Kenmore Undressed

Mr. Freeze, The Financial Curmedgeon - Why Did I Come Back to the United States?

I, Mr. Freeze was on vacation in August.  Mr. Freeze was visiting a very famous Eurpoean country (whose name shall remain anonymous to protect the innocent) where the people spend a lot of time eating really good food and drinking coffee; where the cities have places for people to hang out without being run down by cars; where they have Art. He didn’t even need a car to get around because, good golly, they actually have trains, light rail, trams, subways and buses (transportation that the public uses!).   

Mr. Freeze needed a break from real estate. My wife (Mrs. Freeze is one tough gal) put me on a “MEDIA FAST.” She knows Mr. Freeze is a media junky. Mr. Freeze is usually very grumpy about things because he spends a lot of time thinking about all the problems in the U.S. “You will not listen to the news……..especially news in English!” THE RESULT: Mr. Freeze was in a happy place for five weeks.

But then…………………………………………………………….MR. FREEZE CAME BACK HOME and Mr. Freeze was shocked: Hurricane Ike was having his way with Texas; our financial institutions continue to go bankrupt; Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a hang-over; the local and national real estate markets have fallen flat on their (collective) face; the national election continues to drag on and on; and the most difficult thing for Mr. Freeze to deal with is the fact that one cannot escape from the media in this country. It’s part of the fabric of American Life and it sucks. Blah, blah, blah……..The final straw was news of Lehman Brothers declaring bankruptcy. Is it any wonder that Americans don’t trust their institutions?

Mr. Freeze is taking a deep breath right now and is heading home to cook a nice dinner for Mrs. Freeze. He learned a thing or two about cooking pasta in that Eurpoean country! Yummy!