Archive for January, 2007
1/1/2007
New fish acquired today. This is Bob VI. He’s here because Bob V mysteriously disappeared.
If you notice, I now have a small covered tank. If some rogue gecko ate Bob V, this cover should prevent Bob VI from suffering the same fate.
If this tank looks somewhat familiar to you, this is actually supposed to be a “dual” tank, where a small divider is placed in the middle to house two betta fish. I took the divider out and made it just for one instead. Additionally I also use glass stones instead of colored rocks because they are much easier to empty, clean and put back.
Oh, and Happy New Year to all. :-)
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1/2/2007
Before I get into the day’s activities, here’s a Pop Update: He’s fine, out of the hospital and now in an assisted living center for physiotherapy. And that will only be for a few weeks. Then he’s back home again.
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All USA-based financial institutions operate by what I call “The Day Rule”, which is “Never call after lunch”. To be specific, it’s any time in the afternoon, Eastern Standard Time.TDR comes into play after lunchtime, because no one wants to help you. Half the day is now over, therefore most office-folk will just lull around until they have to leave. Laziness has ensued from a full stomach.
I experienced TDR today with my adventures in finances. More on that in a moment.
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First adventure in finance: Calling to get pre-approved for a mortgage loan (for the upcoming house purchase).I spoke with
QuickenLoans and asked them to quote me a mortgage on a 150k house, just for example, using all available loan options. The absolute best they could do just wasn’t good enough. As a matter of fact it wasn’t good at all.
From inspecting a few options at BankRate, I know I can get way better. I had asked specifically about the 5/1 ARM, which is my mortgage o’ choice, and the quote I got absolutely sucked. No thanks, QuickLoans, you lost a potential customer.
This is the first of most likely many phone calls I will make concerning mortgage loans. I am purposely doing this before I even think about actually seeing a house. This is proper and correct course of action as far as I’m concerned.
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Second adventure in finance: Re-fi of my vehicle loan.This is where the TDR applies, by the way.
I called Wells Fargo somewhere around 3pm. A ditzy broad answers my call, takes my information and obviously sounded like it was her first day on the job. Not good.
However, when I got transferred to an actual loan officer by the name of Garrett, that guy knew what he was doing, but…. then he says “Okay, Richard, would you mind if I put you on hold for a few minutes while I get the information from the computer?”
“Sure.”
A few minutes pass by.
Garrett comes back.
“The computer is running slow.. could I call you back later this evening?”
Ahhhhh SHIT. TDR strikes again. Whenever you get that “computer is slow” thing, that means “I have a bunch of other crap to clear out before the end of the day, wait until tomorrow.”
So I say “Yeah. Sure.”
And of course, no callback for today.
I expect to be called before noon tomorrow with a quote on the re-fi.
No, I’m not pissed off. I just forgot about The Day Rule. Next time I do this, I’m calling at 9am like I should have in the first place. (grin)
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1/3/2007
Title of this entry is a lyric from a song that at one point talks about stealing a Porsche.
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More financial goodness
Verdict on the re-fi of my auto loan: Success! I was able to shave $33 off my monthly payment. Not bad a’tall. And no, it was not thru Wells Fargo. Those guys were only able to quote 11% APR (no joke) and kick off only $10 a month, so it wasn’t even worth it. The financial institution I’m using now quoted 8%, and kicked off the aforementioned $33 a month. Big difference.
This is my first re-fi and it went a lot smoother than I thought it would. If only buying houses were this easy.
This is the first step of many concerning fiscal matters. One down. Several to go.
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GPS goodness
My boss has now officially committed to the wonderful world of GPS by acquiring a Garmin StreetPilot c330. Very decent unit (I should know, I have a c340).
He’s actually been on some geocaching trips which I would like to do someday. I’ll have to get some more info on clubs and whatnot. And yes, there are clubs. Would love to join one. That would rock.
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Florida goodness
It is 6:50pm as I write this, and it’s 77° F and awesome as usual.
Kick ass.
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1/4/2007
Title of this entry is a lyric from a song about a creature that lives in a land called Honah Lee.
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Having conversations with apparitions
Pop is currently stationed at a nursing home / assisted living center due to doctor’s orders. He will be staying there for approximately one to two weeks. Earlier this evening, I picked him up and we went out to dinner. It was pleasant. Later on, we finished dinner, went back to the house and caught up on everything he missed. E-mails, messages on the answering machine and so on.
That all went fine.
What sucked is that I had to deliver him back to the nursing place. Very heart wrenching. Yes, he understands he has to go back, and I understand I must take him there, and we both understand it will only be for a very short time, however, delivering him to that place made me feel like an absolute dick. Pop does not belong there. He’s the youngest guy in the place and in full command of his facilities. Very, very heart wrenching.
In addition to that, there were a few moments this evening while with him that seemed surreal, as if I were talking to a ghost. I think that when you see someone suffer a physically traumatic event, in your mind they’re dead until you see them again. Then when you do, part of you is surprised that person is still alive - even though you shouldn’t feel that way. It’s not that you wanted them dead (not at all), it’s an adjustment phase that’s very.. odd.
Aside from all that, Pop is fine. He appears to be doing very well. And I’m not saying just as wishful thinking. He really is doing very well.
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Finance oddity
I inspected my new auto loan agreement via an online document, which said the approximated monthly minimum payment was $24.50 higher than what was said to me on the phone yesterday.
Now just HOLD EVERYTHING… what the frig..
So I called up the loan people. There were no goofs or screw-up’s involved. What happened is that the loan amount was purposely set with a buffer (i.e. a higher amount) to ensure the entire loan amount for my previous auto loan was paid in full. Once paid, the amount would go back to the original refinanced amount, thereby lowering the monthly payment to what I was quoted over the phone.
Yes, sounds very confusing. I know. But my question was answered and I understood it.
Here’s the layman’s explanation of what happened: Say you have a car loan that has only $500 left on the balance. Since the rate changes daily, it could be $501 one day, $499 the next day and so on. So you send a final payment of $505, which is five bucks over what you owe just to ensure it’s paid in full. Afterwards, you get a check cut back to you for what you paid over. This is what my new auto loan people are doing. They’re purposely sending over what’s actually owed to ensure the old balance is paid. Once done, that overage is cut out.
And by the way, I recommend to anyone that you should never send the final payment on any loan with a variable rate as the exact amount due. Send at least one to five bucks more and get a check cut back to you later. I have known people that have been charged late fees (big ones, mind you) for not paying 2¢. I kid you not. Someone I knew paid off an amount, thought it was done and over with, but the amount adjusted by two cents. Three months later the guy gets a nastygram with a late fee attached and a knock on his credit record to boot. Yeah, he was upset about it. The lesson to be learned? Send a little extra. You’ll get it back anyway.
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It’s good to be a man?
I read this, then wondered why I don’t ever have problems like that author does when purchasing retail products.
All I could think of when I read that article is that the teen employee she encountered must have instantly pegged her as the you-annoy-me type. Was it because of age? Was it because she’s a girl? A combination of both? Unknown.
What’s sad is that the author didn’t get her book (that’s what she was shopping for). As I was reading thru the article, I was rooting for her and saying in the back of my mind Yes, she’ll get that book.. go for it. But that didn’t happen. Instead, she left the bookstore defeated, frustrated and angry. Or at least that’s what I think happened. She never said whether she got the book or not, so I’m assuming she didn’t.
The interesting thing is that it’s almost a sure bet that were I placed in the same position as the consumer, I would not have encountered any attitude. I almost never do. Is it because I’m a man with a commanding (or as some have enlightened me, intimidating) persona combined with a low, boomy bass voice?
That’s a stumper. Or maybe it isn’t. You be the judge.
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1/5/2007
Today after visiting Pop, I attempted to find five geocaches with good friend Kristi. The first four we could not find. But the fifth one, pictured above, we found.
Geocaching is scavenger hunting using GPS technology. It was a blast. I had a ton of fun doing it, and will definitely do it again.
I made my note in the logbook, and it was awesome to see all the other comments there too by previous geocachers that found it.
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1/6/2007
Title of this entry is a lyric from a song that I overheard whilst in the supermarket today.
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In the supermarket…
Spot the hippie walking thru the supermarket in bare feet. Wonder why his feet are so much cleaner looking than yours. (In Florida, it’s not odd to see people barefooted in most shopping places, and they don’t get thrown out for not having shoes.)
Spot the mother blabbing away on her cell phone, then watch her get upset when her child runs away from her to another aisle. Wonder that if she were paying more attention to her child instead of yakking on the phone, her shopping experience would be more pleasant?
Spot the woman with the biggest, fattest ass you have ever seen in your life. It’s not like you can miss it. Turn into an aisle and.. ASS. BIG NASTY ASS. The kind of ASS where you wonder if a six-foot tarpaulin would even be able to cover it. Probably not. Wonder if the automotive industry should go back to making barge-like cars like they did in the 70’s. At least then there would be cars that fat-assed behemoths could fit in.
Spot the different kinds of drinking water for sale. "Spring" water, "Drinking" water, "Purified" water. Isn’t it all the same? And they’re all the same price, too. Wonder why the supermarket wastes money on different labels for the same thing.
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1/8/2007
The shrinking man
A good indicator I’m losing weight: All my jeans are now fitting loosely. A few pair are a little too loose. Right around my mid-twenties I had to start wearing 38-inch by 30-inch jeans. Before that it was 36×30. I may be going back to 36’s if I keep slimming down like I am.
I think the only drawback to losing weight is having to buy new clothes that fit.
The perturbed man
Situation:
- My sister’s busted car is still in Florida (automatic transmission problems), and needs to be picked up.
- The car is about fifteen minutes from my Pop’s house.
- Pop is still in the nursing center.
- I’m the only one who’s mobile at this point.
- My sister will be arriving Tuesday - at 10:30PM.
- I have to drive a half-hour to pick up my sister at the airport, then sixty miles north to Pop’s house to deliver my sister.
- ..then I have to drive back to Tampa, for a total of almost four hours of driving, and won’t be back until about three in the morning.
Did my sister ask me if it was okay to pick her up Tuesday? Yes, but only after she booked the flight, not before. Those are the breaks, I guess.
Why is the flight arriving @ 10:30pm? She picked that. It would have been nice if it arrived at a more reasonable hour, like 6pm or 8pm.. but I didn’t get to choose the arrival time.
Why do I have to drive back to Tampa? Well, because I work (duh). All my video and audio editing equipment is here.
So… Tuesday night is going to suck. Big time. A ton of night driving, combined with being tired. Not a good combination. I’ll have to deal with it.
The traveling man (notes on night driving)
It does not make you any less of a person if you don’t like to drive at night. The longest drive I’ve ever done was sixteen hours (about 1000 miles), with stops only for bathroom breaks. The drive started in the afternoon and ended at around seven or eight o’clock in the morning. I did it solo. I don’t recommend it to anyone. It sucked. While it’s true the drive was uneventful, being behind the wheel for that long just isn’t smart. In fact, it’s dumb. Don’t do it. I mean that. Do not do it.
If you ever wondered why you feel so tired after a long drive, it’s because your brain is processing information the entire time you’re behind the wheel. You’re changing lanes periodically, adjusting speed, stopping, starting, turning and so on. It may seem like nothing, but you’re actually doing quite a bit.
It’s almost too easy to get tunnel vision while night driving. There you are, on the road, late at night, few to no cars on the road, it’s pitch black outside, and the highway just seems a whole lot longer. You stare blankly ahead. After a while the tunnel starts. Then all you see are three lines. Left side breakdown lane stripe, right side breakdown lane stripe, and the center dashed lane divider. Drive longer, and those breakdown stripes disappear. Now all you see is the center lane divider. The tunnel gets tighter the longer you drive.
Sound scary? It is.
I avoid the tunnel as much as I can by stopping periodically (for at least fifteen minutes at a time), and by using my GPS to let me know when I’ll be arriving wherever it is I’m heading. A super-cool feature of GPS - even on the most basic models - is that when you enter in a destination, the thing tells you what time you’ll get there. And it’s usually spot-on accurate. By having this, it gives you something to look forward to and keeps your spirits up because you know when you’ll be getting to wherever you’re going. It also alleviates some boredom, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Even with the precautions I take, I try to avoid night driving when I can. I’d say the only time I don’t really mind it is in Tampa, because almost the whole city is lit up like a Christmas tree. Bright lights are everywhere (even on the highway), and it’s really easy to get around. However, as soon as you get out of Tampa heading north on the interstate, the lights get fewer, then none at all.
Even so, given the choice between Connecticut (I-95/395) and Florida (I-275/75) interstates, I’d pick FL any day of the week and twice on Sunday. The roads are better, the lanes are wider, and driving with the sunroof open almost any time of the year is just plain awesome.
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1/9/2007
Hot
Problem: My computer shut down today. Twice.
Reason: Overheating.
Issue: Fan kicked the bucket.
Solution: Buy new fans.
I bought two new 80mm fans for my big box computer today. The cheapest ones at CompUSA were the lighted kind in red, blue or green. I chose blue. As I’ve said before, blue lights are cool.
– update –
Here’s a photo of the fans. Y’know, as much as I don’t want to admit it, it does look pretty cool.
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Confirmed
Today also marked the day I sent my payoff “power check” so my auto loan gets re-financed. As a precaution, I headed over to the post office and sent it as Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation. Cost: About five bucks. Worth it in my opinion to save hassle.
I’ve noticed over the years that sending any mail in this fashion does get processed faster. Not only does it arrive sooner, but the big green sticker on it lets the recipient know I’m tracking it.
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Pick-up
I’ll be picking up my sister tonight to head up to Inverness. Not looking forward to it because of the timing. Bleah. Ah, well. I’ll get over it.
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1/10/2007
It’s 2:48am as I begin to write this. I should be in bed, but I’m at my Pop’s house instead.
At 10:30pm yesterday I headed to Tampa Int’l Airport to pick up my sister. We didn’t leave until around 11pm. Part of the reason is because TPA conveniently closed off the red side (there’s a red side and a blue side) unloading-only entrance. So I had to lap around the place a few times before finally saying screw it and went to the loading-only entrance instead. Hey, it’s not like a had a choice. Anyway, I was able to pick up sis and we headed out.
The trip up North to Inverness was uneventful. No complaints.
I decided to do up a load of laundry while here at Pop’s. I figured I might as well. The dry cycle is doing its thing at the moment. Once finished, I will fold clothes and head out.
Right now I’m watching HGTV to pass the time. I’m watching this show called Buy Me. It’s okay. Nothing special.
When I head back to Tampa in a short while, I’ll be driving re-e-e-eally slowly. :-) No rush.
No rush a’tall. :-) I’ll be okay as long as I take my time, stay awake and alert.
– update –
I’m home. It’s 4:51am, I can barely type this, and I’m goin’ to bed.
Now. :-)
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1/11/2007
It’s interesting how things work.
I made a "vow", if you will, that I was going to get a house in 2007. It’s ‘07 now, so I’ve been exploring options for my next dwelling.
Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
1. I will most likely not buy a house because I would be stretching myself too thin in order to get what I want.
Some of you may remember that television commercial with the guy who was in "debt up to his eyeballs"; a funny look at what can happen when you live beyond your means. I won’t let that happen to me.
2. If you can’t afford in a house, you can afford a really nice condo or villa.
As aforementioned, it’s interesting how things work. Condo and villa prices are, admittedly, awesome. And I mean awesome in a good way. As a native New Englander I never seriously considered going condo, mainly due to the reason that Connecticut condos suck. They’re boring, overpriced, boxy and almost corporate looking. Bleah. However, the Florida versions are nothing short of spectacular. Truly.
3. When is a condo not a condo?
If a dwelling has:
- …a one-car garage attached
- …over 900 square feet of living space
- …a driveway
- …a yard
- …no neighbors above you
..doesn’t this qualify as a house?
Almost.
The two things that keep it a condo or villa is that it’s attached (not detached) and you don’t own the land.
Still.. only by a hair does it qualify as what it is. For all intents and purposes, it is a house. It’s financed the same way, looks and acts the same way and so on.
Just for comparison, a 1200 square foot house usually has three bedrooms and is considered by most to be "normal" sized. Since the place is just for me, 900 square fet is all the space I need.
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So.. it looks like I’ll be going condo or villa. I’m leaning towards villa because it’s more like a house.
Further bulletins as events warrant. Stay tuned.
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