| Author | Message | ||
     Etennuly |
Man, I want to ride! I can't do shit without money flowing! This economic recession crap has gone on long enough. My customers have lagged long enough! Their customers have lagged long enough! Those unemployed peoples jobs have fallen off enough! We need for everybody to get off their asses, get back to work, spend money as needed, avoid credit as possible, but do it NOW! It all trickles up and down. I really need for my customers to have a good quick solid recovery, so that I can get on with my riding program! I have even put up some of the non-essentials for sale. The Blast/Mini Uly, and my ATC200X need to go. Check the Classifieds for them. I don't know if this kind of effect has happened to other self employed types, but the across the board cuts in big corporations passes down to us directly. They cut 10% on labor rate expenses, 10% on work let out to be done, and 10% of fleet size. This is happening with most of my customers. When I had to cut back on employees it also made me have to work nearly twice as long in hours and twice as hard physically. For the extra efforts it works out that the only thing we no longer make is a profit. I know things will come back to profitability. We are adjusting to survive as we have been doing since the slow down started a couple of years ago. But why is everybody waiting? We might as well get the economy going now so I can resume riding to places unknown. Being addicted to riding my Uly, and now being unable to get out on rides, I know how an unemployed crack ••••• feels. I get what I can where I can, but it isn't enough. I need to ride!  | ||
| 86129squids |
Vern, buddy- I'm with you- got a lot of things riding on my IRS return and the rest on my HELOC. Hate to use the HELOC, but I got it set up long before the economic downturn, and in some ways I feel like I MUST use what I need of it, based on real estate valuations... yikes! Hoping/expecting to have the Shovelhead by Friday, will be paying my buddy Sampson $500 real soon for a donor 984cc motor to fix the Buell. (I need someone to buy my 82 R65!!!) Got another buddy looking to put $1600-2000 worth of a new roof/yard fencing/bike storage here at home soon. I'm skeert of how much $$$ I'm gonna go thru by the end of the month. Keep on pluggin, buddy- we'll make it to TWO soon with all the fixins... | ||
| Xl1200r |
Crazy to think about how the economy, when boiled down to its roots, is only good or bad based on peoples perceptions. I haven't been hit by any of it, knock on wood, but I feel for those who have, and I have a lot of days here at work wondering if I was going to get the pink slip in my locker. Hang in there. | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
Anybody notice the price of gas is back on the upwards march? Those a-holes were 1/3rd the cause of the economy turning down. Any glimmer of a positive economic turn, they hike gas prices. Why do I get a sick feeling in my tummy that all of this shit is just going to repeat itself? | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
It started looking up for me the past couple of months then some a-hole flipped the switch to OFF and now I am sucking wind. Gotta refi the house.... for 30 more YEARS. I shouldn't complain... at least I have a house. It just sucks, we had made some good head way and may have been able to pay it off in 15 years.... but NOT now. The good thing is my employer is solid and doesn't want to lay anyone off. We have all taken a 10% cut in our base salary and all the hourly people are only working 32 hours a week.... I can only hope this will separate the wheat from the chaff and we come out of this stronger | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The economy will NOT recover while the Federal Government is sucking funds OUT of the economy from EVERYONE and then injecting funds back into the economy for a few. The "injections" are NOT for the bottom 95% by the way. The best way to recover from a recession is to allow business to do what business does best. Taxes are cold water on a match. | ||
| Fast1075 |
I'm doing what I can in my own way...I just bought a truck...not a new one...not going that far...It gets 45% better fuel economy than the old one...the salesman can feed his family for a week on his commission. The truck is in the tire shop right now getting re-shod...somebody's kids get to have a BBQ this weekend. Small things added up make a difference...sold a couple of my Jeeps for capital...and started brown bagging lunch, etc. We were dangerously slow...very dangerously slow...and thank goodness the wonderful, beautiful hot, muggy, make you sweat just walking to your car in the morning kind of weather returned...just in time. (we do HVA/CR) The tax incentives for high efficiency A/C equipment have revitalized sales...and the building market is making a positive turn here, with previously on hold projects beginning to move forward. Hope it holds up. | ||
| Cowboy |
When the dumb O crats are forsed out of washing ton | ||
| Hughlysses |
Vern- obviously YOU'RE the one that needs to kick-start the economy by saying WTF and going on a long Uly ride- buy gas, stay in hotels, eat out often!  Seriously, I agree with Xl1200r, it's insane how much of this depends completely on people's perceptions. The stock market tanks because "home builder's confidence" is low, etc., etc. Sometimes it seems like the whole thing can be brought down by an off-hand comment in a bar. | ||
| Etennuly |
Hugh, I tried that in March. Ran off to Daytona for the races. It didn't help a bit with the economic program. It did feel about half as good as it would have in better economic times. It is a bit stifling. | ||
| Mortarmanmike120 |
Hang in there man. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
I can recall a time when most small towns had one or two factories that kept the local economy chugging along. Increasingly, those jobs are disappearing and along with it the prosperity of many of those towns. What's left are the urban centers where government, R&D and service sector jobs keep the educated and semi-skilled employed. For those with a basic high school diploma and no further training, the prospects look bleak. The government does what it can by creating positions for the marginally employable, while the rest are given government assistance. I think most people, if they are paying attention, know the whole thing is a house of cards but the goal is not to find solutions but to keep the ball bouncing down the court as long as possible. So, to that end, both private and public entities are continually devising new schemes. The latest of these being the "green" movement which some of us know is a load of you know what. However, the point is not to save the environment or the children but to manipulate the economy so that everyone can resume spending and keep the ball bouncing. The fact is, economic schemes which lead to"market bubbles" never make any sense and are always based on "irrational exuberance" but since this country is no longer ( an exaggeration - for you nit-pickers) a producer of goods and services but a net importer, we are left with smoke and mirrors. While the economy ebbs and flows and new ideas/technologies open up new opportunities the overall trend points to a decline. (Message edited by Ferris_von_bueller on May 20, 2009) (Message edited by Ferris_von_bueller on May 20, 2009) | ||
| Uncbuell |
I'm a small business owner and business has never been better for me! I've hired 10 additional full time employees in the past 3 months and expect to hire at least 40 more before the year ends. I find that all it takes to be successful is the willingness to work hard and the ambition to get out there and provide a good or service which is in demand. There's lots of money to be made out there, thank you stimulus package! | ||
| Etennuly |
Demand is down, but oddly, traffic volume is good. It is that the rate cuts come at a time when costs of doing business has gone up. For us the only part missing is the profit. So we will have to adjust more and in different directions. The niche that has been so good for so long will likely have to be shelved. Time to turn the page.  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I'm starting to pull out of it. It's still slim, but the opportunities are picking up. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
What is your business, UncBuell? | ||
| Teeps |
I don't see "it" going back to the "way it was" any time soon. The home equity pig is broken and will not likely recover in my life time. For most of my adult life the economy has been based on borrowing to have now. Pushing the debt farther and farther into the future... and here we are. Then end of the borrowing road. I suspect this "day" started when the gold standard was abandoned. | ||
| Johnnymceldoo |
America needs to start rewarding success and letting the failures fail quicker. | ||
| Iamike |
We have a bunch of politicians that don't have a clue how to run a business (since they never have) telling businesses how they should operate. Until we get back to the original intent of the makeup of Congress it will never get better. We need to dump the career politicians. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
Ferris_von_bueller ..........the logical man............exactly! | ||
| Dragonslayer |
Six months ago people loved to talk about how bad things are. These were people who still had jobs at the time. I guess Doom & Gloom isn't so fun to talk about once they lost their job and became part of the statistics they enjoyed talking about before. On the gas prices, yes oil companies are part of what put us in this shit. They could care less if we all die tomorrow, as long as they are rich, they could care less. As you can tell, I'm pissed off too.  | ||
| Cityxslicker |
The shit that gets me is that this is one of those times that my Grandfather would call character building.... in twenty years we will talk about riding a ULY both ways to work uphill, but we were happy to do it. Until then, the second economy is alive and well, barter and home based products are fueling my summer. | ||
| Court |
The current situation is much like when the government thought they were being charged too much for armor plate in WWI and decided to teach private business a lesson by opening a government owned and managed armor plate manufacturing business. It opened three years after the war was over It cost several times what they'd projected. The plates cost (that's cost to the feds, not retail) over twice what they'd been purchasing them for. The place closed down prior to taking any orders. I compliment the federal government for consistency. A significant portion of the talent pool in this country are "baby boomers". . . and much of the best educated, more experienced and most effective talent is in a position to not work if faced with government imposed wages and management. I'm working now and making millions for my company, one of the largest public utilities in the country. I am 3 years older than my Father was when he retired and if they feds so much as look at our firm I'm retired taking pictures and writing in Central Park while teaching at Columbia. . . . . and they can eat the millions with folks who'll play their silly game. | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
home based products are fueling my summer. Meth lab???  | ||
| Etennuly |
No man, he is a motorcycle crack dealer!!   | ||
| Rainman |
I feel all y'all's pains. In my biz -- newspapers -- everyday that I work is a benefit. I've been furloughed, cutback, reduced, salaried, worked-without-pay, etc. I've turned two hobbies, riding and martial arts, into part time jobs so I can fight to get even after the last round of furloughs put me two months behind on payments. The economy for me is not good. I've casted for two years for a new career and nearly landed one, but lost it to someone with more experience. All you can do is keep trying. The Blast is paid for, it gets great gas mileage, and I ride it everyday to work. | ||
| Etennuly |
Strange as it may seem, the past couple of days has brought more of the profitable income producing kind of work, than we have seen so far this year. Then of course, it will take a few weeks to get through the logistics and work completion to then wait 30 days for payment. I won't see any light in the tunnel yet, but at least we have found that the tunnel still exists. It is a good sign about the beginning of busy season for us. | ||
| Hexangler |
I'm just starting a contract that I secured 6 months ago, so my personal economy is looking up. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
We have not seen a decline at our plant......holding steady so far. Personally, I don't think we have seen the worst of it yet with unemployment still climbing. That equals less money going from one pocket to another's.....not good. The town I live in is on a slow decline. Years ago(decades),we had FOUR car dealerships,an implement dealership,two hardware stores,two TV shops,two grocery stores,several gas stations/repair shops,body shop, mower shop, lumber yard,six places to eat, a couple variety stores, a body shop equipment manufacturer and a couple of hotels. All"Mom & Pop" stores. Now the last car dealer got the "axe" letter from GM and there is no place to get a breakfast. Still have enuf here that you would never have to leave town unless you need building materials.........but it's a lot different with the same population number(1,000) no longer supporting the smaller local businesses. Everybody "goes to town" for stuff. The middle class people are in the same boat as small towns...............being chipped away to extinction till there is only the rich and the poor and the big cities and the ghost towns.......... | ||
| Glitch |
When will this economic situation heal? Hopefully this week. |
