What if

[Camino LS6]

...things don't get better?

[Drew Dowdell]

then they get worse.

[Chris_Doane]

You should really stop torturing yourself.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Better get a gun, if you don't have one ...

[Camino LS6]

You should really stop torturing yourself.

What do you mean?

[Camino LS6]

I wasn't just talking about cars...

[Blake Noble]

It's all the more reason to live everyday like it's your last.

Edited July 22, 2009 by YellowJacket894

[Drew Dowdell]

I wasn't just talking about cars...

I know what you were talking about.... there are too many things in the future to be worried about. You'll go crazy if you try and cover them all.

[Camino LS6]

I know what you were talking about.... there are too many things in the future to be worried about. You'll go crazy if you try and cover them all.

I just don't see anything headed in the right direction, nothing to be hopeful about.

[Croc]

You should really stop torturing yourself.

+1

Camino, you can live in constant fear/anxiety of every little unknown on the planet, or you can realize that life is far too variable to predict every little uncertainty, and that being at peace with yourself is far more productive than being constantly vigilant and anxious over the rest of the world.

One path will lead to far greater happiness than the other, more torturing path. The choice really is yours to make.

"Worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but in the end you won't get anywhere."

Edited July 22, 2009 by Croc

[Camino LS6]

Actually, "worried" and "anxious" don't really describe what I'm feeling.

More like "resigned".

And definitely "weary".

[Oracle of Delphi]

The ancient Mayan calendar ends on 12/21/12. More precisely - because the Maya, the people who dominated southern Mexico and parts of Central America from around 2000 BC until Spanish colonization in the 17th century, were phenomenally precise with their math and astronomical observations - it's the last calculated date of one of their interlocking calendars, the Long Count, which begins on Aug. 11, 3113 BC and ends 13 baktun later, on Dec. 21, 2012. (A baktun, one of many Mayan units of time measurement, is slightly longer than 394 years).

Perhaps GM in bankruptcy is a sign of the end times ...

[z28luvr01]

I wasn't just talking about cars...

If you're talking about our society in general, we are headed for some pretty rough times if we don't pull our heads out of our asses. We've forsaken the vales this country was founded upon. Greed, selfishness, and laziness now govern our thoughts. We still cling to the belief that we're the greatest nation on this earth, yet we're not willing to do anything to back up that status with action because it involves getting up off the couch and possibly missing American Idol. Meanwhile, our enemies patiently observe from afar, laughing about how stupid we are while preparing the blow that will knock us off the mountain once and for all. And that's if said blow does not come from within.

[Croc]

Resigned and weary people don't make threads beginning with "What if things don't get better?"

That's a worry, fed by anxiety.

[Camino LS6]

Actually Croc, it was just a question.

An aimless curiosity.

I wondered what sort of thoughts it might provoke.

Z: I agree.

But I am seeing it as even larger than that, global in scope.

[Chris_Doane]

I'm sorry if you don't like the way things are going lately...really, I am.

But to be brutally honest...your endless doom and gloom threads around here are getting awfully old. I know I'm not the only one who feels that way.

[Blake Noble]

The ancient Mayan calendar ends on 12/21/12. More precisely - because the Maya, the people who dominated southern Mexico and parts of Central America from around 2000 BC until Spanish colonization in the 17th century, were phenomenally precise with their math and astronomical observations - it's the last calculated date of one of their interlocking calendars, the Long Count, which begins on Aug. 11, 3113 BC and ends 13 baktun later, on Dec. 21, 2012. (A baktun, one of many Mayan units of time measurement, is slightly longer than 394 years).

The world isn't going to end in 2012.

People buy into this particular theory far too much. I think the reason why the Mayan calender stops on that date is simply because the Mayan people vanished before they could get around to completely calculating the next baktun, or age that started on Dec. 22, 2012.

We really don't know much about the Mayans and what we do know is very little. The rest is all theory, just like our posts.

And, in the end, no one knows when the world is going to end. I choose not to really worry about it so much. If it ends, it ends. I'm gone, your gone, the whole human race as a whole is gone. It's not like we all are getting on the boat alone without someone to keep us company.

Edited July 22, 2009 by YellowJacket894

[Oracle of Delphi]

The world isn't going to end in 2012.

People buy into this particular theory far too much. I think the reason why the Mayan calender stops on that date is simply because the Mayan people vanished before they could get around to completely calculating the next baktun, or age that started on Dec. 22, 2012.

We really don't know much about the Mayans and what we do know is very little. The rest is all theory, just like our posts.

And, in the end, no one knows when the world is going to end. I choose not to really worry about it so much. If it ends, it ends. I'm gone, your gone, the whole human race as a whole is gone. It's not like we all are getting on the boat alone without someone to keep us company.

I don't think anywhere in my post did I say the Mayan calendar said the world was going to end, I simply said the Mayan calendar ends ...

However, GM in bankruptcy is another story altogether ...

[Blake Noble]

I don't think anywhere in my post did I say the Mayan calendar said the world was going to end, I simply said the Mayan calendar ends ...

True, you didn't.

It did inspire me to rant about it, however.

However, GM in bankruptcy is another story altogether ...

No argument there sir.

[cletus8269]

I just don't see anything headed in the right direction, nothing to be hopeful about.

I am trying to focus less on the national or even global picture to an extent. I keep tabs on the local and state and important issuess, but what will be, will be. I am focusing more on my direct needs for the while. Upcoming house purchase, paying off the impala's loan, a serious relationship. i am going to put most of my energy into the community and to my family and to heck with everything else. isolationalism has perks and drawbacks, but on an individual's local level i think there is a need for it right now. once i get the house i am going to start searching for that next project. my great aunt has a 63 ss 327 4sp black on red original owner. there is a guy at my church with a 71-72 camaro in pieces maybe i can snag. there is even an orange 74 pontiac formula 400 tucked in the woods on the way to my girlfriends house. who knows what the future holds.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

[Blake Noble]

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

I am by no means religious, but this is the mentality I try to live by.

[Oracle of Delphi]

[Croc]

I'm sorry if you don't like the way things are going lately...really, I am.

But to be brutally honest...your endless doom and gloom threads around here are getting awfully old. I know I'm not the only one who feels that way.

+1

...and the fact that the doom and gloom threads are so frequent makes me doubt that you, Camino, are simply an idle thinker and not an anxious worrier.

I am trying to focus less on the national or even global picture to an extent. I keep tabs on the local and state and important issuess, but what will be, will be. I am focusing more on my direct needs for the while. Upcoming house purchase, paying off the impala's loan, a serious relationship. i am going to put most of my energy into the community and to my family and to heck with everything else. isolationalism has perks and drawbacks, but on an individual's local level i think there is a need for it right now. once i get the house i am going to start searching for that next project. my great aunt has a 63 ss 327 4sp black on red original owner. there is a guy at my church with a 71-72 camaro in pieces maybe i can snag. there is even an orange 74 pontiac formula 400 tucked in the woods on the way to my girlfriends house. who knows what the future holds.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

This is a post coming from a place of maturity and reason. Bravo!

Edited July 22, 2009 by Croc

[Intrepidation]

Yeah I'm more concerned with things I have some control over, such as self learning what Ineed to learn (that UMass Lowell didn't bother to teach) so I can apply for a higher paying design job. They are there, I just need to get a handle of a few programs that weren't taught and that are required for most of the jobs.

As for everything else, I just try to take it one day at a time and look and the bright side of things, and not let the negativity control my life. There's plenty to be concerned/depressed about, but I refuse to let it get to me. Because if I do, I'm admitting defeat.

So I spend time with my girlfriend, tinker with the cars, make new friends, get out and enjoy those rare days when its not raining, and stuff like that.

[Teh Ricer Civic!]

Well Camino if you feel so strongly there are always organizations working to actually change stuff. You could join one of those.

[A Horse With No Name]

I just don't see anything headed in the right direction, nothing to be hopeful about.

That's why I do everything I can to enjoy my family and my car hobby and enjoy roading.

Things may well not get better. That being said, I don't know how guys who live alone like you, or 'blu, or some of the other guys here do it.

I think without my family I would have checked out a long time ago.

The world really is nuts, and Cars and Family are in some ways all I have got.

Chris

[2005 EquinoxLS]

That's why I do everything I can to enjoy my family and my car hobby and enjoy roading.

Things may well not get better. That being said, I don't know how guys who live alone like you, or 'blu, or some of the other guys here do it.

Well, I techniclly live with my Mom but if you mean how do we live without a wife and/or kids some of us dont have a choice. We just do it. We dont have a choice in wheather women like us or not. Mostly.

I think without my family I would have checked out a long time ago.

The world really is nuts, and Cars and Family are in some ways all I have got.

Chris

[ocnblu]

Yeah, it is hard to deal with quite often. I didn't realize how alone I was until I put my cat in the house, she helps, but she's not all that I'm missing. A person I care deeply about is in TN/NC this week, riding his motorcycle on The Tail of the Dragon, a dangerous, extremely curvy stretch of road between the 2 states. He went with a group, with the bikes on trailers. He said he doesn't like curves and that he doesn't do well in large groups, so I'm sure he went just to try to fit in. He said he'd like to go to Graceland while he's down there, but he doubts he'll go... the others won't want to. I miss him.

[A Horse With No Name]

Blu-Tail of the Dragon-I may be taking the Miata there in two weeks when I go to North Carolina to see my parents.

338 curves in line 18 miles or something...

You would be welcome to ride along on a tail of the dragon ride sometime if you would wish.

But yeah, a cat is not the same as a person.

Chris

[Camino LS6]

Well, this thread certainly went in a direction I hadn't intended.

[balthazar]

'Oldsmoboi' - >>"I know what you were talking about.... there are too many things in the future to be worried about. You'll go crazy if you try and cover them all."<<

'Croc' - >>"you can live in constant fear/anxiety of every little unknown on the planet, or you can realize that life is far too variable to predict every little uncertainty, and that being at peace with yourself is far more productive than being constantly vigilant and anxious over the rest of the world."<<

True, but you can cover SOME of them, namely; those that are most likely to affect you long-term. Wouldn't that be prudent & responsible ? Why does it have to be 'absolutely everything' or 'just ignore it' ??

And it would likewise be settling to see some indicators that things, even just a few things, are going in a 'right' direction, in order to relieve some of the stress of these & other concerns.

I think I know what Camino is talking about. There's nothing wrong with concern as long as it's managable- lack of concern/ viligance is where the problems start & spread. IMO, it's time to do regular 'proximity sweeps' WRT one's self & family... because no one else is going to do it. And for the first time in my life I see the question at hand as a very real possibility.

'Chris_Doane' - >>"...your endless doom and gloom threads around here are getting awfully old. I know I'm not the only one who feels that way."<<

Why should this be pertinent? I would tend to think it rare; the scenario where a publically-expressed view generates a particular response in only ONE individual... but don't we strive to recognize free speech & expression here, and everywhere ? Is the advice - 'if you don't like it, you don't have to participate' no longer sage ?

"Let the man speak, let the man speak!"

[Oracle of Delphi]

'Chris_Doane' - >>"...your endless doom and gloom threads around here are getting awfully old. I know I'm not the only one who feels that way."<<

Why should this be pertinent? I would tend to think it rare; the scenario where a publically-expressed view generates a particular response in only ONE individual... but don't we strive to recognize free speech & expression here, and everywhere ? Is the advice - 'if you don't like it, you don't have to participate' no longer sage ?

"Let the man speak, let the man speak!"

I hardly ever agree with balthazar, but in this case I do feel Chris Doane is just plain wrong. On more than one occasion Camino went to bat for me, for my right to free speech, when he was an Admin here (Yes I know You Did) . Yes I know not all my views are popular with Camino, but he fought for my right to say them none the less, for that I am grateful ... It is the main reason I left GMI, the Admins there squash any free thought that they don't like. Lord knows I don't always agree with Camino's views, but I will defend to my last breath, his right to express them ... I think Camino deserves an apology from a certain spy ...

Let the man speak! I don't care if he is all doom and gloom and sounds like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, it just happens to be my favorite Disney movie ...

Edited July 22, 2009 by PCS

[§carlet §wordfish]

Well what will you do if things don't get better?

[Justin Bimmer]

Once again, if you don't like what is in the thread in the lounge, you have the ability to not read it. C&G is the best place I have found to talk about cars and some other things because people say whats on their mind and as long as it isn't wackadoodle it gets to stay and be part of the discussion.

[Camino LS6]

A very heartfelt thank you guys, reading the last few posts really brightened the end of a bad day!

That said, I never intended for this thread to become an argument.

So, shall we try again?

I'll rephrase the question a bit:

What do you plan to do if things continue to go badly, with no rebound in sight?

If our losses become permanent?

[Intrepidation]

Once again, if you don't like what is in the thread in the lounge, you have the ability to not read it.

[z28luvr01]

A very heartfelt thank you guys, reading the last few posts really brightened the end of a bad day!

That said, I never intended for this thread to become an argument.

So, shall we try again?

I'll rephrase the question a bit:

What do you plan to do if things continue to go badly, with no rebound in sight?

If our losses become permanent?

Well, FWIW, I keep reading that the recession is likely to end this year and that things will be on the up sooner than we thought. Not sure if that's spin or not. I'd seriously love Oldsmoboi's take on that.

If not, and we continue the downward trend. I'll have to simplify where I can, sell off the frills and keep the necessities. I had planned on looking for a larger car and/or a house/coop/condo of my own next year. If things get worse and I can't afford to do that, I'll obviously have to stick it out longer.

Oh, and I'm in the "Let Camino speak" camp

[Croc]

What do you plan to do if things continue to go badly, with no rebound in sight?

If our losses become permanent?

Continue to live in SoCal, where even in the &#036;h&#33;tiest times we can still go to the beach and eat really good (and cheap!) ethnic food.

I still don't see the point of this line of thinking...this rephrased question makes more sense, but c'mon, my grandparents lost everything in the Depression and then also gained it back, coming out ahead of where they were. If they could do it, I most certainly can what with the technological advances of the past 80 years.

[Croc]

Oh, and I'm pretty sure that Doane has the same right to post as Camino in expressing his annoyance. He's not exactly censoring him, guys. Let's dial the melodrama back from Level 12.

[Teh Ricer Civic!]

What do you plan to do if things continue to go badly, with no rebound in sight?

If our losses become permanent?

Hope that the midwest secedes from the union and move there.

Otherwise... i dunno... go to the beach? Maybe get drunk... maybe get drunk and THEN go to the beach! YEAH!!!

Edited July 22, 2009 by Teh Ricer Civic!

[balthazar]

Croc - >>"Oh, and I'm pretty sure that Doane has the same right to post as Camino in expressing his annoyance."<<

Of course he does, and so he did... but why attempt to bolster one's own opinion with the assumed like opinions of others ? He is free to post whatever he wants, IMO... just questioning that one part; it reads like a vote to suppress...

-- -- -- -- --

I do not carry debt, so in that regard I feel I'm one-up on most.

I am very resourceful and live relatively minimalistic - I actually wouldn't save anything by cutting back there.

I would of course like to see some things move in a positive direction... but so far it really hasn't affected me.

I lie : my portfolio took a pretty big hit. :mad:

If things don't rebound or just level off, I will do whatever I can think of to

gain position/ finances (tho I do that at maybe 65% capacity already).

I already had planned to work until death anyway- so that's nothing new.

I am working on instilling a defensive mindset into my sons, it'll be far worse for them, it looks from here. I am more concerned there than for my own situation.

[A Horse With No Name]

Once again, if you don't like what is in the thread in the lounge, you have the ability to not read it. C&G is the best place I have found to talk about cars and some other things because people say whats on their mind and as long as it isn't wackadoodle it gets to stay and be part of the discussion.

+1

Chris

[A Horse With No Name]

Oh, and I'm in the "Let Camino speak" camp

+1 x eleventy billion...

Chris

[A Horse With No Name]

...and whoo-hooo, I'm over 5000 posts!

Chris

[Teh Ricer Civic!]

...and whoo-hooo, I'm over 5000 posts!

Chris

nice pokemon avatar there buddy

[A Horse With No Name]

Hey I'm 43, it's never too late for a second childhood...esp. when you've never given up your first.

Chris

[ocnblu]

I'm just keeping as low a profile as I know how, going to work every day, trying to do my job to the best of my abilities.

Camino, you are an absolute pillar of this community. Thanks for being here, kind sir.

[A Horse With No Name]

Agreed with 'blu. Your posts here are one of the few things that keep me sane.

Chris

[ocnblu]

Blu-Tail of the Dragon-I may be taking the Miata there in two weeks when I go to North Carolina to see my parents.

338 curves in line 18 miles or something...

You would be welcome to ride along on a tail of the dragon ride sometime if you would wish.

But yeah, a cat is not the same as a person.

Chris

Well I appreciate that, sparky. Sounds fun!

[Camino LS6]

Thanks guys.