Leave Christmas Alone!

[eggwards]

*Stop with the Christmas ads already! It's too early for me. I'm a last minute shopper! I won't even start thinking of buying crap until your desperate 40-50% off sales the week before Christmas!

I'm not even in the Thanksgiving mood yet, certainly not ready for Christmas. I was up late watching nothing and I notices Paula Dean cooking stuff I'd never eat, but I appreciate that she has a lot of butter in it. She had Kermit the Frog on for no real reason and they were cooking fried Thanksgiving foods - certainly a good step. Ms. Dean said "I love Thanksgiving because there's not pressure to go out and search and shop like there is for Christmas." Amen.

*It's been a lovely fall. Yes, 75 degrees is fall in Texas. We're just happy it's not 95.

*I was getting dinner at Culver's last night (it's a bit of an extra drive, so I don't get to go there much - which is good because I love their fried cheese curd), and I noticed on the Diet Dr Pepper fountain there was a NutraSweet sticker. It's been a while since I've see that logo. What ever happened to that branding? You never hear that name anymore.

*Crocs are still bad footwear, and are made even worse with Ugg Boot lining. Just say no, people. Two things together don't necessarily make a Reeses Peanut Butter cup.

*As far as the new job hunt goes, despite the fact that there are people who need help managing their investments, is it really a good thing to become a financial representative at the start of a recession? I'm thinking not.

Comments

[reb2.livejournal.com]

Croc hater LOL

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Damned right. I understand that they are comfortable, but someone could use the same material and mold it into a shape that doesn't look like the plastic shoes that came with Cabbage Patch Kids.

[reb2.livejournal.com]

lol I agree they are ugly, but I wear them for diabetic purposes

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

There's three Culver's in the DFW area, Flower Mound, McKinney and Rockwall. The one in Flower Mound is a bit of a detour on the way home from work, but worth it. They specialize in frozen custard and dairy products, but what would you expect with a chain that started in Wisconsin?

I just remember going to one when I was in Wisconsin four years ago, and was glad thet they've moved into Texas. Let me know if you want to go, I love a good excuse.

[starzcub.livejournal.com]

I need to go to Culver's!

[njbearcub1.livejournal.com]

Oh, this year, I'm sure that there will be *several* 40-50% off sales. I think stores are going to get stuck with a lot of merchandise.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Yes, this is going to be a very bad year, retail wise, though Target and WalMart usually do better in recessions. Retail has been lucky the last few years that gas prices dropped after the summer.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

I would have traded you a month ago, but you can keep the snow flurries!

[reb2.livejournal.com]

We are already seeing the effects of high gas prices and how it is effecting shopping trends. This week we had 3 birthday parties cancel on us because of it. What's sadder is that home base is in denial and wants us to just push more merchandise on people.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there will be a lot of cutbacks on luxury items. Still, something like a bear might still sell, but treating a whole lot of kids to a party? Hmm. I think the girl party places, Club Libby-Lu and such will probably suffer more because the kids don't come away with anything after the party.

I can see management's strategy, though. Try to increase sales from those who can still afford it. The problem is trying not to piss them off with the upselling.

[reb2.livejournal.com]

which I am sure it might possibly happen

[starzcub.livejournal.com]

You should go to the Anita Fern store next to Crate and Barrel on Alpha. The store has a sign in it saying " Santa did not come over on the Mayflower. Our holiday season starts Nov 23."

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

See, that's smart, and they'll get more notice for that than they would already having garland and lights up.

Let me know when you want to go to Culvers!

[metaljunkie.livejournal.com]

The last recession was from 03/01 to 11/01, so this last trough (the end of a recession and start of an expansion) marked the start of an economic expansion that the U.S. is still experiencing. Since then, real GDP has been steadily increasing, even through these last 3 quarters of 2007.

How do you know the U.S. is at the start of a recession?

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Well, lets see. The dollar is falling, gold in increasing inflation is looming and the consumer price index is rising due to increased fuel, heating and power costs, plus the cost of goods from China because we now have to have stronger safety controls.

While yes, corporations have been doing well for some time now, middle and lower class workers have not, and the toll is starting to rise with foreclosures of subprime loans and the costs mentioned previously.

If the year for retailers is made during this season, well it looks like it's not going to be a good year for them as people tighten their belts.

Let's also stay away from the fact that the country is more than 9 trillion in debt now, and that debt is starting to get called back.

[metaljunkie.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, i don't have much to say about the dollar of the top my head, but you say that the price index is increasing, which is inflation. Real GDP is indexed for inflation, so this increase in the price index has already been taken into consideration in the measurement of real GDP for the three first quarters of this year. Real GDP is increasing, regardless of the increase in the price index.

Why are middle and lower class workers not doing well? I can understand that not every yearly increase in wages compensates them for inflation, but can’t they look for another job that will grant them a better compensation every year (which i agree on it being a difficult task)?

I don't actually remember the rate of debt growth of the US, but if the economy is growing at a faster pace than the debt growth rate, what's wrong with carrying some debt?? Do you think that increasing national savings would be better? You can look at countries with huge saving rates compared the minimal US savings rate and see that their income level is nowhere close to the US' income level.

I agree that the US economy can be doing better, but i don't think it is because the US economy is not growing (which is a recession). The US has been in an economic expansion since 2001 and it is bound to enter a recession sooner or later. It's part of the economic business cycle.