Edit: I've just re-read this and its a bit or a driveling mess but I'm going to leave it since it took me a while to get my jumbled thoughts into something that was at least coherent to me for a moment.
I started a post a few days ago on the current climate of the health of the global economy that I never finished. Many things contributed to me not finishing said post, mainly because I was so sick and tired of having to deal with issues at work arising from the chaos in the markets, and then watching it on TV at work, reading about it on the streaming tickers on my computer screens, seeing it in oversized fonts on the front of magazines, newspapers, and then when I got home it was on the news and on the radio. It was overwhelming to say the least. However, as the problem has been best described as a 'financial holocaust', central banks in the affected developed nations realised that throwing variable amounts of money at affected institutions as they popped up in a piecemeal approach was not going to shore up the economy. This coupled with the media whipping it further into a frenzy and driving ill informed investors into making rash decisions was almost turning the whole debacle into a self-fulfilling prophecy: stock prices go down, sell stocks to recoup loss, hold on to cash and don't invest = no liquidity in markets to drive economy. Rinse and repeat.
Anyway, the point is that over the weekend the Euro nations after seeing Iceland become what was almost certainly the first national casualty of said holocaust had to pull together and act in unity, not only for the sake of individual interests but also that of the shared currency. The UK stepped in with a tentative plan to take holdings in the banks, a bold move that should it work out, the initial investment made with taxpayers money could translate into tax breaks and cuts in the future once the banks start their recovery process and manage to pay out some semblance of a reasonable dividend to the shareholders, which ultimately the government would be a major player. This would also most certainly save Brown and Darling from an election defeat, but this would mean that the Brits will have to put up with another period of time with some dreadfully uncharismatic leaders. This plan followed a somewhat synchronised approach from Germany and France, even though only a few days previously the French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde had insisted that the French banks did not require any capital injection which was a defiant remark and brought to mind the Delacroix painting of Liberty leading the people. So, with the governments having to think through a proper approach and tackling the problem with a longer term solution in mind, the stock markets have rallied and for now I can take a breather.
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In other news, OH insisted an embargo on all news over the weekend. That was a good move that pretty much allowed me to purge all the stress from my system. However, we started to discuss Christmas dinner and what we'd prepare, and that caused a bit of stress. The thing is, OH and I will occassionally have a bit of an altercation over silly things like the laundry or the rubbish, and its looking that Christmas dinner preparation will be added to the list. Mainly because I'm such a control freak in the kitchen, and that while OH is happy to let me have free rein in the culinary department, he also likes to have his two centimes worth when it comes to the menu. More often than not I disagree with his suggestions and tastes, mainly because I've already planned most of it in my head and dammit, any diversion from what's in my head is going to throw my military execution off course and I'd get flustered and we'd end up screaming at each other in front of his parents and that would not be a good thing to do. Oh no.
So, we've managed to agree a truce and meet somewhere in the middle. And he's going to be my sous chef again this year. We're learning to choreograph our moves in the kitchen and I'm learning to turn a blind eye to the manner in which OH is accustomed to doing things, otherwise I feel myself becoming a bit of a kitchen dictator. Or worse still, turning into an oriental version of a craggy faced Gordon *ç%&ing Ramsay.
