CHESSNOID

I heard that crazy news that we are still having over a thousand dry lightning caused wild fires up in Northern California.  Worse than the fires we had here a while back.  They are courageous doing what they do and I will say a prayer for their safety.

Not sure if that affected my internet connection or not, but it was down for 1/2 a day.  I hope all those firefighters stay safe.  When you don’t know what to do and get anxious to check your email, I guess you are addicted.  I am definitely addicted to the internet like I am to coffee.

I really like the new template for my blog. Thank you Mrs CHESSNOID for all your help and expertise.  I couldn’t and wouldn’t have done it without you.

Last night they had a decent show HDNET Strikeforce mma event.  I can’t say any of the fights were great, except the women’s fight.  They always put on a good show.  The main event with Melendez and Thomson went 5 rounds but wasn’t too exciting.  I really was expecting more from Melendez who seemed to gas out.  Thomson seemed to really be pumped up and extremely confident from beginning to end. Congrats to him.

On the tennis front, both Venus and Serena Williams have made it to the 4th round.  They seem to be getting back into the rhythm of winning consistently.  Good to have a couple of high caliber Americans representing.  Federer is still in it.  Lately, he has been struggling. I like him because he is a great player but still humble.  There is a great match on Monday with him against Lleyton Hewitt the 2002 winner.

The marquee men’s match Monday will be five-time defending champion Federer against 2002 winner Lleyton Hewitt.

The stock market really took a beating this month.  I don’t think the economy will be getting better any soon.  Fundamentally and now technically, the stock markets will be trending downwards.  With crude oil now breaking the $140 mark and building a new base, it will be hard to see gas at the pump going down to reasonable prices anytime soon.

There is a new wave of mortgage default talks on the horizon.  Check out Dr HB’s site to learn more.  Regardless, the foreclosure inventory will be shooting up which will continue to bring the prices back closer to levels not seen in many years.  There will be many more great deals to be had, but qualifying for a loan will be extremely difficult.  Credit has become super tight and lenders are just not lending like they used to.  Seems like they are just very hesitant to take any type of risk at all even if it means not loaning money out.  Interest rates are still very low, just loans aren’t as accessible the way they should be. I am convinced there are more bank writeoffs waiting to be announced next quarter.

The TV networks are now covering the economy everyday on the news:  record foreclosures, higher gas costs, company layoffs, airlines closing, and increasing crimes related to the bad economy.  Obviously, our current administration has no answers since they don’t want to acknowledge the realities of our economy.  As far as Obama and McCain, I still don’t think they have any real solutions either.  Which means regardless of who is elected, the economy will continue to sink.  Even if Clinton is the VP for Obama, I am not convinced they will make an effective team.  McCain seems hopeless and admits economics is not his thing.  I did and still do like Ron Paul who seemed to have good answers and a plan to fix this Bush 2nd unofficial recession we are in.  This severe recession is actually becoming more worrisome.  I originally dismissed blogs discussing the ideas of a depression, but now I can see the economy going in that direction.