Your Happy Place: 5 Soothing Herbal Teas

Stress-reducing ideas for recessionary times.

Got a case of nerves? Butterflies in your stomach? This economy is making us all feel like nervous Nellies from time to time. Here are five soothing herbal teas that will leave you feeling calm and centered. Herbal teas are an inexpesive remedy for the nerves, but the act of preparing them and sipping them slowly is, in itself, a soothing activity.

Lavender:
My all time favorite. Once, I visited a lavender farm once in Maui, and the ensuing bliss stayed with me for weeks. Lavender tea is known for calming the nerves and promoting sleep. It’s also reputed to have anti-depressant properties. Infuse a handful of dried lavender flower in a pot of boiling water to make tea…

Recession Salvation Through Duct Tape

The downturn has made many of us question our priorities, become more interested in spirituality, and even seek out new religions. It’s certainly true for me. I was raised a nonbeliever, and before the recession, I lived a misguided life. Even in the wake of September 11, I resisted the call.

But now all that has changed. It took losing my job, but I have let duct tape into my heart. Duct tape, it turns out, can be a miraculous cost-saver and time-saver, and in the recession, we could all use both…

Redux: You Drive Me Crazy

Lynn Parramore looks back on the Great Depression to see the path ahead.

“God made the American restive. The American in turn and in due time got into the automobile and found it good.” –James Agee

The fascination with cars is as American as apple pie. Ever since Henry Ford’s Model T rolled off the assembly line and cars became accessible to the masses, we were hooked. By the mid-1920s, many working-class families could afford a car. By 1930, almost one in three Americans was the proud owner of an automobile.

Amid the ravages of the Recession, we’ve been hearing a lot about Chrysler, General Motors, and Ford. As the Big Three teeter on the edge of destruction, some folks are feeling waves of nostalgia, fondly remember having a Chevvy in the garage or their first time behind the wheel of a sleek Mustang.

Thinking of these cars gives us a twinge of regret.

But what about the Duesenberg, the Auburn, and the Cord?…

Taking a Hike, and Other Cheap Dates

Every week or so, this space throws out a fun relationship suggestion that’s easy on the wallet. This time around, it’s exercise.

First of all, exercise is a virtual panacea. Per research that I have no way of substantiating, sedentary lifestyles cause more deaths than smoking. A little exercise (say, sweating 3 times per week for 20-30 minutes per session) can have immediate results. Old wisdom says you feel the results (in terms of increased energy, decreased lethargy) in weeks and see results (if you’re looking at my gut, I’m working on it) in a month.

“How does this make dating more awesome?” Good question, Aguado. Many therapists…

Top Ten Jobs for Grads

The quest for employment isn’t hopeless for the class of 2009! There are promising jobs out there, if you know where to look.

Commencement for 2009 graduates is quickly approaching. The search for entry-level employment is never easy for recent grads, and today’s economy is no help. It seems like a fair share of students, myself included, fear graduation day like the rest of the country fears layoffs. According to the Job Outlook 2009 survey of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers plan to hire 22 percent fewer grads from the class of 2009 than they had from the class of 2008. Don’t panic! There are a number of jobs that look promising for 2009 grads. Here’s a list of ten (in no particular order), based on statistics from NACE and the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

1. Accountant and auditor
Straight forward and self explanatory. Accounting majors are on a direct path to this always-in demand career.

2. Database administrator
Careers in information systems management are on the rise as database systems are becoming an integral part of all business…

Love in the Time of Layoff: Cheap Date

Twice, my friend Susan (I have changed some names and identifiers) found herself covering for a date who was short on cash. On the first date. At the end of one of them, there was even a humiliating walk to an ATM machine, where he handed her precisely his half and thanked her for a nice evening. Susan was mortified.

I would be too, and obviously so should those guys. Being cheap (or disorganized) is not unusual in the annals of dating, but it seems like some people are using the recession as cover for skimping out…

Recession Concessions: Lost the Business, Keeping the Cleaners

Ryan M. Salinetti, 33
Suffolk County, N.Y.

Keeping: Cleaners
I’ve kept my cleaning people because I love them and I don’t want to see them suffer the way I have.

Letting Go: Employees, childcare, extras
I have a graphic design business [Breakwater Design Studio] that works with locals and local businesses. They did not just go into hibernation for the off-season—I drive down Main Street and see For Rent signs in the windows. There was a wine merchant who was doing excellent; I worked with him for six months on a website project and now he’s gone. Landscapers—their clients were V.P.s for Lehman Bros., and they were the first to get chopped. I do their graphics and marketing, so I got chopped next. It happened in three weeks. I had to lay people off. I gave up the idea that I could have a business, I moved everything home. It was horrible…

Unsung Heroes – Recession Moms

Today we’d like to offer a big thank you to our moms, without whom we would not running a website, or even tying our shoes, frankly. We know how hard you work, how deeply you care, and how much the future depends on you.

In his new book Elsewhere, U.S.A., social scientist Dalton Conley explains the challenges of today’s multitasking moms, who play an increasingly important role in the economic life of families: “Blending work and home responsibilities is no easy feat, especially in a 24/7 service economy that allows many of us to work from home at all hours.”

Redux: Your Psychic Friends

Lynn Parramore looks back at the Great Depression to see the path ahead.

What’s in the crystal ball? Minds freaked out by the economy want to know.

So much so that folks are willing to shell out their scant cash on psychics during an economic downturn. The business of telling fortunes is thriving, with psychics reporting visits from a new class of customer – high powered business types and well-heeled Wall Streeters. Some clients fork over a hundred bucks for the privilege of staring at a pile of crystals. Seems kinda silly – until you consider the bad predictions they’ve likely heard from their financial advisors.

Shows like “The Medium,” or “Ghost Whisperer” have sparked a renewed interest in psychics in recent years, but the downturn has revved up a full-blown revival…

Recession Lexicon: Recessed

/adj. “Recessed” describes a relatively mild condition of discontent, ennui or disillusion triggered by job loss, portfolio plundering, or home value decline.

Not as serious as the experience of being depressed, feeling recessed can still suck pretty badly, and often requires bailouts in the form of small monetary floaters…