cutbacks

So, 6 months have passed since I hatched the grandiose scheme of investing my money and having the dream of someday driving a V10-powered auto.   And unless you've been living under a rock (which I sort of was for a while, but even I've managed to notice), you know now that the financial and investment world has seriously gone down the drain and, almost to add insult to injury, the price of gas has shot up to $4 and even $5 a gallon for a while, making both investment in stocks and the purchase of any kind of gas-guzzler appear to be very foolish ideas.  But who would have known?  I'm sure there's someone out there that could say "I told you so", but I'm no genius and surely did not see this coming.  Needless to say, I haven't made it big and bought my retirement mansion in the Bahamas yet.  Nor am I driving a Bugatti Veyron or even a humble V10-equipped M5.  Instead I'm lamenting the demise of my WaMu shares and dusting off my trusty 4-cylinder powered MR2 to try and save some scratch at the pump.

And while I'm not necessarily packing my things and moving into a cardboard box just yet, surely this is a great time to be rich.  With all the economy in a tizzy and gas prices shooting up it's crazy but you can find some really sweet deals on some automotive hardware.  It's all about supply and demand, and right now it's a buyer's market like nobody's seen in quite a while.  If you're in the market for a Mercedes S-Class or a Ford F-150 truck, it's on like Donkey Kong.  For everybody else, though I think we're going to be finding ways to cut some of the excess fat from our monthly bills.  All of sudden my $95/month cable bill has moved from simply silly to outrageously ridiculous.  I think I can do without 200+ channels that I don't really have the time to watch anyways.

Last night I was having dinner with J.T. and we tried out a new restaurant, San Mateo Prime.  Which, as you might surmise, is in San Mateo. The prime rib there was decent and certainly enjoyable but not quite up to the standard of House of Prime Rib up in San Francisco. I'd say that in terms of ranking, HOPR > Broadway Prime > San Mateo Prime. But it was pretty sobering to see that even at prime time dinner hour on a Friday night, the restaurant's tables weren't full. The waiter commented that business has been slow and they were even lowering the prices of wine offerings in an attempt to drum up more business. Food for thought indeed.