Tourism is a minimum wage job.
A massive waterpark -- if it ever gets built, which I doubt -- would create a bunch of minimum wage jobs, give off the whiff of loosey goosey that we don't really need more of in this area.
We need a serious effort for serious jobs.
This blog entry is just a bit of holding people's feet to the fire for what they've said was going to happen; the bookstore in N.Y. that I thought was so overblown didn't open in Sept. like they said, in fact they have the entry about choosing their logo still up. (Choosing their logo as the most important thing to write about the month before 'opening' is exactly the wrong kind of focus. Not to mention, of the logos they actually showed, they picked the most boring.)
The other bookstore I wrote about, is still looking for his 2 million in financing -- talk about not being serious.
(I'm not mentioning their names, though you can find them in previous posts. I say I want to hold their feet to the fire -- but really, I don't want to hurt their feelings.)
The city is laying off more people -- going into the downtime. I mean, if we are already hurting and we have Oct., Nov. Jan. Feb. March. April. and May to look forward too, we've got problems. Same for any stores. I thinking we're skating on thin ice, and there may be some plunging and splashing about to happen, and no rope to throw them.
Here's where I contradict myself. Downtown is bustling, I must say, though the last week has been pretty slow. My business has stayed a bit stronger than I expected, and I've come to the conclusion that the population rise in Bend over the last decade is now coming along the create a solid enough ice sheet under my store to keep it viable. Then again, my store doesn't weigh much.
As if to warn of thin ice, the unemployment rate was a splash of cold water. Which is as it should be. We needed a splash about now...there was just too much thinking it was getting better and better. At the same time that my customers tell me -- there just aren't any jobs to be had. Again, that ain't going to get better in the off season.
I've always thought we had at least another year of depression era economy in Bend, and even at the end of next summer, the gains will be marginal. We may technically start to beat last year in sales, but I'm not sure I'd call that a 'recovery.'
A massive waterpark -- if it ever gets built, which I doubt -- would create a bunch of minimum wage jobs, give off the whiff of loosey goosey that we don't really need more of in this area.
We need a serious effort for serious jobs.
This blog entry is just a bit of holding people's feet to the fire for what they've said was going to happen; the bookstore in N.Y. that I thought was so overblown didn't open in Sept. like they said, in fact they have the entry about choosing their logo still up. (Choosing their logo as the most important thing to write about the month before 'opening' is exactly the wrong kind of focus. Not to mention, of the logos they actually showed, they picked the most boring.)
The other bookstore I wrote about, is still looking for his 2 million in financing -- talk about not being serious.
(I'm not mentioning their names, though you can find them in previous posts. I say I want to hold their feet to the fire -- but really, I don't want to hurt their feelings.)
The city is laying off more people -- going into the downtime. I mean, if we are already hurting and we have Oct., Nov. Jan. Feb. March. April. and May to look forward too, we've got problems. Same for any stores. I thinking we're skating on thin ice, and there may be some plunging and splashing about to happen, and no rope to throw them.
Here's where I contradict myself. Downtown is bustling, I must say, though the last week has been pretty slow. My business has stayed a bit stronger than I expected, and I've come to the conclusion that the population rise in Bend over the last decade is now coming along the create a solid enough ice sheet under my store to keep it viable. Then again, my store doesn't weigh much.
As if to warn of thin ice, the unemployment rate was a splash of cold water. Which is as it should be. We needed a splash about now...there was just too much thinking it was getting better and better. At the same time that my customers tell me -- there just aren't any jobs to be had. Again, that ain't going to get better in the off season.
I've always thought we had at least another year of depression era economy in Bend, and even at the end of next summer, the gains will be marginal. We may technically start to beat last year in sales, but I'm not sure I'd call that a 'recovery.'