Comments on: Ex-Pats struggling with Credit Crunch http://www.downthelane.net/extras/2009/01/05/ex-pats-struggling-with-credit-crunch/ A supplement to downthelane.net, alook at life good and bad Thu, 17 May 2012 07:18:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: jamie http://www.downthelane.net/extras/2009/01/05/ex-pats-struggling-with-credit-crunch/#comment-27335 jamie Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:57:24 +0000 http://www.downthelane.net/extras/?p=379#comment-27335 I agree with you that life is full of chances. Ultimately however, our power to exert free will in those circumstances, in an attempt to control our own future (selfishness), is disturbed by one thing: other people's agendas that are different from your own (conflict). Compounding this conflict is the tragi-comic barrage of seemingly random and almost definitely insignificant events. At least we hope for the wisdom to differentiate the difference between the things that we can and can not change. Right? The wisdom to know the difference. That is as far as I understand human nature. As it relates to gardening, if you end up in a place where you have access to water and sunlight, you are in a particular circumstance. You are in the position to garden. I rent a small home in a residential neighborhood in southern Saint Georg's, Grenada, a place where sunshine is always in abundant supply. Beaches, warm oceans and bikinis might complement the sunshine nicely but make no mistake, Grenada is still a part of the developing world and will be hit hard by the market's adjustments. It seems to me that many people move abroad to enjoy a slower pace of life, no? My wife and I have a small yard with mature apple, banana, mango, cherry, orange and cashew trees. Since I moved in I have been very anxious to get a good vegetable garden started. The soil is very rich but the seedlings I plant must compete with voracious jungle plants. Chickens roam the streets freely but our attempt to domesticate one recently ended in tragedy when our dogs decided the young chicken was getting to comfortable. I have been working the earth in small plots around the yard and have planted the eleven different vegetables we are most likely to eat. I am new to this website having set a goal for myself of attaining a 50% reduction in food cost by next year. I guess my point is this: If you are unfortunate enough to be an ex-pat (from any country) feeling stuck or nervous, look around and ask yourself, this: do I have access to water, sunshine and a place to stick a couple of old five-gallon buckets? Maybe a little parch of land for raised beds? Boxes built beneath windowsills? If so, don't wait! The fact that you are reading this now means that you are on the forefront of the impending storm and have a good chance of weathering it with a smile. The real decision you are faced with now is this: are you going to be a leader, an innovator and a friend to those who haven’t opened their eyes or are you going to wait until the sky is dark and the winds of change are already upon you to go out and buy your first rake and hoe? Just remember to apply sunscreen regularly and drink plenty of fluids. Out of curiosity, are there any other Caribbean folks who are following this site? jamie I agree with you that life is full of chances. Ultimately however, our power to exert free will in those circumstances, in an attempt to control our own future (selfishness), is disturbed by one thing: other people’s agendas that are different from your own (conflict). Compounding this conflict is the tragi-comic barrage of seemingly random and almost definitely insignificant events. At least we hope for the wisdom to differentiate the difference between the things that we can and can not change. Right? The wisdom to know the difference.

That is as far as I understand human nature.

As it relates to gardening, if you end up in a place where you have access to water and sunlight, you are in a particular circumstance. You are in the position to garden. I rent a small home in a residential neighborhood in southern Saint Georg’s, Grenada, a place where sunshine is always in abundant supply. Beaches, warm oceans and bikinis might complement the sunshine nicely but make no mistake, Grenada is still a part of the developing world and will be hit hard by the market’s adjustments. It seems to me that many people move abroad to enjoy a slower pace of life, no?

My wife and I have a small yard with mature apple, banana, mango, cherry, orange and cashew trees. Since I moved in I have been very anxious to get a good vegetable garden started. The soil is very rich but the seedlings I plant must compete with voracious jungle plants. Chickens roam the streets freely but our attempt to domesticate one recently ended in tragedy when our dogs decided the young chicken was getting to comfortable. I have been working the earth in small plots around the yard and have planted the eleven different vegetables we are most likely to eat.

I am new to this website having set a goal for myself of attaining a 50% reduction in food cost by next year.

I guess my point is this: If you are unfortunate enough to be an ex-pat (from any country) feeling stuck or nervous, look around and ask yourself, this: do I have access to water, sunshine and a place to stick a couple of old five-gallon buckets? Maybe a little parch of land for raised beds? Boxes built beneath windowsills?

If so, don’t wait!

The fact that you are reading this now means that you are on the forefront of the impending storm and have a good chance of weathering it with a smile. The real decision you are faced with now is this: are you going to be a leader, an innovator and a friend to those who haven’t opened their eyes or are you going to wait until the sky is dark and the winds of change are already upon you to go out and buy your first rake and hoe?

Just remember to apply sunscreen regularly and drink plenty of fluids.

Out of curiosity, are there any other Caribbean folks who are following this site?

jamie

]]> By: Jane http://www.downthelane.net/extras/2009/01/05/ex-pats-struggling-with-credit-crunch/#comment-26471 Jane Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:23:23 +0000 http://www.downthelane.net/extras/?p=379#comment-26471 I feel for pensioners who now find that a pension which would have converted to 100 Euros now brings only 65 Euros, after all their bills haven't gone down to match their reduced income so it must be very worrying for them. Nevertheless as you say they chose to move to France or Spain because of the much warmer weather and much lower cost of living and many expats have had the financial benefit of a decade or more of easy living during which they could have saved against a rainy day. Even if they had only saved their winter heating allowance (which many certainly didn't need) then they would have had a little cushion. Now, like virtually everyone else wherever they live, they are finding themselves in economically straightened circumstances but you will notice that whinge as they do, they don't go so far as to return home in order to experience the British cost of living! I feel for pensioners who now find that a pension which would have converted to 100 Euros now brings only 65 Euros, after all their bills haven’t gone down to match their reduced income so it must be very worrying for them. Nevertheless as you say they chose to move to France or Spain because of the much warmer weather and much lower cost of living and many expats have had the financial benefit of a decade or more of easy living during which they could have saved against a rainy day. Even if they had only saved their winter heating allowance (which many certainly didn’t need) then they would have had a little cushion. Now, like virtually everyone else wherever they live, they are finding themselves in economically straightened circumstances but you will notice that whinge as they do, they don’t go so far as to return home in order to experience the British cost of living!

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