How bad is it out there

I own a small manufactoring business, yes business is off but what is worst acounts are getting farther behind but yet keep on ordering WTF, I recently stopped production and started working on some of my own projects. Supplies are through the roof. Workers can't make it to payday. In my complex a big towing outfit lost half his trucks and today I noticed almost all the driver were back early. Next door a small boat manufactor had a terrible year he don't think he will make it through the winter. A couple of local boat dealers had a realy bad season. A buddy who hauls and fixes boats closed his doors. My wife who is a controller at a Country Club say bussiness is way off, member spending is way down and some are gettng behind on dues. Who's busy out there? Stove manufactures ,installers , coal miners and dealers and guys who operate chainsaws and log splitters. What do you see is it realy that bleak

From what I see it's pretty bleak. My wife and I both work, not rich but not poor either. If I didn't buy a refurbed coal unit we couldn't afford heat this winter. My neighbor's family owns the heating oil company I buy from. He just brought 4 trailer loads of firewood. He said just because he sells oil doesn't mean he can afford it. That says it right there. If a business owner is sweating about heat this year what is going to happen to his employees? I think we're in for a rough 2009.

I'm not going to try to turn this into a political thread (even though it really is) but we'll see exactly how bad it is come the November elections, wont we?

I'm sorry to hear things are getting tuff at the marina. I guess the boys will have to stay off the water for a while and hang at the club house. Maybe they can race porche's for fun.

I own a rural hardware store. You are right about woodcutters being busy as well as coal miners. We started selling bagged coal as a convenience last year, now I'm worried I won't be able to supply everyone from my tiny facility. Can't keep enough bar and chain oil in stock nor stove pipe.

The cost of gasoline has kept my sales firm and level over last year. People have to drive 13 miles or more to a shopping center. Our pricing is good for an independent so people have used us more. Commodities have been strong. We have a copper refiner in our town. We also have several printing businesses. Business there is good too. A local log home manufacturer is coming off his worst year ever. Renovation type construction is strong in our area. Many boomers retiring to this area and fixing up homes. Not much new construction. There is a blow molded plastics company here doing well. A small pharmaceutical manufacturer is steady. All in all, this community is ok but then again, it has never known boom town prosperity.

Things are good here in KY, Starter home sales have slowed some, but needed to.

We are somewhat insulated due to the horse industry.

All is well and jobs are available.If you want to work you don't have to look very long to find it.

BK

For me the increase in prices stinks but we cut back here and there and it seems to work out but, I have to wonder about all the Senior Citizens in my area who are living on Social Security only ----no pension and not healthy enough to work. The big story before all this craziness with oil started was the cost of Prescription medication for seniors. I hope my family never has to decide between heat, medication or food. I also think about single parents who are working for low wages and still have to commute to that low wage job with fuel costs that have doubled in 2 years---- how bad is it for them? I'm not tying to make a political statement I'm just sharing what I think about when I get into a bitchy mood about gas prices etc... There is always someone else who has it worse and you just have to evaluate your situation and make cuts where you can until things get better.

There are always rumors of an impending layoff where I work because a lot of what we sell is for the Automotive industry so far work is slow but steady but, if a layoff happens and I'm one of those looking for work I may actually end up working at the mines because that is where the wages are comparable and they are hiring. So how bad is it here? Well I can only answer for my family and things are tighter than they used to be and we're watching how and where we spend but, for now it is okay. The Senior down the street or the Single Parent at the bus stop might totally have a differn't outlook than me.

From the booming state of Wyoming, things are pretty good. Our mining industries (coal, trona, uranium, etc), oil production, and coal bed methane are flourishing. The railroads are busy, you can't find a contractor that will even talk to you until next year, and housing is impossible to find. If you have a pulse and can pass a p-test, you have a job, or two, or as many as you want. We don't have enough people to fill positions in the service industries, so we've got (presumably) document workers from all over the place. Pizza Hut is even hiring at $10 an hour!

Our economy here is usually a year or so behind the rest of the country. By the time some of your economies pick up, ours will be headed down the tubes. After the boom in the 70s, there was a sign posted in one of our largest cities that said, "Will the last one out of Casper please turn off the lights?" This after it seemed it was turning into a ghost town. This latest boom will end, too. It's inevitable. We Americans are some pretty spoiled people. We get to riding the wave and forgetting that anything like the Great Depression ever happened or could happen again.

Our lifestyles are simply unsustainable. We want everything. It's hard to grow up and realize there are consequences for our choices. I bought an old Saturn for a work car (35 mpg). My pick-up (17 mpg) is sitting there with a full tank, but that doesn't mean I have to use it. I don't mind having to conserve because I don't ever want to even think about having to ride a solar-powered V-twin! Just because we have a boom, doesn't mean to use it all up. When the rug gets pulled out from under us, we blame the government or big corporation, and forget that it was our own decisions that got us in the trouble in which we find ourselves.

So things are looking good out here, for awhile, anyway. That means to me that it's a good time to be proactive. And it wouldn't hurt to remember what it means to be a producer rather than just a rabid consumer.

The biggest ( and most obvious ) hit my family has aken has been fuel ( gasoline) I commute 50 mile one way and it is getting fairly expensive to do so. I work at a federal penitentiary so my business is booming !! My wife works for Monumental Life and it seems like her business is doing OK also ( for now) I only heat with coal and wood. I do have an oil backup burner on my boiler but I hardly ever use it.
I realy feel for the people that have no choice but to buy oil. Especially the elderly. i have no idea how they do it.

I talked to a lot of people who said they kept there house at 62-65. Hopefully oil prices will continue to slide to give the American public a break. Over the last 2 decades we have increased our dependence on foreign oil which is mind boggeling.

My wife tried to get me to cut back the thermostat to 68 degrees or so and I swore up and down that I would not be cold and have to bundle up in my home! Your have to bundle up to go outside there is no reason why a human being should have to wear "layers" just to be comfortable in their home. To me "layers" are not comfortable,I grew up in a cold house and I will not live that way. I would go without food before I would have to take my shorts off and throw on some long pants in order to stay warm.

Has far as the higher prices go we have been lucky other then the higher oil prices last winter. I think with our new coal stove that we should be good to go. Food cost's a little more but other then building a green house what can you do? You can't go without eating, well maybe without eating so much

You're going to save a bundle with coal.

i do home theather installs and were pretty busy, about the same as last year. people still want their 52" tvs hung on their wall so i think im ok for a while anyway.

52" tv? That's it? We must be in hard times when people are setting for a tiny 52" television set.

I have 2, 60" sets but I really want a 70". I'll have to buy a new house to fit the TV.