"It's quiet out there."
"Yeah, too quiet."
FLIEEETHT! (Arrow quivering in back...)
It's very hard to get a read on things right now. I looked out the window the other day, and there were 10 parking spots in front of my store (out of 12). This was about 4:00 in the afternoon, and I can't remember the last time that had happened.
Next day, after a very slow couple of hours, I looked out and they were all full.
I've hit my average for the month so far, but it's been almost all comics. Some of my subscribers have been trickling in and picking up their shelves. This is reassuring, since they really are the base of my store -- but the numbers on everything else are way down.
Comments on the BB2 this week so far, are a measly 200 in number. Bend Economy Board seems to have even less traffic.
Congress continues to play politics, and I'm disgusted with both sides. The Democrats have undoubtedly poured tons of pork on the barbie, and may not be doing due diligence (again) while the Republicans seem to think corporate tax breaks are a good idea.
I really don't want to get into a political discussion, here. I'm just registering my disgust.
I just think there isn't much clarity in the situation right now. As though everyone's waiting for another shoe to drop.
I personally believe there might be another level to drop. The people on top, the Davos people, the economists on Charlie Rose, the economy blogs I pay attention to, are so much more dire than before, it makes you wonder.
I don't believe that just because they all agree, they must be wrong. That seems like magical thinking to me, just as believing that if they all agreed in the opposite direction they must be wrong.
Anecdotally, I'm hearing of more and more layoffs and hours cut. Microsemi layed their people off for the week, for instance. I'm also losing customers to out-of-town work, more and more.
I think this is the kind of economy where clear-cut bad things could happen, but anything good is probably happening behind the scenes and incrementally.
So we just need to keep muddling through.
"Yeah, too quiet."
FLIEEETHT! (Arrow quivering in back...)
It's very hard to get a read on things right now. I looked out the window the other day, and there were 10 parking spots in front of my store (out of 12). This was about 4:00 in the afternoon, and I can't remember the last time that had happened.
Next day, after a very slow couple of hours, I looked out and they were all full.
I've hit my average for the month so far, but it's been almost all comics. Some of my subscribers have been trickling in and picking up their shelves. This is reassuring, since they really are the base of my store -- but the numbers on everything else are way down.
Comments on the BB2 this week so far, are a measly 200 in number. Bend Economy Board seems to have even less traffic.
Congress continues to play politics, and I'm disgusted with both sides. The Democrats have undoubtedly poured tons of pork on the barbie, and may not be doing due diligence (again) while the Republicans seem to think corporate tax breaks are a good idea.
I really don't want to get into a political discussion, here. I'm just registering my disgust.
I just think there isn't much clarity in the situation right now. As though everyone's waiting for another shoe to drop.
I personally believe there might be another level to drop. The people on top, the Davos people, the economists on Charlie Rose, the economy blogs I pay attention to, are so much more dire than before, it makes you wonder.
I don't believe that just because they all agree, they must be wrong. That seems like magical thinking to me, just as believing that if they all agreed in the opposite direction they must be wrong.
Anecdotally, I'm hearing of more and more layoffs and hours cut. Microsemi layed their people off for the week, for instance. I'm also losing customers to out-of-town work, more and more.
I think this is the kind of economy where clear-cut bad things could happen, but anything good is probably happening behind the scenes and incrementally.
So we just need to keep muddling through.