Seconds!
Whoo etc.

edit: and first with anything to say, it seems...

I'm a freelancer, and fortunately so far haven't been too affected by the credit crunch in my line of work - I think my industry is relatively safe.

However, it's always more difficult to find work in the winter time, and so consequentially throughout the year I try and squirrel away as much spare cash as I possibly can, just in case I have to hibernate for a month or two.

My friends know this. My friends are all skint. As a result, rather than having a tidy pile of money earning an (admittedly shite) rate of interest tucked away somewhere as safe as can possibly be in these times of financial armageddon, I've given out several large interest-free loans to pay people's rent and to get them through the month.

I trust them all implicitly to get the money back to me when they can, but I finish my contract this week, and if I don't start earning again fairly soon, or get some money back from them, I'll struggle to pay MY rent.

So, whilst sagely watching reports of banks collapsing, thinking, "Those bankers are a bunch of arse-candles. How could they not see this coming?", I've gone and created my own fucking credit crunch microcosm.

Click "I like this" if you think I should start breaking friends' kneecaps now as a down-payment.
(Sloppy Giuseppe, Thu 22 Jan 2009, 12:21, 3 replies)

This is where...
....generosity becomes failure, so have a sympathetic click!
( The Pollitt chooses to listen to Enya on, Thu 22 Jan 2009, 12:47, closed)

Send round...
A couple of hired goons... although the cost of them could send you soaring into the red.. but think about it this way, you could be elgible for one of those government bailouts :)

*click*
(urbanbushmonkey, Thu 22 Jan 2009, 13:24, closed)

I Feel...
...your pain. I've been far too lax with some people as of late who owe me not too inconsiderable sums of money, and I'll be calling the loans in during the next month now xmas is out of the way.
( Alex Save a Tree, Eat a Beaver!, Sat 24 Jan 2009, 2:48, closed)