My Portion Of The Bailout

I found a link to this Bailout Calculator. Dividing the total $ spent on bailouts by the number of americans, and then multiplying by the number of people in my family (9), our portion of the bailout is $248,391!

I hope it's not true!

I started driving pizza almost 5 years ago and we thought it would be a short-term part-time job. At this point I'll have to drive forever.

Deliver pizzas, wife tells laid-off hubby

That is the title of this CNN story. It's an interesting story, but the husband should realize himself that he needs to bring in some income. The wife should also try finding a way for herself to bring in some income. (edit - shame on me, the article says she does, killing bugs!)

But there's no shame in pizza delivery. It says the guy was depressed, but at $10/hour, if he worked full time he would bring in about $40k / year, not really that far off from his $55k previous job. (edit - shame on me again, $10/hr is more like $20k/yr)

Blogging Again Tonight, Working Again Friday

I finally got around to posting a couple interesting pizza and restaurant related articles tonight, I hope you take the time to read them.

I haven't blogged for a while because I haven't worked for a while. While I was suspended for not using the car-topper, I got out of the habit of updating my availability so I ended up missing an extra week. I went in on Wednesday night and put in my schedule requests for the next 3 months so hopefully I will be driving a couple nights per week.

There was a note on the current schedule saying that some hours had been cut due to low sales (bad economy).

Even worse on Wednesday, the phones were out of order. At 7PM there had only been 9 deliveries all day long, all internet-orders. I'm glad I wasn't working THAT night!

How Restaurants (and Diners) Are Reacting to the Struggling Economy

By Charlie Byrne

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

"If you really want to be sure of that 7:30 p.m. table, ask for it with a French, Spanish, or Italian accent. It will brand you as a potentially bigger spender, the kind helping restaurants outlast a weak dollar and a wobbly Dow."

This advice comes from Frank Bruni of The New York Times, reporting on how restaurants are reacting to the recession.

One noticeable trend: Americans are spending less (tap water instead of bottled water, dining at bars and counters vs. formal settings, no high-end steak and lobster), while splurging foreigners rush to take advantage of favorable exchange rates.

Result? All things being equal, restaurateurs would rather seat a table of Europeans than locals. "I mean, they're just spending. It's Monopoly money to them," said one NYC general manager.

Other notable changes:

• Dinner rush used to occur around 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. But outside the U.S., it's is a later-evening event, so now the peak is moving to 8:30 or 9:00 p.m.
• Less expensive ingredients lower the cost of food. For instance, using regular crabmeat instead of jumbo lump. Shiitake instead of morel mushrooms. More starches to fill out the plate.
• Menus are featuring more single-digit appetizers and "small plates."

And restaurateurs are offering more mid-range than high-end wines. "All of our wine directors are starting to play this game more aggressively," said Paul Bolles-Beaven of the Danny Meyer group. "People are spending less on wine right now, and they're not spending to impress."

Unless, that is, they're European, adds Bruni.

Another One Bites The Dust

Another local restaurant is closing. This time it is T.G.I. Friday's. This is disappointing, both because it is another sign that the crummy economy is not improving, but also because my wife and I liked to eat there.