice, imo, and no less a luxury item :).

LOL!!!

Thanks! I think I like the Levenger one better, too... nice leather.

Yeah, Margaret - it's all your fault! The world's economy is crashing down because you weren't happy with $5 canvas tote from Walmart!! :) All kidding aside, though, I think people ought to be able to spend their hard earned money on whatever gives them pleasure without being made to feel like they are doing someting wrong. If you have $185 and want to spend it on a nice purse, what the heck's wrong with that?

There are actually several factors in the price drop. It always drops after the summer driving season, when demand is at its highest. Add that to the drop in demand from people scaling back. There's actually a bit of a surplus right now due to the decline in demand, such that OPEC has called an "historic" meeting (news article's words, not mine!) in response to the falling demand and prices... something about maybe cutting back on production to "stabilize" prices. Ha! Where were they and their historic meetings when prices were spiraling out of control? Also, there is the theory that prices are dropping because of the threat of a major world wide recession. Everything is losing value.

You were wanting one locally, and I felt bad that I couldn't remember the store where I saw them... so I tried to search local stores online, and I found this one (which is not at a local store, btw): http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/PRODUCT/Product.asp?Params=category=17-671|level=2-3|pageid=6082 Look at the other photos - it will hold your glasses, too! And it can be personalized. All for $12!! This is awesome! I want one! For Christmas!! And a couple of my "smaller" christmas gift dilemnas are SOLVED, too! Woo hoo!! HTH, Robin

Hilarious!!!

Maybe Barnes and Noble? Someplace like that... can't remember... But I also saw them online once for a little more than that... Hey, if you find another one of those trees, can I get a graft of it? :)

You know, I've decided to quit worrying my dd right now about economic times. We've had so many rough times in the past that I'm beginning to feel like all I've done is drag her through the muck. She's a kid. She can't do anything about it. She knows that we buy whatever we can afford, and I'm trying to teach her to be happy with whatever she has. Honestly, she doesn't fully realize the difference between a $20 gift and a $100 gift if they both equally please her. So I try to find things that please her and occupies her imagination/time. She doesn't need to know that of everything I had to choose from, I gave her something that cost less than other options. She's just glad to have something she values. Most of the gifts that she has valued the most have been simple gifts, anyway... so I've decided to shelter her a little from the current crisis unless it really starts to impact us severely. There is no reason to burden her with worry. As her parent, I feel it's my job to carry that burden for her and only tell her what she really needs to know. She doesn't need to know about every possible scenario out there... only what is real in our lives. If that means cutting back a little, I honestly feel I can do that without her even noticing. If we have trouble putting food on the table, or if we have to quit music lessons or something like that, then I will sit her down and to be perfectly honest, I'll probably put a positive spin on it. I don't care if people think I'm sheltering her from reality. She's got the rest of her adulthood to deal with reality... I want to teach her to look for the silver lining and to remain positive and not let times like this consume her with fear and worry. I don't think all kids handle this sort of thing emotionally as well as we think they do. JMO, but that's how I'm handling it here. I'm going to try to keep things "feeling" as normal as possible for as long as possible.

Actually, I believe it said that he sells elastic book marks for *no more* than $13... which means that's the most they are. Those bungee book marks are about $6 around here... and yes, they can go up over ten dollars and even more if they are decorative or have pockets for pens, etc. I feel the same way though, when I see handbags that are over $100 and clothing more than that.

My husband's income is 100% commission also. He is an industrial (as in heavy industry) sales specialist. We had a couple of bad months early in the summer but things have picked up a little since then. Phone is still ringing and back orders look normal. That could all dry up tomorrow, though. I think this is the reason why a lot of us supported the original bail out (you know... the one that would have been the better one to pass because it didn't have all the pork attached yet). Credit is very important to businesses. And to state governments. We are just now beginning to feel the fall out of the credit pinch. It take a while for effects to ripple through, and it will take a while before any of the "fixes" will make the slightest difference. Things will probably get worse before they get better. If we get to the point where we can't pay our mortgage, etc., we'll probably be in the same boat with everyone else and we'll just deal with it. We've talked about our economist friends before... the one I always mention told me back in March, right after the Bea rSterns collapse, that it would probably take a year for the fallout to be realized (more failed banks, credit crisis, etc.) and that we could look for the Dow to drop to around 8000 or maybe a little less. Hopefully he was right... because we're almost there, that would mean that this is close to the bottom. Who knows.

((Heather))... I am so very sorry for your friend's family and loved ones - she sounds such like a beautiful person! Thank you for the update and for the sweet note - you truly blessed me today. Robin

Ha!! Isn't *that* the truth!!

Okay, gotcha... I definitely don't consider it pork and I really am appalled at the way McCain made it sound like it was a little projector sitting in someone's back office. With that we most definitely agree! I might not think that the opportunity cost of spending that money on the planetarium is the best scenario, but I would NEVER call it pork... ever. And that really was your original point, whicih I completely strayed from. Thanks for the compliment... but truthfully, you're the one who is so easy to agree with. You are my meshed mind buddy!!

I don't begrudge it either, but I've also heard that the state of Illinois's public education system is close to bankrupt and they won't be able to fund their own pension plan in the near future. I agree that we, as a nation, need to put high priority on these things but there are lots of private resources as well... it doesn't all have to come from government. But if we are really concerned about the education system, speifically in Illinois, there are a lot of things that money could have gone towards that would have reached a lot more classrooms and teachers. The existence of a planetarium in Chicago is worthy, but it (in and of itself) will not contribute to the outcomes you listed. I hear what you're saying, but I also think that if the funding had gone directly to science education in the state as a whole it would be a stronger argument. A lot of our museum's facilities are funded by philanthropy as are our fine arts. There is more than enough money in Chicago alone to fund a major museum renovation like that... I don't know that I agree it should come from federal revenues, yet at the same time I do appreciate national endowments. I have mixed feelings. Really, I do. Especially when I know that real math and science teachers who are trying to make a measured difference in the lives of their students are facing a bankrupt pension plan in the very same state. I think we can have both. Good technology *and* properly funded education system... the system depends more on tax revenues for funding, though, while raising money for a planetarium is much more doable through general public solicitations, imo.

Aww... I'm so sorry you lost your friend and supporter, Ria. :grouphug:

If small independent scrapbook, stamp and hobby stores with just a few employees are clearing more than a quarter a million dollars a year... well, all I can say is my husband and I are definitely in the wrong line of work! LOL

$3.80? Yikes!! Hope that turns around soon!!

How frightening! I'm so glad all is okay, and I hope the car can be replaced without a lot of hassle (no problems with insurance companies, etc.). Thanks for posting! Robin

Companies are taxed on net profits, not gross. Businesses are allowed to write of all their expenses, not just their COGS. The service industry doesn't even have a gross profit that differs significantly from their total income. Gross income/profit might be used for measuring thresholds (the way gross income is used to measure individual thresholds for deducting medical expenses, etc.). But that is not what they pay income taxes on. At least that's not the way I learned it in my college FIT class. Maybe things have changed since then (but I doubt it)... ETA: P.S. Everything I've ever read about the oil companiea posting record breaking profits this year have been about just that... profits. Net income. Not gross.

Gotta look at the silver lining, ya know... :)

I thought income taxes were assessed on net profits, not sales. Not that I'm for Obama's plan, but when he says businesses that make over $250,000, doesn't he mean actually *make* as in "earn"?

Dunno. Couldn't stay awake. And I tried. Hard.