Total Pageviews

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

American Life







Google

















Everyone knows that Americans have a different system. here, it is each man for himself, or woman for that matter. Indians might find it very strange.

Here are a few examples i came across, among our neighbours.

A lady living here alone. She has a grandchild. Call her Lady A.
Until recently, she was at home because she fell down, broke her wrists,and couldn't work.
A couple of months back, she was talking to me, and she told me she had to take care of her grandson for a few days, because her daughter n son -in-law had to go out of station. Since this lady has no other source of income(she wasn't on disability pension, because she gt laid off from her job just 4 days before she got injured), she told her daughter to pay her, as she would pay any other baby sitter.
Her logic was " I needed the money, and she could afford it. So she did."

Now she is slowly healing, and on the lookout for jobs like babysitters/ nanny, I find her flyer's everywhere i take frisky for a walk. Loving grandma, flexible hours. etc etc.
Loving grandma, yes, but no qualms in taking money from her daughter to look after her own grandson.

Lady B. She was the one we had left frisky with, when we had gone to Vegas. She touted herself as the lovable pet sitter,and the few times Frisky had been around her, he seemed to like her. So we left him with her for 4 days.

We came back, and she had a litany of complaints. He has chewed her computer wire, broken her window blinds while jumping to look at another dog outside, had not eaten properly. Later, we found out, no one had sen her walk frisky around the condos. Probably she had just taken him outside her apartment and let him pee etc.Frisky doesn't like that. He likes to be walked, and needs a min of 30 minutes to do his business. God knows what she did in the 4 days.
We had a bad experience with her, as far as Frisky was concerned. We ended up paying for her computer wire. Now he is scared to even go near her apartment.

This lady went around proclaiming herself to be the "Social Director" of the condominiums. She refused to let another lady walk dogs, or do pet sitting, and actually tore off flyer's of Lady A, where she had advertised for pet sitting, and baby sitting. Now, Lady B has he job of baby sitting a school going kid, twice a week. pick her up from school, give her lunch, monitor her till her parents come back.

We also recently met another couple at one of the get together arranged by the management. Their son is in New york, and has apparently lost a bit of money recently. All they know is that he is struggling to get back in financial stability.
However, they haven;t given him any money to support himself.

So ultimately, one can say that Americans become independent at an early age, by working in places like McDonald's, etc and once they achieve a certain age, they do not want to stay with their parents, and vice versa.

Watching cases on Judge Mathis, Law and Order etc, also gives an idea, that children pay rent to their parents, if they are financially stable and stay with them.
Would Indians also go this way soon, I wonder??

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Frisky's own Blog page







Google

















Hey all,

Now Frisky has his own blog page on this new doggie website in India, called www.dogspot.in

His blog is titled, Ta(i)ls From America.

So go to the website, click on the link Dog Blog, and view his blog.
He just started today, so will be writing regularly in the future.
No picture of his is up yet, cos the size of pictures we have is too big.
And the website isnt accepting.

Cheers, n Woofs

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Gold Story continues

Video on MSN Money
Gold at a record

The US dollar's decline is a big reason gold hit the $1,000 mark March 13.

"I have mortgage brokers, real-estate agents, retail-shop owners. They're nervous; you can see the stress on their faces," Vela said. "Many haven't been to a pawnshop before; they want to know how it works. Some don't want to let go of their gold. (But) gold is cash to them."

Silver also is stirring customers to sell more, with prices having more than tripled from $6 per troy ounce two years ago to more than $20.

The stories are similar elsewhere.

At Gold Star Pawn Shop in Eastlake, Ohio, where the Cleveland-area economy is suffering, manager Marc Berman said people come in regularly with broken gold chains, rings with marks on them and scrap gold to get more money in their pockets.

"I think it's more about gas prices than anything else," he said. "People are bringing in anything to try to get money to put a few gallons in the tank."

Some seniors come in monthly to pawn gold items in order to make it through until their next Social Security checks arrive, Berman said.

Shoe boxes full of baubles
The clientele at Palace Pawnbrokers in downtown San Diego has gone more upscale as gold prices have soared. Owner Jeff Bernard said it's a mixture of those who seem to need the money more than ever and those who want it.

"It's a combination of many factors: the state of the economy, the price of a gallon of unleaded gas going for $3.60 here," he said. "People are saying, 'We've just got to do something.' With gold knocking on the $1,000 door, they can actually pay off a bill, do something significant with it."

One woman recently lugged a safety deposit box full of old wedding rings, chains and gaudy 14-karat jewelry from the 1970s to Scott Goldstein's Super Pawn shop in Round Lake Beach, Ill. Others have arrived carrying shoe boxes full of jewelry, and a 92-year-old man brought in 80 gold coins. Customers have brought in as much as 40 ounces of gold to sell, Goldstein said.

"It's people going through hard times and the crazy prices," Goldstein said of the crush that began there after Christmas. "With all the foreclosures nowadays, you hear people more and more saying, 'I've got a mortgage to pay.'"

Video on MSN Money
Gold at a record

The US dollar's decline is a big reason gold hit the $1,000 mark March 13.

Midge Elias watched prices rise for months until she gave in to the temptation and walked into a Manhattan coin shop with two mounted Liberty Walking gold pieces she'd once worn on long chains. She left with a check for $1,150.

"It felt like a little gift," Elias said. "Of course, there's always the possibility of gold going way higher. But hey, those are the risks."

This article was reported and written by Dave Carpenter of The Associated Press.


MSN PrivacyLegalAdvertiseRSSHelpFeedbackSite map© 2008 Microsoft

US GOLD RUSH II THIS TIME TO SELL OUT!!!

hELLO ALL,

NEWS FROM INDIA REVELAS THAT GOLD PRICES HAVE REACHED,A DN CROSSED THE Rs. 1000/ gram MARK. A recent news article from msn.com, reproduced below, tells the story of how US consumers, are selling gold, to get some cash, in times of a economic slowdown,and gas prices touching $4/ gallon .(thats approx. Rs. 160 for 1.3 litres. )

Pawnshops see rush of gold sellers
With gold about $1,000 an ounce, everyone including Aunt Maude is digging out jewelry and coins from musty drawers and attics -- and cashing in.

advertisement
Article Tools
E-mail to a friendTools IndexPrint-friendly versionSite MapArticle IndexDiscuss in a Message BoardDigg This By The Associated Press
A new kind of gold rush is unfolding at jewelry store and pawnshop counters -- featuring not prospectors, but consumers.

White-collar workers, retirees and many others have been digging through jewelry boxes and safety deposit boxes to cash in as the price of gold hovers around $1,000 an ounce. Coins, old wedding rings, necklaces given by ex-boyfriends, hand-me-down gold pieces -- everything is fair game when it brings this kind of profit.

Shop owners across the country are marveling about the phenomenon they say began in the latter part of 2007 and accelerated through the winter, reflecting torrid gold demand like none had ever seen. There are even gold parties, where people gather to sell their jewelry.

"Everybody's trying to sell," said Richard Rozhko, the owner of a jewelry store on the northern edge of Chicago. "People are trying to cash out because they don't believe that gold's going to go higher than $1,000 or $1,200 (an ounce)."

Rachel Weingarten, a New Yorker with a self-described obsession with "shiny trinkets," didn't need to sell but couldn't resist the chance when she saw prices soar like an overinflated tech stock.

Cash for 'ugly' jewelry
"When I saw the prices going through the roof, I saw it as an amazing opportunity to rid myself of jewelry that no longer suits my taste or status," said Weingarten, a marketing consultant. "It's also been a lot of fun to get cash for stuff that is broken or just really ugly or just takes up room in my drawers."

Royal Pawn Shop, a 75-year-old business within earshot of the rattle of passing El trains in Chicago's South Loop, has display cases sporting fancy gold rings, bracelets and watches along with racks holding hundreds of pawned fur coats. It also has more office workers as customers these days -- mostly sellers, not buyers, bringing in gold chains and rings.

"It's stuff that's lying around the house, so they figure: Why not make money from it?" said Royal co-owner Wayne Cohen. "The price of gold is so ridiculously high that they'd be stupid not to get rid of it."

Others are selling to help cope with tough times in an economic slowdown.

Three miles across town, Division Gold store owner John Vela recounted homemakers coming in to pawn treasured items from their jewelry boxes and numerous clients saying they need money to pay their property tax bills and take care of other rising financial obligations






Google