I was coming home this afternoon and feeling a little bit crazy.  It started out when I was in a school earlier and had to go to the bathroom.  This was a public school and a public bathroom but it was primarily used by kids.  Young guys to be exact.  And the first thing that I noticed was that there was no door on the stall.

And I was reminded of a story Tim Allen told about being in jail and having to use the toilet.  It was sitting there in the middle of the room and I can imagine how humiliating it was to use it in those circumstances.

But this situation is different.  Or, at least, it should be different.  And then there was the sign that said “Please don’t forget to wash your hands”  and it explained about germs.  But when you try to turn on the water it won’t stay on unless you hold the knob.  And there is no plug for the sink.  I tried several times but couldn’t actually wash my hands because the water just went down the drain.

What kind of messages are we sending here?  I don’t know.  I’m just asking.

So I was driving home and it’s only about a twenty minute drive.  I described it one time in another post called. . .

THEY ARE DRIVING ME MAD

And then I was home.  Nobody is here right now.  It’s very quiet and I have the opportunity to sit and think or write.  And I am very grateful for the fact that I live in a smaller city in a conservative area where I can get around without dealing with major mayhem traffic-wise.

Because if I lived in NYC I would just go nuts in a short space of time.  I don’t know how they do it up there.  The sensory overload would burn out my circuits.  I would end up being a mascot for Circuit City perhaps.

It’s bad enough here sometimes.  But I am so glad I left Boston in the seventies and ventured down here.  We had the marathon this past weekend and it was advertised as the “friendliest” marathon in the US.  Aside from a marathon worker telling a guy on a bicycle he was a  jerk for riding in the race area I saw no unfriendliness while we were downtown.

Zachary told me once again this past weekend how happy he is going to VCU.  We were standing on the Lee Bridge as I took photos of the marathon race leaders.  The weather was pleasant and we could see the James River stretching for miles on either side of the bridge.   The historic Hollywood Cemetery basked in sunlight up on a hill to the right.  And he told me about some of his adventures on the river.  The VCU campus is not an isolated affair.  It’s part of the city and it’s affordable too.  Next year he plans to spend a couple of semesters in Spain as part of a coop program.

When it was announced that Senator Obama would be the next president thousands of VCU students headed for Broad Street to celebrate.  The police shut down traffic just as they did for the marathon and everyone headed for the State Capitol.  He won’t forget that anytime soon.

And I won’t forget many experiences that I have had in this fine old city.   It’s a place where you can raise a family and enjoy the arts and entertainment.  It has history and it has a future.

The mountains, the ocean and Washington DC are just a couple of hours away.

It’s a nice place to call home.

I had been all agog this past week at the tremendous numbers being tossed around by the media as the government tries to spend its way out of the current economic  mess.  Deep in my reptilian brain is a fear of runaway inflation that goes back to the seventies when such a thing appeared to be nearly upon us.

But then came the eighties and since then bond markets have reacted violently to any sign of an inflationary spurt.  We have had periods that were similar to those in the fifties and not the seventies when I was just a small boy and had no idea inflation was anything more than the result when you blow up a balloon at a birthday party.

And today I realized what the markets are trying to tell me and anyone who will listen.   Gold and silver are down because the markets are not going to allow inflation to have its way.  The government can print money like crazy but it’s just not going to result in too much money chasing too few goods.   The bond market and interest rates will fall on the printing presses like a load of bricks just as they have been doing for the past twenty five or so years.

The government’s actions are not going to work it seems to me.   In fact they will have the opposite result.   Printing and printing more money will lead to higher and higher interest rates as lenders refuse to be cheated out of their profit.   And many of these lenders are not Americans don’t forget.

This is why gold and silver are down.  The media tries to say it is because “all” commodity prices are heading south.   But it’s more than that.   It’s the markets practicing a discipline that the government lacks.

What was I thinking? Oh well.  It’s time for the final debate.  I have resisted watching these things but might as well tune in for this one.  Judging by the few visitors around here at this moment a lot of other folks are going to be watching as well.  It could be an important event.  I pray these candidates will have something meaningful to say.  Forget the posturing and the politics.  What are your plans!  And don’t plan on surprising us with your plans the day after the election.

We won’t like it.  And, more importantly, the markets won’t like it.

Here we go.  Nothing new from our two candidates.  Get ready for an amazing display on the financial markets as we slide into an old fashioned, butt kicking depression.   It’s a scary thing for sure.  Oct 16th.   5am.

“Overnight U.S. stock markets slid across the board, with the S&P 500 index dropping 9 percent after a report showed U.S. retail sales dropped the most in more than three years.”

“The Nikkei share average plunged 11.4 percent, the largest single-day decline since the 1987 stock market crash.”

“Even the most deft investors have been flipped by the ferocity of selling and risk reduction in markets. Citadel Investment Group, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, said September was the single worst month in the history of the company and warned of more volatility in weeks to come.”

It’s a financial firestorm.

US confronts possibility of long, deep recession

NEW YORK – The U.S. has not endured a deep and prolonged recession in more than a quarter century — enough time for many Americans to forget what one feels like.

But unlike the last two relatively short recessions, this one could be much longer and more severe, potentially bringing with it anxiety and job losses not seen in many years.

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I’m going to continue to write about things that matter here at Virginia Breeze.  There can be encouraging signs even in moments of terror if we only step back and recognize we are children of God and He will take care of us even if we do not know the way.

David