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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 1477
Location: Michigan | I work as a sales rep in Michigan for an automotive supply company that I have been with for 33 years. I have been fortunate to do financially well for many years but this new decade is fastly erasing the gains I have made in the past and shows no signs of recovering in my work era ( 5 years ).I have never seen anything like this in my life.Everybody that I talk to is in a Super Depression Mode over everything from hating their jobs or being in fear of losing their jobs or never ever getting back to the times of making the same money that they did 10 years ago.
I have never ever seen this kind of STRESS around people that I have know in my 53 years on this planet.
Anyone else seeing this ???
Maybe its just me.GWB |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | Not around here but we have defence & insurence here
as major industry. |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Don't fret GWB... It gets Better!
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Joined:
October 2006
Posts: 5575
Location: big island | enter the next puppet. as planned by the CFR. |
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Joined:
June 2006
Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | My wife just lost her job of 19 years, with no more that a wave goodbye at the end. No severance, no nothing. No worries though, it only puts about an 80 grand debit in our yearly income. There may be some guitars on the block in the coming year. |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 1132
Location: Parrish, FL | Well... YES
The company that my wife and I both work at announced that they were closing the doors and moving their operations to Kansas. This after a nearly 2 yr stint as a start up with mega hours of salary OT to get this thing off the ground.
No way we're going to Kansas so it is start over again.
So, other than that and my son starting college next fall, I'm good.
(Yeah I'm good, I'm good, I'm good) |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Arthur, apparently you don't follow the economy much, or you would know the last 5 years have been record breakers for the good in so many ways.
I'm always amused when people think having liberals in power is going to improve things economically, when it's been the opposite for the last 30 years. |
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Joined:
January 2005
Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | Don't underestimate how much your environment contributes to your depression. With all due respect GWB, it's December and you live in Michigan. Seriously, you might want to consider cutting your loses and move to a bright sunny climate. I did it 15 years ago and it literally saved my life. There's no way I would be here today, or at least be the happy person that I am today, had I not recognized it and got the hell out of a similarly cold dark place. Don't get me wrong, I have at LEAST as much stress now as I had back then. I have no job security what so ever, work in an extremely volatile industry, and I'm financially over extended in all kinds of directions. BUT, something about seeing blue skies and sunshine every day just makes it all OK. I call it "stress with a sun tan."
If you think the government is responsible for your stress and depression you are wrong. And if you think a change in government is going to make it go away you are similarly wrong. People need to take responsibility for their own mental well being. It starts with taking a critical inventory of what is important to you and what is not. What do you need, what do you not need. What are the things that will truely make you feel happy and then GO FOR IT. We're fucking 50 years old, man! TWO decades (maybe) of quality life left! There is no time to sit around and hope that it'll get better on it's own. 'Cuz it WON'T. Just my 2c.
Dave |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | NO POLITICS PLEASE |
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Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 430
Location: Lebanon, TN | The older I get and having been through a few, now, everything economic, political and mass culture is cyclical. Not just in terms of natural patterns, but more action and reaction seeming to be the human instinct. Even clothing fashion runs around with my daughter wearing clothes now that my wife and mother would have worn in 60's and 70's.
For anyone over the age of 35, we have all been here before, there are always portents of doom. The 1980's were my entering adult hood phase. Aged 19 I had been let go from 3 jobs in 9 months due to ecconomic downsizing. I finally entered nursing school to escape the economic disasters and managed to survive and thrive into the thatcher boom era in the 80's.
Funny thing is I discussed this all with my mum and she said..."Son you should have felt what it was like in Oct 1962 . I was 6 months married, just turned 20, and 7 months pregnant carrying you when Kruschev starts banging his shoe and we all thought nuclear missiles were going to come raining down on our heads bring the world to an apocalyptic fiery end. Those were darker days than I have ever seen and affected a great many peopl. Funnily enough though, after the cuban missile crisis everyone was ready for a little 60's free love and spirit!"
On a personal note my sympathies to everyone who faces the loss of earnings and livelihood at this time of year. It is a damned shame so many corporate fiscal calendars make it inevitable that cuts are being made right around what should be the happiest, and yet is often the darkest period of the year for many.
Now to the passing of the Bush dynasty and the likely coming Democratic Express inbound....if you had lived in a real "socialist revolution" and a bad economy like I did through the 1970's in the UK you would have nothing to complain about with your Liberal 'Lights' (aka the Democrats) Believe me they are no where near as extreme as you might fear lacking any real phiosophical underpinnings to their liberalism.
I will leave you with some words of encouragement from Robert Burns....It comes from the second verse of "A Man's a Man for A'that"
What though on hamely fare we dine
Wear hoddin grey, an' a' that
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine
A man's a man, for a' that
For a' that, an' a' that
Their tinsel show an' a' that
The honest man, though e'er sae poor
Is king o' men for a' that
Slainthe! |
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Joined:
August 2006
Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | I'm with Dave on how your own environment is the biggest contributor to mental state. Actually I agree with his whole statement. The tough part is that sometimes the changes that need to be made to fix the problems are just impossible to implement. That's that feeling of being "trapped" that I'm sure all of us married folks get from time to time. I know I do - with kids heading to college, mortgage, cars and all of the other responsibilities - it can get overwhelming. The mood or demeanor of your spouse can make ALL the difference in the world as well.
As Dave said - find what makes you happy and go for it - even if it's something relatively small - like a new guitar, or a weekend trip, whatever it is. |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 1180
Location: Vermont USA | God is in control and that's a fact.
Pauly
OK now we have gone from Politics to religion, so back to the Fender oops Ovation guitars we love to hear and talk about. |
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Joined:
October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | Let me tell you about my last 2 weeks. I had a car accident, first one in my life (I'm fine)Got
laid off after 29 years! 2 days before I got laid off I find out I have $6500.00 of dental work that needs to be done NOW or I will have some major problems soon (Due to past medical situation not lack of care). Sunday my computer crashes, I go to bring it to a friend who has the abiliites and equipment to fix the problem and as I am walking down from my 3rd floor apt I
slip/trip and drop my PC down 2 flights of stairs! CRASH! I now no longer need my friend to fix the PC it's in the trash. So,$486.00 later I
now have a new PC!. So, yeah, I'm stressing a bit, but, I have most of my health, I have my son and things can't get much worse, only better, right?? I'm still better off then 90% of the rest of the inhabitants on the hunk of rock! Oh, and my "O" sounds better and better everytime I play it. So thing are going to improve. HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all!!! |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | I also live in Michigan. It's extremely depressing to see what is happening to our economy. What is even more agrivating is the attitude of many of our fellow Americans that if Michigan would only get it's shit together our problems would be solved.
The fifty states are like baby birds in a nest, all-too willing to kick out the weaker sibling so that more food can be obtained. The states of the U.S. are literally economicly fighting and consuming each other. All in the name of profit and free markets.
Many don't seem to understand that the problems are complex and costly to resolve, that there are multitudes of retirees depending on pensions and contracts, that there are laws and court challenges that impede almost all proposed reforms, and that the government in Michigan is doing the best that it can with very difficult problems. Much of Michigan's burden are due to older retired people who rely on union pensions, and to a great extent on Medicaid (State funds) because Medicare (Federal funds) refuses to provide coverage and deliver on past promises. I wish we could pack up all our old people and send them to the sun belt (along with our jobs) but that just ain't gonna happen.
I equate Michigan's circumstances to being hit with an economic "Katrina". But there is no FEMA or Federal government help for us. Meanwhile much of the rest of the U.S. continues to buy Hondas and Toyotas while wagging their collective finger at us saying we are stupid and incompetent. It's all our fault.
My feeling is that Michigan is in the van-guard of a long slow economic decline that will sooner or later hit the entire United States. Do the math, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, there is no middle ground (or it is rapidly receding). True, we the priviledged middle class can purchase a Chinese DVD player at Walmart for $50, but can we afford to put our kids through college? Can we afford our own health care independant of our employers? Can we afford to retire and provide for ourselves without becoming a burden on our children or on the rest of society?
We are being sold out. That's my rant. Thanks. |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Times were hard for me during the Viet Nam conflict, not unlike it is for families with loved ones in uniform today, and I had a tough time saying goodbye to my young kids in the 1980's when they moved to California with their mother following our divorce. It hurts, adjustments are made, time heals, and life goes on. |
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Joined:
January 2005
Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | Brian, I did not mean to speak negatively about Michigan. Sorry if it sounded that way. My only point was (from personal experience) that a dark cold winter tends to play mind games with you. For me, what were managable problems in July can seem like insurmountable problems in January.
Dave |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | I hate to jump on Dave's bandwagon, but I'm already there. The rest of my family lives in Portland and every one of them has had depression problems in the winter. My dad was able to get off med when he started going down to Arizona every winter. The short hours and sitting in front of a computer or TV all day gets everyone down.
My daughter is enroute to California for about the 4th time in the last 6 months, this time supposedly to move there permanently. We think it's the biggest mistake of her life, but it's hers. Helplessness is depressing. We need to do something about whatever we can fix and get past what we can't fix. Spring will come. Meanwhile, go play in the snow. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | SADS
and the economy are 2 different issues |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 1126
Location: Omaha, NE | I don't know if I have any particularly valuable insights here, but each time I look in the mirror I see a few more gray hairs in my beard, so I guess that counts for something. So, here's my $0.02:
1) Shit happens. That's life. How things work out for you is 99% a function of your attitude and your attitude is 100% under your control. The simple way of saying that is "If you think you will win, you will win. If you think you will lose, you will lose."
2) No matter what is going on, there is always someone with money who still has wants and needs. You want money? Good. Go sell something to a rich guy and you'll get money.
3) The thing that you fear the most is a thousand times worse in theory than it is in reality.
4) Singing and playing your guitar with your kids makes everything better. Everytime. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | You always hear that old addage:
"Enjoy Your Life . . tomorrow you could get hit by a bus".
Last year, a co-worker of mine walked out of the Javits Center here in Manhattan, stepped off the curb, . . . and was killed by a bus.
Kinda' puts things in perspective when it hits that close . . . |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Dave, as you are probably aware, there is substantial empirical evidence available regarding the relationship between sunlight, or lack thereof, and one's perception of comfort, happiness, satisfaction and stress. |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | Sorry Dave, I did not mean to target my rant at you. I agree with you about sunshine and nice weather, it certainly does affect one's mood. You are fortunate.
The problem with re-location it that it is usually only the fairly prosperous, or the young and un-encumbered that have the option of moving to more attractive climates. That leaves the more needy and tied-down people behind to further tax an already overstressed system.
I have been giving some serious thought to relocating, particularly for my children's sake. But with all the complications and costs it doesnt seem very do-able at this time, but who knows, maybe someday.
But remember all you folks living in the southwest, when your water dries up and your cities can no longer function we have plenty of abundent water up here in the cold, grey great lakes states! Just move your households and jobs back up here and you can have all the water you want. |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | I definitely battle stress and depression this time of year. I get up when it's dark, drive 50 miles to work in the dark, work in a room with no windows and drive home in the dark. On good days it's not raining.
But I have way too many blessings in my life to get too seriously down. All I need to do is focus on those.
"No, No, they can't take that away from me." :D |
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Joined:
January 2005
Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | I wasn't trying to pimp the southwest. Btw - I went to bus. school in Ann Arbor! Just pointing out that you need to seperate the various sources of stress. Some you can control, some you can't. Environment is a big part of it. Economy is another. Family situation. Etc. etc. There are things you can NOT control. So don't lose sleep over those. Put your energy into the things that you can do to effect change. Dave |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Recently I spoke with the an official at the Social Security administration, and indeed michigan's economy is down, probably on a state wide level, the worst in the country. And from what the experts at work, say it's the same for parts of New York State where the industries have totally hollowed out. Other parts of the state like NYC, are going gangbusters thanks to real estate, medicine, education and finance, just like other parts of the country are doing great.
They tell me, these trends will continue, until the bubble that's formed in the places that are doing great, burst, then we'll all be the dumper. No one knows when the bubble will pop, could be next year or 30 years from now. So the southwest will get there's someday it's just a matter of when. Maybe they'll run of water, and NYC every once in a while goes into the dumper, so it's guaranteed for us.
Realistically, if you are in good health, you can work till your 72 full time, and part time to 77. After that, it's time to go. If you are doing good financially in Mich, take advantage of it, if it's not working out, look someplace else, 'cause it's not going to get better. I emphasize with the pain of the people in Mich, and similarly affected areas. IMO, our society is changing, especially over the last 20 years, I wish I knew how it was going to turn out.
Life's not fair. Just look at the subprime mortgage mess, the banks gave mortgages to people who couldn't afford them, they repackaged the loans and sold them. The people can't pay, the banks can't pay the interest on the securities to the bond holders. The bond holders want their money, the banks get permission from the government to freeze the interest rates, new mortgage seekers now have to subsidize the people that can't pay to keep the banks afloat, and the thing keeps rolling on. Frankly, I blame the financial institutions and the military industrial complex, for being so short cited and greedy, and our politicians, and ultimately us, for letting them get away with it. But as long as there's life, there's hope and we can make things better. |
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IS THIS THE MOST STRESSFULL TIME OF YOUR LIFE ?
