#JohnPersonsPoolParty #SummerVibes #PoolsideFun #BackyardBash #GoodTimes #SplishSplash #LiveMusic #BBQ #CocktailHour #SunAndFun

John nodded. He had felt power once. He had stood in a boardroom in San Francisco, wearing a suit that cost more than his first car, and watched a term sheet get signed. He had felt invincible. He had felt like the laws of thermodynamics did not apply to him. And now he was standing next to a propane grill in his own backyard, listening to a man who sold timeshares describe the feeling of sixty knots.

“We’re thinking of refinancing,” said a woman named Claire, whose husband owned a chain of car washes. “Pull some cash out before the rates go crazy.”