I haven't felt much like posting the last few days. No real reason -- things have been going fine...I guess my muse was on holiday or something. Or maybe it was the rain.

***
I posted a Facebook status about an event night, but here is more detail. I had a sort of stressful event when I started my Christmas shopping last night. The start of my Christmas shopping involves going to Bath and Bodyworks and buying a crapload of lotion and bath gels.

That's because nearly every female on my list gets (at least) this from me. Some women (like my sisters and Mom) get additional gifts, of course, but women like my nephews' wives get only this from me. I figure it's not very much money, and they can definitely use it (and usually appreciate the scents).

So, I had a coupon -- 20% off -- plus another coupon for a free travel sized item. I got to the counter to pay, and then the cashier pointed me to the selection of travel sized items. So, I squatted and moved around the display until I found what I wanted.

I stood up, went back to the counter, and reached for my wallet. There was nothing in my back pocket! So, I felt around my jacket. Nope, no wallet!

So, I went to the car. Nothing. Nothing lying around the parking space. I drove home to search and nada.

I drove back to the store and asked if the cashier had found it. She said, no, but we looked around.

Finally, we found it! Evidently, I had taken the wallet out to pay at the counter, then when I squatted to look at the display, I had absent-mindedly laid the wallet down on a shelf next to the display. I had no recollection of doing that. I remembered having the wallet in my hand before I went shopping, but that was the last thing I remembered about it.

I'm just glad I recovered it before someone swiped it!

I think the cashier was more stressed about it than I was, lol! I actually gave her a hug, lol!

***
On a different topic, you know I use Facebook in French, right -- just for kicks. But what's weird is the mishmash that I sometimes get.

For example, here is the list of notifications (in the right hand corner) from a few weeks ago (as usual, I've covered last names).

Notice that some are all in French. Some are in English, except for the French word lien --


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This is kind of funny. A memo from Arnold Schwarzenegger (governor of California) to one of the Assemblymen contains an obscene acrostic.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Schwarzeneggers-Obscene-Acrostic-262

***
One thing I need to do is to get some control of my finances again. When I first started working again, I put a lot of mula back into primary savings. But I haven't saved anything in the last couple of months!

That's because I have been on a spending spree -- new bike, repair work on the Subaru, a trip to Asheville (and staying in the B&B), and all along I've been buying new clothes for myself because I have lost weight and all my old clothes are too big. Now, I start Christmas shopping!

I've decided that I hate paperless statements from banks...it's all a very good idea and all, to save paper (and it saves the company postage)...but what I'm finding is that I'm forgetting to pay bills and reconcile accounts.

Instead of a paper bill that I throw on the desk until I handle it, I get this wisp of an ephemeral e-mail that gets lost in the bowels of my inbox -- "Your monthly statement is ready" -- which I forget about until I have a damned late charge show up on my statement.

It just burns my ass to pay a late fee to a credit card company.

I only have 3 credit cards total...I only use two of them...TWICE, TWICE, DAMNIT!!! this month I have paid a late charge.

It's like I didn't handle my finances at all in June...I'm disgusted!

Went on a bike ride with a friend today who has relatively recently moved back to Virginia from Switzerland. He's a bit out of shape, but I think he'll come back up to speed pretty quickly, and it'll be nice to have someone in the neighborhood to bike with -- maybe to push me past my limits.

The first thing he did was lift up my bike to check the weight, so I returned the favor, lol! I hadn't really given much thought to the weight of my bike, and his was considerably lighter! I suspect I hadn't given much thought to the weight because my budget at the time for a bike was limited to the mostly steel bike that I have. Lighter bikes cost lots more!

After we parted ways, I rode on one of the trails and had a little spill -- I came across a small log -- really more like a branch. It was too big just to ride over, and I thought, "why don't I try to jump my front tire over it?" Well, all I really managed to do was to flip myself sort of over the handlebars! Got a scrape on my shin, and what is going to be a nice, deep bruise on the front of one thigh, but otherwise not too much the worse for wear.

I probably should be more careful -- I'm not a spring chicken anymore, lol!

***
I've been doing some shopping lately, right? More than I have been in the recent past -- new clothes, that sort of thing. Today, I got a call from the fraud division of my credit card company -- it was an automated call that listed out about 10 transactions and asked me to confirm that they were indeed mine.

The transactions were all mine -- no problems there, but what struck me as funny was, as I listened to the transactions, I could see how it might have triggered the alert. One was for gas at a place I don't usually buy gas, then an online catalog order, then a home improvement center, then a fast food joint...all the things you might expect someone to do with a stolen credit card, lol!

***
Tonight, Deege and I are supposed to head over to the Greek Festival. I don't go every year, but it is a pleasant event.

A friend and I went to dinner last night. Because I wanted a salad, and because neither of us was being particularly clever last night, we ended up at Ruby Tuesday's. It's not a bad place, just not a favorite of either of us.

Got back from one of my walks this week and startled Monsieur Bunny -- he ran, then stopped nervously, they way rabbits do. I wonder how many rabbits there are in the neighborhood! I always have them, and I think a lot of folks in the neighborhood have them too!


***
I found this article on Japanese thrift, as a result of their '90s recession interesting. They talk about using the bath water for laundry. That seems a bit much to me. When you bathe, you take off sweat and dirt, and I'm not sure I want to use that water in the laundry!

And Mrs. Takigasaki is correct -- a bit of cabbage, a bit of potato, and you're set for a stew!

Today, years after the recovery, even well-off Japanese households use old bath water to do laundry, a popular way to save on utility bills. Sales of whiskey, the favorite drink among moneyed Tokyoites in the booming ’80s, have fallen to a fifth of their peak. And the nation is losing interest in cars; sales have fallen by half since 1990.

The Takigasaki family in the Tokyo suburb of Nakano goes further to save a yen or two. Although the family has a comfortable nest egg, Hiroko Takigasaki carefully rations her vegetables. When she goes through too many in a given week, she reverts to her cost-saving standby: cabbage stew.

“You can make almost anything with some cabbage, and perhaps some potato,” says Mrs. Takigasaki, 49

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/business/worldbusiness/22japan.html

Just got back from an enjoyable meeting with a recruiter. It also might be a promising meeting, as there might be a couple of positions opening up soon. I found myself very cheerful and charming during the meeting, which went over well.

I was telling a friend that it's weird working with multiple recruiters. Every time a position is posted, I get e-mails and phone calls from several of the recruiters that I'm working with. I usually let the recruiter with whom I have the best relationship, and who got to me first, be the one to submit me. I don't know how else to handle all of them.

There was a position that opened up earlier this week -- the first recruiter sent an e-mail that night, which I responded to. The second and third called me the next day only to find that they had missed me on this one. One did ask when I had heard about the position -- because she wanted to know how hard she had to hit it next time.

Getting ready to brave the cold wind to get a walk in.

And having dinner with friends tonight.


***
What is this shit? In a lot of states, workers who collect unemployment are issued debit cards -- they don't have a choice. And they have to pay a bank effing fees???

For hundreds of thousands of workers losing their jobs during the recession, there's a new twist to their financial pain: Even when they're collecting unemployment benefits, they're paying the bank just to get the money — or even to call customer service to complain about it.

Thirty states have struck such deals with banks that include Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., JP Morgan Chase and US Bancorp, an Associated Press review of the agreements found. All the programs carry fees, and in several states the unemployed have no choice but to use the debit cards. Some banks even charge overdraft fees of up to $20 — even though they could decline charges for more than what's on the card.

....
The banks say their programs offer convenience. They also provide at least one way to tap the money at no charge, such as using a single free withdrawal to get all the cash at once from a bank teller. But the banks benefit from human nature, as people end up treating the cards like all the other plastic in their wallets.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=6917758

Between not working right now, the holidays, and the cold outside, I have put on a few pounds. I expected it -- I always put on a few pounds in the winter. But since it's been warm out the last couple of days, I've been getting a walk in each day. It's been nice to get a bit of exercise again!

We also got out to shop yesterday with a couple of gift cards. The merchandise is pretty picked over right now, but O found a couple of things he liked. I didn't, so I've still got my gift cards in my wallet.

As I'm posting this entry, O just came in and crashed from his shift last night. The 12 hours overnight shifts always screw up his sleep patterns.

Insurance Billing Error

After I left my job, I figured I would continue my insurance under the COBRA law, at least until I figured out an alternative. The premium is not cheap, of course, but it's not as bad as it could be.

Anyways, the insurance company's billing system seems to be out of control! I have been getting a bill every couple of days -- each bill has added about 2 months premium to the total. I have received about 10 bills in the last 2 weeks, and the total on the bill is up to nearly $3,000 right now!

It is obviously a mistake, and I called the insurance company yesterday. I told the call agent that it had become a joke that I was getting a bill from them every couple of days. She agreed that something is wrong and "sent it over to accounting."

In the meantime, I've applied for some individual insurance with another company -- this billing fiasco makes me want to ditch the current policy.

Lose It! iPhone App

I found this iPhone app where you put in your current weight, your goal, and how many pounds a week you want to lose.

Based on that information, it calculates your daily calorie budget. You can then input the foods that you eat and your exercise each day.



You can search for foods (like "cheese" in the picture below), or create a new food,



The app keeps track of foods you've selected before -- makes it quicker to pick from a list of the foods you eat most of the time.



It gives a summary of fat, protein (and other nutrients if you want).

With all the bank failures (Wachovia being bought today by Citi), it's becoming a situation of "all your base are belong to us," where there won't be much of a choice in banks for US consumers!

It makes me wonder just how stable my credit union may or may not be!

And it's definitely NOT good to see one of your stocks do something like this in one day!

I see that Governor Schwarzenegger (California) has ordered that temps and contractors be immediately laid off from state agencies, and that salaried workers should only receive MINIMUM WAGE, lol, as a way to help with a major budget crunch.

I find it funny that he ordered the minimum wage pay. The idea is that the workers would be reimbursed for their full salary once the budget crunch is settled. The state's financial controller has said that he will not comply and will not change the pay rate to salaried workers.

The state government workers are threatening to sue over the minimum wage order!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7536486.stm

This is an article about people making the financial decision to walk away from their mortgages.

I had heard of "jingle mail" -- sending your keys to the mortgage company -- but I had figured that that was just the mortgage companies trying to make their plight seem worse (as a way to excuse the loose lending practices they have practiced over the last few year).

I wonder how often this is really happening, and I wonder what I would do in the situation. When you're talking about numbers as big as the example used in the article ($200K), I understand the decision!

In California and much of the rest of America, there is a powerful incentive for homeowners such as Ms Trainer to walk away from their mortgage obligations.

Though banks can repossess and sell the homes of borrowers who stop paying their mortgages, under a legal quirk originating in the Great Depression of the 1930s, banks cannot easily pursue borrowers for any balance outstanding on the main mortgage on their homes.

Consequently, by walking away from her apartment, Ms Trainer has also walked away from the loss on her property.

Her bank gets stuck with that.

Traditionally in America there is a social stigma attached to those who default on their debts, which should be a deterrent to walking away from your home.

But according to Susan Wachter, professor of real estate and finance at Wharton School of Business, in the depth of this crisis the social attitudes to such actions are changing.

"This is the kind of conversation that's going on at cocktail parties, at swimming pools," Professor Wachter says. "And suddenly this option which was truly unthinkable in the past becomes thinkable."

....
As a sign of the changing times, some 60% of borrowers do not even bother to contact their banks to attempt a renegotiation of their loan, Mr Moran explains.

"They stop paying and they stop talking," he says. "They just plain walk away."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7529277.stm

One thing from the article -- the woman mentions that she knows what a bad hit her credit will take, but that she figures she can overcome that in 5 years. (I believe it would stay on her credit for 7 years.) The thing is -- 5 years is a long time! I wonder if she realizes just how long she'll be dealing with this. In her case, though, the decision is probably the correct financial decision.

Not sure what has come over me lately, but I have been spending my little heart out! Over the last few months, I had been keeping the Cadillac locked in the garage (my friend says that I have Cadillac taste, so I drive my "Cadillac" to the store...).

I think I just had some pent up demand that I let loose over the last couple of weeks.

For example, I've bought plane tickets to San Francisco, ordered an iPhone (and some iPhone accessories), and now today, I bought a software upgrade for Lightroom 2.

Note: The program runs in 32 bit mode by default. To change this, find the application in Finder, right-click, Get Info, then un-check the 32 bit checkbox.

   The upgrade is the 64 bit version (on the Mac). A lot of it looks the same. There are a few features that I don't remember about the last one, but I can't tell yet if the upgrade was worth the price. I do like Lightroom, so I upgraded on a whim.

I don't remember being able to "lock to second window" --


I think Smart Collections are new --




Filters are new --


The full version comparison is here --> http://store.adobe.com/store/en_us/popup/software/lightroom2/versioncomparison.html

Yesterday was such a beautiful day! I came home early from work to get a walk in and to just be outside in the warmth.

***
Update on the washer -- I think it is doing fine -- I was able to do several loads tonight. I'm keeping an eye on it though since I can hear the water more than before -- the drain might still be a bit plugged, so I'm using that Drain Care stuff that is supposed to eat away at build-ups.

***
Ever bought a stock that you thought was pretty well at the bottom, only to have it lose another 3 or 4 bucks a share right after you bought? Ugh...happened to me today!

***
Internet Explorer 8 will pass the Acid2 test...very good news for application developers. IE8 is not out yet, but any time the browsers all start to be standards compliant (Firefox 3 (in beta) passes Acid2, as do Safari and Opera), this will make it easier to create sites and apps that all look the same on different browsers.

I think that this guy has it right -- don't feel guilty about money -- spend consciously, knowing what you are spending on.

I am not a budget type of guy...I've tried it in the past, and it just does NOT work for me. So, what I do instead -- I budget the big items (like mortgage, savings, etc.) and set them up so they happen automatically -- automatic payments, transfers, that sort of thing.

And then I spend whatever is left in my checking account -- to my heart's desire.

Conscious spending means you decide exactly where you’re going to spend your money–for going out, for saving, for investing, for rent–and you free yourself from feeling guilty about your spending. Along with making you feel comfortable with your spending, a plan lets you continue growing towards your goals instead of just treading water.

http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/conscious-spending-how-my-friend-spends-21000year-on-going-out

Something that has been bugging me about the proposed tax rebate that is being crafted by the DC politicians -- in order for it to work, people have to spend it on new goods. That's fine and dandy -- people can do whatever they want with their own mula...but I feel like the politicians are encouraging the wrong thing -- I think people need to pay down their debt, pay their bills, and save some money...THEN, they can spend. But I guess that wouldn't "stimulate" the economy. It just bugs me a bit...not that I don't want them to send folks a little rebate :)

I'm still doing the jump rope routine. Although I'm still not ready to say how pitifully small the number of repetitions which I can to do, but I AM doing twice as many as when I started a week and 1/2 ago...and I'm doing the jump properly now too -- 1 jump per revolution instead of the little jog (1 foot over the rope at a time) that I was doing before.

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I see that Obama won in South Carolina and got Kennedy's support. Poor John Edwards -- always a Vice Presidential candidate -- I think he should probably bow out now that he didn't win SC. That would leave me supporting Obama...

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Did you hear the Republicans calling each other liberal in the Florida race? Oh puhleeze...they should be so lucky.

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I got my last tax form today in the mail, so tonight I'm working on my federal return. When due a refund, I waste no time!

On a related note, Turbotax actually works pretty well on the Mac...and is attractive too! On Windows, TT always seemed sort of utilitarian -- example: "Go to forms" on Windows, and TT opens a small window. But on the Mac, the program's screen flips over to the other side, as if you were turning over a piece of paper -- very reminiscent of when you change to another account on the Mac when you see the cube flip the screen around.

***
The other thing I want to accomplish tonight is to plan what I want to plant in my pots out back next Spring -- I have a coupon to a catalog that I like that is expiring in a couple of days...

Even with the housing slump, my assessment STILL went up 4% this year...but that's the LEAST percentage that it has gone up since I've owned the house -- actually, it's the first time in the single digits! I've contested the assessment a couple of times in the past and was turned down...and I never went to the mat and appealed it -- it's difficult to exactly know what the assessment should be...and I suspect the assessment is close to correct.

http://eservices.ci.richmond.va.us/applications/propertysearch/frmMainSearch.aspx

I'm happy to see that the city has updated its search site so that I don't have to use that dratted Internet Explorer anymore -- the search works just fine with Firefox...

It's probably a good idea to read your credit card statement well after you buy anything...but what I found on my statement for the Mac put a little glitch in my plans.

When you buy a Mac, Apple teams up with a credit card company to offer you a period of no interest credit. I ALWAYS take advantage of these types of offers when I make a big purchase. This was more so the case for the Mac since the offer was supposed to be 6 months no interest -- that's a nice long time, so I jumped on it!

And I am always determined not to pay any interest when I take advantage of these offers -- I am very careful to pay off the debt before the expiration date of the offer.

Anyways, when I bought the Mac online, I also bought Apple Care (the extended warranty) -- same screen, one order, one total price, right? Well, no...the Apple Care was charged separately on the statement from the Mac.

I thought, "So what?" Well, the result of the separate charges is that the charge for Apple Care was small enough that it only qualified for 3 months of no interest instead of 6 months.

It's not a big deal -- but the ONLY way I knew this was that I happened to look at the box on my credit card statement that shows the expiration date of the special offer on the two charges...When I saw the different expiration dates, I realized that I have to be sure to pay off the Apple Care in the near term, while I still have months before I have to pay off the Mac itself.

If I had not read the statement carefully, I would have ended up paying interest on the Applecare charge -- which would have really annoyed me!

This is for you, big faceless, national bank....



(My big bank credit card just pissed me off with some changes in my default rate, etc. Luckily, I am in a position to reject the changes -- I don't have to put up with that shit.)

I was a little surprised that the Fed lowered the federal funds rate by by 1/2 a point yesterday.

I was in the car, listening to NPR, when I heard that news. The first thing I thought was -- wow, the subprime mortgage problems are bigger than we have heard about yet! The second thing I thought was -- I wonder how much the stock market will shoot up because of this.

At a time when everyone is worried about inflation (meaning that the purchasing power of your dollar / savings becoming less and less), for the Fed to lower the rate that much (when I think everyone had assumed a 1/4 point drop) seemed like they were using an awfully big stick. That made me think that the financial system is shaking because of the mortgage problems -- sounds like the Fed is really worried that the mortgage problems have started to lead to a recession.

So, today, I got a letter from one of my financial institutions saying that my e-mail address (and maybe, but there's no proof at this point) that my Social Security number has been stolen.

They had some unauthorized (computer) code running on their system, mining one of their databases.

Nice, really nice...



525,600 minutes...Been thinking about Matt tonight...The song from Rent and a blog that I read reminded me of him...