So what happens now?

It seems that every day's headlines are just chock full of crisis: the Dow and the S & P are dropping because investors are worried about the crisis, and the foreign exchanges and the global markets are on a roller coaster ride; unemployment; the interest rates; number of foreclosures; the MTA; GM, FORD & Chrysler; Monthly and quarterly profit reports; executive salaries and bonus’s and golden parachutes; and on and on with more and more Doom and Gloom. The naysayers are saying that this is just the beginning and that the hard times haven’t even begun yet.

And maybe they are right.

Happy Thanksgiving.

And then there are the blamers, finger pointers, fault finders, name callers, and of course the media. They are really going to have a field day once the Congressional hearings; Attorney General Investigations; and Indictments begin. More important to find someone to blame than to find a solution.

The economic crisis-- the chaos and turmoil -- has affected each and every one of us. Some of us are having trouble paying our mortgages...or have stopped paying our mortgages. Some of us can’t pay our credit cards; and, to add insult to injury, the banks have cut our credit limits that we worked so hard to get even though we are current and never late, (and they have raised the interest rate to boot!). (And we are going to bail out American Express). A friend of mine who owns a restaurant told me that the pharmaceutical reps have lost their expense accounts, so the free lunches for doctors have ended at the hospitals, and his restaurant has lost 10% of its business from this alone.

But today is my birthday; and notwithstanding the headlines, I am having a really great day, and so I decided that I want to share with you my thoughts on: What happens now?

First and foremost:

Life will go on!

People are still going to get married and divorced.

New people are going to be born, and old people (and some not old enough) are going to die.

The Yankees and the Mets are going to bring us baseball from new stadiums next season.

The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.

Some of us will lose our jobs, and our homes, our businesses will lose some customers. Some of our tenants and clients and customers won't be able to pay their bills.

All of us will adapt and do what we have to do.

And Life will go on.

We are all in this together, and I am here for every one of you.

And Lasher’s List is going to be the glue to help hold it all together.

I hereby launch, Lasher’s List, on this my 58th birthday (I know you were all dying to know), as a place that you can count on to get a periodic fix, at no charge, of truth, entertainment, fun...and useful and useless information.

I’ll tell you about me.

You are going to be educated, and entertained by my vast knowledge, investigative skills and extensive research on all sorts of issues affecting Staten Island. I am going to find out what is really going on with some of the places that we drive by every day and some of the so-called "big deals" we’ve heard about. I’ll tell you about recent sales and what things rent for and what things cost to fix.

I have created a blog at Google where I will post this today. It contains all of the emails that I have already sent (not the listings showing properties). With this blog I shall be able to answer your questions; and, if I don't know the answer, I promise to find the answer! Just click on the blog's address below, and you'll get there! (In a future email I will describe the trials and tribulations of sending out multiple emails at one time, and why you probably didn’t get this email today. I will share this information with you as I discover it, and together we will all become more blog savvy)

http://lasherslist.blogspot.com/

But anyway, we and our world have entered into hard times. Many of you may remember the early 90’s, some of you may remember the late 70’s, and maybe a few of you the 30’s. But, together, we are going to witness and participate in this round, and I am going to point out the opportunities that arise, and how to take advantage of them, and how and why not to brood and cry.

Some people see problems in opportunities, and some people see opportunities in problems*. The general theme and tone of this “blog” will be to find the opportunities within the problems, and to have a good time doing it.

So welcome aboard, and remember, if you know anyone who would like to be receiving these, please send me their email address, so they can be added to Lasher's List.

……………………to be continued

*I saw this the other day, it grabbed my attention, but I can’t remember where I saw it and to whom to give credit. When I find out who said it, I will post it on my Blog