Category: FWIW

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Real Estate Bust? *yawn*

I’ve been avoiding “issues blogging” for the most part for the past week. (the choice in presidential candidates winnowing down to Hildebeast-ObamaWinfrey-MexiCain can do that to a guy), but one “issue” still turns my crank a bit: the Mass Media Podpeople Hivemind’s rampup of economic woes with the mortgage crisis/real estate bust as its poster child.

As a poster child for economic woes, the mortgage crisis/real estate bust has all the appeal of a broken-down whore with leprosy. Firstly, the folks hardest hit by the mortgage crisis/real estate bust are those who went into debt over their heads to buy houses they couldn’t afford. Here are my most sincere crocodile tears for such idiots:

*Boo-freakin’-hoo–yawn*

To all such folks: you reaping what you’ve sown? Good.

Next hardest hit (sorta), the mortgage lenders who shouldn’t have loaned the money to begin with. Again,

*Boo-freakin’-hoo–yawn*

My Wonder Woman asked me what I though the impact would be on our home value. My answer? Who cares? Are we thinking of selling? (Yeh, we still owe a measly couple of grand on the place. Made a 25% down on it and got reasonable rates on a 15-year mortgage–thanks to my Wonder Woman’s money management skillset.)

Rabbit trail:

OTOH, our execrably bad “neighbors” who moved in less than eighteen months ago have their place listed for sale (Yipee and Whooray!). I asked my Wonder Woman how badly I could junk up the outside of our house to drive their selling price down on ’em… *heh* Hmmm… maybe I could buy a couple of junkers from the salvage yard and have ’em dropped in our front yard, ya think? It’d be a few months before the city would ask me to remove ’em, maybe long enough to drive thr price of our “neighbors'” seller down quite a bit…

Nah. Better just to get ’em gone.

But there’s a side to the housing market/mortgage crisis/real estate bust that is getting little play in the Mass Media Podpeople Hivemind (and what play it does get is buried on inside pages or whatnot): “Some Cities Are Spared the Slide in Housing”–and this in the Neoo York Slimes, no less! Who’d-a thunk it?

In figures released on Thursday covering 150 metropolitan areas, the National Association of Realtors said that median home prices were falling in 77 markets — but rising in 73.

Real estate statistics must be interpreted with caution, especially when sales volumes are declining, as they are all over the country. But an analysis by The New York Times of three distinct data sets — mortgage data from the government, sales figures from the Realtors’ group and courthouse records from a company called DataQuick — produced a list of 17 metropolitan areas where all three sources of information agree that prices were still rising as of late last year, the most recent figures available.

For another 43 cities, two data sets, from the Realtors and the government, suggested that prices were still rising late in the year. DataQuick could provide no information on those cities.

Of course, since the article is in the Neoo York Slimes, the ariter spends quite some time making sure the reader doesn’t interpret these rosy facts positively. *heh* Still, facts are facts, and the housing market (and mortgage market) in my part of the country, for example, is strong to super-strong right now. Because of strong economic growth in other sectors, of course. Heck, it’s stating to get so built up in America’s Third World County that I might just have to answer my own question to my Wonder Woman (“Are we thinking of selling?”) with a “I want to live somewhere quieter. Wanna sell and move out into the piney woods?”

*heh*

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Compy Fun

(Y’all may have noticed I’m mostly avoiding politics/current events for the last few days? Good reasons, among them my disgust with the electorate for being stupid enough to validate the current crop of presidential candidates with their votes.)

Well, it had to happen eventually. The ten-year-old computer (ten years old? Yep) I had running the most stable windows OS in the house finally started developing some… glitches. Yeh, it started out as a Win98 comp, but Win2KPro was soo appealing (for a Windows OS. I had retired WINNT 4.0 off an earlier computer gladly; Win2KPro–WinNT 5.0–proved to be a bird of a different feather) I switched the OSes out fairly early on in the computer’s life.

Anywho, last week, Win2K began complaining the MOBO on which it had happily resided for no few years was not fully ACPI compliant and told me to update the BIOS. OK. Found an updated BIOS and attempted the install. Oops. My German isn’t that good. *heh* Back to the drawing board.

I may just decide to retire the comp… or convert it to Ubuntu or PCBSD. Probably the former for the old guy. I do need to maintain one Win98 computer for my fav music transcription software, but it dowsn’t have to be on that comp.

Or maybe I’ll find another BIOS update elsewhere.

Still, a 10-year-old MOBO (with a slightly newer processor, granted) still doing credible work on things that don’t require much processor-intensive stuff (web, email, word processing, etc.) tickles my tightwad side. It’s not like I don’t have more “modern” comps with other OSes (like the one I’m writing this post with) to handle other tasks.

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Passing Shots

Saw this some time ago. Can’t remember who to credit with a hat tip:

*heh*

On the road the other night. Saw a semi with a company logo with a motto that read, “Employee owned; customer driven.” Huh! They send the customers out driving those big rigs? That explains some things…

And while I’m on the road, did you ever notice that the idiots are really thick at night? Don’t believe me? Next time you’re out at night, just count how many folks can’t find their dimmer switch.

Anyone ever tell you, “Practice makes perfect”? If that were so, politicians would get it right at least once in a while.

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A Reminder About the Law of Unintended Consequences

Something We the People ought to remember and (figuratively, unfortunately) tatoo on politicians’ *spit* foreheads (backwards, so those who can read are reminded when they are adoring their reflections in a mirror):

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agleigh.”

So, while our political masters are tilting at (politically-manufactured) windmills in their attempts to “solve” problems (more likely, create more problems to “solve”), we need to remember just why Murphy so loves politicians: they are a staple in his arsenal of making things go wrong.

Just a friendly reminder. Oh, and don’t forget: it’s the stupid, illiterate, greedy, lazy electorate that has given us our political masters. Pogo was oh so very right in more ways than he knew:

“We have met the enemy and he is us.”

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Only 3,346 to go…

…to reach 200,000 comments on this blog (not counting, of course, the Haloscan comments “lost” in a failed import in January, 2006).

Why! That’s nearly 1/3 the number of SPAM “comments” Askimet has blocked in the last year!

*heh*

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We’re All Cretins

…Or, “What Advertisers Think of Us”

Of the many reasons I especially like to avoid television during the Christmas season, one stands head and shoulders above even the crappy “holiday specials” that turn the Christmas season into a hode-podge season of slush: the commercial that as much as says straight out that women are all prostitutes. You know the one. A guy gives his (wife, girlfriend, lover, whatever) a diamond do-hickey and the jingle “sings,”

“Every Kiss Begins with ____”

Yep. That’s right. guys, the commercial states right out front: women sell their favors for jewelry–especially jewelry from the particular company that markets their wares as a means to “get lucky.” IOW, according to that particular jewelry manufacturer (the most direct and honest of the lot advertizing during the Christmas season–others are a bit more subtle, though their message is pretty much the same), women are whores and guys are all just johns.

Now, that’s just plain disgusting. And insulting.

Guys, if “getting lucky” with your gal depends on getting her some jewlery, you’d be better off traveling to Vegas or some other such place where whoring is at least legally recognized and regulated (to some extent, at least) and out in the open. Paying for sex at home is just degrading.

And women, if some guy thinks he can buy your “favors” with a gift, then you’ve got the wrong guy, and it’ll cost you bigtime down the road. Worse still, if you do “sell” your “favors” for gifts, you know what that makes you.

Exactly what the commercial says in so many words.

And the fact that advertizers think (probably rightly) that most folks won’t see this means they think we’re all cretins.

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Housekeeping Note

Over the next few days, third world county may be up, may be down, may be mixmastered, hashed, folded, spindled and mutilated, but I project it will be back in full flower by Monday, at least. [Sooner, looks like. Still some rough edges as of 11:30a.m. central time on the 13th, but at least the thing loads, now. Again. Was just peachy keen fine last night @11:00, then… reloaded and all was not well. Now better, nearly peachy keen again. Must be the dreadlock wigs and chicken bone rattles at BlueHost support. *heh*]

Thanks for being patient. Just some housekeeping and then calling in the movers. Finally butchering the Fatcow.

[Update: you may notice some screwy category listings on blogposts that were formerly well-*a-hem*-categorized (in my unimpeachable categories *heh*). Don’t know exactly what I’ll do about that. Hate to lose the search ability it gave me–and y’all–but going back to tag each of over 3,300 posts would be a nightmare. Have to see what a reimport of wp-postmeta database might do… Also, user info seems a tad scambled. Oh. Well. It’s still better than when Fat(head)cow (sucks dead bunnies through a straw) screwed up on me transferring twc from one Fat(head)cow (sucks dead bunnies through a straw) account to another in January.]

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I love these little Christmas tree ornaments

No, I am not blogging in my pajamas.

I don’t wear any.

Strange thing. (Did I already post about this? Well, too bad if I did. I’m too lazy to go and check.) After all these years, I may have finally found the solution to the problem, Christmas Tree+ Cats=Disaster Waiting to Happen.

I found these neat little Christmas tree decorations at Dollar General. Little mechanical thingies that the cats apparently don’t like and, with the addition of a string of habanero peppers, strung like popcorn or cranberries, have served to keep them away from the tree.

Try it. I think you’ll find that these little Christmas tree decorations (for some strange reason they are called “mouse traps”) really are disliked by felines… Some assembly (and disassembly) required. (Just loosen the spring on one side and paint ’em red or green or gold or whatever.)

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An exercise in giving thanks

[heh]

[Speaking to self: Self, read yesterday’s post. OK, now you can write this one. 🙂 ]

Wednesday, I recieved the motherboard I was waiting on. Put it away, cos, well, family was here, it was The Anniversary and the next day was Thanksgiving. Very “righteously” avoided even looking at it on Thanksgiving Day.

This morning, opened it up, put all tools, etc., out, arranged everything and began the process of installing the new board.

It was not the board I ordered and paid for. It was not at all the board advertised, promised for delivery or confirmed as being shipped. The company I ordered from stiffed me by shipping me an inferior product.

Not an explosion, but a very, very fast burn…

Later, more calmly, after being stiffed multiple times by a disfunctional voicemail/phone system at the other end of the pipe, I sent an email detailing the need the company had to make me whole, in order to demonstrate good faith.

Hours went by… more attempts to penetrate the impregnable defenses of a disfunctional voicemail/phone system.

Nearly twelve hours later, an email. Their remedy? They’re sending me an RMA#. I am to ship the inferior product that I did not order back to them. The company makes NO representation in the email concerning either replacing the inferior product with the product they advertised, which I ordered and paid for and they said they had shipped OR any reference to a refund!

Now, am I thankful for this lil difficulty (and admittedly, it is a small difficulty)?

Well, yes. And here’s why. I responded to the “RMA” email by detailing a few of the ethical and legal lapses in the company’s behavior. I very truthfully pointed out that should the company NOT make every effort to make me whole that I would bring their illegal bait and switch behavior to the attention of the federal fraud folks (http://www.ftc.gov/sentinel/ 😉 and two States’ Attorneys General, as well as complaints to Yahoo (since it was a “Yahoo Store”).

Why take such a hard line?

Well, while it’s no big deal for such companies to cheat me on such a small scale, unless a few folks (metaphorically) rap them upside the head with a brick bat for such behavior, they can mulitiply it hundreds or thousands of times, defrauding–harming–hundreds or thousands of other people.

So, I am grateful for the opportunity to climb on my swaybacked white horse, don my flowerpot helmet and take up my mop-handle in poor imitation of Don Quixote in hopes that this lil inconvenience for me may not be so readily perpetrated upon others, who may very well not find it a small inconcenience, but a heavier burden.

BTW, if you want to drop by the business that stiffed me and just let them know you’ll be spreading the word that you give credence to my opinion (based on my experience with them) that they are unethical, unreliable and altogether despicable, here’s their site and email:

http://www.justdeals.com

customerservice@justdeals.net

One more dishonest place to avoid doing business with, IMO.

Update [11/30/04] Spent an hour on the phone with a “manager” at Justdeals.com having the distinct pleasure of lecturing him on the moral. ethical and legal failings of his firm. Finally wringed from him the “concession” that he would refund the transaction on our credit card (as though he could avoid doing so: by this time, our next step was calling the credit card company to report their fraud and have the CC company get the charge reversed, which they would certainly do [heh]–and he very well knew it by the time he made the “concession”.) By this time, he was also offering to avert complaints to the California Attorney General’s office and the FCC as well, so he told me to simply keep the product we had not ordered (as though he had the ability to demand a return of something we had not ordered! [heh]).

[sigh] Some people are really dense. (Of course, there was also the language barrier… 🙂 I had both those “offers” in my pocket to begin with!

Well, eventually (when it’s convenient for me to be near a UPS dropoff) they’ll get their inferior product back. IF the refund is posted to our account by Thursday.

Warn folks you know: in my opinion doing business with this company means you don’t necessarily have any kind of chance of getting what you pay for and getting any kind of good faith behavior out of them after the sale is a chancy thing at best.

But when you get right down to it, having the distinct pleasure of exercising my “prophetic gift” (speaking forth hard truths, clearly, unequivocally, unreservedly) was nearly worth the inconvenience of doing so while burdened with a (temporarily) deaf “phone ear”… (Laid up today with a frequently painful stopped up left ear… sometimes clears temporarily only to plug up again… drainage? wax? If it goes on, I’ll have it seen to [sigh]).

But man! The guy had to deal with me while I was nursing a case of deaf phone ear… Personally, I bet he’d rather have had to deal with a bear with a toothache. [heh… heh]