The banking world as we know it has collapsed!

What a mess! The market has collapsed due to congresses inability to come to consensus about what to do. I guess my question is: Do the people in congress have the ability to come up with a plan that will work. The last I looked a majority of the senators voting on the bill are not business people or have degrees in finance. I have been asking a friend who teaches finance and he seems to understand it but was unable to explain it in simple terms that a non-business major such as myself can understand. I am still concerned that we would potentially be bailing out people that had no business having loans on over-priced housing. We have lived in the same home for 28 years. We have fixed it up a bit but the next step up seem just out of our reach. In my own little area I would watch young couples buying the bigger more expensive home than we own and wonder how were they able to afford the down payment and monthly loan payments. I guess the answer is they couldn't. We saw the market plummet in October of 1986 and here it goes again. We survived the last drop I guess we need to tighten up and survive this crisis.

America's Worst Breakfast Foods

I love to eat a fun breakfast. Most days I either have tea and a high fiber breakfast bar or a bowl of cereal. Days when I am not working I love to eat breakfast at about 10 am. My typical breakfast 2 soft eggs, 1 slice raisin toast and fruit on the side. I do love bacon and hash browns but I do not keep them in the house. I have been known to order eggs and bacon when I eat out. I found this article on msn: America's Worst Breakfast Foods and was quite surprised by the calories and fat count in a sample of breakfast foods available. One of my old favorites is a cinnabun. My daughter and I use to go to the local mall and split a giant cinnabun with extra frosting. I quit eating them a few years ago but was shocked to learn that they contain 813 calories / 12 grams of fat / 49 carbs - the calories equivalent of 7 bowls of froot loops. I have never been a fan of smoothies. A drink called Smoothie King Grape Expectations is 1,102 calories / 256 grams of sugar and 740 mg of sodium - sugar equivalence of 12 Haagen Dazs Ice Cream Bars. No wonder people are getting fatter. I guess I will stick to my simple breakfast choices.

AIG Government Bailout

Last week the day-to-day financial news was like riding a roller-coaster. The topic of conversation everywhere was about the financial mess the country is in. At the club I work out at there are a number of financial advisors etc who were affected by the recent closing or bail-outs of various financial institutions. I am almost afraid to look at my TIAA-Cref retirement fund. I had dinner with a friend last night who teaches finance in a MBA program as USC and he was able to explain a bit clearer than most. I listened to Business 101 on KNX 1070 and Bill McCormick explained the crisis in simple terms that non-business majors can understand. I will be reading and listening to everything I can this week. Bottom line: don't quite your day job.

Poof! There go American Dreams

I looked at the Stock Market Values today and had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I think the visual of schredding money sums up my feelings. I am afraid to look at my money market funds or my retirement funds this morning. It is a bit more than Poof! There go American Dreams I have digigently saved for years so I would have a comfortable retirement and now I wonder if I will need to work forever. How did we get into this mess? Who was watching our backs as the banking industry walked away with billions of dollars? When will it all end? How come the government is using tax money (my money) to bail out the banking industry? What a mess! I don't want to hear candidate retoric about how to solve the problem I want to know specifics. The candidate that can give me that has my vote.

USC versus Ohio State

My husband and I spend the day at the Colisium to view the much anticipated USC Ohio State football game. We arrived four hours before game time to find the area already quite packed with fans. The tail gate parties were impressive. We found a little stand outside the Sports Arena that served great grilled hot dogs and tocos. We shared a cold brew with some young fans while watching the UCLA game in the lobby of the Sports Arena. We talked to a few Ohio State fans about what the term Buckie (apparently it is nut) means. We entered the stadium 2 hours early and watched all the festivities on the field. USC fans mingled with Ohio State fans in what promised to be an exciting match. As the game progressed we became embarassed by the actions of some USC fans. The jabs at the Ohio State fans became less than friendly. One person in front of us stood up most of the game blocking the view of Ohio State fans trying to watch the game while talking non-stop about the USC dominance. Comming from Michgan I have no love for Ohio State but did want to sit and enjoy the game. I may need to put the disruptive fan number on auto dial on my cell. Oh wait there was no cell recption on my phone, only the guy in the front row who taliked almost not stop to someone on his phone. I wonder what service he had?

Pig with lipstick

I can't believe all the media coverage of a presidential candidate's comment about a pig and lipstick. For the last 48 hours that is all that has been talked about on talk radio. But it seem Senator Obama is not letting it go. He tries to explain himself on Letterman tonight. I am getting a little upset over the junior high behavior of the Democrats. I think if a student would have made that kind of commetn in the junior high they would be in the principles office for inappropriate comments. I want to hear Obama talk about real issues not just comments referring to McCain as the "pig" and Palin as the "lipsitck". Grow up and talk about the real issues!

McCain Palin Ticket

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I walk with my best friend weekly and today we talked about Governor Sara Palin's speech last night. Last week as we walked we discussed the Obama speach. She was far more enthusiastic then I was about his acceptance speech. Something just struck me about how he delivered the speech. In 2004 when he talked at the DNC I made a comment to my husband that we would see him again. Little did I know it would be 4 years later as a presidential candidate. I am a registered Democrat but have always voted the candidate and not the party. Today my best friend and I felt that we were a little rebellious ourselves and a bit like Sara. In fact today she said compared to Governor Palin's speech Obama speech sounded insincere. Tonight my di-hard Democratic husband stated that he is leaning toward McCain. Only time will tell.

Laura Bush and Cindy McCain

St. Paul Minnesota may not have President Bush or John McCain but Laura Bush and Cindy McCain have been busy holding down the fort at the Republican National Convention. I love it, leave it to a few good women to take hold of a situation and make it a go. They came together as Americans to give assistance to the people disrupted by the hurricaine. I think it was great that Mike Duncan asked delegates to take out their cell phone and text donations to the American Red Cross to help victims of Gustav. Talking about turning lemons into lemonade. Kudos to Senator Barack Obama for telling the media that "I thinks people's families are off-limits, and people's children are especially off-limits." in response to the announcement that Sara Palin's daughter was pregnant.