Lifestyles: October 2008 Archives

The Hound has been beating up the Wall Street bankers, credit managers, the Bush administration and certain members of Congress who went along with the financial meltdown we've been nervous about the past few weeks. Like the rest of you, The Hound's mistress' 401(k) is now a 104(k). She says her early retirement target date is now age 86. But then The Hound did some research.

Boy, are we a bunch of stupids in this country, living on borrowed time --- borrowed money time, that is.

Blame Wall Street? Hah, look in the mirror, rubes. Check out these facts:

1) Today, the average American household has $8,565 in credit-card debt, a figure 15 percent higher than it was in 2000, when President Bush was narrowly elected.

2) Nearly 30 percent of the U.S. national debt --- $2.6 trillion --- is held by foreign governments. The top four? Japan, China, United Kingdom, Brazil. How did the Carnivale country get to own a piece of the U.S. rock?

3) Forty-three percent of U.S. households spend more than they earn annually, therefore living on credit card debt. See No. 1 above.

4) Forty-four percent of American households say they live "pay check to pay check" --- up from 37 percent in 2006.

5) About 42 percent of U.S. households lack enough liquid savings to support themselves for three months.

So the next time you want to blame politicos for the state of your personal economy or even the nation's economy, remember the 1992 Clinton campaign mantra: It's the economy, stupid. In this case, as we approach Election Day 2008, it's plural.

So don't expect Uncle Sugar to bail you out. You have no credit or capital and are close to having no collateral. Welcome to the Third World.

That was awful nice of the Lake County Health Department to offer "good neighbor" etiquette for leaf burners which appeard in the paper over the weekend. Here's a better idea on how to be a good neighbor: Ban leaf burning in unincorporated Lake County.

While nearly every municipality has banned leaf burning and gone to collecting them, then turning them to compost, Lake County officials cling to this old-fashioned, country-bumpkin ideal of letting residents send leaves up in smoke. Which probably runs counter to the Health Department's creed, but who's counting when the County Board holds the purse strings, right?

Did The Hound mention that most unincorporated areas border incorporated areas so, like other forms of pollution, leaf smoke doesn't stop at the limits of corporate entities? Like Beach Park, which still thinks its unincorporated, even though it is a village.

In Beach Park, they seem to burn seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. The Hound feels sorry for kids in Beach Park with asthma this time of year. Beach Park has this antiquated view of things, unlike Zion, Waukegan, Winthrop Harbor and North Chicago which all have controlled or no burning at all. Some great environmentalists there in Beach Park.

But the same can be said of Health Department folks who were quick to jump on the anti-smoking bandwagon, but not so quick to do the same for leaf burning. Guess the county hasn't heard of second-hand smoke. Instead, they want us all to be good neighbors. That policy goes up in smoke when the leaves fall.

The Hound is so glad the dog house is not in Chicago these days, especially after learning city garbage crews are actually paid to do nothing during most of their shifts. Yes, let's just keep pouring more Illinois money into that hole they call the Second City.

Of course, the union representing the workers who were caught working only a part of the time, blamed management for not supervising employees of "Streets and San" as they say in the old neighborhood. Apparently, these folks have low self-esteem and haven't figured out they're adults who have certain responsibilities. One of them is showing up for work and doing a job.

Unless you live in the Windy City. A 10-week surveillance of workers showed deez guys wasted at least $14.3 million a year in taxpayer dollars. This in a city which has the highest sales tax in the nation. Oh, it get's better.

Despite funneling in massive amounts of Illinois money into the CTA, the agency is still proposing to boost fares to $2.25 for bus and El rides. Seems one of the reason the fare increases are needed is because Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Chicagoan, decided to give senior citizens free mass transit rides.

So, not only do we have a state that is in the toilet, but the biggest city in the state, normally known as the "city that works" is heading that way, too. Where's Honest Abe when you really need him?

The Hound now knows what his older siblings, aunts, uncles, grandpas and grandmas felt like as the Cubs and Sox both folded early in the baseball playoffs: No expectations.

What the &*^%$#@! happened here? Should The Hound start rooting for the Kane County Cougars or the Area 51s in Vegas? It should be noted The Hound predicted the Cubs' demise because of West Coast voodoo. The Hound didn't expect that West Coast gris-gris to include the Gulf Coast of Florida as the Devil Rays took the best-of-five series. Does one detect a satanic underpinning here?

OK, we move on and ignore the chaos theory, curses and just plain not prepared for the post-season for the second year for the Cubs and since ought five when the South Side hitmen ruled the roost. Dare The Hound utter those sorry words: Wait until next year. Or as Leo Durocher once said: "Back up the truck."

Well, the Bears are in first in the old black and blue division of the NFC --- for the time being.

As for those of you who, like The Hound, had no expectations, The Hound offers the original thanks to the world's greatest rock n' roll band:

Take me to the station
And put me on a train
I've got no expectations
To pass through here again

Once I was a rich man and
Now I am so poor
But never in my sweet short life
Have I felt like this before

You heart is like a diamond
You throw your pearls at swine
And as I watch you leaving me
You pack my peace of mind

Our love was like the water
That splashes on a stone
Our love is like our music
Its here, and then its gone

So take me to the airport
And put me on a plane
I got no expectations
To pass through here again

The Hound isthisclose to becoming a soccer hooligan.