Anecdotal economic field reports (Now Stickied)

An acquaintance of mine has been interviewing for seasonal work in retail for the holidays.

She applied for a position at Macy's, and the first sign that all was not well was that she walked into a huge room full of people (she had assumed she was getting a personal interview).

2nd: They were told that the position would pay only $8.10/hr, even for those with retail experience.

3rd: No one would be getting scheduled work time; the sales positions would be on-call only (I guess Macy's is expecting people to be sitting at home waiting for that special phone call to come into work).

So, it should be real interesting to see how this plays out! Either Macy's is trying to put the squeeze on desperate unemployed people, and/or they are expecting to make next to nothing during the holidays.

IM Chat from this morning:

(11:33:53 AM) Her: i dreamt i was in a mental institution and it wasnt scary but rahter calm like being in a church
(11:34:03 AM) Me: Odd
(11:34:12 AM) Me: Confinement really gets to me
(11:34:15 AM) Me: How was it for you?
(11:35:03 AM) Her: i like small spaces
(11:35:10 AM) Her: i freak out in the open
(11:36:40 AM) Me: interesting
(11:36:54 AM) Me: i'm fine anywhere...it's the idea of someone controlling me and telling me I can't leave that makes me crazy
(11:37:09 AM) Her: oh i like rules and stuff
(11:37:15 AM) Her: i dont question many things

My business here in Turkey has been very good the last 12 mths or so...

Here is one reason:

Quote:

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Annualized economic growth rates exceeded 10 percent in each of the first two quarters this year and the ISE-100 stock index has risen more than 24 percent.

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From: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-0...k-changes.html

The turkish lira has strengthened the last 3 mths from 1.60 to the dollar to today 1.44, so at this point gold is cheaper in turkish lira terms, than when I sold 3 mths ago... So I will go and buy some gold today... :sun:

Stupid Bank Manager

The local credit union I do business with has a branch manager, he is a good guy, friendly, pleasant; he is the guy you go to for loans in that branch.

But he knew NOTHING about MERS, the foreclosure fraud / "show me the note" issues, the stopping of foreclosures in 23 states including PA, etc.

Stuff WE knew about 6 months or more ago, he never even heard of! He didn't even know what MERS was...

IF even the bank manager is clueless about this stuff, then my take is that preps, gold and silver, guns, etc. have a LOOOONNNGG way to run before people realize what is going on.

I use to work in a bank - in IT and I recently dated a personal banker.....

I can tell you that most everyone at a bank is just looking at screens and paper with numbers on it...only the execs, board and a few others even know anything about finance or watch the markets. Most of them too even get tripped up in the politics to make enough time to focus on the big picture.

We went out to dinner with the kids last week, a Saturday evening and there were barely any tables filled. In the past, even a few months ago we would have a short wait. Then Monday evening just me and the husband went out to dinner for my birthday. We just went for pizza and beer because we wanted to catch a movie. No one was there. Really odd. Lots of employees with nothing to do. The theater was practically empty too but that could be because it was a Monday.

Then yesterday I planned to take my son to a book store. It was closed. And the Fresh Market in the same strip mall that had moved out close to a year ago is still vacant. The outdoor shop next to it was also closed. I'm seeing more and more strip malls almost vacant.

One more thing I notice is during the day, early afternoon from noon until 3 or so, traffic is a nightmare. It's as if no one is working anymore and just out and about. Things are strange out there.

My Co- A fairly large international pipeline / petro engineering firm based in Houston just laid off 60 people - 10% of its staff.

Yesterday was a bad day.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TheNocturnalEgyptian

IM Chat from this morning:

(11:33:53 AM) Her: i dreamt i was in a mental institution and it wasnt scary but rahter calm like being in a church
(11:34:03 AM) Me: Odd
(11:34:12 AM) Me: Confinement really gets to me
(11:34:15 AM) Me: How was it for you?
(11:35:03 AM) Her: i like small spaces
(11:35:10 AM) Her: i freak out in the open
(11:36:40 AM) Me: interesting
(11:36:54 AM) Me: i'm fine anywhere...it's the idea of someone controlling me and telling me I can't leave that makes me crazy
(11:37:09 AM) Her: oh i like rules and stuff
(11:37:15 AM) Her: i dont question many things

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She's into light B&D. She wants a strong dominant man to control her and do little nasty things to her. I just mention this 'cause I thought you might profit from the knowledge. ;)

http://i.imgur.com/Kuna8.jpg


People out there are getting restless...and informed.

Idaho to cut $8 million in Medicaid services

by Associated Press - KTVB.COM

Updated yesterday at 9:24 PM

BOISE -- The state is poised to make $8 million worth of cuts to Medicaid programs and services that cater to low-income adults with severe mental illness or children with disabilities like Autism.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has drafted a new set of rules that would authorize cuts designed to save the agency about $1.6 million. The state cuts, however, would also trigger the loss of another $6.5 million in Medicaid matching money used to pay for those services.

Advocates for the mentally ill and disabled say the rules unfairly target a group that can ill afford rollbacks in services and programs.

Set to go in effect in January, the reductions or elimination of some services target programs for adults diagnosed with severe depression and schizophrenia, or children with Asperger's syndrome or other developmental challenges.

:o

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