What Would You Change Or Do Differently?

        Do you ever wish you could undo something, un-think something, un-feel something, not know something, not see something—In other words, go back in time and avoid an event or possibly create different circumstances so that something didn’t happen?  I’ve often wondered if we could rewind time…how often we would be successful at creating a different outcome?  Or would we fall into the same old patterns of behavior in new circumstances? 

         Think about a moment when you did something that  became clear to you that you wished you could go back and undo.   Perhaps it was on the computer and you pushed delete,  or ok , before you pressed save?  Maybe you said something that you couldn’t take back and you hurt another person.  Maybe you did something that had terrible consequences…such as a car accident and someone was hurt, or killed.   Maybe you made a choice and that choice had a negative effect on the rest of your life.   Maybe you made a life changing decision and announced it; and, from the moment you said it…things were never the same again.

         You know, the kind of situation where a complete moment of panic and understanding set in, making you wish that things were different.   If you could go back and redo things…what would you do, say, think, or feel differently?   What can you do differently to prevent yourself from repeating negative patterns of behavior?

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Breaking News: Don’t Panic, It’s Not You-Gmail Isn’t Working

     Well, just so you know…there is breaking news, Google’s gmail isnt working at the moment for some of it’s users…dont panic…it isnt you if you are not a technical person.  I always panic when something technical isnt working…because i think it is my lack of tech skills; however, this time, gmail developed a problem with their gmail about 1:30 Pacific time today.   Google says they arent sure what the problem is but they are aware it and they are working on it.   Many people use their gmail account for business purposes so the impact of the failure is being felt.  I became aware of the gmail breakdown from my twitter account! 

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The Sky Is Falling…The Sky Is Falling!

        The Sky is falling…the sky is falling…does anyone remember that saying from the children’s story…Chicken Little?  That is how I am feeling today about the hysteria surrounding the money markets.  The more that the warnings go out…the more hysteria that takes place, which then makes the markets more unstable.  The dow is beginning to resemble a roller coaster ride.

          I fell for it…and i am sure there are others who are biting the bullet as far as the panicked feeling.  Everyone is panicking.  Other countries are panicking too.  Because of it…the instability is contagious.  Everyone needs to stop….take a deep breath and let things settle for a few days.  Don’t sell out of panic…don’t buy out of panic…just stop and let things settle into what they are; do what you normally would do.

          I know the need to protect what you have worked for, i know the need to keep your personal finances bubblewrapped to the best of your ability, i know the fear that won’t let you sleep because you may not be able to send your kids to college, retire, or live without too much heartache with your daily spending.  Truth is, most of us needed to tighten our belts and live the way we were taught which is to save up to buy what you want…not overextend yourself with credit and pay as you go.  This is common sense.  It is also common sense to establish some credit…but you must be vigilant and pay it as it comes due…not let credit become the disaster that it has become.

          Businesses, banks, real-estate companies all are in the position that many of us regular people have been in.  The problem is that they can’t operate if their customers can’t pay.  We can’t pay if we don’t have jobs or homes to live in.  It is a vicious cycle.  Everything needs to stabilize long enough for an honest evaluation of where we are at.  At the moment, it is like a lake that has had a boulder fall from the cliffs into the center of the lake; there are ripples that are still rocking the boat floating on the surface.   The shifting that keeps taking place is definately keeping the extent of the damage unclear.

         Putting measures into effect to try to “correct” the market is just going to continue to keep things out of control.  This whole financial crisis is scary as heck…i won’t deny that.  But, we have no accurate way to measure the actual scope of the damage.  There is something to be said for an old adage such as, moderation in all things. 

         The people & companies that put us in this situation are going to have to make better decisions, they have to have consequences for the mistakes that they have made, and they are going to have to put procedures into place to prevent repeating the same mistakes.  The housing markets, the oil companies, the credit card companies and the banking industry all need to take stock of how they have each added to this disaster, and do a review of business 101.  Make more than you spend, lend less than you can afford to lose, and build trust and relationships with your customers!  What a novel idea…we can all learn from those practices.

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Debate, Political Choices…It Could Go Either Way!

         What a stinking mess we are living with.  Fear smells up a place…we have a huge financial crisis, a huge political crisis; and, it could be a privotal moment of rescue or a plunge into the abyss and truthfully, the whole thing could go either way!

          Huge meetings are taking place in Washington…panic is like a throbbing headache…it is there making it presence known…threatening to turn into something much worse than a mere pain.  Into the frey, we have a bailout plan that was possibly agreed upon, until some say McCain derailed it with the House Republicans who disagreed strongly with parts of the plan. 

          Throw on top of that…a debate that is scheduled for tonight between Sen. McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.  Battle lines have been drawn, in a somewhat blurry manner.  Sen. Obama says he will definately show up for the debate…McCain says…we should reschedule the debate and focus on this immediate crisis with a plan for the financial stabilization for our country.  Our leaders have been in financial denial too long to let this negatively impact our country any longer.  It is time for commitment to understanding the problem and taking action.

          Who is correct…Obama says the debates are important to help the people understand how the Senators would handle things if they were the chosen one for the Presidential office.  McCain says, these meetings in Washington are critical and that they should be involved in them.  This whole thing is larger than a difference of opinion.  Does it say something very basic about Obama’s nature to hold to the plan for the debate when all of the rest of the country is focussed on this crisis?  Does he feel set apart from it all?  Or is he making a statement by letting the others take the action behind the scenes?  Is he right to stay out of it?  Or should he be more involved? If he doesn’t get involved in the planning of the bailout…will he understand best how to run the country if he should win the election?  Will Obama will the voter’s approval in November for not going to Washington at this time? 

        Is McCain right to be in the middle of things?  Should he be in there fighting for the things to be included or excluded in the bailout plan?  If he wins the election will it help him to run the country by being involved in the planning of the bailout?  Should he back out of it and go do the debate?  Will McCain’s involvement hurt his chances for election in November?  Or will he be seen as trying to make a difference?  Does his involvement help or hurt his chances for election?

          What i don’t understand is why they both can’t be right?  Why can’t the debate be moved to Washington and take place there…while the rest of their time could be focussed on the meetings to keep current on what is happening behind closed doors.  Those meeting are going to not only impact the country in deep and profound ways…but, will also impact whoever does end up in the Presidential position!  This is real, this is so much bigger than either of the candidates and they both need to understand that the American people are going to have their decision made for them by the end of this crisis!

          This is no time for game playing, no time for political mud slinging, no time for experimentation…this country is looking for someone to take the helm of this country and be proactive in guiding the ship to a safer, less rocky course than it is on at this very moment in time. 

          Wall Street is in turmoil, the American tax paying public is in no position to fund a bailout when most of it’s residents are barely surviving as it is.  Banks are collapsing, housing is bottoming out, businesses are busting out all over the place, people’s investments and retirements are in jeparody…this is shaky ground; reminescent of what happened in Russia just a few short years ago. 

          Other countries are getting nervous as well.  Beware of the person who says they have all of the answers…because no one possibly can.  This is uncharted areas of expertise.  The last thing we need is a knee jerk policy…however, we need to start doing some major corrective action or things will not be able to recover. 

           Anyone with half of a brain knows that you don’t make crucial decisions when everything is imploding…because you need to make rational choices.  How in the heck did we get this far gone in this country before the “experts” in the markets and financial infrastructure sent up a red flag or a flare?  Couldn’t they see this coming down the road early enough to start changing the direction of this disaster?

           People’s very quality of life is slipping through the cracks of our governing body.  Something has to be done…but, who knows best?  Who do we trust?  Are we going to waste time having a political showdown between the two very people who could possibly be running the government in less than two or three months?  The sky is falling people…the sky is falling…for real this time; we are not crying wolf when we say…we need an immediate comprehensive plan to stop this country from disappearing into a black hole in the universe!  It is time to pray for the leadership of this country and ask that they be given wisdom in their decision making!!!  update:  Breaking news…McCain now says: he WILL attend the debate this evening in Oxford, Mississippi!

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Is Anyone Else Feeling A Rising Sense of Dread And Panic?

       With all of the economic shake ups taking place in the United States…i was just wondering…is anyone else feeling a rising, fearful sense of dread and panic?  It has building for the last year and a half with the mortgage crisis, rising costs of food, gasoline, home heating fuels, foreclosures, and job downsizings.  Now on top of all of that…we are seeing the fall of the major financial instutions in our country.

       Some Americans, in portions of our country, have been seeing and feeling the economic sense of dread and panic rising for quite some time.  It started with many job markets closing down or moving out of country (outsourcing) and then we started to see the domino effect from credit card lapses, missed mortgage payments, vehicle repossessions and then, foreclosures of homes that probably never should’ve been financed in the first place.  It has been, and continues to be, a chain reaction.

       The culture of over-indulgence, and pay later, mindset has decided to reveal it’s consequences.  There was no safety net in place to cushion the blow.  Once again in America, our quality of life is being threatened in a way that has the potential to bring our country to it’s knees; similar to the Great Depression that we all studied about in history class as children.  It has gone beyond a wake up call and moved to a place of drastic correction.  How are we going to deal with that as a nation?

      Tonight, President Bush is going to be speaking to the American citizens on the economic crisis that this country faces.  Minutes ago, Sen. John McCain made a statement saying that he is suspending his Presidential campaign to go to Washington to help deal with the historical financial crisis; McCain is calling on Sen. Barack Obama to put the campaign aside for the time being to focus on a bi-partisian solution.  Now is not the time for political game playing.  Anyone who dares go there…will loose the election for sure just because of it.  A commitment must be made to work on the issues that we are facing and stop playing word games and power plays to get attention.

        Time is of the essence at the moment; the impact has the potential to deconstruct the global economy.  Not only are our citizens watching and waiting to find a solution…other countries are doing the same.  Is there any possible way that we can as a nation and as individuals recover from this mess?

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Asthma Sufferers In Distress

         I just read something that is going to make asthma sufferers very distressed and somewhat fearful.  The Federal Drug Administration has said that by the end of the year that inhalers made with CFC’s will be banned.  CFC is Chlorofluorocarbons; and, they deplete the protective ozone layer around the earth.  So, by December 31st of 2008 the inhalers, that operate by using CFC’s to push the medication out of an inhaler and into the lungs of a patient, will no longer be available.  These inhalers are life savers.  Without an effective way of getting the medication into the lungs of a person with asthma they could suffer ill health or die.

         There are new inhalers that use hydrofluoroalkanes to administer the medicine.  The new inhalers don’t have damaging chemicals to hurt the earth’s ozone layer.  The ozone layer is important because it protects earth and it’s people from harmful ultraviolet radiation.  Green practices in our everyday lives is important…but it seems to me that there could be other areas of cutting back that don’t endanger people’s lives.

         It is important to protect the ozone…but, not at the risk of individual asthma sufferers well-being.  Most asthma patients know that changing medicines take time for the body to adjust…this could mean more trips to the doctor or the hospital while their bodies adjust to the new inhaler.  They will want to discuss this issue of inhalers with their doctor soon…so that they can find an effective treatment that works for them.

          The problem here, is that the new inhalers don’t work in the same way.  Therefore, many people are concerned about the health of the people they love being able to breathe the way they need to.  The medicine is not delivered efficiently through the new inhalers.  It seems that they tend to clog up more and the cost is higher for the new inhalers.  People need to learn the new way of using the inhalers, to get the best results.  This could be dangerous if not done properly.  People do die from asthma if it isn’t properly managed.  Patients will need to talk to their pharmacist and/or physicians to get accurate information.

          Many are feeling a bit of panic about this because it is going to happen no matter what.  This is about people’s life and health.  There is no room for error when it comes to asthma.  It is distressing to think that these inhalers are being forced on patients when the asthma sufferers aren’t sure that they will work just as well as the old inhalers for them.  What do you think about this issue? 

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