The current downturn is going to affect me sooner or later as it will with most of the people working in Ortho products in Warsaw.

There was big talk last summer and fall that there would be an increase of jobs here because the market was up on the boomers need for knees and hips. I've not heard a single word of that boom materializing since Nov 08.

Within this local area there's a bit of arrogance about the stability of the demand for bio products through all economic downturns of the past. On the rare occasion that I'd bring up the reality of an impending depression....or worse, people would chuckle nervously and tell me that I'm crazy.

As we see the trillions of dollars adding up in one bailout after another it's becoming more possible in the minds of many here that they will indeed feel the great pain of the times ahead of us.

Passing through the town one sees much the same situation as the rest of the country. Hotel business is down, car dealerships have gone broke and moved out, there are "for sale" signs on the lawns of countless homes and there is a general downturn in activity here.

Will the demand for hip and knee replacements remain strong considering each costs say, $20k+ (implant and surgery)? I don't know. My guess is that it will not.

It's just me talking here though. Only time will tell us.

Seems like a good idea. There might be a good deal of people reading after everything crashes.

Very true. And with the amount of books I have right now (a good sized digital library), I don't lack for choice either. Chess, world mythology, political theory, history, economics, warfare, literary theory, philosophy and a buttload of fiction, of varying degress of excellence, from classics like Hyperion to rubbish like Twilight, which is best read either ironically or in an altered state, whichever makes it more fun.

If nothing else, I'd probably make an excellent copyeditor or literary agent.;)

Just make sure to keep an extra pair or two of glasses stashed away before the bow pulls up out of the water.