I'm worried about the economy. And I'm pissed off that I bought a house right before the start of the recession. Here are three things I got fucked on:

1. No $8,000 tax credit for me!
2. My house is now worth about 15% less than what we paid for it.
3. Mortgage rates are at an all time low, and it's next to impossible to refinance due to #2.

Obama has his "Make Housing Affordable" plan which should, in theory, help a person like me refinance, but I've called my mortgage servicer- Countrywide, which is being absorbed by Bank of America, which will in turn negatively affect me somehow, I'm sure- and they keep telling me that their call volume is too high, they have way too many requests, and they'll most likely call me back. I don't trust them to call me back, and that's why I keep calling them. Conversations go like this:

Me: Hi, it's Jackie again, and I was wondering if I should still be considering my current mortgage situation as "fucked."

Rep: Let me take a look at your statement... Seems you're paying on time each month, therefore you are not a priority. We'll call you in six weeks.

Me: Fine, I'll call back tomorrow.

I really hate the fact that paying my mortgage on time each month means that Countrywide doesn't care to help me. If I weren't such a financially responsible individual, I would cease all payments immediately until I qualified for one of those programs that meant I got to keep my home and also have a portion of my current mortgage balance forgiven. Once again, the solidly middle class gets screwed. Once again, doing things the right way gets you nothing but a swift kick in the teeth.

It's not just my current mortgage problem, though- it's the fact that stores and restaurants are going out of business left and right, that I know a whole bunch of people who have lost their jobs, and that the field of my choice- banking- is suddenly a heck of a lot less stable than it used to be. And our list of past due and delinquent loans has doubled, tripled.

Of course, I'm lucky to currently have a job at all. The nice thing is that my husband works for a prominent, upscale chain of liquor stores, and they're doing phenomenal. Sales are through the roof! They're opening new locations and growing like wildflowers, drunken, wine soaked wineflowers. So, as long as he keeps doing his job well, it's safe to say that he'll be just fine, employment wise.

Because people drink when the economy's in the tank. Also, according to one of my customers who makes engraved dies for the cookie and cracker industry, cookie consumption always goes up when times are tough. I know those two things are holding true for me. Wine, cookies, and for some reason I've been on a big fruit-and-nut granola bar kick. I've been eating, like, two a day. But that has nothing to do with the recession, I'm just trying to get more fiber in my diet.