SDS Daily Briefing for Monday, October 17, 2011

My Mental Methadone For The Evening

I over consume two things. First, Diet Mountain Dew.  I drink WAY too much of it. 

And second, although not as problematic as Diet Mountain Dew, is online news.  News about politics, current events, and the financial markets, to be exact.

Over consuming news can really stress me out and make it difficult for me to sleep.  I'm not kidding.  I have stared at the ceiling many a night, trying to sleep, with the news of the day swirling in my head. 

Today was a prime example of what happens when I over consume news.  I started to feel fidgety and even a bit angry about what I was reading.  But then, Navy Mike posted this story on his Facebook page - an article from the New York Times, no less - which has really helped me to relax tonight.  And for that, I am quite grateful.


So, Let's Focus

There's a lot of news out there right now.  The issues in Europe, the ongoing malaise in our own economy, the threats of violence against "the 1%"  by some claiming to be part of the OWS movement, and the war drums over Iran can easily distract us.  But we need to stay focused on what's important.  And that would be....

• Fall is coming.  Get your home ready for cooler temperatures.  We'll be going to standard time soon, which in our house means we change batteries in the smoke detectors.  It also means Tox will soon have to re-qualify with the fire escape ladder from her bedroom.  The last time she did it, she had to extricate herself, from a starting position on her bed, to the ground in under 90 seconds.  This year, I may cut that down to 60 seconds.
• Where are you on food storage?  There's some chatter in the financial media as to whether commodity prices will fall, resulting in cheaper food.  Don't bet on it, in my opinion.  As I mentioned in the last blog entry, things like peanut butter are about to get more expensive.  And if the Fed announces some form of QE 3, watch for food prices to spike higher.
• Christmas is coming....start saving money to pay for it now.  January is miserable for so many Americans, in large part because they charge Christmas gifts to their credit cards...and those cards come due right after the holidays are over.  One way to fix that is to save up now to pay for Christmas in cash.