After the disappointing discovery that Cold Stone Creamery has closed, I decided to look a little deeper into the AIG concerns of today.
I’ve been following the recent Wall Street turmoil with a sickening fascination, like watching a slow-motion building implosion. Did you know that there are only TWO independant investment banks left in the US? Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The others (Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Bros.) are all gone. Bought out, bankrupt. Goldman Sachs just posted the worst earnings since going public.
How much worse is it going to get? AIG (largest industrial and technical insurance company in the US) is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. That’s $441 billion in assets. Stocks are plummeting. Is my 401k going to be there when Indi and I leave the country in March?
I’m not really concerned with “who to blame” right now. It’s more “what can we do?” to turn things around. This kind of thing always trickles down. How long before I start to see personal, meaningful changes? Sure, an ice cream parlor went into foreclosure. These things happen. But is this a sign for the future?
We’re already seeing a downturn in business at the store. How long before AT&T starts to trim things to keep moving forward?
Rhys Martin was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1981. In 2009, he sold everything he owned and left the country, living out of a backpack for ten months. He discovered a passion for photography while traveling throughout Southeast Asia and Europe.
After returning home, he looked at his home town and Oklahoma heritage with fresh eyes. When he began to explore his home state, Rhys turned his attention to historic Route 66. As he became familiar with the iconic highway, he began to truly appreciate Oklahoma’s place along the Mother Road. He has traveled all 2,400 miles of Route 66, from Chicago to Los Angeles. He has also driven many miles on rural Oklahoma highways to explore the fading Main Streets of our small towns. Rhys has a desire to find and share the unique qualities of the Sooner State with the rest of the world.
Cloudless Lens Photography has been featured in several publications including This Land, Route 66 Magazine, Nimrod Journal, Inbound Asia Magazine, The Oklahoman, and the Tulsa World. In 2018 he published his first book, Lost Restaurants of Tulsa.
Rhys loves to connect with people and share his experiences; ask him about enjoyable day trips from Tulsa, locations along Route 66, and good diners or burger joints along the way.
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Rhys' Pieces 