how's is the recession affecting your builds?

what recession? live within your means as God intended and you'll be fine. sit back with your favorite beverage for the next 4 years and watch socialism/marxism at work. unfortunately the crybabys won this goround. wake me up when those 4 years are over so we can go back to being Americans. meanwhile enjoy all the free stuff. we're gonna pay for it. God bless you Obama, are you gonna print the money personnally or is that job open?

"they'll get my rubber burning, carbon belching hotrod when they pry my cold, dead fingers from around the steering wheel"!

ok. i'm done, go ahead and delete!

 

I feel very secure in my job. My company has never laid anyone off in it's whole 40+ years in exsistance. I sell high speed internet, phone and cable TV to businesses in the metro Detroit area. My spending on Big Olds has not changed. He is currently at Earl Schieb's shop in TN for some paint touch up and other little stuff that needs to be done. I will probably spend more this winter on him then I did last as we are installing a Vintage air/heat/defrost unit that I will be purchasing today or tomorrow (just need to call Rick Love and place the order).

I will also be spending a pretty penny with Advanced Plating, which I do every winter, to have a few things plated. I'm having the sun visors fixed (broken pieces on 3 out of the 4 pieces) and then plated. I'm also going to have the window cranks and door handles plated. I'll take everything off Big Olds the next time I'm down there then send it to them.

I've also just spent (cash of course) some major $$ on having some artwork professionally matted and framed. The way I figure it is if I have some extra to spend on stuff that I was planning on doing anyway that this is the perfect time to have it done as it MIGHT help save someone's job right now especially around this time of the season.

Along this same train of thought I have wanted/needed new bedroom furniture (mines vintage 70's stuff ) so this week I just placed an order for a new dresser, chest of drawers, nightstand, etc. I had alittle sticker shock but I guess that's to be expected if you don't buy furniture in three decades. Hopefully I'm helping the furniture manufacture and the retail store to stay in business therefore helping folks keep their jobs.

Oh yeah, and I just spent money on interior house paint and I bought it at the neighboorhood paint store as opposed to the big box home improvement store. Just trying to do my part.

I do find it strange though when I go to a retail store and they have a help wanted sign on the door?? With all this unemployment in SE Michigan and all over really, WHY is there a business with a sign like this on the door?? Many a winter I worked a second job to save money for something "extra" (mostly for Big Olds). I know that if I wanted/needed a part time job I could certainly find one without a problem. Yeah, I might not be making HUGE dollars but something is better then nothing if I really needed it.

 

WOW...turn off FOX...do you really think the last 8 years years was great?

 

i work at the TA truck stop here in southern michigan...we're a commision shop...my checks are down 2/3's....yeah that's right..if i made $900 3 months ago per week, now i make $300...don't even try and tell me the economy isn't shit.....everything in the country moves via truck....the topolino project is setting...mainly due to my foot injury....and waiting for the new nose from germany....but i'll not be buying a rearend soon, and thats the next major part i need....wife works at a Kroger store, been a bookkeeper for 20 years there.....otherwise, we'ld be loosing our home like lots of others...the only hope i have is that it's gonna cut colder then hell here..and trucks don't like cold....so, my money should be picking up soon.....but anyone on here who is claiming there's no recession is full of crap..blame whoever ya want, but it is still there..and if is damn close to becomeing a full blown depression if things don't change soon.....till then, i'll just keep on striping the old paint off my topolino and doing whatever the budget will allow...normally i dont use payroll to fund toy projects...sidework and evil bay pay for them...but there's not much in the way of either or going on right now.........but yeah, times are really really bad right now...hell even the oil companys are getting it up their ass's finnally..gas here is about $1.48 a gallon........

 

Same thing here in Omaha...I have a crew of 6 fitters and enough work to keep 'em busy till at least April. If I need more guys, good luck! Only ones available are the few that are ALWAYS available! +1 for burning the TV

 

Amen to your avitar.
"BEER IS PROOF THAT GOD LOVES US" ben franklin

 

guess i'm lucky to be in the "food" industry at the manufacturing level because regaurdless of the current economic situation everyone still has to eat! 2009 will be a good year for me as the mortgage will be paid off so its time to go make offer on the 40' ford conv. project i've been wanting to own.

 

If I woke up tomorrow with absolutely nothing;
1) I could whine and wait for the government to help me.
2) I could do something about it.

The only unfortunate people are the ones that can't, because they are mentally or physically challenged.

The rest of us, fortunate to have mental and physical health, should take the responsibility. I put people that whine in the mentally challenged category.

Everybody that don't do something about their plight, that put themselves in a box and refuse to adapt, then whine for government to bail them out, I have absolutely no sympathpy for. Any capable person, that demands that their job is sacred, union or not, is a whiner.

Nobody is owed anything.


Life is Good. Burn more gas in your Hotrod!
.

 

It has been for me....my taxes went down as my annual income increased. I started getting annual bonus checks that buy good parts. I had a child, that's the light of my life, I'm still married after almost 15 years, and I've put 50,000 miles on the 20K Harley I bought my self for my 30th BD present.

I don't give a shit about what they say on TV, and I try not to let who's in Washington ruin my outlook or life.

I honestly think that things are about to get worse for me and mine in the near future, but hey, I voted, my guy lost, what can I do about it.......

 

Parts are a lot cheaper now, and I've finally been able to find some parts that were unobtanium a few short months ago.

 

Recession not affecting my build, its the cold weather. I hate winter time, seems like I never get anything done. Bills are all getting paid just fine, oh wait, debt free, no bills, maybe thats why I feel no pressure. After the Christmas Holidays, I will get back on my 54 Chevy Chop Project, it will be up and driving by the time Summer Weather starts to break.

 

1-1/2 yrs. from retirement. Just bass ackwards of what the economists suggest, but I stopped my tax shelter this year and am putting the money into my build. At least I know what I will end up with. Will have a nice driver to cruise in with the grandkids. Now if something could be done to reduce NYS taxes!!!!

 

The economy is unfortunately heavily influenced by the media. The economy is driven by what the consumer does ( spend or save) based on what we "think" is gonna happen. When the media has been telling us for the last 8 yrs that the economy sucks despite record growth and job creation, after so long people start believing it. Polls have shown as recently as last year that most people said the economy WAS NOT hurting them yet but they heard lots of people were hurting. Who did they "HEAR" that from. We stop spending and the economy flops. Why did gas climb to $4? Because we paid it. And never saw rationing, long gas lines, or a huge jump in motorcycle sales, car pooling or use of public transportation. Why does diesel cost more than gas when it's basically 3/4 refined gas and cost less the whole time I was growing up until diesel vehicles became popular? Because we pay it. Natural gas conversions have been around for 30+ yrs and we have so much we burn it off and it burns clean but is there a rush to convert? In the mid 80's Volvo had a research diesel wagon the got 70 miles per gallon but we stay happy with 30.

The GOVERNMENT created the banking problems first with Jimmy Carter and the Community Re-Investment that required banks to lend to unqualified people. Bill Clinton gave that law teeth when he came in office with the help of congress. The banks are responsible as well but it started with the gov. Then when those people couldn't pay those loans ( big surprise) it's capitalisms fault. That is fact look it up. The government interference in the free market ( with the exception of the fed and interest rates) has never worked. I have my stuff financed with USAA and our local credit union. They are both doing great because you have to have GOOD credit to get a loan from them. Mine is in the high 800's and I can go buy what ever I want right now. Why because I don't borrow more that I can afford to pay. Is the gov gonna help me pay my mortgage since I was RESPONSIBLE and borrowed what I could afford? I'm not holding my breath.

Look at education. Prior to the establishment of the Fed Education agency we had the best education system in the world. It has declined ever since. Almost 90% of the people that work for the Education dept in D.C. have NO background in education. That is government at it's finest. States send large parts of there revenue to the fed gov and get nothing in return but more rules and BS that have nothing to do with whats best to educate students.

The IRS, enough said.

Socialism has NEVER (redistributing wealth) worked any time it's been tried.

 

I've slowed my project down.

I could spend another few grand all in a month and finish it quick, but I might need that money to live on if business drops off any more than it already has, and it has dropped significantly in the past month. So, I'll buy a few hundred dollar's worth of parts/services a month instead of shooting the whole wad at one time. If things get slower, I'll just stop altogether and wait for things to get better again before I finish the rebuild. It ain't my daily driver.

Recessions and depressions hit different sectors at different times, I don't think we've felt the full effects of this one yet and I'm bracing for it to get worse over the next six months. Congratulations to those of you who haven't felt it yet, or might miss it altogether because you have a recession proof job (like my wife, a schoolteacher), but I don't see the reason to gloat when others are suffering, or worse yet, claiming it's all a media hoax. Our office manager's husband was part of the AT&T layoff last week. He's out of work right before Xmas, with two kids and a wife. I bet the recession is pretty real to him.

And it's funny, but people never seem to realize how low oil and gas prices affect the millions of people who work in the oil and gas industry. We worry about bailing out other industries to save jobs, but if gas drops to $1.00 a gallon and thousands of oil and gas industry people lose their jobs nobody notices, or they notice and don't care.

I'm hoping for a cold winter, use lots of natural gas to heat your homes, yankees, crank that thermostat up to 75, there's no reason you can't have a tiki party for New Year's.

 

I don't understand that.

The economic signs were bad, was the media supposed to keep that a secret?

Don't report Lehman Bros failing? Don't report WaMu? Don't report the increasing foreclosures? Keep all that a secret from the public?

I'll agree the media's tone may sometimes be a bit hyperbolic, but facts are facts. There were "experts" predicting this a year ago, they were invited on to media talk shows so they could be ridiculed and insulted as pessimistic chicken-littles.

They seem to be vindicated, now.

 

I originally deleted my post because I'm trying harder to stay out of these shit-slinging threads, but since you asked, I'll try to explain my point.

I'm not saying we're not in the middle of some extremely difficult economic times, nor am a I saying the signs weren't there a few years ago. I have plenty of friends in real estate, friends who USED to be in the mortgage industry, a wife who USED to work in fleet sales at Ford, and on and on....a lot of us saw this coming (which is one of the reasons I re-fi'd my house to a 30-year fixed in '04), but,,,,,a year ago when car sales were still good, home values were still steady, retail was still strong....the news started focusing on the impending recession...then it all came crashing down. It's not all the media's fault, of course, but I believe they helped get the ball rolling a lot faster.

I'm out.

Bryan

 

I believe facts are facts as well. However, when the media toots the recession horn over and over, it has people that DO have money, scared to spend it, further aggravating the problem. My 2 cents That's why I believe a big part of the problem can fix itself if we turn off the (bad)news

 

I am fortunate to have parts stacked in the garage and unfortunate to have little time to work on my car. So I cant tell the difference. 10 years ago, I had plenty of time and no parts.

 

I am fortunate to have parts stacked in the garage and unfortunate to have little time to work on my car. 10 years ago, I had plenty of time and no parts.

 

Amen, brother. I feel your pain.

 

It was great until gas prices topped $3.50 a gallon. My sales were down 30-50% at the swap meets, all summer long. Selling fewer cars and for less money, too. Haven't been able to sell enough at the right time to go get any good new stock in.

Gas hit that magic mark here around the beginning of last summer, not in like 2001 or anything. In 2005 I was selling stuff just about as fast as I could get back from the junkyard with the cars, we ended up getting about 40 cars and could have bought another 20 or 30 had we sold more.

Now all I get are these assholes who want to offer $300 for a $1500 car, or want three parts off a driver. The ferocity of the way I tell them to stuff it depends on how tired I am when I check my email.


It slows down my project because I tend to go buy a whole car for parts I need and part it out, or buy a big lot of stuff and sell off what I don't need, usually means I end up with little or no money tied up in the parts I end up using. And I've been gathering parts along pretty steady up until recently.

 

True there were signs that Fannie and Freddie were going to implode. There is video of George Bush and John McCane pointing this out in 03 and 04 and saying something needs to be done but did you see it in the media then? There are hours of video of Congressmen and women (who were getting HUGE contributions from them) saying Freddie and Fannie are fine. Lots of people are taking a huge hit in retirement and yet congressmen and women get their full salaries for the rest of their lives. Wonder why they are in no hurry to fix it. We the people are getting SCREWED by the politicians. Our country is run by lawyers so that explains most of it.

I'm a teacher so I keep making crappy money no matter how the economy is. Luckily there are other benefits. I just bought another project and went to a show this past weekend.

 

There were more millionairs made (by their own hand) during the Great Depression than any other decade in US history.....................so its easy, are you a victim or are you in charge of your destiny?

I know where I am going.

 

I'm lucky because I have enough parts and supplies to keep working on the car without interruption.

I'm unlucky because I just lost my job this week and have to spend as much time as possible finding another one so I won't have a lot of time to work on the car.

 

Ahh, everyone's favorite scapegoat. First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.


It's cool, Rusk. I promise not to sling any shit at anyone who doesn't sling any at me.

I understand your (and Groucho's) point, the media sensationalizes, it's good for their business. FWIW, I think the media has more of a conflict bias than an ideological bias, conflict is good for their business.

I think that sensationalism can exacerbate a problem by spreading unreasonable fear, but the trick is to know when to have reasonable caution. I think the time is now.

Pretending everything is fine when it isn't seems just as bad, if not worse, as pretending everything is bad when it isn't. But instead of objective analysis, we get two polar opposites on the issue shouting at each other.

But if the media started reporting tomorrow that everything is great, go shopping, the half million who lost jobs in the past month ain't gonna go out and spend what's left in their bank account on Xmas presents.

 

Hasn't affected me much. As Popo pointed out,the law enforcement job is pretty much insulated from job loss unless things get really bad and you have no seniority- not a problem forme. My wife works for the company some consider the antichrist (Walmart) and has been for some time, so we're alright there. I've never had a ton of extra money to spend on the projects and have always horsetraded for what I needed and worked a couple of sidejobs for the extra cash, and that hasn't changed. Gas prices kinda hurt the family budget earlier this year, but otherwise, this has been one of my family's better financial years. We live well within our means. However, those of you that are going through tough times, you have my sympathy and prayers.

 

What recession????? Im so Damn poor I didn't even know we were in one!

 

I moved from Dallas to Austin to marry my wife (I wasn't from Dallas and she's been in Austin her whole life, it was practical for ME to move, not her), anyway, I get down here and low and behold, there are NO jobs for what I've done the last 10yrs. I even went to the Texas Workforce Commission. Told the guy my woes and he said, "No problem, we'll find you something."
He sat at his computer, typed in the needed info and across his screen came up 'NO JOBS FOUND'. He looked at me and said, "I see what you mean!"...and this was at TWC no less.
It sucks because I have ALOT to offer, but no one to offer it too. Mine isn't recession based I know, but I'm still jobless.
I'm heading out in about an hour to the Community College to look into getting some schooling to change my career, but at age 40...It's a bit daunting.

Any of you around the Austin area need someone with plenty of experience in the transportation field (ie: coordinating freight, trucks p/u and delv) LET ME KNOW.
I've been a dispatcher, fleet mgr, ops mgr, etc.
Nothing I can't do in that field.
period.

 

I normally stay out of these type discussions since Ryan doesn't like political discussion on the HAMB but I have to comment.

I was an idealist once---have the journalism degree to prove it....haha

I can't believe that anyone is naive enough to think that any of the mainstream media or news outlet are there to provide them ANY service.
It isn't called "programming" for nothing.
Newspapers learned long before television that bad news and sensationalism sell more product than good news---sure they'll throw one human interest story in so we can all feel a little better about our own compassion.

The major news outlets are owned by the super rich---and who benefits most from a recession? The ones foreclosing and buying up more land and businesses and equity.
News, like any other programing is geared toward ratings(=add revenue) and yes, pushing agendas.

Without getting too long winded, current example of not reporting the "good" nearly as much as hyping the "bad"
Lots of impending doom talk about retailers before black Friday but very little mention that sales were actually up over last year.

If you scream a lie loud enough and long enough people believe it----now it just all happens faster with internet and instant access to so many media.

Real world----I hit more than 40 shows this last year in all parts of the country and attendance was up at ALL OF THEM. Sales were up as well at all but 2(both midwest shows and both still very respectable)
Does that mean people aren't hurting? No, obviously some are, but that's the plan isn't it?

Read history--as much and from as many different points of view possible, take the "news" with a grain of salt and as Tman suggested try to control your own destiny.


Marcy

 

Being on a fixed income, I have not been hit too hard but my 401K has taken a little hit. As many have said, even those with money are holding tight right now and me as well but I did buy another 40 Coupe project that Royalshifter turned me on to--stashed for later. See many auto related businesses in a real bind. I will slowly (as always) start to accumulate parts for this one. As for work, there is alot of electrical line work going on and all Line folks are employed and working full tilt-they are even calling us old retired guys regularly to come back and run jobs-I am considering but need to get a Dr's release to go back (was sidelined by a head-on collision)-may go back after release--extra $$ to build next 40.
Feel sorry for folks that have worked hard and lived responsibly now unemployed and in a bind through no fault of their own. In this time, I'm being cautious and living as I always have-buy what you NEED with cash and save at least 15% if you can-sounds easy but not always possible if things are tight already-spent many years living paycheck to paycheck and saved a little as I went along. My sentiments to those who are in a bind through no fault of theri own.