Evaluation of 1st Month of Bailout

End of the first month of the New Year. A brief evaluation of my “bailout plan” against the actuality. 

My prediction on the economy and the news cycle has been extremely accurate, no prize there, the news on the economy has been universally terrible. Job losses topping the news on a daily basis, actual GDP numbers dismal, with no good news in any direction. Perhaps one of the worst signs was when the respected Banking analyst Meredith Whitney proclamated in the FT, that her current forecast for the banking industry had been too optimistic. Yikes! 

There was one positive sign for the US, in “a its all relative segment”, the rest of the developed world’s economies ( based on GDP) will shrink around 3% whereas we in the US will only shrink 1.9% in 2009. So I guess we could Say it’s almost “twice as bad everywhere else!” 

I managed to obtain and get fired from 2 “low or no skill jobs”. Total hours worked, approx. 35 hours. Fired may be a strong word but I did have 2 jobs, now I have none.

My business surprisingly, did better numbers than I anticipated. I had very low expectations, but this was good news. 

I also managed to overly aggressively pursue some new business opportunities in what I would consider the consultancy arena. One was with the AIG subsidiary that operates the ski mountain, and one was with the Trapp Operation. While I know I may have come across aggressively I believe in the value of my concepts and ideas, I couldn’t sell them in these cases. AND that is always my fault! However the 2 individuals I dealt with I would characterize that one was incompetent and a product of large a corporate culture and the other a product of nepotism with no intellect. You can figure it out from there. 

News cycle and internet use. 

I’d give myself an F or a c-. Uh? Well it was still too much, but definitely not having access except when I had to make a physical effort did reduce my use. Improvement needed. 

The Stowe Derby.

 Training has begun in earnest. My V1 and V2 are improving, my time on skis needs to increase. I need to spend more time on x-country skis to increase my comfort level on the skinny skis. I’m also getting a decent jog in 4 or 5 times a week, some outdoors. So my physical fitness should be good for my “attack” on the Derby. 

Romance & The Alaskan.

 Managed to meet a few fabulous girls, K especially, a couple taken, had a brief interaction with the Alaskan, to what end I’m not sure, but I don’t have any control of that situation. 

Housing

The GCH ( Gingerbread Crack House) has been an eye opener. The landlord did ZERO to clean out the place, the tools and building materials that I moved to the mud room are all where I left them. The ladders for the roof are still where they left them, leaning against the front of the house.  80% of the time multiple pipes are frozen, and I have now experienced frozen broken pipes. The roof leaks through the walls in any sort of thaw. On top of that at any time the landlord may just show up. This is unacceptable.

Unexpected Joys

The folks around Stowe are interesting and refreshing. My morning coffee group are a stellar group, interesting and quirky. The other folk I’ve had the pleasure to interact with from the unskilled work folk, from the jobs I got fired from, have all contributed a new and refreshing change on my perspective.

The true prize on folks go to the various political operatives, from selectman, to state senators, to JP’s. And of course my newly found goal of becoming a fence viewer! I can also understand how they can get quite frustrated with interlopers who come up for the weekend.

 The Valley

 The Valley around Stowe is quite beautiful. I can understand how people do fall in love with the area. The vistas that open up from the surrounding hills show that large swath of snow covered fields, that give Stowe the real valley field. And yes you do feel insulated from the travails of the outside world.