[Swiftwater Gazette] P: Are You Better Off Now?

Fri Jan 30 14:01:32 EST 2009

Brad,

Point taken.  But it is like the first real sports car that you bought.  It 
is soooo much fun to drive fast and recklessly.  Nobody ever drove my 911T, 
well, except for the garage mechanic.

As my better half always reminds me, she was built for distance, not speed. 
My response is always that I thought it was all about the journey, not the 
destination.  That's why I sail - I don't care where I am going, as long as 
I am on my way.

Mike

From: "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com> Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 1:31 
PM
> Mike,
>
> Though I don't have direct experience with that specific machine, I
> have experience with those types of machines in general.  They can be
> very demanding in maintenance and performance.  The maintenance is
> mostly about money, the performance can be more challenging. When you
> have a machine like that, everyone want to ride in it as well. It
> flattering but tiresome after awhile.
>
> Now as to the airplane - never flown one, worked on one, nor ever hope
> to own one.  Looks like a lot of expense for very little additional
> speed to me.
>
> Brad
>
> On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 12:10 PM, Michael D. Weisner
> <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>> Brad,
>>
>> It's pictures like the one of the wife that make me ask, "What in 
>> heaven's
>> name was he looking for if that wasn't enough?"  As the line in Sheryl
>> Crow's song 'Soak Up the Sun' goes, "It's not having what you want it's
>> wanting what you've got."
>>
>> Then again, I am happy, but ...
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> From: "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com>Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 
>> 12:36
>> PM
>>> Mike,
>>>
>>> Yeah, but they did find this dumb ass.  Did you see the photo with him
>>> standing with his wife in front of the Lexus and the Malibu?  Damn!
>>> That is one long set of, er, wings on that plane! Fantasies die hard!
>>> I guess I'm lucky in that respect.  As a 17 year-old I finally got the
>>> "girl of my dreams" to go flying with me.  I wanted that soooo badly.
>>> She asked me once aloft, "can you see state lines from the air?"  We
>>> didn't have Viagra back then and at 17 I didn't need it, but perhaps
>>> could have used a pill right then. At that early point in my career I
>>> didn't know whether to ask her to quit sucking the air from under the
>>> wings into her head or let some out for more lift.  I got over it once
>>> back in the car.  Anyway, being the 'kind and gentle soul I am', I
>>> explained to Joy (you can't make shit like this up) that, "yes, the
>>> state line between Illinois and Missouri is easy to spot, as is the
>>> line between Illinois and Kentucky - the one between Illinois and
>>> Wisconsin is hard to see but we don't have the fuel to go there
>>> anyway!
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 11:16 AM, Michael D. Weisner
>>> <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>>>> Brad,
>>>>
>>>> Quoting you:
>>>>    Am I better off?  Yeah, a helluva lot better off than that idiot
>>>>    "investment counselor" who jumped out of his million dollar airplane
>>>>    leaving behind his "trophy wife" and 'bigasshouse' a few weeks ago.
>>>>
>>>> How do you know?  They never did find DB Cooper ...
>>>>
>>>> Mike
>>>>
>>>> From: "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com> Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009
>>>> 11:31 AM
>>>>> Bill,
>>>>>
>>>>> Most folks pay too much attention to the destination and don't enjoy
>>>>> the journey.  I was having j fun flying commuters at $700 a month, and
>>>>> I'm still having fun doing a much easier job now at a substantial
>>>>> multiplier of that salary. Maslowe's 'Hierarchy of Needs' hasn't
>>>>> changed. You need to eat, stay warm, and get laid every now and again.
>>>>> I'm pretty happy with a really old airplane, a 25 year old sailboat,
>>>>> and a 14 year old car.  I've had a younger wife before and it's a
>>>>> major PITA!
>>>>>
>>>>> We need a safety net in place to help people get back on their feet.
>>>>> But, we can't afford to "make people whole" and it's not ours or the
>>>>> governments responsibility to do so.
>>>>>
>>>>> My oldest son is driving over from Little Rock this evening to spend
>>>>> the weekend and help me tinker at the hangar.  He will finish his
>>>>> second undergrad this year, Construction Management, after discovering
>>>>> he loves the industry but not working for a piss-ant family company.
>>>>> He works during the day for a construction company and attends classes
>>>>> at night,  paying for this one on his own nickel through student loans
>>>>> and personal earnings.  He learned from his Grandfather, who spent is
>>>>> whole life in construction as both a laborer and a superintendent, "be
>>>>> kind to people on your way up and maybe they'll be kind to you on your
>>>>> way down".  Spencer took it to heart and  I was really proud of how he
>>>>> interacted with immigrant labor on the coast after Katrina.
>>>>>
>>>>> Am I better off?  Yeah, a helluva lot better off than that idiot
>>>>> "investment counselor" who jumped out of his million dollar airplane
>>>>> leaving behind his "trophy wife" and 'bigasshouse' a few weeks ago.
>>>>>
>>>>> It's all relative.
>>>>>
>>>>> Brad
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 10:04 AM, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Brad,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My question is completely politically unloaded.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I think I'm better off because of the national Ponzi scheme than I
>>>>>> would
>>>>>> have been without it, although I'm not really sure.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Am I comparatively better off now than I was when I entered the labor
>>>>>> market
>>>>>> 40 years ago?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Yes.  Certainly I have moved up into a different income and asset
>>>>>> level,
>>>>>> compared to others who were in the labor force 40 years ago.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Some of that was due to real growth, new industries, more actual 
>>>>>> wealth
>>>>>> in
>>>>>> this country.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Some of that was due to betting on the right horse in the right race.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But I know many of my contemporaries are worse off now than they were
>>>>>> 40
>>>>>> years ago.  However in the intervening 40 years they had a good time,
>>>>>> and
>>>>>> thought throughout their working lives, that they were better off 
>>>>>> than
>>>>>> they
>>>>>> had been.  Now they are discovering that they are no better off than
>>>>>> when
>>>>>> they started.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Most of them would probably do it again.  Are they wrong?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> B.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Brad Haslett wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Bill,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The real estate Ponzi scheme didn't hurt me a bit, directly that is, 
>>>>>> I
>>>>>> didn't play. The market hurt me A LOT.  I just opened Cora's 529 plan
>>>>>> statement yesterday and it is now worth $500 less than the total
>>>>>> monies contributed to it (two years ago her education was "in theory"
>>>>>> paid for at any of the most expensive colleges in the country). My
>>>>>> 401K is down 40%.  Yeah, I got burned, but you never heard me 
>>>>>> complain
>>>>>> during all those years when I was "earning" 20%+ per year returns.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Is the government going to bail me out?  No, and why should they? I
>>>>>> made those investment decisions as a grown adult, and in my case, 
>>>>>> with
>>>>>> two degrees in business.  The responsibility is mine and only mine.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  "Are you better off now than you would have been if you hadn't 
>>>>>> played
>>>>>> along?"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> With the benefit of hindsight, I should have invested in US
>>>>>> Treasuries.  Will I do that in the future?  No, I doubt it, I'm not
>>>>>> sure about the US Government's ability to repay.  The Chinese are
>>>>>> thinking the same thing.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Brad
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 8:52 AM, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Brad,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We are in this jam because we are all complicit in it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> People who couldn't afford the homes they lived in KNEW they couldn't
>>>>>> afford their homes, but they enjoyed living in them while they could.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> People maxing out their credit cards KNEW they could never pay them
>>>>>> off,
>>>>>> but they enjoyed what they were buying for the moment.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> People playing "Hot Potato" with stocks and other assets KNEW they
>>>>>> weren't worth what they were paying, but they thought there would
>>>>>> always
>>>>>> be a "greater fool" who would pay more.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Many of us called this situation at the time it was going on...but 
>>>>>> most
>>>>>> of us played into it anyhow, thinking we would be smart enough to get
>>>>>> out before everything crashed and burned.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Few of us were right.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So my question is, "Are you better off now than you would have been 
>>>>>> if
>>>>>> you hadn't played along?"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> That question applies to everybody.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm not sure of the answer, although I think I am better off having
>>>>>> played and won this silly game than I would have been if more
>>>>>> thoughtful
>>>>>> heads had prevailed early on.  What about you?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Bill Effros
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
> 