What did you buy at the grocery store this week? How did you pay for it – cash or credit? Does that make a difference? In hard times, we all juggle. It’s the proverbial “rob Peter to pay Paul” as we pull funds from one source to cover another. It’s a sort of hot potato […]
Stigma
It used to be illegitimacy. Or abortion. Or divorce. Stigma was attached to actions that were overtly or tacitly unacceptable. The consequence was banishment from the fold. Being shunned by those whose approval you wanted. Whose love you needed. Some of the reasons may have shifted, but stigma remains a part of western culture. Children […]
Nepotism (or, How to Get a Job in a Post-Modernist Recessionary Economy)
Want work? Who do you know?
What Ever Happened to Doctor-Patient Relationship?
Some 120 miles away, a friend is lying in her bed. In pain. It’s been six days. She works around the clock – an independent – and has no medical insurance. Just one more thing that disappears for many women when they divorce. And she is over 50. Without an employer, the cost of medical […]
Get Rich Quick!
Link love from Louisville. Product placement in Poughkeepsie. Rentals in Rio. And haven’t we all seen our local version of Mother Makes $88 Dollars an Hour on the Internet? There has to be a way to make bucks fast, right? Must all the ideas we hear and read be schemes and scams? Two years ago […]
Scare Tactics
Scare tactics in recessionary advertising? You bet!
Starting Out or Starting Over? 10 Best Cities for Every Stage!
Best places to consider for relocation – at any stage!
Plagues persist. (Locusts looming?)
“What’s next – locusts?” That’s what a friend said to me last week, after hearing about the computer viruses, the broken down car, the hole in my son’s ceiling the night before we were leaving town, the air conditioning that died and required repair – twice, water pouring into my bathroom through a light fixture, […]
Good news and bad news
There’s good news and bad news. Oh, I won’t even begin to discuss the state of the BP oil spill, our lagging economy, not to mention my pitiful personal life. But there’s still a cornucopia of good news – offset of course, by weird news (at the very least), and yes, bad news. But may […]
Standing Room Only (Low Fare, No Care?)
I couldn’t resist this tidbit – Ryanair finally goes for its Standing Room Only air travel, according to The Telegraph (UK). Seats back in the upright position? Try “backs upright in the standing position!” This decision has been bandied about for awhile; I caught wind of it last year (and was amused), thinking it was […]