I watched the debate with great interest on Friday. I also dealt with some serious out-of-the-blue back pain starting Thursday evening.  The back pain was unusual since I have never suffered from back pain, so my best guess is that it’s time to start being slightly more careful when swinging Little Buddy around, now that he’s getting bigger (and stronger).  I hope that’s the reason (just a wrenched back) rather than stress contagion from my Wall Street coworkers.

photo credit: paolo màrgari

As a completely non-scientific aside, when walking down Wall Street and the nearby areas a few days ago – a little out of my regular route – I noticed that a lot of the little delis and news shops that make up so much of the street-level life of New York were shuttered. Wall Street still has crowds of tourists and bankers.  The former are more muted than usual, but maybe that’s just the season.  The latter are more muted than normal, but maybe that’s just the collapse of several major financial institutions.  Nonetheless, I think times are going to be tough in New York – not just for the glitterati of Wall Street but for the guys who sold them their Wall Street Journals and Starbucks macchiatos.

Being pressured for time, I’ll fly through my links for the week, from the Money Writers…

• $700 Billion Bailouts – Is My Money Safe?
• Don’t Compound Your Investment Losses by Investing Less in Down Markets and More in Up Markets
• Working From Home – Making Money While Working In A Job That Fits Your Life
• Sell Stock to Pay Down Debt?
• Seven Ways to Ruin Your Financial Future
• Financial Crisis In The Media: Is The Economic Crisis Overhyped?
• The Sunday Evening Blues

And a few others:

• The Quickest Route to a Six-Figure Job
• Fed Bailout Now To Include Foreign Banks; Will Amount To $1.8 Trillion.
• How To Get Independent Health Insurance
• Personal Energy and Frugality

I also participated in the latest Carnival of Family Life.