Technical Tidbits™

I have tried very hard to stay out of discussing politics on my business blog but something happened today that really has me p*ssed off!

Namely, I went to the bank to deposit a check from a new client.

Now, my bank is a relatively local one. They have branches in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois.  They are not one of this big guys that had to be bailed out.

Anyway, the new client is based in Florida and the check was drawn from a major bank nationally – Bank of America (BOA).

It has always been in the past that I could pull out $50 – $100 of any check I was cashing even if that money wasn’t in there. (My balance happened to be $1.96. Yes you read that correctly. One dollar and 96 cents. But hey, it wasn’t overdrawn!)

Today I was informed that even though the branch manager did an over-ride to give me $50 back from the check, she said she would NEVER be able to do that again. Due to the conditions in the financial market, they have gone to enforcing their bank policy of waiting for checks to clear. Local checks are one day, out of state checks are 3 days.

And if that’s not bad enough, my 401K is becoming a 1.01k quickly.

Our company has always cash-flowed our business. We don’t borrow money to make payroll or to buy something we might need. We wait until we have the cash. Sometimes that means I live personally, invoice-to-invoice.  But okay, I live with that.

However, it seems now – that everyone has their hand in my pockets! Comcast, keeps telling me I need to go to business class Internet service because I’m using too much bandwidth in our office that’s based in the home! That would mean moving from approximately $45 per month for Internet service to $99 per month! And that’s just one example of our costs rising. I won’t get into the others as I’m sure anyone of you running a business understands what I’m saying.

I’m really p*ssed!

Neither political candidate is saying squat about what they are going to do about this situation!

And today, on my Twitter (@debbiemahler) and CNN this afternoon, there is this huge uprising about a small hassle at a Florida speech with Palin supporters. Seems she had some Florida Sheriff give opening remarks that lead the crowd into a more racist tone. The press is calling it, “Playing the ‘Hussein’ card” by using Barack Obama’s middle name.

(http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/10/06/politics/fromtheroad/entry4504484.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=FromTheRoad_4504484)

A Washington Post article reported how things got ugly with the Palin rally resulting in racial slurs and threatening remarks to mistreatment of the media.  One man in the audience even yelled out from the crowd in response to Palin’s criticism of Obama, “Kill him!”

A direct quote from the article:

Worse, Palin’s routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric‘s questions for her “less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media.” At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, “Sit down, boy.”

(Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602935.html?nav=emailpage)

My retirement fund is disappearing.

Wall Street is in debt to me – a tax payer.

My bank is starting to hold funds.

AND all SARAH PALIN has to say is attacks and racial slurs?

What am I missing here?

Plus, she claims (and the McCain political spin doctors keep claiming), that small businesses are going to be hurt by Obama’s tax plan.  Bulls***! We don’t make anywhere near the level of hitting Obama’s tax cap! Obama’s plan would not tax our total revenue, it would tax my income! I should be so lucky making the kind of money the CEO’s on Wall Street make! Please! I’d gladly pay more taxes to make that kind money!

I’m hoping that at tonights debate we – the American people – get to hear some straight talk about what is going to be done about our economy! We deserve to know after how much we have invested in it!

And by the way, since we now own much of Wall Street, if our homes or our family or friends homes get foreclosed on, can we take over their buildings? We own them, right?

This sh** has got to stop!

I DEMAND ANSWERS FROM BOTH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES! And you should too!

I’m done ranting now. Thank you for listening. I feel much better now.