Recession or No Recession, People Have Money for What They Want!

Tomorrow night at 8 PM Eastern Time on January 8th, some 75,192 people will be crowding into Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida to watch the college Bowl Championship Series game between the University of Florida Gators and the Oklahoma State University Sooners. And they’ll be paying from $550 to $2,500 PER TICKET for the privilege of spending about 3 hours in very uncomfortable seats. As you can see from the photo below, the cheap $550 seats in the corner upper deck require binoculars to see the on-field action. Oh, and if you want a 14-person suite in the dark section dividing the upper and lower decks, be prepared to shell out $67,500 (at least this price includes 3 parking tickets, folding kitchen chairs and a $1,500 food and beverage allowance). What a steal!!!

Um, no thanks . . . I’ll be watching from the best seat in the house: MY HOUSE. And I’ll get a better view of the action on my big screen TV than those 75,000 people in the stands.





The point is, in spite of all the hype about a bad economy and tough times, people do have money to spend for what they want. And not just a handful of people. And this is only one entertainment venue.
Last night, January 6th, songster Billy Joel was at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Ticket prices: $99.50, $325 and $550 per person. And they were sold out! He will be reappearing at this venue on January 16 & 18th with a final appearance on February 2nd. Rod Stewart is appearing on January 28th and 30th and tickets for this event are $97.50, $197.50 and $500 …. WOW, what a bargain, huh! Believe it oar not, all these performances are already SOLD OUT!


Boca Raton South Florida Collector Car Auction, January 1 - 4, 2009

Reproduced from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

- There was Elvis Presley's Cadillac Eldorado. And the Ferrari Convertible Don Johnson drove as Sonny Crocket in Miami Vice.But it was cars such a 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe Woody or a 1925 Derby Boattail Roadster - one of three cars ever made - that had car collectors and visitors mesmerized.It was all part of an auction hosted by Lifestyle Auctions and KruseÖ International Saturday at the Royal Palm Polo Club Grounds to raise money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation."People see cars here they might never see in a lifetime," said organizer Marv Friedman.

There were also one-of-a-kind custom made cars such as Sam Mascia's 1951 forest green Mercury with a Corvette engine, air conditioning, power brakes and drop-down DVD player. It was the featured car at the South Florida Fair last year. Mascia, who built the car at his body shop in Port St. Lucie, was hoping to fetch $95,000 for it."This is strictly the product of my own imagination," said Mascia. "It drives just like a Lincoln Town Car." The event, which began Thursday and runs through Sunday Sunday (1/4/09), auctioned nearly 500 cars in the first three days, Friedman said.Elvis's car sold for $115,000, but a 1932 Auburn Boattail Speedster topped the King's car by selling for $550,000. But for car builders such as Mascia, or just classic car fans such as his friend Brady Stephens, car auctions like Saturday's are about admiring the four-wheeled toys."Where else do you find this many exotic cars in one place?" said Stephens, who belongs to the Treasure Coast Classic Chevy Club. "There are too many cars here to have a favorite."

And they say there’s a recession?????

More to Think About

In an article in today’s Sun-Sentinel, a report from the Institute for Supply Management stated that the services sector index “defies expectations, rises sharply.” It said, “Tuesday the service center index rose to 40.6 in December from 37.3 in November. Wall Street economists expected the index to slip slightly to 37.”

And what sector are we in? The service sector, of course. Mind you, I don’t need economists to tell me how well our specific segment of the service sector is doing. I hear from you folks all the time.

One of the things which prompted me to get into the residential cleaning business some 18 years ago was a report which said, “consumers would be willing to give up 14% of their income for more free time.” Unquestionably, hiring your services doesn’t cost them 14% of their income, but it does provide them with an average of 4 hours per week more personal time – about the equivalent of five 40-hour work weeks every single year! No wonder our industry is doing well now – and will continue to outperform most other industries in any economy.