More Notes to People

This time, I admit it; I'll come clean: Some of the people I write notes to don't care about my notes. Hell, sometimes they don't even respond!

Regardless -

A note to DC's local Fox affiliate News:

Economic Crisis?! Seriously? Unemployment is barely up - and just recently, no less. Housing prices haven't even really begun their [likely] precipitous fall, manufactured goods orders just hit their ALL-TIME HIGH in December, GDP rose in the most recent quarter (albeit extremely slowly...), stocks are still high (The Dow is at exactly the same level it was around this time last year, S&P down just a bit), inflation is turning out to be relatively tame (so no stagflation worry, in theory) and the Federal Reserve is being unbelievably vigilant and pumping money everywhere it sees fit.

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't start freaking out, crying and go out and buy a 10-year supply of Spam, but there is certainly no economic crisis going on right now.

Notice I said 'right now.'


A note to the Hertz Car Rental company:

I'm totally going to go buy some doughnuts and give them to you. Then, once you've assumed ownership of said doughnuts, I will go around to each of your employees asking if they want one of these doughnuts and then promptly proceed to punch each employee in the arm and laugh hysterically.

See you all real soon,
- Dave


A note to the guy sitting next to me on the flight to Arizona who was wearing a helmet and a bowtie and told me the falling U.S. Dollar is a bad thing:

Our money has been very much in demand all over the world during the past 15 years or so. Up until recently, this has been a primary contributor to our country's Current Account deficit. In other words, we've been importing way more stuff than we export, but this is mostly because our money is so valuable in other countries, and that makes everything relatively cheaper elsewhere.

This is completely natural, but it can't last forever. The Dollar has been falling the last few years, and as it does, our goods get cheaper to foreigners and they'll demand more of our stuff. This is good for our economy, not bad, as it means more domestic jobs and more money flowing in. Sure, the price of imports goes up, but the increased demand for U.S. goods and services should help balance that out.

As simply as I can possibly put this: You don't have to worry about a "falling Dollar." The only thing that really matters is the usefulness of the products and services we produce, which really has nothing to do with exchange rates and everything to do with our skills, education, ability and so on.


A note to the guy that didn't see the 3D Dinosaur movie yesterday:

It was disappointing.

Sure, we were tired after the parade and just a little hungover from all that Irish whiskey that you forced on us the night before, but there just weren't enough 3D dinosaurs in that 3D Dinosaur movie. There were a few, but I don't think there were enough.

There were, instead, a lot of 3D shots of some paleontologist sitting next to a fossilized dinosaur footprint and looking off into the distance, thinking about dinosaurs... If only his thoughts were in 3D, it might have been a good movie...

Oh yeah, and, also, thanks for all that whiskey.

Come to think of it, I guess, maybe, in retrospect, I probably should have listened to that old adage: Don't drink a bunch of whiskey and then expect dinosaurs to solve all your problems.

Truer words are rarely spoken.