Vanity: How does the economy feel near you?

As the Dow hits new heights, there are reports all around about the new robustness of the U.S. economy.

Things here in Western MA are not great. It doesn't feel like huge 5% growth and the unemployed are all around.

in DPR of Northern Virginia, the economy is moving along swimmingly. The government is throwing around hundreds of billions of dollars so we’re doing just fine. Low unemployment and even the illegals have plenty of work. Obamacare has led to plenty of people willing to work pennies on the dollar for 29 hrs a week.

The downspike in gas prices has freed up some more cash for christmas shopping.

This area is in for a huge shock when the spigot runs dry.

To go way, way back...Holyoke’s mills were a lot like Lowell and Lawrence. The mills made every US Army blanket used through WWII. But that was a long time ago. Holyoke is a shell of what it once was.

I'm sure. I went through Hartford a few years ago and was flabbergasted...I didn't recognize it nor feel comfortable there. Ditto Worcester: I worked there as a teen and really dug it...it was a "working man's city"...

I used to go for rides with my father; occasionally we'd go way out west. Have you heard of a town called "Old Furnace?"

“He enjoyed the sight of a prosperous street; not more than every fourth one of the stores was out of business, its windows dark and empty.” - Atlas Shrugged

Northern Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC. We’re not quite at one in four, but the shops that close seem to take an awful long time to lease out again, when the buildings don’t become abandoned entirely. Lots of government jobs, rapid expansion and all that, as well as infrastructure for all those people.

The second-hand shops are doing relatively well. I’m seeing a lot of them popping up, especially consignment. Two churches within a ten-minute drive of me organize consignment sales for children’s stuff once or twice a year.

My neighbor, who owns and runs a power-washing business, says people are putting off non-essential repairs and maintenance.

The chimney sweeps are doing well – another neighbor. A quarter of the houses in my neighborhood now use their fireplaces regularly for heat. If they didn’t have them, they got woodstoves installed. Twenty years ago, you’d smell woodsmoke from one in twenty houses. Today you can smell it most mornings, and it’s not even that cold yet. If oil prices ever drop back down, I wonder how long it will take us to get out of the habit of using wood for heat?

Anything remotely useful put out on the curb for the county trash collectors usually disappears before they come. People take things for personal use, but they also refinish and sell. The price of metal has gone up, making it worth a scrap collector’s time. I’m not sure it’s easy to tax that kind of income, if the seller doesn’t volunteer it. They don’t wait for the day before pickup, just in case someone else finds the item. It’s competitive like that.

Giant came out with two-foot Christmas trees this year. I like the smaller trees – they’re not so heavy, and easier to put up, but somehow I don’t think this is the result of a fad. People just don’t have space or money for a large tree. The full-size trees in the lots were smaller this year as well.

I was raised frugal. The same people who seemed to look down on me for that – now they think I’m smart.

I have this side business....

Got into it by total accident.

Is fun...and interesting.

I sell on-line exclusively. Since Obanana has been in office my business has dropped...greatly. Used to...I was taking 10-15 package's a week to the post office...now 1 or 2.

My pricing is right, my items are right. It's not me.

I've stopped buying things I think I can sell...Just getting rid of what I have...for now.

I ship...shipping free. So that's not the issue.

I'm cheaper than brick and mortar places...so that's the issue either.

FWIW-

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