The giant North American metal fabricating event known as “FABTECH International and AWS Welding Show introducing MetalForm with special guests the National Association of Manufacturers and the Blue Man Group” wrapped up its first foray to Las Vegas, Oct. 6-8. Attendees skipped the gambling and shows for a bit to take in the exhibits in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

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Chicago’s crime rate decreased by 3.8 percent in 2007, according to an article in the January 25 issue of the Chicago Tribune.

I may know why.

After a pleasant day watching my beloved CUBs (yes they are still beloved, despite their inability to break The Curse) at Wrigley Field recently, my wallet was stolen as I coffeed. I had made a purchase, sat down with my purse slung on the chair back, and when I got up to leave, the wallet was gone. Within that two hours, $7,500 was charged on two credit cards. Additional attempts were made but blocked. Last sightings, the cards were hanging out at a gas station in California.

When I tried to report the crime at the “Wrigleyville” precinct, the desk cop refused to record the wallet disappearance as a theft. “Did you see someone steal it?” he asked repeatedly with his head cocked and eyebrows raised. Despite my denials, he insisted that I lost my wallet and wrote up a Lost Report.

I guess that’s one way to keep a city’s crime rate down. If you can’t report a crime, it didn’t happen, right?

Blame it on the Media

The media has been faulted for Americans’ growing dissatisfaction with the economy, the automotive and housing industry downturns, and for their desire for change—especially as it relates to the upcoming election. Several email groups have circulated angry letters, likening dissatisfied Americans to spoiled children. “I blame the media!” one writer concluded.

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The credit for this headline goes to my publisher, Ed Youdell, who suggested it when I told him about my brief attempt at welding at the 2008 FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show with Metalform that ended Oct. 8.

Ed also deserves some of the credit for my attempt. As I explained in an earlier post, Ed welded at last year's show. I had the opportunity and chose not to. The fact that he did and I didn't has bothered me all year to the point that I vowed to track down Sue Bartholmew from ESAB at this year's show and see if the opportunity still existed. It did.

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As the Dow did its dance on a cliff’s edge yesterday, the FABTECH International® & AWS Welding Show kicked off with gusto yesterday here in Las Vegas, and the credit crunch seemed refreshingly far away. Why?

It’s because Jim Waters has visited Chinese cities with populations of more than 5 million—with no airport. “You know what I was thinking?”

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I had a meeting in the near northwest suburbs of Chicago earlier this week. To get there, I literally had to go over the hills—that’s the suburb of Lake in the Hills to be exact—and through the woods—also known as the Cook County Forest Preserve.

Of course, that was a 25-minute detour because my original route was cut off by a major fire. I had intended on taking Illinois Highway 14 to my destination, but the highway was closed off in both directions, preventing any access to the bridge that crosses the not-so-mighty Fox River. Emergency officials aren’t in chatty moods during these types of crises, so I was left to my own deductive skills.

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Last night, continuing our long-standing tradition of "date night," my husband and I went to our favorite local restaurant, Alpha Soda. A fixture in our community, Alpha Soda—which was established in 1920 and is said to be the oldest standing business in its city—draws crowds. Not so last night. The normally packed parking lot was almost empty, as was the restaurant. The wait at the hostess station was a nanosecond, as was the wait for service. Why?

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With all the dire news stories of the past few days, it’s nice to know something went right last weekend. Although it wasn’t on Page 1, the story got coverage, and it was quite significant.

The first private company, without government backing, successfully launched a rocket into orbit. On Sunday, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX for short) engineers successfully launched Falcon 1 into orbit from the Marshall Islands’ Kwajalein Atoll in the Central Pacific.

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“$500-a-barrel oil? Believe it…"

Boy, that caught my attention as I looked at the Sept. 29 cover of Fortune. Watching gas prices recede slightly in the Chicago area even after U.S. demand has pulled way back, I know that there is nowhere to go but up for oil prices. The future of crude for the masses is cruddy.

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Yesterday, I met a co-worker for lunch. You're thinking ho-hum, big deal. Actually it was a big deal for me, because my employer and almost all of my co-workers are located 624 miles from me. However, two of us telecommute long distances from our homes, which just happen to be in the same general geographic area.

Our lunch was postponed several times because of teleconferences with our on-site co-workers. It almost was postponed yet again because of a crisis the likes of which I personally haven't experienced since 1973. Although this crisis pales next to the financial sector's woes, it's a big issue in certain areas of the country.

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News of how the American government could take up to $700 billion of bad debt out of the hands of the private sector had the weight of something historic. The move will add as never before to our already mounting national debt. It will reshape the financial landscape, not only of the U.S. but of the entire world.

For me, that last part took a bit to sink in. Who knows whether the strategy will work in the long run, but one thing’s for sure: We’re all in this together. Parties and counterparties of these complex financial transactions span the globe.

This certainly is apparent with our closest trading partner just north of us.

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