In the early days of the internet, I remarked to someone that the whole concept of a World Wide Web was amazing and I thought the world would never be the same once the internet was more developed. “I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration,” he replied. “It’ll take more than that to change the world!” I wonder if he still thinks the world never changed because of the internet.

The world is about change

Now I am predicting that the world will never be the same after this recession. The world is always changing but the small changes are plastic and things return to where they were. But when there is major change, things never go back to where they were and we get used to living on some parallel course.

For instance, take Payday Loans, a concept that surely grew out of a need caused by a change in the times. From now on there will always be Payday Loans. That’s change.

A world without Pontiac will be different

Here’s another major change coming as a result of the recession. Remember the Pontiac, the once flagship of General Motors, the car known for its stylish sedans and sleek roadsters? Well they are about to be moved from the streets to the auto museums where our offspring can gape at them and say, “how could you drive around in a boat, Dad?” The Pontiac is one of the latest victims of General Motors’ struggle for survival.

Collateral damage

On Monday GM announced its plans for its 76th annual overhaul and service. This one will put 21,000 people out of work and bring about the death of Pontiac by the end of 2010.

“Pontiac”

The name Pontiac came from an American Indian warrior who led an unsuccessful uprising against the British after the French-Indian War in the mid-18th century. The first Pontiac hit the streets in 1926 and became a best seller within a year. The car was a hit for its styling, engineering and performance.

The Pontiac was an early gas guzzler in the days when gas was cheap; it had great legroom and appealed to a particular group of car lovers. It came from a great stable; remember its mates, Bonneville, Trans Am, Firebird, LeMans, Grand Am and Grand Prix?

Some of these models made auto history and are well-remembered, like the mid-sized GTO muscle car which was a champion street-drag and stock car racer back in the 60s and 70s with its powerful engine.

The other famous phase-outs

Another famous GM phase-out was the late Oldsmobile, the oldest surviving American automobile brand, and one of the oldest in the world, after Daimler and Peugeot. Gone, but not forgotten.

More phase-outs on the way

The demise of the Pontiac is not the only visible change that will result from this recession. GM is already looking to sell or phase out the Saab, Saturn and Hummer brands by the end of 2009. The Hummer is young in years compared to the Pontiac but it too, will bring change for many enthusiastic fans.

As for the Saab, the name is an acronym for “Swedish Aeroplane Limited” and the company was founded in 1937 in Sweden. The company was formed to manufacture airplanes, but sought to diversify and began manufacturing automobiles in the late 1940s. Their cars were great.

Our world is changing alright!

A Payday loan could help in this situation by providing a little breathing space where man could sit back, take stock of his situation and look for a new direction. Life is not a straight line.

Man doesn’t want to become extinct

Man is flexible and he has to be in order to survive. Take a look at man over the past zillions of years and you will see that he changed in order to survive. Nothing that happened wiped him out as it did to the dinosaurs or the other extinct monster animals that once roamed the planet. Their motto was “we stay as we are. We are big and strong enough to survive anything.” Big mistake. They all disappeared.

Because man knows how to change

Man was more modest. He simply changed with the times. And he will keep changing. Greenhouse gases will reduce the oxygen in the air? Man’s lungs will grow smaller and he will require less oxygen. Water quality will deteriorate? Man’s kidneys will develop a better filter system. This is the ‘Evolution of Man.’

What happens when a business finds itself in a corner?

Making changes to survive

If it’s a flexible business, it will change and adapt to the times. Take Dominos Pizza. They are feeling the pinch. People are thinking twice before lifting the phone and calling for a family size with all the trimmings. So Dominos has decided to take advantage of these tough times. They have added new products to their menu as tighter household budgets help boost the fast food industry. Domino’s new menu includes new pizzas, desserts, dips and it will be adding a pasta dish to its menu.

Putting Payday Loans on the menu

The Dominos strategy is rather like adding Payday Loans to the menu. If you have no cash or credit card, we’ll be flexible. We’ll take your Payday Loan.

Tough times in the restaurant business

My office is in the middle of a Hi-Tech science based campus even though I’m a low-tech worker. I am surrounded by restaurants. On the rare occasion that I decide to lunch out instead of sandwich in, it was always a problem to decide at which restaurant to eat. This happened yesterday. I went down the street and began walking, looking for the food that I just had to have. One after another, the restaurants were closed up.

I ended up at Dominos Pizza at the end of the block and told the manager how I came to eat at his establishment. He listened to my story without batting an eyelid. “People are leaving restaurants and cafes. Things are changing. Dominos is going to meet these changes with changes and improvement in our products.”

The story of mankind

There are going to be many changes taking place and very soon too, as the man in the street hits tough times and then the ordinary small family businesses hit brick walls. The flexible among us will make the change, will learn to eat less, dress less and drive less. We will simply adjust our lives to the new financial environment, no matter what level it may be at.

The inflexible, the hard-headed and those who cannot handle any form of change will disappear like those ancient dinosaurs that were too thick-skinned to survive a climate change.

Is it time for you to make a financial change to keep yourself from extinction?  Maybe it’s time for you to take out a Payday Loan, sit back and decide which path you are taking.

Barack Obama

I’ll keep this Payday Loan, thanks. I’ll put it to good use. I hope President Obama can make good use out of his change too. He offered change, he promised change and now he’s got change wherever he turns. Just take a look around and see what’s changing and most of it is not for the better. The world is rapidly becoming harsher, more complicated and more dangerous than any time in the past.

The political changes

In the presidential race, Joseph Biden, in a speech to supporters, said, “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama. We’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. They may emanate from the Middle East. They may emanate from the subcontinent. They may emanate from Russia’s newly emboldened position.”

Testing change

Biden was wrong. It hasn’t taken six months. America’s enemies began testing Obama within weeks. They’re lining up, each one ready to take the first swing at the new guy in the White House: Russia, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, to name a few. Obama is going to have to be the toughest guy of all to deal with these threats. These countries are all bent on wresting global leadership away from the US and putting it in the hands of others.

The terrorist changes

We’ve got terrorists in our lives and one of these days they are going to strike to test the mettle of the new man. Be ready, Mr. President. And be brutal with these guys. They have different rules in the horrific games they play.

And then there are the economic changes.

As if international politics aren’t enough to keep the new President busy, there’s a small matter of economic collapse spinning the world into a frenzy. Obama’s trillion dollar bail-out must be taking huge gobs of any thinking time he has left after the political wars.

My personal change

My personal demands are simple – I’ll settle for a Payday loan and leave all the heavy decisions to the Presidential level for thought and action.

A change in the weather

There’s some funny stuff going on with the weather, Mr. President. It’s called Global Warming and it is the reason that weather patterns are changing. Watch out for the next hurricane season, it may just be a humdinger that will make Katrina, Andrew and Wilma look like kindergarten outings. This is a good time to set up good warning systems and defense measures. It’s probably a good idea to get the Hurricane Diversion Research guys working faster.

A change in health

We need a change in the health-care system, as well. There are too many horror stories going around about job loss, meaning loss of health insurance, meaning no health care. I can’t quite put my finger on this one, but there’s something basically wrong. And why does everything cost so much when it comes to health care? It’s becoming impossible.

All change

It’s all-change time. We’re all on this train together and you are the new driver that we picked up at the last stop. Keep your foot flat on the gas, Mr. President, and don’t forget my Payday Loan in the rush.

Plan B includes a Payday Loan. My Plan A was my apartment in the center of the city close to the art gallery and concert hall and across from the park. I could clearly imagine my walks in the park, chatting up the ladies, sitting on a bench in the sunshine with a fat cigar and a newspaper. Then it was coffee and cream at that little French coffee shop with the butter croissants and the flirty waitresses. Wow, I had a life of boredom all planned out.

The economy affects all of us

There is a change in the economic situation. Things slide and it affects me as well as so many others. I was, let’s say, pretty well-off to start with and now I am a little less well-off. I feel it’s time for me to cut back a little and move to a lesser lifestyle.

Time to switch to Plan B

Plan B is really just as comfortable, but much more modest. The income from the investments I had made through my 50 year working life has dropped from $200 to $80 thousand a year. I admit that’s still plenty to live, but less than I was used to. I pat myself on the back for the wisdom and good foresight I had all these years.

So I forego one or two pleasures and more or less carry on the same path. The days are long. I take a nap after lunch. I play bridge with friends and I spend a lot of time in the art gallery and in the park. The economic situation continues to drift.

Man’s creativity in changing times

I begin to hear about all sorts of new things and new ideas which have evolved to help those in these times of need. I hear about something called a Payday Loan, a short term loan available against the security of one’s salary and it makes good sense. I marvel at man’s creativity and flexibility in changing times.

Uh-Oh

One morning I awake to gray skies, thunder and bad news. Overnight everything has gone belly up. My bank has collapsed into the mud and the French waitresses disappeared in the direction of the first ship back to Paris. My Plan A is now a misty memory and I can no longer make out the details. I think I’m still sitting on a bench in the park, but there is no cigar, the newspaper is keeping me warm and my fancy clothes are all tattered. Yeah, and I need a shave real bad. Croissant? What’s that?

In search of Plan C

I have no experience with any plans beyond B and I am struggling to find a Plan C that will see me through these troubled times. There is also one major drawback – I am 75 year old. I went to two job interviews last week, both of which never took place because the interviewer couldn’t speak after he took one look at me. I decided not to try that again and I bought a computer and lugged it home. I am always reading about these ‘work at home’ programs.

It took me 2 hours and 10 calls to the computer shop to get the thing switched on. I am totally lost in front of it.

I found Plan D

Plan D was relatively easy. I applied for Payday Loan based on my monthly dividend check and I’m back in the park with the newspaper and a cigar.