OPINION: Does COVID-19 Mark the Top of the Orlando Building Boom?

[Jvest55]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

Brio Italian’s holding company, headquartered in Orlando since  moving from Columbus in 2018 (they heard @HankStrong and @AndyPok1 had become wild party animals since leaving Ohio and wanted in on the action), has filed for bankruptcy in the wake of COVID-19. The company has about 100 locations including Mall at Millenia.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/coronavirus/jobs-economy/os-bz-coronavirus-brio-italian-bankruptcy-20200414-xxcqn577r5aidff24inyvu7axm-story.html

From the Sentinel 

That's too bad, they served great food. Hopefully they will emerge anew.

[Jerry95]

On 4/13/2020 at 8:51 AM, dcluley98 said:

Yes, we all know this. 

I was trying to negotiate based upon the fact that I know they are experiencing issues but they know people can't really "move" right now like they would normally be able to . 

I’m downsizing apartments at the moment. I counteroffered with my current complex and they would only accept my proposal for a different unit, not the one I was going after (of course!). Ended up countering for less and they accepted. Right now there are some great deals downtown if you’re moving soon. I just couldn’t bring myself to move into a new complex that I’d only seen over a Virtual Tour.

[Uncommon]

Check your back accounts. I got my stimulus payment!

[codypet]

7 hours ago, Uncommon said:

Check your back accounts. I got my stimulus payment!

I'm so stimulated.

[spenser1058]

32 minutes ago, codypet said:

I'm so stimulated.

Oh my!

[nite owℓ]

I kinda wanted the paper check instead. It's unprecedented for a President put his name on one and I would've liked to photograph the check for historical purposes since it will likely never happen again lol.

[spenser1058]

10 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

I kinda wanted the paper check instead. It's unprecedented for a President put his name on one and I would've liked to photograph the check for historical purposes since it will likely never happen again lol.

Given the number of folks using direct deposit these days (and if you didn’t before, you’d likely be motivated to sign up rather than wait ‘til September for a check), I like that it has less significance than ever before.

Also, the fact that it will likely delay the first batch of checks by a few days for absolutely no reason but one man’s ego does encapsulate this administration rather well, not to mention the latest optic that this is a man stuck in the 1950’s (note the project we’re all atwitter about this morning is going up on the site of a bank of... drive-in tellers).

Personally, I’m glad that Discover pinged me at 4am this morning and my phone lit up my bedroom with the news. A little light in a gloomy few weeks.

Edited April 15, 2020 by spenser1058

[Jvest55]

What do you plan to spend the stimulus check on? 

[spenser1058]

Just now, Jvest55 said:

What do you plan to spend the stimulus check on? 

For now, I bumped it over to savings until I know how long I’ll be laid off on my day job and until I find out how many political consulting gigs pop up (local politics is sort of in a holding pattern at the moment).

[Jvest55]

10 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

For now, I bumped it over to savings until I know how long I’ll be laid off on my day job and until I find out how many political consulting gigs pop up (local politics is sort of in a holding pattern at the moment).

Smart

[codypet]

4 hours ago, Jvest55 said:

What do you plan to spend the stimulus check on? 

Paying off our credit card debt.  Womp womp.

4 hours ago, nite owℓ said:

I kinda wanted the paper check instead. It's unprecedented for a President put his name on one and I would've liked to photograph the check for historical purposes since it will likely never happen again lol.

Won't be the last time

Edited April 15, 2020 by codypet

[spenser1058]

The tracking system for stimulus payments is now live at IRS.gov :

https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment

[nite owℓ]

2 hours ago, codypet said:

Paying off our credit card debt.  Womp womp.

Won't be the last time

Haha... Thank you for this!

The treasury checks are surprisingly colorful and kinda pretty, they're the closest thing we have to colored money (although I don't like how the contents of the envelope are VERY obvious to ne'erdowellers when you receive checks in the mail due to the clear window in the envelope the treasury ships them in). I wonder if the US will ever move away from paper greenbacks and transition to the colorful polymer notes that other countries have been using:

[spenser1058]

26 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

Haha... Thank you for this!

The treasury checks are surprisingly colorful and kinda pretty, they're the closest thing we have to colored money (although I don't like how the contents of the envelope are VERY obvious to ne'erdowellers when you receive checks in the mail due to the clear window in the envelope the treasury ships them in). I wonder if the US will ever move away from paper greenbacks and transition to the colorful polymer notes that other countries have been using:

The goal of Treasury is to get everyone on direct deposit as it’s  infinitely safer, especially for the elderly and infirm, not to mention more economical for the government. The best way to do that would be to allow the Post Office to offer low-cost accounts (which many developed countries do and the US once did).

However, as we saw this week, one party is hellbent on destroying the Post Office. Which is interesting for a couple of reasons; first, if you totally privatize it, the first to get hit hard will be red-state rural areas because service there is and has always been a money loser (oddly, that’s the very base of said party); second, when that party tells you they are originalists about the Constitution, remind them the Post Office is the one there, not FedEx, UPS or anyone else. 

Btw, just as the Post Office uses stamp collecting as a profit maker (it’s almost pure profit if you keep the stamp and don’t use it), they could do the same thing with vouchers and such in great colors and featuring American legends.

[elefants]

36 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

Haha... Thank you for this!

The treasury checks are surprisingly colorful and kinda pretty, they're the closest thing we have to colored money (although I don't like how the contents of the envelope are VERY obvious to ne'erdowellers when you receive checks in the mail due to the clear window in the envelope the treasury ships them in). I wonder if the US will ever move away from paper greenbacks and transition to the colorful polymer notes that other countries have been using:

I love these so much and they're infinitely better to deal with than our paper money.   We also need to get rid of $1 bills and pennies. 

[Jerry95]

2 minutes ago, elefants said:

I love these so much and they're infinitely better to deal with than our paper money.   We also need to get rid of $1 bills and pennies. 

Surely the $1 still has a place in 2020...

[elefants]

Just now, Jerry95 said:

Surely the $1 still has a place in 2020...

Coins do, bills dont.  But don't let me derail this thread.

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, elefants said:

Coins do, bills dont.  But don't let me derail this thread.

And, just as Rob Lowe pointed out years ago on West Wing, it’s time to ditch the penny! It’s a complete boondoggle profiting the resource mining companies and no one else. More pennies are hoarded in closets across America than are actually circulating at any given time because there’s almost no practical use any longer and hasn’t been for decades. Try finding a penny gum ball machine or “penny candy” today.

[elefants]

6 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

And, just as Rob Lowe pointed out years ago on West Wing, it’s time to ditch the penny! It’s a complete boondoggle profiting the resource mining companies and no one else. More pennies are hoarded in closets across America than are actually circulating at any given time because there’s almost no practical use any longer and hasn’t been for decades. Try finding a penny gum ball machine or “penny candy” today.

Gotta socialize those zinc profits.

[nite owℓ]

35 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

The goal of Treasury is to get everyone on direct deposit as it’s  infinitely safer, especially for the elderly and infirm, not to mention more economical for the government. The best way to do that would be to allow the Post Office to offer low-cost accounts (which many developed countries do and the US once did).

However, as we saw this week, one party is hellbent on destroying the Post Office. Which is interesting for a couple of reasons; first, if you totally privatize it, the first to get hit hard will be red-state rural areas because service there is and has always been a money loser (oddly, that’s the very base of said party); second, when that party tells you they are originalists about the Constitution, remind them the Post Office is the one there, not FedEx, UPS or anyone else. 

Btw, just as the Post Office uses stamp collecting as a profit maker (it’s almost pure profit if you keep the stamp and don’t use it), they could do the same thing with vouchers and such in great colors and featuring American legends.

You would think that in 2020 direct deposit would be available at all times, but alas it is not 100% the case:

I requested a direct deposit refund. Why are you mailing it to me as a paper check?
There are three possible reasons. They are as follows:

• We can only deposit refunds electronically into accounts in your own name, your spouse's name or in a joint account.
• A financial institution may reject a direct deposit.
• We can’t deposit more than three electronic refunds into a single financial account.

https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions

[spenser1058]

3 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

You would think that in 2020 direct deposit would be available at all times, but alas it is not 100% the case:

I requested a direct deposit refund. Why are you mailing it to me as a paper check?
There are three possible reasons. They are as follows:

• We can only deposit refunds electronically into accounts in your own name, your spouse's name or in a joint account.
• A financial institution may reject a direct deposit.
• We can’t deposit more than three electronic refunds into a single financial account.

https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions

That’s why we need a place, especially for the poor and others who are unbanked, to provide low-cost, no-frills accounts easily available like the Post Office, which is available in all those neighborhoods and rural hamlets across the country that traditional businesses have run away from.

[codypet]

I'm sure Amscot would LOVE to offer something like that.  

[spenser1058]

28 minutes ago, codypet said:

I'm sure Amscot would LOVE to offer something like that.  

I shudder to think at what price *eeek!*

[Jvest55]

Florida hit another benchmark when it comes to unemployment claims filed due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The state had more than 505,137 first-time claims for the week ending April 18, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. That's up from the previous week's revised total of 180,419. Claims made during that week broke the previous record for the state. Florida had a revised total of 228,484 claims for the week ending March 28, which originally was the record holder.

Florida had the largest increase of claims among any state.

The Sunshine State has struggled to make unemployment benefits available to people as it has had issues with its website and problems with the large volume of people who have filed for benefits. The state has paid just 108,216 people, or only 15.9% of the 679,197 confirmed unique claims submitted between March 15-April 21, according to the state Department of Economic Opportunity.

Orange County has seen 45,871 claims related to Covid-19, the third-highest number in the state.

Meanwhile, metro Orlando's unemployment rate rose to 4.2% for March 2020, up from 3.1% for the same month last year due to the impact of the coronavirus, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The rate came in below the U.S. unemployment rate of 4.5% and the Florida rate of 4.3% for March.

[spenser1058]

Keep in mind, most furloughed WDW cast members were still  “employed” through last Saturday and were in fact told not to apply through DEO until then (in fact, Disney downloaded all the info to the state at that point.

Since WDW is by far the region’s largest employer, that’s not going to hit the numbers until April or May.

Edited April 23, 2020 by spenser1058