So, I'm reading the paper this morning and an article in the Business section made me chuckle a little. I think any time the media makes something sound like it is "news" or some earth shattering revelation, chances are it's something that if you had your eyes open you already had it figured out.
The article this morning was about my beloved mortgage industry and housing market slump. Here ya go... here's the gist of it...
Because house prices increased exponentially greater than incomes over the past 10+ years, this housing market slump is being felt worse since people's incomes did not keep pace with the housing boom.
Well, DUH!!! Now, that is a paraphrase of the article of course, but they have all sorts of statistics and evidence to support this as breaking "news". I have been saying for years that corporate America needed to wake up and increase pay scales across the board. When I moved from Chicago to Tampa in 2003, I went from making around $70K in Chicago to begging for $50K in Tampa. My rent here is more than I ever spent in Chicago, and add to that the necessity of owning a vehicle here... well, there's an additional $500 per month for car, insurance, and gas...
Corporate America hid behind things like Salary.com (a joke in my opinion) to support paying people less money instead of keeping pace with what was going on in the real world. Granted, it's tough to juggle increasing pay with being realistic about it. I mean, the fry guy at McDonald's CANNOT make $20 per hour just so they can afford a house.
I think the way things are going these days, a LOT of people in the mortgage and finance industry will find themselves working at car-washes, Starbucks, and the local mall... some people will be able to tough it out; others will move on entirely.
Of course, some of us just wish we had gotten into the biz a couple years earlier... hell, I could be that much closer to retirement right now if I had gotten into this business just 24 months sooner. As it is though, I am overqualified for entry level jobs, and unqualified to switch to many industries. I guess I will just have to hope enough people read this blog that might realize I am worthy of a nice big fat TV contract.
:)
How about this one...
Would you have a baby to receive a free car from the government? Now, I know plenty of you out there are just frikkin baby making machines, but if you do NOT have children, would that be something that would motivate you?
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/09/11/russia.conception.ap/index.html
Well, in Ulyanovsk, Russia, the government has announced that today, September 12th, is National Conception Day!
People are allowed time off from work to go home and... well... do the nasty! Now, if 9 months from now you are kicking out a baby, you will be rewarded with any number of prizes ranging from a new stove or refrigerator, to possibly a new car!
Now, I wonder how they decide who gets what... one kid, you get a fridge... twins gets you a new kitchen, and triplets or more and you get a car?
Regardless of what the prize is, I think I like the idea of taking off part of your Hump Day to go hump. I mean, it just makes sense don't it?
Peace out... Heitz...
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