Takin’ on the Queen City

The state of the economy is terrifying. And with my iPhone I have all the information reminding me of that fact at my fingertips. I can check the DOW with one click … only to see it free-falling. CNN is a second away. I had hope today for a few hours. Only to find out the gain was lost and the decline continued.

Did you know that Iceland is going bankrupt? Their economy is overly reliant on banks and it’s hitting them hard.  Markets around the world are tanking. The global nature of this is what scares me the most. I’m not typically one to lose hope… but I can truthfully say that I don’t know what the world will look like this time next year.

I feel like the fed is grasping at old tricks. Yes… cutting interest rates has boosted lending & spending in the past. It has helped the economy. BUT THERE WAS MONEY TO LEND! In some ways, the low interest rates of the early to mid 2000s helped us get into this mess by encouraging too many people to borrow more money that they can actually pay back… and by encouraging financial institutions to come up with new risky ”products” for this tidal wave of borrowers by loosening regulations. I agree that lending and spending is necessary to keep businesses open and jobs available. But come on. There has to be some other tactic we can come up with all those big brains in Washington. The problem isn’t that people/companies don’t want to borrow. The problem is the money isn’t there to lend because people have borrowed too much.

I do hope the tactics they’re using help…  and I’m NOT encouraging big interest rate spikes … I just have trouble with the concept of lowering rates when they’re already pretty darn low. Another point and a half and we’re at zero! This solution is short term at best.

Then we have the “bailout” package. As a concept, it’s actually pretty interesting. And it could end up making money for the government in the end if the economy actually recovers. My worry is two-fold.

(1) Where are the hundreds of billions of dollars coming from? Are we borrowing it from another country? And if so, what country has that kind of a surplus when this problem is global? Are we simply going to print more money and make the dollar worth less by flooding the market with more cash? And if the latter is the plan, won’t that spike inflation?

(2) The fact that our congress could not come up with a plan without fattening it up with all the “sweeteners” outright angers me. Our leaders couldn’t get past their own agendas to help the country. That fact makes me incredibly sad. I know it’s a difficult problem. I know people have different ideas about how to solve it. But wouldn’t it make more sense to take the time to come up with a real solution that doesn’t cost the government $150 Billion above and beyond the cost of the package?

One of the few things left that I admired McCain for flew out the window after the Senate vote. He talked big about how earmarks would be a disturbing and disgusting thing to tack onto this rescue plan… and then voted for it without a peep. Not a single statement against this horrible practice… which is his #1 issue. What kind of leadership is that?  

People are scrambling for the duct tape. But the problem is akin to a leak in Hoover Dam. Eventually the duct tape will get soggy and fall off… and the leak will still exist.

Step back. Be thoughtful. What’s the cause? Address that. And then come up with some short term solutions that will bridge the gap between now and the time when the real plan can be executed to fix the root of the issue.

Dan and I were lucky. We happened upon good jobs at a not so good time. But I see people who are suffering. People in my own family. Close friends of mine who did everything right. They saved. Got their credit score up. Bought a house at a reasonable price they could afford. And their home value has dropped by almost half.

Think about that. Half.

And layoffs… it amazes me how many layoff stories I’ve already heard.

I want to have confidence because I know lack of confidence is a big part of the market mess… but it’s hard when the ground we stand on is crumbling.

The whole thing’s not purple, but it’s bruised pretty bad.  

I hit the corner of our laundry hamper with my foot this morning and my pinky toe went one way, and the rest of my toes the other. It hurt more and more throughout the day… even warranting a trip to the office nurse. She gauzed and taped it and I hobbled around for the rest of the day.

To make things even more interesting, I was SUPER late to the airport for my flight to New Jersey. I thought the plane left at 4:05, and realized at 1:35 that it left at 3:05… and, of course, I was 45 minutes from the airport.

So… imagine this. Me and my purple toe hobble-running through the maze of office hallways, out the door, and across the parking lot to my car… then speeding like a bat out of hell to the airport before deparately searching for a spot in an overfilled garage… followed more hobble-running up and down escalators and through the airport. To add to my luck, I even had a bag searched at airport security because they thought my belt (which I’d taken off so as not to set off the alarms) was a weapon. Oiy!

But, I made it. Barely. And I’m here. Woohoo!

And now that I’ve been off the toe for a bit it’s feeling better. Cross your fingers that it’s not broken. We’re going to ride roller coasters this weekend  at Kings Island and I want to be in top form!

We got the house. Within our price range. Woohoo!

 So excited!!!!!

And the negotiation has begun. We took some video as we saw the house again today.

The main living area:

Master Bedroom:

Master Bath

From dining room to hallway with 2 bedrooms/baths

Backyard

Here is the house we’re most interested in right now!!!

http://www.sibcycline.com/viewlisting.asp?mls=1139715&b=CIN&p=RESI&s=SFRD&m=1&sender=SearchResults&a=6281-Coachlite-Wy-Madeira-OH-45243

Remember our puppy Street? When we discussed him with the breeder & her friend, we all came to the conclusion that he needed a job since he’s so smart and has so much energy. And now he does!

He moved to Atlanta at the beginning of August and is being trained as a canine companion for disabled veterans. :)  They love him there and we get regular updates on how he’s doing. We recently got a picture of him in his canine companion cape… he’s stealing hearts all over the place at the training center.

To hear the title correctly, sing it to the tune of “matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match” from Fiddler on the Roof.

But I digress…

Our realtor took us on our 2nd full day of house-hunting today.

On the first trip two weeks ago we left feeling dejected and hopeless. We fought all weekend, took each others’ opinions as direct personal attacks … it was not a pretty picture. But. By the end of the weekend we got to the root of the issue. We didn’t understand each others’ house hunting priorities.

I must digress one more time. My husband just sat down next to me with Baba Ghannaouj and mini pitas. The odor knocked me sideways. Holy crap it’s stinky. He had this same late night snack last night and chased me around the house threatening me with his stinky garlic baba ghannouj breath. Evil evil man. :) I see mouthwash in his future. 

OK, back to the house hunt.

My #1 priority is location. Because our company has about 8 offices scattered around the city and either of us could be transferred to any of them for our next assignment, I don’t want to sacrifice my quality of life by having to drive an hour plus to work simply because the houses are newer and cheaper way out in suburbia. Especially once we have kids. I can’t imagine being so far away from our fictitious future children… and I don’t want to feel forced to give up a good opportunity at work due to the location.

Dan’s #1 priority is having an open floor plan, ideally with modern finishes. He’s OK being farther away if it means getting a better house.

Cincinnati is an OLD city. The houses in and near the city and in desirable neighborhoods are ancient. And 100+ year old houses don’t have open floor plans. Hence, our conflict.

On the first trip out that’s most of what we saw… old old old. Except for two brand new condos, but parking for them sucked or was gated due to being in a less than desirable neighborhood. Clash. Clang. Bash. And two very sad househunters.

This time we moved slightly further out but still central to the variety of company offices … and looked at newer places (if you can call built in the 1960s “new”) . And we were amazed. We love two of the houses. And like multiple others. Yay!!

The one we super duper love is a bit over our price range, but it’s totally move-in ready - updated very open floorplan, modern energy efficient windows and ac/heat, ranch-style with a finished lower level that could become Dan’s media room, a kitchen that overlooks the living room and out into the backyard which they’ve made into a very cozy little paradise. Oh, and they’re leaving the pool table in the basement - my cues could be put to good use!

The other one we love is also a split level ranch-style place, but would need some updates. The good news about this one is that it’s right in our price range. If we do this one, we want to knock out a wall right away that separates the kitchen from the living area, but it looks like a do-able job.

We’re going to see the super love-it house again tomorrow during an open house they’re having. And our realtor is checking on the pricing to see how much room we have to negotiate on the price. If we love it … we might make an offer. Ack! That’s a bit intimidating, but really exciting. Woohoo!

There have been weeks in my job where I’m never quite sure what I’m doing.  There are other weeks where I’m feeling pretty good at having everything buttoned down.  Yesterday, was the first day I felt really exhilitrated and in control of my job and where I could make a big difference.

 The first part was a presentation that our intern was doing that I had a big hand in caused quite an uproar.  Several people were not happy with the numbers we were presenting.  However, this isn’t a bad thing as the numbers are what they are the challenge was being made to the assumptions we used.  Which means we were able to generate a lot of discussion and a lot of talk on our existing business model.  It was really great and made me feel really comfortable at P&G that I could get into a conflict with people, but not come out singed.

The second part was a rapidly moving plan that we had that I had to come up with a quick analysis on the details.  The plan is moving all the way up to a group president!  Not bad for someone 6 months in the role. 

 The in-laws are visiting this weekend and I love spending time with them, but I wouldn’t mind some time alone to just sit and read or play video games.  Maybe tomorrow morning I’ll get my chance.  I also really miss Street, but it seems so unreal that he’s not here anymore.  It’s like I know he was here, but I don’t really feel like he ever was.  Kind of like reading about having a dog, but not ever really having one.  Odd..

 Well anyway back to work, we’ve been updating our Facebook pages so look us up on facebook as well!

In the past two weeks I’ve been in Florida (to visit my best friend’s new baby), Michigan (suburbs of Detroit for my cousin’s bridal shower), and New Jersey (somewhere near New York called Park Ridge for a customer visit).

I’m ready to stay in town for a while. They were all fun trips… but man. Too much plane and car time.

Ooh… and my parents are in town for a long weekend. Woohoo! It’s so great to see them. My dad’s going to show me the house where he grew up while they’re here (he was raised in Cincy), and I think we’re going to take them to dim sum for brunch. Other than that no specific plans. Just a casual relaxing visit.

… are rockin! I’m so proud.

Last week, all of the sudden, two huge ones popped up. And now there are itty bitty ones starting to appear. Yay!

On the down side, my cilantro is sad. Brown. Weepy. And sad. But the basil and strawberries are rockin’ also. Woo!

On another topic… why am I awake? I am so wired. We went to Michigan this weekend for my cousin’s bridal shower, stayed the night and didn’t get back tonight until after 11pm. And I’m  not sleepy. Not one bit. Oiy. Tomorrow’s going to be a hard day.