How bad is the Economy going to get?

[dreamweaver66]

I been a Master Ford Tech for 19 years.At the same dealership for 18years. The last 8 months my pay has droped over 30%. I lost over 40k in my 401K. At this rate I will never be able to buy a Hatteras. What gives.I can't find a parttime job anywhere in the Washington DC area.What to do? My wife works for a heating and air company and her hours have been cut back to 30 hours a week.

 

[Silverado6x6]

You should consider plans to bug out if necessary, in your case get some ready cash and keep an eye and ear open for a Hatteras deal, something down on the gulf, from one mechanic to another I know your situation but a good mechanic will never be out of work. I am suggesting you would need to think about becoming more mobile, if living on a boat is too much then consider an RV, many older ones are selling dirt cheap.

I personally thing der leader is going to step down at or around his 90 day mark, and the country will right itself dramatically quick. If you have any relatives living in the country or on a farm having an RV there I think is a good idea. I think the cities are going to implode, martial law, Homeland Security squads going door to door confiscating weapons, food and race riots, refugee camps.

The economy will only get better when there is no threat of socialism on the horizon I believe.

 

[dreamweaver66]

That's my plan is to live aboard a 53 Hatteras MY I finially talked the wife into this.

 

[Boatsb]

How much ammo does she hold

 

[newinlet]

Dreamweaver Don'T give up it will get better. I own an independent repair shop here in Mass. Business is ok and my techs are getting at least 40. A master tech should be able to get full time work. Try calling ATI "Automotive training institute" in Savage Maryland. they should be able to turn you on to a good shop looking for a Tech.
I think Hatteras deals will be all over the place for quite some time
It will get better Good luck Jim

 

[Bugsy]

You should consider plans to bug out if necessary, in your case get some ready cash and keep an eye and ear open for a Hatteras deal, something down on the gulf, from one mechanic to another I know your situation but a good mechanic will never be out of work. I am suggesting you would need to think about becoming more mobile, if living on a boat is too much then consider an RV, many older ones are selling dirt cheap.

I personally thing der leader is going to step down at or around his 90 day mark, and the country will right itself dramatically quick. If you have any relatives living in the country or on a farm having an RV there I think is a good idea. I think the cities are going to implode, martial law, Homeland Security squads going door to door confiscating weapons, food and race riots, refugee camps.

The economy will only get better when there is no threat of socialism on the horizon I believe.

Holy tamale!

Some of you folks are down right scary!!

 

[garyd]

Hey Bugs weren't you around in 1967. It happened except it wasn't home land security going door to door it was the Detroit Police.

Race riots yep
martial law yep
door to door yep
food riots yep
looting yep
refugee camps don't know

But this happened after years of Democrats ruling.

Kennedy then Johnson.

garyd

 

[spartonboat1]

Hey Bugs weren't you around in 1967. It happened except it wasn't home land security going door to door it was the Detroit Police.

Race riots yep
martial law yep
door to door yep
food riots yep
looting yep
refugee camps don't know

But this happened after years of Democrats ruling.

Kennedy then Johnson.

garyd

Detroit now is a refugee camp...why aren't the $10k homes selling? Cuz there are $1 homes there. Easy math...2M people and homes in the 1950-60's now populated by 850k people. There are an excess of homes enough for 1.2M people.

I was working at the Ford Wixom plant when the Deetroyt riots happended and we had 13k employees...it drifted down to 1.3k employes in the early 90's...now...closed. Imagine, at one time it was the single most profitable facility under one roof in the world! $1B profit/yr, back when that was a lot of money. Now broke!

 

[stormchaser]

That's my plan is to live aboard a 53 Hatteras MY I finially talked the wife into this.

Excellent plan. That's EXACTLY what my wife and I are in the process of doing. Bought the boat, fixed her up, now in the process of moving on. Should be totally moved on within another month, have to be out before May 1 because we're renting out the house and the tenants move in May 1.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

You guys are lucky. My wife and I live on our 36C all winter. I tried, in fact I almost bought a nice 53 MY, but my wife decided she could not live with her "kitchen in the basement". I tried to explain around that, but did not win. She says that we can live on a 53 MY when we can afford a full time cook. Go figure eh? Being a mechanic will save you tons of money and make the whole thing possible. It has taken me several years to get this boat mechanically perfect, but very little money. These boats really love a "live aboard mechanic". Trust me, you wll never run out of projects. The way these boats are built makes them really worth keeping up with.

 

[SeaWhisper]

Wife and I are living aboard our 53' MY Classic, and to think, It's paid for... And loving every min of it....

Mike,

SeaWhisper,

 

[stormchaser]

That's funny, my wife insisted on a galley-down.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

That's funny, my wife insisted on a galley-down.

They certainly have their own minds eh?

 

[Walter P]

A boat - any boat, cannot be all things for all people. There are plenty of arguments that can be made for galley up and/or galley down. While I absolutely love the 53 Hatteras MYs, I feel that the galley down is a negative in my particular case. I kind of agree with Maynard's wife. It's fine if you never or rarely have people aboard, but otherwise it makes us feel like the hired help. Just one of many things we like about our 48 MY. The galley is only a couple of steps down from the salon so that we can be part of the social scene on board while preparing stuff. Of course we like some of the things on the 53 more so than on our 48, such as the fact that each head has a large seperate shower and the mid stateroom beds are both at lower level (pretty important when your guests are getting up in years).

Walt

 

[stormchaser]

That's funny, my wife insisted on a galley-down.

Apparently I overstated this a bit...she doesn't insist on it, it just wasn't a deal breaker...she would prefer galley up, just like I would, but it was a compromise we were willing to make to have the flush deck design. For us the compromise of galley down with a flush deck was better than galley up with a raised SunDeck (or is it sunken salon?).

 

[Genesis]

For me the question is when and where are you going to USE that galley.

If you intend to ever use it offshore, that is, cooking while actually underway, a design that makes it impossible to brace both things and people is unacceptable.

Many "galley up" designs fall into this category and are suitable only for use while at anchor.

My 45C was VERY usable while underway; the only thing it was missing was a good set of fiddles on the countertops. But the key item - being able to easily brace yourself while in the galley area - was covered.

(Along side this, another key item is the direction that the refer is mounted. I prefer one where the door faces the hullside; the reason being that pitch is harder to control underway than roll - you can always alter course to avoid a beam sea for a little while - and again, it comes down to whether you intend to use that galley while underway.)

 

[stormchaser]

If you are REALLY serious about going offshore, none of the Hatt designs are good. It would need a gimballed stove, top loading fridge, places to strap yourself in, etc. But I agree with you, gally up is the worse of the hatt designs for offshore cooking.

 

[nyrussell]

Galley down with dinner table is the way to go for living aboard!!!! simpler to set the table and clean with the kids. OTOH Larry Kaplans boat is great too!!

Noel

 

[spindrift]

Dave:

I am going to envy you when I am in New England for another winter. When you make it to the Bahamas you need to post pictures... maybe one with you enjoying a sundown Gin and Tonic on the aft deck!

I am off to the UAE and Saudi Arabia on business next week for 10 days. 105 degees and I have to be in a suit! uugh!

Spin

 

[Dave Phipps]

Karl,

Can you help me understand the economics, rationales, and inter-relationships behind the AIG bailout and bank bailouts?

If AIG insured mortgage backed securities around the world for thousands of banks and other customers, and the US government has bailed out AIG with the intention of keeping those promises solvent, then why would those assest still be considered toxic? Theoretically, at least of significant portion of these would have been made whole.

So why are we bailing out banks with billions, who continue to hoard the cash to reinforce their balance sheets because they hold "toxic assests?" Is it because the real size of the problem is significantly larger than anyone is willing to admit? Are we in effect, as taxpayers, paying twice for the bailout?

I'm far from an economist, but I have a growing suspicion that the governments attempt to grow itself and spend itself out of the current desperate situation is seriously misguided, and will not get money to where it's really needed, and lacks critical oversight. You can not tax your way into recovery, and you can not grow government into recovery, and you can not borrow your way into incredible deficits and expect the dollar to be stable. I fear horrendous inflation just as I'll have to retire with the rest of the boomer generation. Where is our collective voice?


dave