Argh! Pardon my rant...

T

traca

Well-known member
Okay, I've been mostly unemployed for 2 years. Freelancing gigs here and there have kept me afloat but definitely on the border of broke. And I mean broke. (Unemployment is one thing, the depression that follows? Holy cow! Some days I was lucky to get out of bed. I was broke AND broken.)

Anyway...I know several people who are in the same boat and we toss around ideas about how to stretch a bag of beans and get more out of a chicken carcass. But seriously? I must have a different definition of broke because today, I get this e-mail from a woman who has been lamenting the same. "Let's hook up when I get back in April."

Me: "Where you going?"

"I leave on Wednesday for Nepal. I'm hiking to basecamp on Mt. Everest."

Uh...Clearly we have a different definition of 'broke'.

 
Hey, Traca, don't dispair.

Maybe she is going as a bag-bearer! Some folks just can't feel better unless they bring somebody down, you know?

 
Rant received and completely understood.

While this statement won't buy a chicken, please know that you have contributed SO MUCH to my culinary education. You are generous with ideas, research, and humor, while being articulate and artistic. Your dinner event descriptions make me feel as if I were there personally. Honestly, once I felt as if I could smell the pork roasting.

Yesterday, I shared your interview comments with Alice Medrich with a coworker here. It was so well-written and informative.

I know it's not the same as having money in the bank, but thank you for sharing you with us.

 
I understand completely. My wife is in the building industry -done. I'm in sales -down... way down

...yet our circle of friends include some of the wealthiest families in the country.

They're "broke" because they can't get to Teluride for President's Day weekend to ski. Oh, the tragedy.

But to them, it's a real hardship. Really.

Michael

 
Third! Hand waving!! Thank you and here's hoping things turn around

for everyone. I'm not sure where this improving economy is! In NJ, construction unemployment is 90% Right there with you with hubby in that biz, Michael. smileys/frown.gif

 
Fourth! Traca, you're just about the most positive person I know, but even you

must have your moments. It's your turn to let the rest of us cheer you up.

 
Encouragement.

Traca, we are always able to do one simple thing in our family: count our blessings.

I can count a few of yours. You are a bright, entrepreneurial, articulate, vital, friendly, engaging individual. You contribute useful, valuable and knowledge-laden posts to this forum, and I know you have a circle of influence that far exceeds your awareness of it.

If you, or each one of us for that matter, knew how precious we are and to WHOM we are a treasure, we would never have a single moment of self-doubt.

This foolishness we are experiencing is only temporary. We will come out of this, and be in a better state of mind for the experience once we do emerge from these trials.

I am not visiting anyone I love in a hospital. My issues are solely financial, and I am thankful for that. I will overcome, and so will you.

Peace,

Michael

 
It's hard not to be depressed in the middle of a depression. Geez, we used to own two stores.

Now Jacques works part time in someone else's and I manage community gardens part time. We're fighting to keep our house.

One of our garden board members came up with a fun fundraising idea--a bus tour of organic wineries in Santa Barbara with a box lunch and wine tasting. "The bus holds 30. The cost per person would be about $75, and if we charge $150 per person, we'll make $1,500!"

What a great idea--for 1999. I questioned whether we could really find 30 takers at that price in this economy. She caught the hesitation in my voice and said, "Oh, you and Jacques would come at cost!"

Yeah, right. Like we can afford to spend $75 each on a box lunch and undiscovered wine.

She's a wonderful generous person who was trying to think outside the box, but it's moments like these when you realize what a gap there is in perception.

 
Hang in there, Traca.

We are in the same boat financially. You have so many connections in the food community. You have a year-around Farmer's Market available to you. I encourage you to take advantage of that opportunity. Money is tight everywhere, but people love food and have to eat.
There are some start up costs, but you can start out slow. Go to your market and look around at what is being sold. As far as permits, surely with all the people you know, someone would be willing to let you use theirs. Ask others if they have an extra canopy that you can borrow or rent for a day. Talk to the market manager about filling in for an absent vendor. It gets your foot in the door. You are an amazing cook and you will find a niche for yourself. I enjoy the market so much. It's a lot of work, but it is so rewarding. I know that you have a place in one. If you want some more information, email me.

 
It's all relative, no? Some folks have no clue that broke means scrounging 4 food & rent/mortgage $

 
Sometimes it can be pretty frustrating...

when we decided to go for this sabbatical research at UCLA, we knew it was going to be hard to get funds for it. We saved money for a year, took a deep breath and went for it.

got bad news last week, my grant proposal was not funded, and my husband got a very small amount of money, not enough to even cover the expenses of our rent in LA.

As wigs mentioned, it's all relative - I am lucky to be able to do this, even if it means stretching our limits and getting money out of our retirement funds. But, it is hard not to feel nauseated particularly living in the middle of Hollywood, and listening to Charlie Sheen say that he will demand 3 million bucks per episode instead of 1.5 he already made (and trashed).

I hope all goes well for you, Traca, and your situation will improve quickly - in the meantime, don't let other person's approach to life interfere with yours.

 
I had to laugh at the following comment comparing the $625 cookbook to the cost of eating out.

Is Modernist Cuisine worth $625? David Kinch, chef at the acclaimed restaurant Manresa in Los Gatos, Calif., and a serious collector of cookbooks, worked on the book. To him, the price isn't so much, really. "In the grand scheme of things, two people spend $600 for a meal in fine restaurants on a regular basis."

 
Well said, It's been an interesting journey for me...

I thought losing our business would be something I would never let happen. It happened anyway, and we survived. I thought bankruptcy was for careless irresponsible people--I've been humbled. We can't use a credit card or borrow against our house for a while, and we've found that part to be actually liberating--we survive quite well on less. No gardener and hardly ever eating out means we can afford a cleaning lady twice a month--our one indulgence.

I sure miss traveling, though. Still, so many people in the world would consider me rich.

 
Rant away. Some months the food stamps do not make it through

the month for everyone. Obviously that lady going to Nepal has no idea what it is like to be really broke.

 
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