As I was reading Thomas Friedman's column today (NYT) I was remembering working at Sears in Macon, Ga. when I was in college at Mercer. The manager would have a "pep rally" with the employees every Saturday morning, cheering us on to higher and higher sales. The goal for each week was to be ten percent higher than the same week a year ago. I always wondered how that upward growth line could be sustained. Could it go on forever? What would happen if we sold less than we did a year ago? Was there some kind of correction that would zap us and make us start over again?
Friedman suggests that this is what happened in 2008. That our consumption of unnecessary "things", the building of more and more stores in which to sell these "things" (a salad thrower?), the sameness of the malls and strip malls that caused one to wonder where he was if he woke up slightly hung over, that all this came to a screeching halt in 2008. In a sense, the economy has reset us to zero, a new start in a new economy that is necessity-based rather than desire-based. This is a chance to learn how to care for natural resources so that those resources are sustained rather than wasted. This is a chance to downsize. To downsize the "stuff" we possess and is crowding us out of our homes. To downsize the the monstrous houses we build on quarter acre lots to sell to overpaid managers and athletes.

For the past six months I have held to the principle that if I do not absolutely need something I will not buy it. The problem, though, is how easily our "wants" become our "needs". One must be ever on guard.

The downsizing we need seems not to have had an impact on one aspect of our society, and that is entertainment, especially entertainment from professional sports. There seems to me to be something fundamentally wrong in our culture when a football player can get a hundred million dollars to play football for seven years. I wonder how such salaries in professional sports can be sustained and whether or not that market is in for a downsizing too. I hope so.

Oh well, time to eat a homemade muffin with my homemade coffee and not go to Starbucks, which I really need to do.

Getting Started

This is my first blog. I am motivated to write about my planning for a trip to the UK in August. I am reviewing currency exchange, Brit Rail, busses, hiking, and golfing. I intend to concentrate on photography, especially while hiking on the north coast of Ireland. In preparation for the trip I am buying one needed item a month. So far I have bought hiking boots, which I am breaking in by wearing them everywhere except in bed. My purchase for March will be a camera backpack. I am looking at them and trying to decide which one I need (any suggestions?) In April I plan to buy a small computer such as the acer to store my photos on each night. A friend in Ireland told me I might experience all four seasons in a two hour period and that I should be prepared, clothes-wise, for any such sudden changes. A rain suit will be my purchase in May.

If anyone has suggestions for such a journey I would like to hear them.

I will keep you up to date on my preparations.