From the BullPen, Knakal & Crumply

Thank you, Robert Knakal of Knakal StreetWise and Charlie Crumpley of the LA Business Journal. You two speak truth. The Medias constant incessant whining about our bad economy needed a rebuttal. All we hear and see on the TV, the net, newspapers and on the radio is how the US is tanking, how horrible things have become, and oh my goodness -- they are going to get worse. What Knakal and Crumply point out is that we are nowhere close to the Great Depression. We currently have a National unemployment rate of 7.6% not 25% as it was in the Great Depression. We do not have mortgage rates of 18% like in the 1980’s. We are not at 11% inflation rate as we were in the 1970’s.

We acknowledge that people have lost jobs (check my blog post “Playground Layoffs”) but overall, a lot of Americans are working and they can pay their bills. We have faith that American ingenuity, hard work, courage and pure genius (we have some brilliant Americans!) will get us out of this down turn. So again, thank you Robert Knakal and Charlie Crumpley for speaking positively and stating FACTS. We do not need to see, hear or read about anymore “complete economic breakdowns”. Hey CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, etc. we challenge you to stop preaching fear and start reporting with hope and faith in the American people. How about trying in a headline, “The U.S. has over a 90% employment rate” or maybe that won’t sell? Aha…..


You can find Robert Knakal at http://www.knakalstreetwise.com and Charlie Crumpley at the Los Angeles Business Journal http://labj.com . His article was in the Feb. 23rd OC Journal issue on the back page – the Viewpoint section. In my opinion. it should have been on the front page. But I guess good news is not news.

Technology Appreciation

Yikes - yesterday my email inbox was corrupted, a few weeks ago we lost power, and a month ago I lost my cell phone. What a mess! Daily life can be very difficult when technology doesn’t work, gets lost, or has no power. The last few weeks my technology mishaps have made me change things up and learn a few lessons.

My corrupted inbox. How do you communicate with candidates, clients, friends, your kid’s teacher without email? I had the internet so, Facebook, helps with the friends. LinkedIn helps with the clients and candidates but the people in-between. The in-between people, the people who have sent me an email with a resume attached? I couldn't get to you. Lesson #1 – have patience with your IT guy and pick up the phone and talk to people they can always fax over a resume.

My lost cell phone. A few weeks ago I lost my cell phone and never found it. Within hours I was amazed at how much I actually use it and missed it – especially to text! Without my cell I lost a lot of my contacts. I had never put them into my computer. Ah – Lesson #2 back up your phone contacts, you just might need them. And now that I’ve lost my contacts in Outlook - back that up too.

The lights were out. A few weeks ago a Mylar balloon hit a power line and took out power in parts of Costa Mesa. I got home just as it was getting dark. We needed candles – lots of candles. We had a gas stove so we could cook but it was tough to see anything once it got dark – including the food we were eating. Trying to work from home that night was impossible because my battery on my old Dell computer only lasts for 30 min. and our cell phones – when there is no power to recharge your battery you conserve it. Lesson #3 – be better prepared for a emergency. We need more candles, a battery back up, water - the refrig filtered water doesn’t work when the power is out – and more fun easy to see games to play with the kids. When the last time you double checked your earthquake/emergency kit? Oh and Lesson #4 don’t buy Mylar balloons – they are bad for the environment and the electricity lines!

Now off I go to sort through all my emails. Yeah TAG’s IT guy!!! Thanks for fixing my computer. I truly appreciate when all my tech stuff works.