Balance.... got any?

so, i am trying really hard to stay optimistic about the economy, the capital markets, and other financial matters that face us all. i mean, think of it... the world has lost 60% of its asset "value" in the biggest, most profoundly consistent, stock market you could (previously) count on "the NYSE". businesses are shuttering on a scale i have never seen before (in my 55 years) but as i was chatting with my daughter kjrsten last night, i think we are a lot different than we were when the last depression hit... today america's main street is 1,000's of fast food restaurants, big box stores, car dealers who sell 5,000 cars a year per outlet, cinemas that offer 32 screens, school districts of 28 elementary schools, 13 junior highs, and 4 high schools.... in the 20's and 30's it was ONE hardware store, furniture store, clothing store, grocery store, drug store, bank, etc., and one school that took everyone from K thru 12! times are different. things are too. people? a lot different! if its so bad, why are mcdonalds sales up 8%? if its so bad, why are most of the cinemas full? if we are on the precipice of doom, why can't i find a parking space anywhere? why aren't cars burned out along the freeways, roads and highways? where is the chaos and anarchy? actually, i think this is all just really bad financial management, greed based, which will turn around, and soon. how soon? depends how soon the talking heads figure out that you need profits, incentive, demand against a reasonable supply. we are smart people. we will figure this out. if obama would sit silent for about 6 months, i think we would work through this. why sit silent you ask? because everytime he opens his mouth his is putting more than a dollop of a few billion dollars out for this and that. we need to do what we all need to do when the credit card bill comes in and we say, "oh geez! time to stop charging, and paying off. time to work harder and get things in balance." yeah, that's it its all about "BALANCE". you got any? its time. do something, its seriously time! (see links below, sign up and do something!)

http://taxdayteaparty.com/

http://www.dontgomovement.com/

Few things in life matter as much as FAMILY...

Just this past weekend, I was with my entire family; Val, our kids, their spouses, and their children, in Utah for Keith's wedding to Jennifer Jones, of Salt Lake City. At the reception for Keith and Jenny, Saturday night, all my Peterson Utah cousins showed up, and it was so great to see them, to chat with them, and to share my family with them, on a level I never had before. Washington is a bit far and out of the way for alot of extended family time together. Funny thing though, being with my cousins felt as if we had never been apart from one another. I am grateful that my Grandparents, Ferd and Isabelle Peterson, instilled this family connection desire within me. For one summer, in 1969, I lived with my grandparents from the middle of June until the end of August. I hauled river rock the size of watermelons about 100 yards up from the river to the cinderblock cabin and helped pour concrete in an effort to build a shuffle board, which was used for many years after! I learned to love classical music, because all that was up at that cabin was an old mono record player, with about 4-5 classical vinyl albums! I learned to "like" carrots, because once they left me alone there, and soon, all the good food was gone, but for the fresh carrots in the "re-frig" (as they called it) which i soon ate boiled and mounted with heaped onm melting butter! I learned to saddle horses; skeeter and snip, and take early morning rides up through the smith morehouse camp grounds. I loved it when my cousins would join me up there that summer. We would stay up all night, chatting by the fire in that ice cold cabin (even in the summer, it would get down to near freezing at night!) after having had Grandma play some show tunes from Broadway on her upright piano. Grandpa would sing, sometimes whistle along with her. It was a grand time! So this past weekend, many of those memories came flooding back as I saw and spent a little table time with my cousins; Julie/Geoff, Laurie/Kent, Dale/Chris, and David. My darling Aunt Glo, whose smile is ever warm and inviting is always wonderful to see and grab a hug from! Yes, the summer of 1969, so many times I would steal away to be with my cousin Julie, and hang out with her and her friends. She was on Highland High's pep club and while she would practice, I would take her car and roar around the sugarhouse area! Of course, I wasn't licensed! It was a nice weekend. Even better with my cousins "in the house" and being a part of my wild and crazy family!

Introducing Ferdinand E. Peterson

Meet my Grandpa. His name was/is Ferdinand Euray Peterson. I am dedicating this blog to his good name and to my best memories of him. I can sum him up in one word: Optimistic! He always had good ideas, good things to say, knew the dark underbelly of failure a time or two, yet, due to his hard working, persistent nature, and his eye toward optimism, he always saw GOOD NEWS everywhere he looked, in everything he did. He was the most amazing man, easily in my top ten of men I have known and admired. He was born on October 15, 1902. His parents were Jacob Peterson, who was a son of Canute Peterson, and Caroline Dorius Peterson. His blood coursed thick with his Mormon pioneer stock. A genetic background that met hardship, understood sacrifice, saw the vista of opportunity, but knew the cost of hard work that would get him to his goals and dreams. He married a Isabelle Meikle, a beautiful co-ed who was a student at the University of Utah. They married on June 12, 1929. Together they raised 3 beautiful, accomplished, smart, witty, happy, delightful daughters; Raquel (Dyer) Gloria (Bushnell) and Sheila (Lederer). I will weave more family history into this blog as time goes on. I named this blog "What would Ferd Say" for a reason. Given the economic climate, the moral decay in the world around us (and specifically in our American society/culture) and other things of daily challenge, I often hear in my mind, advice, that my Grandpa would render, which was always GOOD NEWS and OPTIMISTIC! I want to add a disclaimer here. It is this: My offering of "What Ferd would say..." is my perspective and memory of him. Others who may have known him; family members, or his friends who are still alive (which I doubt) may have their own variation of what my Grandpa might say about something. So I take a very liberal license in how "I" wish to both remember him, and what "I" think he would say about certain things. So, I begin this blog today, February 11, 2009 with the following: We are being blown away, all of us, in the worst economic crisis in the history of America, I think. Why do I think this is worse than the depression of the late 1920's early 1930's? Because back then, we saw soup lines, shuttered businesses, hobos lining the streets/hopping the rails, broken down cars trying to make it to California/out West to see if they could find work, etc., yet today, we have no clue where we stand. McDonald sales are up 7%! The cinemas are full! I joked last week that the definition of a recession is where you get socks for Christmas, but the definition of a depression is where you eat socks for Christmas! Yes, for me, I think its worse today, because many think this will pass soon, that the Government will take care of this crisis, the stimulus will right all the economic wrongs. So here's what Ferd would say: "You can't spend what you don't have. Profit is the only thing that matters, not credit, not dreams. When you sell something for more than it cost you, and more than you had to pay to get it sold, then you have profit, and you better pay yourself first, at least 10%, by saving it, stashing it away, and not spending it." Get the point? A stimulus package should only stimulate profits! Jobs don't come by creating "make work" they come from incenting the business community to grow, hire, cut taxes, take risk, buy equipment, etc. I like Obama. He's a great speaker. He's anxious to help alot of people. I think he is sincere. But he's never run a company. He's the product of a guy who reached (what in America heretofore) the impossible dream. GREAT! But he did it with a constiuency of those who have the biggest needs in America, not the ones who are the backbone of the Gross National Product builders. Ferd would say, "If you aren't putting in, you are taking out." This economy will only correct itself with people who are putting in! Ferd would say, "We have the stuff! People are good! Work hard!" He was right.