Greg In The Desert

I remember being in Junior High and High School reading about the 1918 Flu epidemic and The Great Depression. In the future, such events wouldn’t happen again.

Here we are in the future. A possible great epidemic is upon us. We are experiencing the largest recession since the Great Depression. General Motors is closing down Pontiac. The United States has a black president. There are still no flying cars.

We are in interesting times. Hang on and enjoy the ride.

• Review: NeatReceipts for Mac Review | Scanners | Macworld – NeatReceipts ships with a small portable scanner that you use to scan documents into the NeatWorks application. (NeatWorks works with several other scanners and is available for purchase separately from the NeatReceipts package. The Neat Company has a list of scanners that work with the program.) When a scan is complete, NeatWorks begins performing optical character recognition (OCR) on your documents; depending on the size of and amount of information on your document, this can take anywhere from a few seconds to just under a minute to complete. When the OCR is done, NeatWorks does two things: it tries to determine the type of document you’ve scanned (text document, receipt, or business card), and then populates data fields with information it finds on your document based on the document type it has selected.
• New gel is stronger than steel – Latest News – MSN Tech – Scientists have created a gel that acts like muscle when charged with electricity but is far more powerful.
  The "aerogel" is almost as light as air, as stretchy as rubber, and stiffer than steel by weight.
  Made with ribbons of carbon "nanotubes" – tiny hollow tubes of carbon – the material can expand to 220% of its original length or width in milliseconds when electrically charged.
• Apartment Therapy The Kitchn | How To Make Finger-Licking Fried Chicken It’s Not As Scary As It Seems – After getting married, one of the first things we learned to make was fried chicken. With a husband whose Grandmother had award-winning chicken frying skills, it was a quick realization that we too would soon be learning the trade. Even though a fryer lives in our pantry, we don't bother. With techniques that are simple and are sure to produce perfect results each time…just make sure to lock the front door so you don't have neighbors following their noses into your kitchen!

  There is a fear of frying. We know… and it's ok, we're here to help you overcome just in time for picnic season!

• Identity Theft and the Economy – After four years of steady declines in identity theft cases, the new report found a 22% increase in the past 12 months. This adds up to 1.8 million more victims in 2008 than 2007. Identity theft is making a comeback.
• News : Rio Rancho trying to get share of federal stimulus money – Rio Rancho Observer – Rio Rancho officials are making sure their city gets its piece of the pie.

  Earlier this month, the city got news from the Mid Region Council of Governments that it would receive $14 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to extend Paseo del Volcan from Iris Road to US 550.

• News : Presbyterian still on hold – Rio Rancho Observer – The construction of Presbyterian Hospital in Rio Rancho is still on hold, but Elizabeth Brophy, a spokesperson for Presbyterian Healthcare Services, said the company is still committed to building a hospital in Rio Rancho.

  “We are very committed to Rio Rancho and the residents of Rio Rancho,” Brophy said. “We want to be able to provide services needed in that community and we will continue to focus very hard on that.”

  The construction of the $230 million hospital is on hold because of the bad economy. Presbyterian Health Services’ board of directors decided last year to hold off on issuing $200 million in bonds until the economy improves and there’s more clarity in the economy.

  “It’s frustrating for all of us on every level,” Brophy said. “We want to fulfill our promise but we are still coming to Rio Rancho, it’s just frustrating.”

• News : Secret bases and UFOs on Rio Rancho man’s mind – Rio Rancho Observer – The Northern New Mexico town of Dulce has long been associated with rumors of UFO sightings and an alleged secret military base underneath a mesa, but Rio Rancho resident Norio Hayakawa is hoping to provide the town’s residents with an opportunity to dispel those rumors, or perpetuate them.

  For a one-day conference, Hayakawa is bringing together residents, former police officers and Jicarilla Apache (Dulce is on a reservation) officials to discuss the rumors and to give people an opportunity to come forward with new information

• Mexico’s woes draw renewed focus now by the United States – A maelstrom of drug-related violence. A brewing trade war. A wheezing economy.

  The United States has sometimes treated its southern neighbor like an afterthought, but Mexico's growing problems are taking center stage now as a parade of U.S. Cabinet members descends on Mexico City ahead of an April 16-17 visit by President Barack Obama.

  This week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit, trying to find common ground on contentious issues such as border violence and trade rules before Obama's trip.

• Land use may have been responsible for the 1930s dust bowl – Ars Technica – The dust bowl can be attributed in part to natural climatic patterns such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation; however, a recent paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science suggests that the agricultural expansion of the 1920s my have played an important role in amplifying the drought.
• 10 business lessons from ‘Battlestar Galactica’ | Topics | Macworld – You think your business has it rough? The people of Battlestar Galactica have lived through a recession you wouldn't believe. With dwindling resources, a skeleton crew, enemies constantly lurking out of view, and a pervasive threat of annihilation, Admiral Adama navigates the vast unknown. Like any leader, he makes his share of mistakes–sometimes with devastating consequences. But regardless of the fate of that ragtag fleet, the tale of Galactica is rife with lessons that can benefit any business leader.

The current recession is like nothing ever experienced since The Great Depression. The semi-conductor industry is getting hit hard and I’m concerned that I could loose my job. It was the beginning of January that my employer said they will not need to cut jobs. At the end of January Intel announced plant closures and layoffs.

I can only speculate but I think these closures were going to happen at some point. They are just occurring earlier than were originally planned. Intel had already been slimming down for the last several years. The 1000 lay offs in the manufacturing sites were a surprise and maybe they were expecting those position to be eliminated though attrition. The site I work at is reducing 100 to 200 people.

A little over two years ago Intel cut jobs here in Rio Rancho when they merged factories and elimated the 200mm factory. This happened when the economy was booming. Then, I was very unprepared to loose my job. I had significant debt, little savings and no plan in the event that I lost my job. That was a very stressful time because the whole process lasted 6 months and I didn’t know if I would have a job or not. In the end, it turned out to be a whole lot of drama for nothing as I was never at risk for losing my job.

That whole ordeal taught me a lesson and I decided that I never wanted to be in that position again. Since then I have cut all my debt except for my mortgage and have started saving and building an emergency fund (I still have a much more to save before I make it to a years salary).

The economy seems to be getting worse. I fear Intel will have no choice but to cut more jobs to remain profitable as semiconductors sales drop. I could still get redeployed, the fancy term Intel uses for “we eliminated your job but if you can find another job in the company go for it. There aren’t any.” What happens If I do get laid off? Business Week says Albuquerque is one of the best cities to ride out the recession. I’m not sure I believe that and have started to plan for long term unemployment, a year or more.

Besides my savings I won’t be immediately without money. Not only do I have accumulated vacation and absent time that I can cash in, it’s very likely I will received at least three months of severance pay, maybe more due to my long service with the company. After the severance pay runs out I could draw on unemployment for a while. I have company stock and although it’s lost significant value in the last few months the stock sale could produce enough money to live off of for several months. Finally I could pull money from my 401K if I absolutely needed cash.

I will need to cut costs where I can. A few of the major expenses I can think of:

• Good bye satellite tv. Ironic since I will have plenty of time to watch it. I may replace it with a much cheaper Netflix plan, if I find I have time to watch movies. I still have my Apple TV and uh… bittorrent.
• I might eliminate the data plan from my iPhone. If I find I am at home most of the time I don’t see why I would need it much. I won’t eliminate my internet service. I already have a fairly inexpensive plan and using the internet will be needed for job searching.
• Since I won’t be at work, I will stop going out for breakfast and lunch. I will need to monitor my food budget much more closely. Now I buy whatever I want without much regard for costs. Maybe I will become one of those extreme coupon clippers.
• My 1997 Ford Ranger is paid for and in good conidion. I recently reduced the insurance on it. Assuming I’m unemployed for more than a few months, I would plan to ride my bike around town to reduce the chance that my truck would have problems. If I did have problems with my truck I am more than capable of making repairs myself. I could pay for repairs with a credit card and make the minimum payments if I had to have someone else fix it.
• I’m not sure there’s much room for reducing energy costs. I already have the thermostat aggressively controlled by the home automation computer and I don’t use that much energy by myself.
• Today if I want something, I put it on my credit card and buy it. If I want to travel somewhere I go. I do carefully budget these expenses so that they are paid for at the end of the month. It is pretty easy to do when I have steady income. If I get laid off and a new iPhone comes out, it’s going to take quite a bit of will power to not buy it.

If I am unemployed, I am not going to sit around and feel sorry for myself. In fact it’s an opportunity to get some things done that I haven’t had time to do.

• I have bunch of junk that I need to sell and or donate that I haven’t been able to sort out.
• I have a number of projects around the house I can work on that cost little or no money. I also can scour Craigslist for materials.
• I have my iPhone and Mac OS programming to practice.
• I will be blogging a lot more.

I think there will be some jobs out there, they just wont pay nearly as much as what I make now. If I have to I will work for minimum wage at the local pizza place. I could survive off that little money and still make the house payment. Who knows, I might actually enjoy it.

Unlike the last time I went through lay offs, I am not stressed about loosing my job this time. Sure it won’t be easy and it helps that I don’t have a family to care for. I will have to make some lifestyle changes. I have a plan and I am prepared for what ever comes along.

• FrugalMechanic Gets A Tune-Up With A New Round Of Funding – FrugalMechanic, like a Froogle for auto parts, has gained a niche following of mechanics and consumers as a nifty price comparison tool in the auto market. Founded in July of 2008, the site doubled traffic from December 2008 to January 2009 and boasts over 5 million auto parts from 50 retailers. In an economy where everyone is looking for a deal, FrugalMechanic’s growth isn’t surprising. And when cash and credit are tight, consumers may be looking to repair cars with new auto parts instead of buying new cars.
• Intel CEO On Plan To Invest $7 Billion In U.S. : NPR – (audio interview) Intel CEO Paul Otellini traveled to Washington today to announce a $7 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing plants. Otellini talks about this investment, the role the private sector can play in ending the recession, and what he thinks about the stimulus package currently in Congress.
• Intel CEO supports stimulus plan – Eamon Javers – Politico.com – So grateful was the president for this bit of private-sector economic stimulus that he called Otellini at his hotel room to congratulate him. And he took advantage of the call to do a little lobbying, asking for Otellini’s support in the debate over the economic stimulus package.

  In a conversation after his announcement, Otellini told Politico that he generally supports the president’s economic stimulus plans.

• Can’t belive my hometown team won. It’s about time! #
• My dam iPhone crashes at least once a day when I plug it into iTunes. #
• It’s kinda warm, guess I can remove the liner from my jacket. #
• @adin didn’t know @brentspiner was on Twitter. Cool! in reply to adin #
• Enjoying W’s last day in office by watching Star Trek Generation, eating a salmon and rice and having a little Crown and Coke. #
• Watching the inauguration on a crappy 20 year old projection tv at work. High tech company my ass. #
• Had a work related meeting in the cafe during the inauguration. The guy I was meeting with couldn’t understand why everyone was watching it #
• Channel 13 is on the Intel NM site. #
• Another horrible end to the week. And I’m once again worried about my job. Went through this two years ago. #
• Didn’t find the video of KRQE at Intel today, only yesterday. http://tinyurl.com/7e2y8o #
• #firstmac Took out my first loan at 18 to buy a Classic II. #
• #firstmac I still have that Classic II. #
• Intel still has a few more 200mm plants. Wonder if those will get shut down too. #
• Apple has best quarterly revenue and earnings in apple history during one of the worst recession in US history. Weird. #
• Last three tweets indicates everyone is lost on lost. #
• YouTube sucks. Rejects my video because it’s 11 minutes long. #
• @UltraMagnus @bsailer @mr_ezra, thanks for having that conversation now. Bought Tweetie earlier today. #
• Gizmodo has a shoot out posted between twitter apps earlier today. http://tinyurl.com/a9ufm2 #
• @bsailer I will have to tell you what I think of tweetie after a few days. I previously used twinkle. in reply to bsailer #
• I’m getting Jehovah Witnesses at least once a week to my house. Leaving their propaganda each time. #
• @claystorm Wouldn’t it be more fun if YOU went to Phoenix and bought it for him? #
• Since switching to Wordpress, I have received 30 spam comments and 16 non spam comments. #
• Why do none of the stimulus projects include the I-25/Paseo interchange? http://tinyurl.com/al3zs8 #
• I would have never imagined subscribing to the Whitehouse.gov blog feed. #
• @bsailer That’s exactly what I say. I love the show, especially in HD. #
• @bsailer Oh, and it’s always a friends car or a friends pants that those drugs were found in. #
• @fbihop Survivor Man is better. #
• @fivezerofive How was the snow? #