patrick.net

I’m back. It’s nice to be missed.
We drove up to Lassen volcanic park in northern CA and camped for most of the week. It’s very beautiful, with great views, big trees, and little lakes. The best part was a place called Bumpass Hell. I’d never seen any real volcanic activity before, so it was a trip to see boiling mud, sulfer, and hear the roar of hot gasses escaping the earth.

Bumpass Hell is awesome, but man you have got to go to Yellowstone. it is Bumpass Hell times a thousand with amazing wildlife and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The most amazing place on the face of the earth IMHO. Was the road open through the park?

OK, I'll add Yellowstone to my must-see list.

The road was open, but there was still snow around, which was pretty weird because it was about 90 degrees. I put snow in my hat just to cool off.

You seriously don't see how crowds can exist and spending be down at the same time rob918?! You are simply too dumb to have done well unless you are pulling down a pension from some scam government job. Did you work for the city of Bell by any chance?

Even the LA Times gets it:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0821-restaurants-closing-20100821,0,584097.story

Being slower than the LA Times take some effort.

Great To Have you BACK PATRICK, Glad you had a great time, and when we pause to see the world for what it is, a living breathing planet it is astounding, and awe-inspiring (sp)

m1ckey6 says

You seriously don’t see how crowds can exist and spending be down at the same time rob918?! You are simply too dumb to have done well unless you are pulling down a pension from some scam government job. Did you work for the city of Bell by any chance?

Sure, ok, whatever you say, you're always right. Thank you for the kind and polite words :-)

I'm in Danville, Ca, near Walnut Creek in the East Bay. I feel as if I'm living in the Matrix. Restaurants are full, shopping centers crowded, spas booked, many home pending signs.

WEIRD.

i rarely drive past the mall, and never on a sunday afternoon, but i did today and i've never seen it so crowded. i guess that doesn't mean much especially since i don't have other (data) to compare it to, but it surely does feel wierd when in my mind the whole world economy has supposedly gone to hell in a handbasket.,,,,,,,,hopefully only in my mind

or maybe it's just that back to school shopping that has everyone out spending

me thinks that credit/(or debt 'money') is a drug stronger then nicotine or heroine, and everyone is hooked. by hook or crook, they're going to get their next fix, and they are addicts, so they are not thinking rationally, and even though buying a house in the American Dream, and that means a 30 yr mortgage to consume about a 1/3 of your income for the majority of your working life, most people are still stuck on keeping up with the joneses and looking pretty and getting that new cell phone that for a mere 100$ per month can let you call people better (then a 1960's rotary), so if there's a way, there's a will, and the same people that leveraged our collective lives to hell with credit and absurd consumer expenditures aren't going to quit cold turkey,,,,,,,,,

I’m back. It’s nice to be missed.
We drove up to Lassen volcanic park in northern CA and camped for most of the week. It’s very beautiful, with great views, big trees, and little lakes. The best part was a place called Bumpass Hell. I’d never seen any real volcanic activity before, so it was a trip to see boiling mud, sulfer, and hear the roar of hot gasses escaping the earth.

Congrats Patrick... time well spent.

m1ckey6 says

You seriously don’t see how crowds can exist and spending be down at the same time rob918?! You are simply too dumb to have done well unless you are pulling down a pension from some scam government job. Did you work for the city of Bell by any chance?

Malls have become a form of entertainment. They dont spend they go there for the walk around.

thomas.wong1986 says

m1ckey6 says

You seriously don’t see how crowds can exist and spending be down at the same time rob918?! You are simply too dumb to have done well unless you are pulling down a pension from some scam government job. Did you work for the city of Bell by any chance?

Malls have become a form of entertainment. They dont spend they go there for the walk around.

It is pretty hot out there. Save on electricity on the weekend just relax at a Mall. :)

robertoaribas says

pulling in nearly $50K a year on California unemployment…

???? Oh dear lord. Can I move there after I lose my job?

I'm pretty sure it's not $50K/year. I was unemployed in California and the max was $450/week, which is $23,400/year.

Re: Unemployment, I can attest to that MAX is 450 a week, and after 18 years of being on the same JOB I had to use the benefit for 8 weeks. I felt horrible, and while I thanked god for the income, I felt so so well underfunded and at fault!

rob918 says

I disagree that crowds don’t equal dollars unless it’s a free event. That’s just plain silly. Hotel rooms in SD aren’t free

Bars: there will always be lots of patrons--they just tip less during a recession (ask any bartender--I've known many as a travelling alcoholic)

Malls: I'm a buyer for a large retailer and can tell you that traffic in malls means not very much. Right now, there's still plenty of traffic, but sales are down YoY for the last two months, and YoY for the overall year. People go to the malls to look and not buy. Just like drunks at a bar will still drink but not tip much. Back to school means nothing anymore if you are selling discretionary (i.e., high margin) merchandise.

Restaurants: Folks will always eat. Like in the malls, they will browse but not buy, but they will always stop at the food court because you have to eat (but you don't have to have another pair of stripper shoes); cooking at home is not any cheaper than going out, either, unless you are feeding a family of 5. People just order cheaper entress, skip the dessert, and don't order a bottle of wine unless 6 people are at the table. Again, spending shrinks but crowds do not.

People do not want to be sequestered in their homes by the recession. They will go out until they literally cannot afford gas to drive.

dadab says

It is pretty hot out there. Save on electricity on the weekend just relax at a Mall

YEP1

thomas.wong1986 says

YEP1

Incidentally, this was taped during the early '90s recession. . . .

Philistine says

thomas.wong1986 says

YEP1

Incidentally, this was taped during the early ’90s recession. . . .

Hehe