The first hint of trouble was right there on the box. "Installation should take about two hours." That's assuming one has what the manufacturer describes as "intermediate" skills in home improvement matters.

Helen Henkel, a 79-year-old retired first-grade teacher, wheeled her shopping cart past aisles of bread at Kroger on Friday, perplexed because the prices were probably too high to buy the fixings for her favorite Weight Watchers casserole.

Clothing stores, garden centers, electronics retailers feel the pinch. Monique Blake won't be shopping for new clothes. William Acosta got rid of his cell phone. Paula Rockwell put off buying a home.

I was recently at a spectacular home in Nassau, in the Bahamas. While the host was showing us around, I observed that every guest room - there were five of them - had a kitchenette fitted with a small refrigerator, a coffee machine and a pantry sink.

Lake Arrowhead, nestled 5,000 feet above sea level in the San Bernardino Mountains, makes for a great place to escape for the day. It is home to 780 acres of clear, blue water among an enormous forest of pine trees.