SO I have some money in the stock market (or I did until last week). The last couple of weeks have been devastating to many. It reminds me of that scene in Animal House where Kevin Bacon's character is trying to stop a crowd of hysterical parade goers from going berserk. He keeps saying, "Stay calm. All is well." or something like that. By the end he is flat as a pancake on the sidewalk. Sort of like the economy. I actually created this blog so that I could get that yahoo thing that shows you the latest stock market quotes. Why I did this is unclear- I mean, I have been avoiding any venue that would provide the latest news because it has been such awful surreal stuff- I went to the laundromat on Thursday afternoon because the television there is always on a sports channel but wouldn't you know it was tuned to CNN and in the thirty minutes it took for my clothes to do the wash cycle, the DOW dropped from -250 to -679. I was not amused. And as I watched my former fairly comfortable life sink to ruin, I noticed that my American Express card was in the washing machine, plastered against the window like a sick symbol of the credit markets seizing up- It's all going down the drain.
So today is a bit better- Maybe the margin accounts have all cashed in. Maybe the hedge fund putzes have done their worst. Maybe I am the last one standing- maybe my "cushion" will stay soft and plump but it is currently very thin. I wish there weren't so many maybes.
In case you think (I don't know if there is anyone reading this to think anything but I don't really care as I am sort of writing this as therapy), that I play the markets, I really don't. I had a trust (strange word for such an unstable kind of investment) that I have not been too kind to. I stopped working to raise my kids and borrowed against it to pay for stuff like health care and other necessities- But I have to admit it was also for a bunch of junk I didn't need. Oh, reason not the need but now I have decided that reason is exactly what I need- No more impulse spending, no more Starbucks vente lo-foam lattes (yes, that is the cliche but it's true- I wasted a lot of money on java.) and no more ordering in food- It's off to the grocery store and Goodwill for me. No more spur of the moment ebay surfing. No more salon trips (though I have to say that I only go twice a year as it is and took heart yesterday when a couple of teenaged girls told me they loved my hair with its three inch swath of white roots. There is a definite demarcation between the dye job and the white- a line as it were- and these gals thought it was hot or ghetto or something.) And yet there is still the twelve year old that needs braces and a new violin and an eighteen year old in her first year of college and a husband in denial. I take complete responsibility for my non-frugal ways but how to get the rest of the crew to sign on? My husband is terrible about money- I recently got rid of long distance service for our personal landline (we have a business line as well and cellphones for each family member) and you would have thought I had cheated on him the way he reacted.) What ever happened to every bit counts? Yes, we will only save about $30 a month but that's better than not saving it!
Ah, well, I am tired of writing this already. Maybe I will write again or rejuvenate my diary instead so that only I can read this drivel. I hope that whoever if anyone reads this, that they are not in my boat because the water is up to my neck now and there is not a bucket in sight to bail me out.
