Recession Babies

My dad was a Depression Baby. While I was born on the tail-end of the Baby Boom, Dad was born in 1930 – right at the start of the Great Depression. People who were kids in the 30s developed a certain perspective on spending and wastefulness. My parents carried those perspectives with them their whole lives. A lot of the clues to my parent's upbringing could be found in small gestures, like re-using paper towels, saving corks, and huge jars of nuts and bolts. There was another thing too... my parents were reluctant to spend money to fix non-essential features that broke on things. Like the channel knob on the TV set, or the antenna on the radio. If the back hatch on my dad's minivan wouldn’t stay up; Dad would have never dreamed of taking the car to the dealer and paying to have it fixed. Dad would have gone out to his work shed, found a length of 2x4, cut it to length, and tossed it in the back of the car so it would be there when he needed it. That’s the type of thinking that I think we need to get back to.

This weekend I replaced a set of struts in the car. Both my family and my neighbors expressed more than a little surprise that I would attempt my own automotive maintenance, particularly on something as seemingly (to them) as difficult as that. For the most part, many of my friends and associates come from a culture that sees nothing wasteful in paying someone to change a set of wiper blades or pump their gas. I’m all for supporting the local economy through spending money, but I need to save money as well. The decision to build/fix vs. buy/hire was probably much easier for me since I’m among the recently laid off. But I would argue that everyone should start considering taking steps like this... now. If you’re unemployed and living off your savings, you need to save your cash wherever you can. If you’re working, you might want to think about spending a weekend or evening saving some cash and adding it to your emergency fund. Plus you might be learning a skill that could help you save more if you find yourself out of work. I'm going to track the $ money I save on the car repairs and report back...

Meanwhile, I think I'll go out to Dad's shed and find those old black and white TVs with the vise-grip knob turners and take them to the e-waste center

The Wigwam

The cop who pulled me over in Holbrook gave me directions to the Wigwam Motel. It seems that I’d past the turn off. I also took some shots of the deserted Sun n’ Sand across from the wigwam.

Holbrook

I pulled into Holbrook just to see and photograph the Wigwam Motel. Just inside town, I saw this gas station and pulled over. What caught my eye are these pillars that seem to be painted to look like they were moved here from the nearby petrified forest. There was a man inside the fence who saw me stopping to take pictures of this abandoned gas station. I felt a bit like I was intruding since he kept looking my way with this angry scowl. As much as I wanted to go chat with him and find out the history of the place, I didn't get the sense that I was too welcome. I would love to hear the history of this place, and find pictures of the station at it's heyday. Since there's no signage it's hard to research from afar. Here's hoping to get some help from the web.

I'm getting the sense that there are some people on the road that feel they're being treated like animals in a zoo. Here I am, looking like a tourist with out of state plates, taking pictures of what looks like a failed business. So, I guess I can understand that.
Too much rubber-necking I guess because I was pulled over by a cop and warned… at least no budget-busting ticket for me. Hey, that might just be a first!

I should have thought to get the cop's picture.

Save Jobs, fire Kudlow

Once again old Larry Kudlow is eager to sacrifice jobs for bond holders, even if it means everyone loses. Isn't it odd how Kudlow never complains when average people lose money on dumb investments and scam artists, but he can't stand to see the little guy get a break. Now he's screaming about the bond holders of GM getting a worse deal than the unions. Hey Larry, why don't you and your rich friends go build cars instead of sit around and complaining if the auto workers have it so good? Oh, maybe you don't want to soil those expensive pinstripes....

Winslow

I didn’t see the standing on the corner park. I drove through town, saw a sign that directed me straight ahead, but I never saw it. I did see a sign that said ‘100% American Owned and Operated”.

What does that mean? There I am driving down Route 66 and I’ll come across a beat up motel with a sign that says ‘100% American Owned’. I don’t get it. Are there that many people who don’t want to stay at a motel if it’s owned by a foreigner that this makes good business sense? Is this just pure racism?

I would propose to the innkeeper that instead of competing with the ‘un-American’ hotel, why not join up and compete against the corporate chains that represent the real threat? ‘100% independent’ is a better way to get my business.

I didn’t take any pictures in Winslow.

Whiting Bros. Motel on Route 66

Grants, NM

I took some pictures of the Whiting Bros gas station outside of Grants. From the weed-filled parking lot you can see Interstate 40 pass by to the south. I’ve been thinking a lot about things that aren’t here anymore. What ever happened to Whiting Bros? For that matter, whatever happened to Stucky’s?