Fall Colors & Financial Meltdowns

So yesterday I was watching the Today Show while I ate breakfast and they were showing a color coded map of the U.S. which showed where the best fall colors are. Our little strip of mountains along the Wasatch Front appeared from the map to be the best place in the country right now to see the colors. They were sure right. We did our first annual neigborhood fall canyon ride today and had twelve people and seven bikes. Not a bad start. The temperature was perfect and, even though I took a jacket, I never put it on. Scenery along the route from Trappers Loop and up to the Snowbasin Ski Area was spectacular. The bright reds, yellows, and oranges punctuated by groups of pine trees were well worth the time spent. If you didn't go with us, you should take the car and do it with your kids. You won't regret it.

Now, onto something thats been making me lose sleep for months. The crumbling of the financial markets has been affecting the lives of our family for months, both directly and indirectly. The company that I had been at for the previous two years was owned by 12 or so investors, who were primarily physicians, and most of whom had moved large chunks of their portfolios into real estate over the past few years. As we encountered problems overseas that killed our cash, and our revenues softened, the investors were unable to help us because of the disappearing value of their real estate based investments. I eventually found it necessary to leave after falling some three months behind on pay. While they've paid me about a third of that since my departure, I'm still owed a substantial amount of money. With the job market very difficult, we made the gamble to start our own company and fly solo. Our web site is close to being done, but in the mean time we've been trying to sell automotive performance packages on the side. The first few weeks went okay, this last week was a complete disaster. No one is buying anything, even at give-away prices. For the first time in a really long time I'm feeling awfully nervous. I need capital to move forward on some projects, but the prospect of borrowing anything right now seems impossible, despite our flawless credit. No matter how strong I've been in the past seems irrelevent and I feel like I'm being washed out to sea in the wave along with the rest of the country. I'm drowning. The thing is, I know I'm not alone. I've had several private conversations with others in the neighborhood whose businesses are very vulnerable right now, and I just hope that we all find a way to weather the storm that is blowing. This one is for real.