Bill Cosby was right

"There's always worse."
I'd love to be optimistic in today's economy but somehow I just can't find any light at the end of the tunnel. It's as if someone turned it off and we're just feeling our way in the dark wondering what we'll trip over next. In the back of one's mind is that nagging feeling that unlike the trapped miners in Chile there's no rescue crew with large drilling machine. And for some reason, maybe fate, like your shoe laces that break at the most inopportune time, things wear out. The crown you had just finished paying off falls out. The sink decides to start leaking and you find an electrical problem that requires an expensive part to fix. Maybe we could find a name for Mr. Worse. Can't think of a good one off hand at the moment.
Anecdotally I look around the neighborhood and see nine cars parked. Nine people that aren't going to work. A convenience store near me put up a sign the other week saying close out sale. They're gone now, empty in just 10 days. Then there's the oil change place that moved in about a month ago. I haven't seen more than one or two customers in there in any given day. The grease monkeys walk around talking to each other and smoking. Like a street musician with a tip jar one of the guys moved his car into the bay to make it look like they had customers. Maybe the owner was due to visit.
I don't know how it could get much worse but I know it will. I've called all the potential leads that I can think of with no luck. Always the same answer, thought we'd have work but it dried up. A neighbor wants me to help her move. I'll take cash for that job. She thinks she can rent her place for enough to get by. I hate to be the one to tell her that Mr. Worse is about to pay her a visit. Rents are going down here because there's so many empty places. People like her are doubling up to make ends meet only Mr. Worse has moved the ends.
Looking through the job ads I find yet more scams (Mr worse at his best). Slipped in to the RN and IT positions are work at home scams that have been out there for years although not in the want ads. It surprises me that the get rich quick real estate scams haven't gotten more attention but then again with home values still falling even the scammers can't fool anyone.