Notes from all over: "I have that life"

I've said it a dozen times. Everybody needs a workshop. Inside or outside the house, it doesn't matter. A place to repair, build, create, think.

["Dust flies, fat notebooks are handy"]

My shop was underway in 2005, maybe a bit earlier. Now it's pretty much what I want as a small hobby shop, though the outside deck could be bigger. That's another 'shop project.' I'll add it to the growing list.

Recently I thought, "I have that life." I have a great place to work at my own speed on something I feel is important.

I can repair household items, build a birdhouse or shadow box or solid chair, and though a clock is on the wall I don't feel like I'm on it. My sense of time passing is changing, and I like thinking about that with feet planted on a wooden floor I built myself.

One day I needed a set of hinges so I walked to a local hardware store in my shop clothes. Once inside I noticed someone looking at my shop shirt and pants. Messy. Out of the ordinary. Covered with paint and glue stains, and dust. My shop hat was no better.

Shaggy dusty Gord. Yup, that's me I thought.

But I like my shop clothes. They fit.

When my green flannel shirt finally wears out - it's good 'til 2016, surely - I'll toss it out and take a trip to the Village of Values with three bucks in my pocket. Three bucks from the shop kitty.

I don't have all the words but I have that life.

Photos by GH

More from The Workshop 

This Old Economist: Certain economic recovery

Don’t let the headlines fool you. Even here in London. (E.g., Aug. 17, London Free Press)

Right now we may be slowly recovering from the superior or excessive GDP growth of the past, some of it spurred by WWII industrialization.

Right now we may be recovering from excessively high housing and consumer spending and years of indebtedness to wealthy banks and corporations.

Right now more and more people may be ‘rethinking contracts’, and are reducing spending, paying down debt, saving for tough times and looking for a wee house or apartment near a bus route.

Some sort of economic recovery is certain. Perhaps an upside down one.

[Photos by G.Harrison]

***

Please click here for more This Old Economist.

What does the future hold? “Le cose cattive”

Lessons from Italy: Non c'è problema a venire!

I think things look bad and there’s trouble ahead in North America, if recent events in Italy can teach us anything.

Italian PM Monti ‘unveiled a $40.3-billion package of austerity measures on Sunday... in a drive to stave off a crisis that threatens to overwhelm the euro zone.’ (Dec. 5, London Free Press) But if the euro zone weakens there will likely be many repercussions in tidy old North America, home of an excessive lifestyle that rests firmly on the back of cheap oil and an unsustainable free market economy.

The news article re austerity measures in Italy reveals what will likely occur on the N. American side of the Atlantic in the years ahead.

[Please click here for full article]

“Monti said... the package was painful but necessary.”

What our future holds: N. American austerity measures will be painful for many, but not all.

“We have had to share the sacrifices, but we have made great efforts to share them fairly.”


["Things look bad."]

What our future holds: The sacrifices will not be shared fairly.

“Welfare Minister Elsa Fornero broke down in tears as she announced an end to inflation indexing on some pension bands, a move that will mean an effective income cut for many retired people.”

What our future holds: There will be signs of sympathy from those in power toward the poorest in society but that will be about it.

“As well as an end to inflation indexing for many pensioners, the measures will see the minimum pension age for both men and women raised in stages to 66 by 2018 with incentives to keep workers in employment until 70.”

What our future holds: N. Americans will soon get used to hearing news about ‘Freedom 75,’ maybe ‘80.’

“Contrary to expectations before the announcement, there was no increase in income tax but a new property tax, expected to raise some 10-12 billion euros, will account for the bulk of the new revenues.”

What our future holds: N. American Income taxes will be slow to increase because corporations will effectively block the government at every turn. However, more families on tight budgets will have to seek smaller accommodations.


["There's trouble ahead."]

“The package also cut a number of local government functions in a bid to reduce the cost of public administration. Measures to boost growth include tax incentives for companies to employ workers and special measures to favour women and young people.”

What our future holds: The public sector will continue being under attack in Canada and the US but the private sector will get more tax incentives because of the short-sighted belief that corporations are job creators ahead of being profit takers and down-sizers.

“But Monti left for a later date the vexed question of reforming of contracts that hinder companies from laying off workers, a measure seen as key to overhauling the labour market, but which is bitterly opposed by unions.”

What our future holds: N. American governments will continue to suppress the powers of unions as they drive to depress wages and remove workers’ rights.

Some readers may believe that the Italian and N. American financial and economical situations are far removed from one another, and things that occur on one side of the Atlantic need not be repeated on the other side. They are partly correct.

The same types of unfair, short-sighted measures applied in Italy need not be applied here, but many already are as N. American corporations strive to increase wealth (at the expense of workers’ wealth and rights) with the assistance of government policy.

Things look bad. Le cose cattive.

There’s trouble ahead. Non c'è problema a venire!

***

Please click here for news about smaller lifestyles.

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Thing$ Going North $$: Beer prices

Aaaggghhh!

[Headline: Beer Price to Rise?

Brewers may get a reprieve this year from tight supplies of malting barley in Canada, but higher costs will likely force them to raise the price of beer next year.

Flooding lowered the quality of the latest barely crops in Canada and Australia, leaving some unsuitable to turn into malt. Mar. 8, London Free Press]


["The glass should always be half full": photo GH]

This hurts.

I’ve been keeping a list: Thing$ Going North $$.

I’ve been checking it (more than twice; I think the official list is up to an even dozen, all important items).

And today is a sad day. Not only do I have to add one more item but the item happens to be a heavy favourite of mine - beer.

When will the misery end?

How will it end? With an empty mug? I can’t think.

***

Please click here for more about Thing$ Going North $$.

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Live Small: How did THRIFT disappear from many households?

Thrift at one time was the cornerstone of a household’s financial picture.


The word even appeared over the front door of a beautiful bank in Sidney, Ohio, built in the early 1900s.

However, according to a book entitled ‘The Decline of Thrift in America’, the Depression invited economists to recast thrift as “the contemptible vice which threw sand in the gears of our consumer society.” (Nancy Gibbs, Time, Oct. 2008)

Thrift. A contemptible vice? Good grief, Charlie Brown.

The book went on to reveal that a White House report in 1931 urged parents to let children pick out their own clothes and furniture, thereby creating in the child “a sense of personal as well as family pride in ownership, and eventually teaching him that his personality can be expressed through things.”

I say, that thought is downright scary! If our personality is expressed through things then I’m spending far too much time looking inside the fridge for lunch. (Cheese dog anyone? Anyone?)

Nancy Gibbs herself says, “Somewhere along the way, thrift did not just stop being a value; it became a folly.

“Saving was for suckers; you’d die leaving money on the table when you could have lived it up.”


“There are no pockets in a shroud, as the saying goes.”

Think.

Should we be filled with family pride when we look at a big house? When we look at a big mortgage?

Are we the type of creature that would be filled with even more pride if the house had another bedroom or bathroom we would barely ever use?

Should we swell with personal pride when we look at our new big screen TV? Or a bigger car that would get us to the mall 3 seconds faster?

Could the 1931 White House report possibly lead people down the wrong path?

I say, in 2010, after 70 - 80 years of heavy spending, saving for the future is not an idea for suckers.

***

Living it up may not be as healthy as living it down.

Anyone who leaves debt on the table for future generations to deal with should reconsider their spending habits.

Get Small before you Get Low.

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Live Small: Does thrift draw you to the bank?

“Thrift comes too late when you find it at the bottom of your purse,” warned Nero’s adviser Seneca. (Oct. 13, Time Magazine)

Almost 100 years ago, Senaca’s words may have inspired Louis Sullivan’s work during the building of the People's Federal Savings and Loan Association bank in Sidney, Ohio.

It is an early-modern building, designed by the Chicago architect, the mentor of Frank Lloyd Wright.


"It was designed and built in 1917 for use by Peoples Federal Savings and Loan Association, which still operates out of it." (More details at Wikipedia)

Imagine walking into a bank built to inspire thrift. Wouldn’t your main impulse be to make a deposit into your savings account?

Not today, it appears.

Though Sullivan “carved the word THRIFT over the door of his jewel box bank nearly a century ago, for it was private virtue that made public prosperity possible” (N. Gibbs, Time), today we seem chiefly to enter banks to pay bills, withdraw money or take out loans.

THRIFT is no longer a big part of the equation here in Canada.

Gibbs continues:

“That virtue died with the baby boom, but it had been ailing ever since the Depression, argues cultural historian David Tucker in ‘The Decline of Thrift in America.’ That crisis, he writes, invited economists to recast thrifty as “the contemptible vice which threw sand in the gears of our consumer economy.”


In my opinion, we do not save at our peril.

This is a good time to reduce spending, pay down debt, save money for tough times ahead and not worry about a wee bit of sand.

***

In which direction is your savings account going?

Sure, Christmas is coming, but we can still put a bit aside for the future, can’t we?

Even if it means we spend less at Christmas? Sure!

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This Old Economist: New Age of Austerity must be fair for all

That seems to be the message out of Europe, where “EU unemployment is running at 9.6%, and around twice that rate in Spain, Latvia and Estonia.” (Thousands Protest Austerity, D. Brunnstrom, Reuters)

There is little doubt in my mind that more austere lifestyles - for many - are required to enable future generations to live in some of the comfort to which many have grown accustomed (especially in North America).

I do not doubt that a new age of austerity is coming, and that it will be accompanied by tears, howling and gnashing of teeth.


Some tears, etc., will be genuine and some government measures will be to blame.

For example:

"The main feeling of the people is that for the banking system there are millions and billions of euros, but the social payments are being cut. That's not right," said Ralf Kutkowski,a German coal miner protesting in the Belgian capital.

Governments must spread the pain about in at least an equitable fashion. And in my opinion, the rich, with excessive lifestyles in some cases, may need to sacrifice more than the poor because they have more to give - in some cases, without making a dent.

Some tears, etc., will not be genuine, i.e., from those who have grown accustomed to more wealth than they require to live comfortably.

Governments, businesses, individual families - all have much to sort out.

If there is to be austerity in the future, who will pay the price?

***

The sorting out must hasten.

All debt - household, provincial, national, US, G7, OECD, global, environmental - is growing at an unprecedented rate.

More of This Old Economist - please click here.

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Pt 2 Do Canadians have clear goals for the good life?

Recently, an article that related to peoples’ goals and entitled ‘Canadians Dream’ (subhead - Canadians have clear goals for the good life) caught my eye.

Canadians do dream, but what do they dream about? And do Canadians actually have clear goals for the good life?

Almost all respondents said they hope for financial stability one day. 61% of Canadians want to buy a home, 50% want to travel, and 40% want to retire early.

How is that working out for us?


["What would bring you peace of mind?": photo GH]

Canadian debt has never been higher. We have proven as a country we pay back debt only 20% of the time. Personal and provincial debt is through the roof.

Now, there is nothing wrong with dreaming, but maybe we need a reality check.

Maybe we should dream about a much smaller house than the norm. And while we’re at it, maybe we should dream about a stay-cation and how much to save for any type of retirement, let alone an early one.

Respondents to the survey did get something right.

“Unpredictable swings in the economy were cited as the single biggest factor that could inhibit those goals.”

Here in Ontario, with our growth strongly tied to the US economy (we are 80% dependent upon US growth), we should be worried about growing struggles next door.

We should also be dreaming about how we can live under our means rather than over our means as we have consistently done for the last 50 - 60 years.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with dreaming but what would really bring you peace of mind?

A house? A vacation? Early retirement?

Dream again.

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My New Economic Plan Pt 2: Get small before you get low

We should get small before we get low, especially if we live in SW Ontario. You know, like in Deforest City.

Why?

How about this for one reason:

“Southwestern Ontario is more exposed to the US economy than any other place in the county . . . I don’t think we will get the unemployment rate down much in the next few months,” said Douglas Porter recently, deputy chief economist with BMO Capital Markets (Sept. 11, The London Free Press)

How about this for another:

A double recession could easily occur in the US, and Canada is tied to that elephant’s hip.

“Despite some signs of recovery this spring, the US - with 9.5% unemployment - has made up few of the 8 million jobs it lost in the last recession, despite massive government spending to stimulate the economy. Home foreclosures in the US are also again reaching record highs, jobless claims are rising and core retail sales are falling - factors some believe are harbingers of another recession...” (Aug. 14, London Free Press)

How about this:

“The economies of the G7 industrialized nations (i.e., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States) are slowing faster than previously forecast... The biggest threat may be the slowdown in private consumption because of weak housing market, high unemployment and households continuing to put their finances back in order.” (Sept. 10, London Free Press)

And finally:

A toilet seat belonging to late Beatle John Lennon recently fetched $14,740 at an auction.



[Graph at Zfacts.com]

Though the selling price was about 10 times original estimates, I think it would have fetched a lot more had our economies been healthier.

But maybe that’s just me.

At any rate, I believe now is the time to get small, reduce every aspect of your lifestyle in some way, reduce debt and save money for tough times ahead.

Forget the fact that another round of worries about growing personal debt is about to hit the airwaves near you. There is a bigger problem afoot.

And that problem is the American national debt, now about to surpass $13.5 trillion for the first time in the history of the universe.

How much is $13.5 trillion and what does that mean to anyone within the sound of my keyboard?

Please click here to read My New Economic Plan Pt 3.

***

See Get Low at the movies. Plan your own funeral party.

$13.5 trillion is getting close to the US GDP. Debt almost equals earnings.

Unprecedented?

I’ll find out.

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Live Small and Prosper Pt 3: Roller coaster vs double recession

Why live small in North America?

Because another recession may be coming soon to an economy near you.

That’s right.

“Despite some signs of recovery this spring, the US - with 9.5% unemployment - has made up few of the 8 million jobs it lost in the last recession, despite massive government spending to stimulate the economy.” (Aug. 14, ‘Double Recession Double Trouble,’ London Free Press)

Why should (as I said yesterday) North Americans reduce spending, pay down debt and save money - including Canadians, who seem to be recovering well from the last recession?


["Roller coasters stay on tracks, our economy doesn't"]

For a few reasons.

In the US, the following bad signs are evident:

Home foreclosures are reaching record highs again

Jobless claims are rising

Core retail sales are falling

In Canada, the following is still true:

The Canadian economy is strongly reliant on the US economy

E.g., Ontario is 80% reliant, Quebec 75%, BC 58%, Alberta 57%

Also, some of the factors that powered growth in the Canadian economy recently are disappearing.

E.g., Government stimulus spending will dry up

Manufacturers will come to the end of inventory building

Housing markets will cool

If that isn’t enough to wither your wick, the only hope suggested by economists right now for Canadians is the US government. If it will provide more stimulus spending to suffering industries then Canada’s economy might do all right.

Let's all hold our breath.

I think a hard rain’s a-gonna fall. (Insert Bob Dylan CD here).

***

I’ll work hard to add another $10 to my mayo jar this week.

That will make $100 so far.

Are you putting away a little extra?

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The New Age of Austerity: I can't escape it, even during a snap vacation

On Monday (at my wife's insistence, of course), I loaded the car for a snap vacation (Geez, anything to escape Deforest City's heat and humidity!) and posts about austerity abruptly ended.

(I think it was during such a heat wave that a local writer - short, good-looking; you know the drill - in our boiling city coined the well-known phrase 'I would have got here sooner but I was stuck to the vinyl seats in my van.')

However, the last thing I threw into the back seat was Monday's London Free Press and as soon as I opened it I realized no one will escape The New Age of Austerity.

(It may be a big, long, important age. Note the capital letters!)

Monday's headline: What a watery waste.

Though knee deep in water in Fenelon Falls I learned that Ontarians who draw water from the Great Lakes 'are wasting more than 580 billion litres a year' for four reasons.


["Waste not, want not": photos GH]

A recent report suggests we could conserve by doing the following:

- 213 billion litres (a third of the amount listed) by using high-efficiency toilets

- 162 billion by upgrading old washing machines

- 138 billion by reducing lawn watering and buying drought-resistant plants

- 65 billion by using low-flow showerheads

And in my opinion we're just scratching the surface.


["It only looks like we're surrounded by water at times"]

Really, no mention was made of the amount we use washing our cars or rinsing the driveway afterward, taking long showers, keeping golf courses and other sport fields lush or despoiling through the use of pesticides and other toxic chemicals.

Perhaps we should consider the following ideas before The New Age makes them mandatory:

- install a high-efficiency toilet, washing machine and showerhead

- wash the car only on your wedding day

- check out the price of composting toilets, then install one and use it regularly

- forget the grass and plant periwinkle

- play golf the way it was meant to be played, in rough conditions in the Scottish Highlands with a sheep-skin ball filled with your wife's hair (or husband's, if you play for the LPGA)

(Really, we're so spoiled today. If we see a weed we seek a better lie).

***

Tell me these ideas won't save water and fit in with austerity measures.

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The HST: A good thing? A bad thing? A confusing thing?

I’m a bit bewildered by the swirl of comments concerning the upcoming implementation/imposition of the Harmonized Sales Tax (coming to a grocery store and hydro bill near you on July 1), aka HST, aka Hated Sales Tax.

For example, here are a few comments from the editorial (‘HST spells hurt’) in the May 20 issue of the Londoner:

- The harmonized tax will hurt families

- The amount of money the government will collect in taxes will remain roughly the same - or could even drop

- But individuals will pay more on a vast range of items

- Businesses will get a tax break

- The government tells us companies will pass on those savings to consumers

- Finance Minister Duncan says the tax cuts to individuals actually exceed cuts to corporations

- Duncan says, “Overall, 93 per cent of Ontarians will pay less in taxes.”

Confused yet? It’s a bad thing? It’s a good thing?

I’m not sure yet.

All I know is the HST is coming and it sounds like the kind of event that will require daily scrutiny, yearly reviews and a thorough summary in five years to see if anything good or bad has actually happened to individuals and corporations.

Oh, and I also know that a lot of other expenses (or ‘thing$’ as I like to call them) are heading North so I can understand why a lot of people really hate even the thought of a higher tax and are now willing to storm Parliament Hill in Ottawa and Queen’s Park in Toronto.

Now, I’m not going to storm anyone’s front lawn until I’ve seen a couple of the annual reviews.

There are going to be annual reviews, right?

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Newspaper Clippings: Retail sales dropping. A good thing?

“Canada saw a decline in retail sales last year and the outlook for 2010 remains flat as consumers look to pay down debt... figures marked Canada’s first sales drop in 14 years. Retailers could take a hit again in 2010 on growing debt levels among Canadians.” (Feb. 11, London Free Press)

Please note: I hate being called a consumer, but I like the fact that more and more Canadians are heeding my words (“reduce spending, pay down debt, save money for tough times ahead”; yeah, a hard rains a-gonna fall).

During an age of austerity people like you and I may realize we don’t need as much stuff as we’re used to showering upon ourselves.


["Feed the piggy. Don't be one."]

That’s a good thing.

Our rampant consumerism brought about the big box store with shelves piled high to the ceiling with goods from around the world, chiefly from China in the case of Dollar Stores, Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire etc.

As retail sales drop, perhaps we’ll achieve some sort of balance between what we really need and what we buy.

Perhaps our debt levels will come under control and we won’t keep driving the economy to the detriment of the environment.

Good thing.

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Canada’s growth to stagnate! That can’t be good, can it?

I read a daily paper for several reasons.

I’m addicted to Dilbert. (Wally and I have so much in common. Ask me about Blue Binder Day).

To see if the Maple Leafs are out of the basement. (Yes!)

Free Sudoku.

To read articles that force me to think about the upside of down. (A positive mindset will help during the tough times ahead).

Fifteen days ago I clipped ‘Canada’s growth to stagnate’ and - my gosh - it’s a good one, because it attempts to predict what the next decade will be like, not just next week or the month after Christmas when the Visa bill comes due, and though ‘stagnate’ doesn’t sound all that positive (definition - motionless, dull or sluggish; related to stagnicolous i.e., living in swamps), already I’m thinking there’s a silver lining.

I mean, if you live in a swamp, raise your hand.

See that? Not too many of you. Already we can say that life could be worse. And very damp.

And though the article deals with the next ten years (“It may one day be remembered as the lost decade, in economic terms. A new report published by the TD Bank says Canada is headed for a decade of stagnant growth that will test the budgets of Canadian households and governments alike.”) I think there is an upside to looking that far down the path.

You might have been thinking, I wonder what June, 2016 will be like.

Well, now you’ll know.

***

A lot of good can come out of a lost decade.

Remember, most of us have lived through ten years of polyester. And we survived.

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Would we miss KFC if it grilled its last chicken tomorrow?

KFC is promoting the crap out of its grilled and fried chicken (5,000 US stores to soon give it away for free) but a restaurant analyst (Larry) recently said KFC’s latest performance report was disappointing.

I thought, will we miss it when it’s gone?

The majority of the bones in my body (82%, incl. the little ones inside my inner ear) say NO.

Reasons we won’t miss it:

There will still be 3,489,842,909 fast food joints out there. KFC could disappear at noon and we wouldn’t even burp at its passing


["One that got away": photo GAH]

There are 4 billion other distractions to occupy our frazzled brains. E.g., where are my car keys?

Many people are too busy making their own sandwiches to care. They’re thinking of saving money instead

Of all the reasons (yes, there are likely others), I like the last one best.

Tuna on whole wheat is not only healthier but it’s always nice to learn a new skill.

***

Do you know how to make a healthy sandwich?

What’s for lunch?

KFC who?

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Live Small and Prosper: “If civilization is to survive...”

I flipped through ‘A Short History of Progress’ last night looking for a quote, possibly for an upcoming article.

[Summer will end (actually, has it even started?), my series re ‘unique local neighbourhoods’ will end as well, and I’ll strike a new course, likely a brilliant one.]

I think a few articles could spring from this quote by Ronald Wright:

“If civilization is to survive, it must live on the interest, not the capital, of nature.”

“Ecological markers suggest that in the early 1960s, humans were using about 70 per cent of nature’s yearly output: by the early 1980s we’d reached 100 per cent; and in 1999, we were at 125 per cent. Such numbers may be imprecise but their trend is clear - they mark the road to bankruptcy.”

From that one quote several titles for articles come to mind:

“We’re eating too much of our planet too quickly”

“The bright side of the recession from Mother Earth’s point of view”


“Should we schedule another recession for the sake of future generations?”

“Can we dial back our lifestyle by even 10 per cent?”

“What happens when North America applies for bankruptcy?”

The book might be called A Short History of Progress for good reason.

***

Can you see evidence that we’re eating too much of our planet too quickly?

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It Strikes Me Funny: We should go to war against the machines Pt 2

[Please read Pt 1 for some context]

Perhaps the city of London needs to take a step back in time.

I don’t think it would be considered backward, however, to allow men and women to do some jobs today that machines are now doing.

When we consider London’s rising unemployment figures (i.e. 10.9 per cent, the second-highest urban rate in the country) today should be the day we consider going to war against some of our machines.


["How many people does this machine replace?": photo link]



For example: In the areas in which we’re bleeding jobs (the auto industry, tourism, manufacturing, construction, transportation and warehousing) are there ways to reduce our reliance on machines for production, maintenance, delivery (help me here) and rely more on human muscle?

I admit, we built mighty machines in order to help with the cause of mass production, to keep up with high demand, to produce cost savings etc., but do some of those conditions apply today?

What is more important now?

Should we be thinking less about mass production, just in time delivery (in the auto sector, for one) and the employment of machines, and more about the employment of men and women?

What machines could we unplug or refuse to fuel in order to give someone a job?

(And, would the machine fight back?)

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It Strikes Me Funny: We should go to war against the machines Pt 1

According to Saturday’s London Free Press the unemployment rate in Deforest City is now pegged at 10.9 per cent, the second-highest urban rate in the country.

[The rural rate sounds like it’s higher, which might mean more trouble for cities in the future, as people move from unproductive farms to less-than productive cities nearby.]

Why are we doing so poorly?

Here’s a clue:

“BMO economist Doug Porter said he had hoped job losses in the London area would ease in July because of signs the auto sector was starting to rebound last month.” (Free Press, Saturday’s issue)


["We can make them, but not sell them": photo link]

So, part of the reason is, the auto industry didn’t rebound very much.

Also, overall in our home province and country there have been significant job losses related to tourism, manufacturing, construction, transportation and warehousing, all areas affecting our city, I’m sure.

If London was a kitchen utensil, it would be a sieve.

Can we recover?

If we lived in a perfect world, of course.

If we had unlimited material resources, boundless supplies of clean air, energy and water and could print our own currency [money doesn’t grow on trees, and if it did, in Deforest City we’d just cut them down to make way for another large single-family home or big box store - sorry, I digress] we’d be fine. We could just produce, buy and sell stuff without end and not worry about the consequences - if we lived in a perfect world of limitless consumption.

But we don’t. Our physical world has limits.

***

More to follow.

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Come on Canada: Save two more percent and clobber Austria

If it was a game of hockey we’d bury the Austrians by about 20 goals and hang them out to dry.

But when it comes to saving money they beat us by a titch.

[titch: def’n - the smallest of wee bits, in the same league as eensy- weensy]

I read this morning:

“Austrians come in first when it comes to saving the same amount or more during the last six months, with 78 per cent of people reporting doing so. Canadians come in second at 77.”


So, forget the Timmies and new Blueberry Dip do-nut for the next six months (come on, miracles can happen), put your loonies in a jar (or under the mattress, whatever works for you) and aim for 79 per cent.

We’ll come out of the recession - eventually - with money in the bank and fewer pounds on the waistline.

Win-win, eh!

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Latest poll reveals a shift toward smaller lifestyles

I’ll make this snappy - you heard it here first.

Unless you were listening to CBC Radio Canada yesterday and heard the short clip about people adopting new spending attitudes and dialing back their lifestyles - with a positive view to the future.

Since the recession is adjusting our materialistic attitudes faster than www.storyofstuff.com, David Suzuki, Al Gore, the Green movement, Elizabeth May and our last credit card statements rolled into one - with very good results for people and the planet - I think it’s time for a name change for the era in which we live.

Recession (even deep fried) is so yesterday.


[Age of reason?"]

I’m looking for examples or suggestions.

The Age of Austerity? Too austere.

Era of Frugality? Lousy sound bite. The media would revolt.

Age of Reason? Very good... but taken.

Period of Practicality? Practical... but too many syllables.

So, grab your dictionary and thesaurus (warning - this is not another example - I’ve moved on) and send me your ideas. Something upbeat.

And snappy. We all like snappy.

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