It's hard to keep up a constant state of alarm over the housing bubble. When I weigh all the news reports, I think its going to get dire --- maybe more than even the doomster's expect. I mean, this could really be devastating.

But...what can I do about it? I think I've designed my business so that I'll be able to respond to a downturn.

Thing is, we're have record sales in the spring. Good, solid, predictable business.

No...this is more a matter that I may be missing an opportunity to make money while I can. All I have to do is stop buying anything but the essentials. I've done it in the past because I had to, and I've done it for years.

But I've had steady growth for 3 years now. I have backup funds, and plenty of credit. The bills are pretty much under control.

So, despite what my mind and experience tell me, I'll let my optimism guide. (Frankly, even if I had never heard of the housing bubble and read nothing else about it, the fact that my house doubled in value in two years would be enough to make me sit up and take notice. NOTHING doubles in that short of a time, especially a high value item, without there being a consequence.)

So I'll just keep monitoring the local economy; and hope that this isn't that point in time that I'll look back on and realized I missed an opportunity.

I have the benefit of experience in a number of fads and in hindsight I can see where I went wrong and where I went right, and try to navigate my business through this situation. But ultimately, my every fad is both the same and different, and I won't really know which is which until it's past.

So, I'm orienting my business toward successful growth, with a eye on possible downturns.