May 31 2011
Great Memorial Day Weekend – For Some
Sorry for the lack of posts but we went camping near over the weekend, with stints on Saturday and Monday in an amusement park and a trip to the beach on Sunday. All in all a great 3 day break with lots of challenges (gulley-washers, extreme heat, ant infestations) and great times.
Would love to hear how everyone else spent the weekend – hope the times were good for everyone.
One thing we did notice, in fact we could NOT help but notice, was reduced crowds everywhere. Here in the DC area we had 3 nice days, and this usually means the local amusement parks are packed. The one we went to (Busch Gardens, Williamsburg) was basically empty. We drove right up and parked, and we basically walked right onto their premier rides both days. It was quite stunning.
The beach did not seem overly crowded, and traffic back to the DC area on Monday was pretty much not existent.
The only thing we could figure was we were witnessing the harsh impacts of Obamanomics. I will not be surprised to see stories this week on the busted start to the summer. So while we had a good time and benefited from the lack of crowds, it was a bit disturbing.
We went to Fredricksburg this weekend for the crawfish festival. To my surprise, the results are the opposite. Lots of people there but probably not the norm for a usual Fredricksburg weekend visit since I don’t visit this wonderful town.
Also, when I drove between Houston, Georgetown, and Belton, I noticed less traffic on I-35 ane 290 than normal. Going home with less traffic on 290 was an odd feeling.
We had a good time and gave us a chance to recover from a tiring week at work.
We also celebrated my parents’ 63rd wedding anniversary.
Saw an article about a 5-buck gas by July so expect things to get worse.
The lack of crowds will certainly hurt the travel industry as well as tourist stores, arts and craft festivals and so on. It’s going to hurt all around.
It has to hurt everyone to the point that they are going to be forced to reality of their vote of Obama in ’08 and their 2012 vote.
We stayed home and did yard work, and then had buffalo burgers on the patio. Nice and relaxed. From my observations a lot of people chose that, since 2 places that *were* pretty packed (I visited both) were Lowe’s and Home Depot.
Lurker, I took a trip back and forth to Nacogdoches a couple weeks ago and like you, was amazed at how thin the traffic was. Reminded me of what it was like driving back in the 70’s. Nice, but a bit unsettling.
AJ wrote: “I will not be surprised to see stories this week on the busted start to the summer.”
Au contraire, I will be EXTREMELY surprised to see any stories about that – even though we all see it happening! It doesn’t fit the narrative, you see, and any journo who violates the narrative is an apostate, guilty of heresy, and will be immediately cast out into the outer darkness of “nobody talk to him anymore”. That’s the sentence for anyone who dares to notice what’s actually happening in the real world.
Just saw more evidence this morning – all the forward looking economic numbers are “unexpectedly” bad – Case Schiller housing index down, Purchasing managers index down, Consumer Confidence down – so what’s the story that’s being written from that?
“temporary blip in the economy due to weather before much stronger economic growth in Q3 and Q4”
No kidding – I’ve already seen that lead. That’s not forecasting, that’s wishcasting, and that’s all we will ever get from any MSM outlet anymore.
It really is All Pravda, All the Time. Hail the Glorious New Five Year Plan!!!
of course, they don’t realize that they have only blinded themselves. When the end comes, and it will, because it always does, we will see it long before any of them do. Simply because we watch the real world, while they despise it for contradicting them so consistently.
Sorry for the lack of posts but …
No need to apologize for having a LIFE.
What’s THAT like? 🙂
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I generally go camping with friends in Northern California over Memorial Day weekend but stayed home this year. Might have been a good thing, a friend sent me a cell phone video of it snowing at the location.
It was a cold and dreary weekend here in this part of sunny California and it is raining again today, promising the same for tomorrow. The Sierras might pick up another foot of snow (to add to the already over 60 feet of snow at Donner Summit) and the road through Yosemite (Tioga Pass Road) still isn’t plowed out yet.
The calendar says almost June, but the weather says almost March.
Boy Crosspatch, that Global Warming is a real bi-yotch! It always comes at you in the way you’d least expect – Global Warming is tricky that way!
and lest you think that might be pure sarcasm, I have it on solid Authority – Newsweek Magazine, no less! – That EVERY extreme weather event in the world is caused by global warming!
http://minx.cc/?post=316916
Quick, find a volcano and shovel our money into it while we wail and make our lamentations! It’s our only hope!!!
Today’s Kiplinger letter indicated that the banks are ready to make their credits available but only to commercial businesses (big loans). Home equity loans and small loans are still difficult to get. (doesn’t make sense)
It’s trying to explain away the low durable goods orders. Not successfully.
It thinks that if Mitt wins the nomination, the Obamacare law becomes less of an issue (I disagree but this sounds like Kiplinger really wants Obamacare to stay intact).
It has been demonstrating a support towards Obama in the last few years…
Tonight’s “clean debt ceiling limit bill” SOUNDLY rejected.
Now what?
Everyone knew how that vote was going to play. The only question was how many Dems would vote against it – 82 of them!
So now, the negotiations start – how much in cuts will Boehner have the nerve to go for in order to get this to pass?
The real vote won’t come until August, maybe even September.
Obama told the House Republicans that he would agree to the spending cuts as long as the tax rates for the wealthy expire early.
Yeah, right!
From what I read…1 trillion has already been agreed to but …
And I can’t but wonder how much this will hurt NASA and the defense.
The problem with that is that we are headed for some serious inflation and soon. That means the prices of everything is set to go up quickly. It also means wages will go up, too. By setting his criteria of “wealthy” at a flat $250K, it means more people will creep into that “wealthy” category just by inflation.
It is basically a trap. You set an amount of $250K, then inflate the economy so you push more people into the $250K range and bingo, you have managed to raise taxes on a whole bunch of people in a very sneaky way.
I wouldn’t buy the $250K number unless it is indexed for inflation. Congress STILL hasn’t indexed AMT for inflation.
Well, here’s good news: You’re right, we’re headed for serious inflation, but that tax plan won’t work, since wages won’t rise much at all even while the prices of commodities are soaring.
This is because this is going to be a purely monetary inflation, not a demand based one, and unemployment will stay very high and demand low, thus keeping wages down. Now since the tax plan won’t work, even if rates are raised, the deficit will have to be pumped up even more just to keep what remains from collapsing, and the more the deficit is pumped the worse the inflation will get, and the worse the inflation gets the worse the unemployment gets, and the worse the unemployment gets the worse the deficit will get.
Otherwise known as the death spiral. No breaking out of it until living standards for almost everyone have dropped by 50% – 60%, and all savings are wiped out. Coming soon to a once-great nation near you.
Just looking at some more numbers coming out this morning – *all* of the forward looking economic numbers are calling a fall into the second half of a double dip recession.
And the way it is being reported? As I wrote above: “temporary blip in the economy due to weather before much stronger economic growth in Q3 and Q4?
It’s just because of the Tsunami! or the Floods! Or the Tornadoes! But everything is fine, we promise! Pay no attention to those nasty numbers behind the curtain, the future is glorious! You have our word on it!
I just heard some commenter on CNBC saying “well, these forecast numbers are way off a lot of times, right? So should we even pay attention to them?”” He was serious.
Journalism today – when they have a choice between the Data and The Narrative, they go for The Narrative every time. The Narrative says “All Is Well!!! Be Calm!!! All IS WELL!!!!”
Data? What’s that? Ah, if only we could ignore the real world forever, life would be grand, wouldn’t it?
Who knew that Baghdad Bob would come to be a modern journalistic role model.
Did pretty much my usual thing of BBQ,Beer and Buddies over to celebrate.
Did 33 lbs of ribs on the BBQ in the slow cooking mode I was taught many years ago. Done till you could just strip the meat off the bones with your fingers and just watch it fall onto your plate.
I actually underestimated the demand for them by the crew who came over. I probably should have cooked up 50 lbs or more.
Well, looks like today the stock market started to realize that another recession really is on the way.
The MSM still won’t admit it, though.