Is it ASPD - or the Economy?

[TaylorFox]

[quote][size=1]Surfing the web, checking other boards, there is a lot of talk about how badly "THE ASPD CRASH" has hurt the providers who rely on us for their income.

CL has as many ads as I have ever seen, but I don't see anyone from our board on it.

DV posted the only review so far on this board. Are things really that slow? I know the overall economy has knocked the s**t out of my business. Two years ago I had 25 people working just in residential construction. This week I had ONE! And I barely had enough work to keep him busy.

In my case, it isn't the crash of ASPD, its the crash of the economy. Usually during the Mardi Gras break I shut down for the whole week and have fun. Today, my fun consisted of sitting in my office by myself and sending out "Past Due" invoices.

So, The Question is: Have your hobby activities slowed down? If so, is it ASPD or the economy or???






I think it is the economy. With over 5 million people in the unemployment lines and those numbers climbing, people are having a rough time. When people are worried, they cut down or cut out entertainment altogether in order to prioritize. I decided to change my rates due to the economy. Of course I'm not scrimping on the service I give, just trying to be more affordable to the public(Just call me "Stimulus Package") and help people out some. Things will eventually improve with the economy but it will not happen overnight. By the way, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but "crashes" never hurt me!"

Taylor Fox

[dave69 (no longer active here)]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BIG C @ Feb 25 2009, 08:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

.....Hopefully we all won&#39;t perish from that most deadly ailment known as "Lacka-nookie-flu".....[/b]

You may feel like you want to die from it, but you can&#39;t actually die from it. If so, I would have been dead a long time ago.

[Cane64 (no longer active here)]

I think its a little of both. I signed up for this site over a week ago but it didnt show all the different forums until I tried today! I miss ASPD for sure, as some of the others I know about just aint the same!

[DallasRain]

I think the economy has everyone scared...The ASPD crash has hurt my biz just a little in Texas{especially Houston}......but as far as Louisianna & Mississippi,my biz is booming!!! I find ASPD is the "big" thing in Houston,but theses parts there are also a few other sites that are great for advertising on!!!!!
BUT remember...there will ALWAYS be a need for "stress relief",so if you are a top rated provider you will do well no matter what happens!!!!

[BigCats]

FEAR of the UNKNOWN Future is the Problem and the GOOFY Daily NEWS Releases and Pronouncements by the INEXPERIENCED POLITICOS who are EXPERIMENTING with/CHANGING our tried and true SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT of these some 220 YEARS are keeping the PEOPLE Scared of WHAT&#39;S NEXT???
A STABLE SYSTEM of GOVERNMENT helps create and foster a SOUND ECONOMY!
"CHANGE" CAUSES UNCERTAINTY!
BigCats :o

( There I said it. That is my explanation and I am sticking to it. )

[Musman]

In terms of the economic outlook, my thoughts run parallel to Milton Friedman&#39;s in this clip:

Milton Friedman - Greed

I&#39;m not optimistic that creating jobs through expanding government is going to work. Obama is talking about creating jobs, but they aren&#39;t the jobs that people are losing and are trained to do - much less those that pay the kind of money those folks were used to making. The New Deal worked seventy years ago, but it was a different world then. Public works projects, increased support for education and charity, as well as expanded unemployment benefit programs, will help people survive, but not many of those who benefit will spend their money in the hobby. On the other hand, the increased pressure on businesses include many "green" conditions being forced upon their industries, (which I happen to believe in, by the way - although I think this is the worst time for additional constraints on business). The approach thus far will suppress those who are in a position to invest private capital, create jobs and jump start our failing economy. As we see, the market continues to fall as the current administration unveils and implements its plans.

Those who are truly financially secure will probably still play in the hobby even though their portfolios have taken a hit. Hobbyists who thought they were financially secure until their investments took a major hit since last summer may be re-thinking their discretionary spending priorities. Bit players who stashed hobby funds to see a lady now and then might even drop out. The good news for the hobby is that, in times of recession, entertainment and sports industries do better than other sectors of the economy. As I recall, the theory of why this happens is that people tend to spend for pleasure in order to escape the negativity surrounding them. The fact that Mardi Gras was a success - except for the shootings on the routes - supports this point.

The good news around Christmas time was that Louisiana was insulated from the national economy because the oil business and was doing much better than others. However, the last rig count had the number of gas rigs down almost a third since this time last year and the oil rig count has dropped, too. As most of us know, Louisiana is more dependent on gas than oil. I&#39;ve seen from my own business that the transportation sector (trucks, trains, ships, barges and planes) down here is way off over the last two months. That doesn&#39;t say much for our outlook here. Transportation activity is a major indicator of how an area is doing economically. If cargo isn&#39;t moving, slow downs at refineries, factories, distributors, the offshore industry and the construction are the reason why. Louisiana construction took an earlier hit than most industries here even with a little boost from Gustav and Ike. The grocery industry survives because people will always eat, although restaurants are down because locals aren&#39;t eating out as frequently.

When the economy is good everyone is making money and we have spare cash to indulge our pleasures - the hobby in this case. When the economy takes a hit like it has, the main buffering factor for the hobby is the desire to spend money for pleasure in bad economic times - and that will only slow the decent. The fact that, in spite of the economy, there are always some businesses doing well will also help.

As far as the ASPD problems go, there is no doubt in my mind that it has affected the hobby around here. Not enough of us has found the new site, (although the "Check-In" thread continues to generate hits), and the temporary loss of the data base has tied our hands with respect to research. Sure, we can check out provider reviews minus the BCD comments in the cache files, but it is a lot more cumbersome to do so and much of the information I consider vital is missing. I, for one, also maintained a lot of my hobby contact information and notes in VBpad, that I can no longer access, so I could keep them off of my hard drive. The lurkers and occasional players aren&#39;t getting the information to contact available providers and newbies exploring the hobby have lost a major resource for information.

Between the economy and ASPD problems, I think there are a lot of guys not getting as much nookie these days and many providers not doing as well.

So, enough of my half-drunken rant. The providers who are doing well have established their reputations and handle their business better than the rest. More power to them, although they might suffer, too, if things continue on this downhill slide. The newer ladies and those who don&#39;t do all they should to maintain their businesses are going to have a tougher time.

Just my opinion - colored by several rum & cokes.

MM

[MrGiz]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

The providers who are doing well have established their reputations and handle their business better than the rest.... The newer ladies and those who don&#39;t do all they should to maintain their businesses are going to have a tougher time.[/b]

The quote above has always been true.... regardless of the state of the economy! There is no rhyme or reason associated to our particular wedge of the entertainment industry. I know providers who are enjoying their most profitable months ever, right now.... and have prospective appointments stacked up better than ever, for the next month! I also know some who are hurting, BIGTIME!!
Build a better mousetrap.... and they will cum!

Giz

[caroline]

Let&#39;s just say I&#39;m still thankful as I always have been....

[dilbert firestorm]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Musman @ Mar 7 2009, 11:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

In terms of the economic outlook, my thoughts run parallel to Milton Friedman&#39;s in this clip:

Milton Friedman - Greed
-- snip --
The New Deal worked seventy years ago, but it was a different world then. Public works projects, increased support for education and charity, as well as expanded unemployment benefit programs, will help people survive, but not many of those who benefit will spend their money in the hobby. On the other hand, the increased pressure on businesses include many "green" conditions being forced upon their industries, (which I happen to believe in, by the way - although I think this is the worst time for additional constraints on business). The approach thus far will suppress those who are in a position to invest private capital, create jobs and jump start our failing economy. As we see, the market continues to fall as the current administration unveils and implements its plans.

-- snip --

Just my opinion - colored by several rum & cokes.

MM[/b]

the friedman link isn&#39;t working.

I&#39;d have to take issue with the commentary on the milton friedman&#39;s article. You say the "new deal" worked, it didn&#39;t really work as intended. the economy under the "new deal" administration remained in the gutter for 10 years, (1933 - 1943). only one year did was there a brief recovery, but the following went back into the crapper. It wasn&#39;t until World war II (1942 - 1945) did things start to turn around and this involved a whole lot of dynamics - demographics & mindset & politics that kicked in.

The problem with the "new deal" was that the wounds were self-inflicted unintentionally by the FDR administration. FDR administration passed a number of laws that killed business & investor confidence and instituted price controls on a lot of business.

[rpmsouth]

Dilbert. What you just said sounds like the same deal we are getting right now. All the money isn&#39;t going to the people who need it the most,(the working man and woman) and would do the most good with it. America is now a consumer based economy so if you want to stimulate it give it to the people, who will spend it and lick start the economy in all sectors.

[alwayswillingnable]

I"m just going to say this. If you are a student of history you&#39;ll find that only two things have ever really impacted the economy in a positive way. One is not one we should use as economic stimulus while the other is what our founding fathers believed.

War and Tax cuts are the only two proven methods by which the stimulus occurs. The War part is because the war machine puts people to work in many sectors and the amount of production required across those sectors trickle down to most others as those working to supply the war machine have to spend the money somewhere. The problem with this approach is that if you can&#39;t cash flow your war then your debt builds and now adays they expect you to fix everything that you break during a war and therefore pay to break it and then more to fix it back which again impacts the economy but also builds debt.

The tax cuts are a proven fact. When JFK, RWR and GWB cut taxes our economy improved as did tax collections. Bush&#39;s problem was he was faced several major blows that slowed the affects of the tax cuts he got through, 911, Katrina and the Wars in IRackarinia and Camelshit number two. Reagan on the other hand started the longest period of economic growth in our nations history which could only be slowed by GHWB and his tax increases pushed by some and his spending in the first Gulf War, which didn&#39;t have the positive impact due to its short duration. JFK&#39;s tax cuts pulled us out of a slowing economy and increased money to the treasury.

Our problems are many and the solutions are simple. We can&#39;t produce enough oil at home and we are held hostages by people who don&#39;t like us who have it and those who speculate in it. Until we decide to address the issues of energy independence, the kinds that heat/cool our homes and that that makes our vehicles go we are always looking at a potential problem with our econ. Was the credit craze the sole cause of our problem no, would it alone have eventually caused us this problem, maybe. But the straw that broke the back of that animal was when people had to start spending all of their extra money and part of their not extra money on transportation costs and the related increases of goods and services caused by this increase in fuel costs.

We know how to solve our electrical generation issues, I hate to say it but, all we have to do is look to the French. Nuke is the way to go. If government wanted to spend money on something it should have been to loan money to companies to build Nuke plants and free up natural gas and other fuels. Then if we cut the number of vehicles running on gasoline by half and converted them to CNG which we already have the technology for just not the distribution system for the fuel we solve our dependence on others people&#39;s oil. We will always need oil, the shipping, rail and trucking will run on Oil products for a while, okay rail could be turned to Electric over time but you are talking about a lot of infrasture for that.

The other two thing that we must do is clean up our tax system and reform or legal system. We can&#39;t tax people because they work hard and are successful. I say we need a national sales tax so that everyone pays even those involved in illegal activities. But the idea that some pay nothing is stupid. One nothing in life is free and two those that get it for "Free" have no incentive to do something else and are motivated to abuse the system. Not all but most.

Our legal system has to be brought back to reality. Looser pays and penatities for frivelous (sic) lawsuits must be imposed. Some awards limits must be imposed. 5 or 10 times annual earnings or Med bills times something I don&#39;t know the exact answer but the cost of our goods have so much money built into the cost just due to potential liability issues.

Okay now that I&#39;ve solved the major parts of the nation/worlds problems let me say that I refuse to take part in the economic down turn. My primary business hasn&#39;t missed a beat. Other businesses I own have seen some decrease but nothing major. We have become better and leaner at what we do and have actually increased our profits. One of my businesses which I have several branches with different partners are taking advantage of the dropping cost of land and buildings. We have expanded our holdings for sometimes .50 on the dollar. We have held off on a project or two but have done well because waiting on some have allowed us to save on the property, get better deals from contractors and find better prices on materials.

As for the hobby. I&#39;ve seen a few ladies from here and there. I&#39;ve seen some tried and true favorites. Having a good group of friends who are BS free that you can communicate with and share some info is a good thing. When one takes the plunge on something new they let you know.

I&#39;ll leave with this... for those of you who voted for "Change" congradulations you are getting it. The DJI has dropped almost 3000 points since BHO was elected. Socialism is headed towards like a freight train and we are stuck on track if we don&#39;t do something. I&#39;ll predict a couple of things one that if the econ keeps going south we&#39;ll see a lot more providers hitting the sceen. Two that if some in government continue on their current paths they are going to see real change in the mid-term elections and then the economy will improve after the next congress goes in and cuts taxes on the producers and businesses to allow us to get out of our own way.

Now back to earning a living.

That is free advice... and no I can&#39;t run for office because I have some pretty sexy skelatons in my closet. Yes I&#39;ll admitt it I fuck some escorts occassionally. So I&#39;m sure I&#39;m not qualified to hold elected off due to my poor judgement related to my extra poon. I&#39;m sure that one of these ladies would rather fuck me over for a million dollars instead of fucking me in the W.H.

[rpmsouth]

Well said Awana. When I talk to the people who voted for BHO, they have no clue what he is doing to the economy(nothing good). They have this blind faith that he will CHANGE everything to make thier lives so much better. Spending borrowed money to survive is not the smart way to get out of trouble, it&#39;s like living on credit cards till they cut you off. You have a huge debt and no way to pay it off.


No where can we go to start a war and get things back to normal?

[dilbert firestorm]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (rpmsouth @ Mar 10 2009, 04:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Well said Awana. When I talk to the people who voted for BHO, they have no clue what he is doing to the economy(nothing good). They have this blind faith that he will CHANGE everything to make thier lives so much better. Spending borrowed money to survive is not the smart way to get out of trouble, it&#39;s like living on credit cards till they cut you off. You have a huge debt and no way to pay it off.


No where can we go to start a war and get things back to normal?[/b]

Yup

actions have consquences. be berry carefull of what you wish for, it may be change that you didn&#39;t have in mind......

btw, there was a very interesting article/commentary that makes an analysis that BO is doing something similar to the FDR administration when FDR was campaigning for a 3rd term. He did it by making people feel good over the radio and was very popular. And he won an unprecedented 3rd term inspite of the economy being in the depression. By all normal calculation, FDR should have been voted out on his failure to get the economy moving again. Popularity won over substance.