Fretion's Corner

Another road taken

2012-02-10T19:47:00.000-05:00

To continue the discussion, started with, and continued here and here.

AJ Wrote: We solve the problem differently - we've got obnoxious amounts of life insurance and long-term care insurance in place in case of calamity. We choose investment and will retire extremely young without impacting our lifestyle. You guys have made a different set of choices in terms of your long-term financial/home structure goal than we have (you guys want to homestead which = freedom to you. We want enough cash to retire early and be able to travel/take the kids all over the world without thinking about money = freedom to us). I just don't think that there is any universal right or universal wrong (and to me, pointing out exceptions to a rule means "universal right" is implied). I really do hate the "catchphrases" that the self-help gurus use like "renting money." It oversimplifies something that is really not so simple and makes an implicit negative judgement on folks who borrow - NOT because they have to (the initial assertion that borrowing is only valid for necessities like food and shelter), but because they rationally CHOOSE to.
Bottom line, I think there are woefully, woefully few things in life where "one size fits all." To me, those of us who value families making strategic, well-thought out financial decisions should be applauding all of the different ways families successfully do this - not asserting the one way is better than another.
As I've grown up, I've learned that I can respect most anyone's belief on most any thing - assuming they've made those choices by thoughtful reason...regardless of how different their choice are than mine. Have I read the same things Kristen has about birth choices and made different decisions? Yes. Do I support you and Kristen's birth decisions 110% because I know that you've made a very deliberate decision based your own review of the research (even if your conclusion was different than mine)? You bet I do! And you'll never hear me assert that my choice is better than your choice - only that my choice is better for MY FAMILY. Just as yours is best for YOUR FAMILY. There are lots of right choices...the only wrong ones, in my opinion, are the ones made by default because someone was just too lazy to explore their options - in finances, child rearing, schooling and a million other things.

Your way of handling your family's finances, schooling, birth, etc. are most definitely your choice. I love that facet of our country, and would defend it to death.

I'm sorry you don't like the term "renting money", but I can't for the life of me figure out a clearer way of putting it. And, really, I don't want to. Hearing borrowing called that decades ago is what led me out of poverty. I don't mean it to be derogatory at all. I do not equate renting as bad, or even undesirable.

Let's take the homestead Kristen and I hope to have. I plan on using our own woodlot as a source of materials on the homestead. Firewood, fence posts, rails for a split rail fence, maybe even lumber for outbuildings. Along the lumber lines, I could purchase a portable lumber mill to turn logs into boards. As cool as I think it would be to have a portable mill, I won't do it, I think it would be silly.

Instead, what I would do is rent the use of someone else's mill. There are several options there. There are companies who specialize in renting such equipment. There are also sawyers who will come to your homestead with their portable mill, and rent not only their mill, but their expertise. Or, I could hire (rent) a truck to haul my logs to one of the local sawmills, and haul my lumber back.

All of these options make a lot more sense than me going out and buying my own mill. Where purchasing my own mill would make more sense than renting it would be the circumstance of me becoming one of those sawyers who hires out to do the job.

I think that's enough to make my point that rent is not a derogatory term. The reason I prefer to think of interest payments as renting of the use of money is simple, it helped me to evaluate, and make financial decisions.

By thinking of it as rent, it was clearly a better option to take out a mortgage and buy a house. The interest portion of my mortgage was a lot less than the $535 I was paying to rent an apartment back in 1995. Even at the best rate I could get back then, 8.875%.

A Different Kind of Good Morning

2012-02-10T08:20:00.001-05:00

No dawn glow or full moon this morning. Today I was greeted by a fresh dusting of snow to give everything a pristine look. All the sounds were slightly muted, as if in anticipation of a storm, we will see how that shapes up today. A light snow was starting up again, and the sound of the wind whipping around the apartments as I walked down the TART trail was a little eerie.

All in all, I do think that it was still beautiful, just a different kind of beauty. Darn, the picture is extremely blurry today, oh well, you'll just have to add a little imagination to picture the scene.

Oh What A Beautiful Morning!

2012-02-09T12:28:00.001-05:00

I sure hope these two pictures I took with my phone come out well. I must admit that on a morning like this crisp winter morning, the walk to work is actually enjoyable. Beautiful almost full moon to the west, and a just as beautiful dawn to the east. Can't say sunrise, as it hasn't yet started to peak over the horizon.

Something Cool!

2012-02-08T16:47:00.000-05:00

My favorite author, Robert A. Heinlein, frequently predicted a flying car, and continued to be disappointed. I read an article this morning that says his prediction may actually, finally, come true. Flying cars roll a little closer to take off.

I don't know how practical such a thing would be for my family, we're one kid shy of needed to upgrade to a 15 passenger vehicle, the examples in this article were one and two seat vehicles.

On the other hand, the whole concept is just plain cool!

Photo by Danacea

Mortgage as a Deduction (Cont)

2012-02-07T20:33:00.000-05:00

I had a couple of comments, one on Facebook and one on Google+ to my previous post.

AJ wrote: Interesting article you write...still not sure we're speaking the same language, though. Mortgage rates are more like 3.75/4% right now. And your emphasis on the word "guarantee" is too strong. I feel very confident in long-term, well managed investing that returns more than 3-4% (on an annual average basis) - but again, I'm talking long-term. That's how we invest. Modeling even conservative growth (but well-managed growth - we do have a long-term money manager who helps actively manage our portfolio and has done extremely well for us, even in the current investment climate) makes our mortgage a great investment because that money is working harder for us elsewhere.
That said, a better example of "good debt" is the car loan we took out recently. We don't usually finance our cars - we buy them with cash and had planned to do that with this one as well. We had plenty of cash to do it. But, Honda offered .9% financing (yes, less than 1%). Even if I put the same money into a CD (totally safe), I'll get back more than that (about double). So, it makes a lot of financial sense to finance at .9% and invest the $40K elsewhere.
As you can see, I do feel strongly that there IS a such thing as good/strategic debt. BUT, having said that, I think the vast majority of Americans would be well-served to follow YOUR recommendations about debt. Why? Because even though I am confident that "the numbers work," there is an extreme level of discipline and ability to "forget you have" some of your money required to pull this off. In my experience, woefully few families actually understand the terms "saving" and "investing" and they have a nearly impossible time NOT plowing every available dollar into disposable income items - or touching their savings. So, taking my example above, if a family takes advantage of the great financing on the car...and then takes the money and goes on a trip to Hawaii, they have blown it. It MUST be invested. One MUST have extreme financial discipline to use debt in a way that builds - not diminishes - one's wealth. And so, so, so few people possess that level of self-control.

@AJ, I do think we're talking the same language, and I think you completely see my point. I thought I also made it clear in my post that you have a valid point that under very specific circumstances, it can be beneficial to invest the money you might otherwise pay off a mortgage with. I think you also clearly see what I'm saying, because you said it in your last sentence. "And so, so, so few people possess that level of self-control."

I so, so, so agree with that sentence. I'm a strong advocate of putting every purchase I can on a credit card. The caveat being that I pay it off, in full, every month. It's been awhile since I did data entry on mortgages, but when I did, I noted the sad fact that most mortgage applicants most emphatically did not pay theirs off every month. The sad truth was, most of the refinances were being done to pay off enormous credit card debt.

Sadly, I don't believe most Americans have the self-control to even handle credit cards. And, clearly, our government doesn't have a clue either.

Where we differ the most I think, is that I would rather not have a debt that could cause me to lose my home if something should happen that I can't make the payments on it. Yes, I could use the money as an investment that will earn me more money, but any investment that is going to have the returns to actually make me more money than I pay in interest, is also going to have the risk that I might lose it (which is why I emphasize guarantee). It's also not going to be in a liquid form that can easily be used to pay that mortgage off if something disastrous should happen to Kristen or me.

As it stands, our home is paid for. We have to continue to pay the annual property tax, but Kristen could easily handle that with what she makes from her business. Even if I should happen to get hit by a car tomorrow, or lose my job, or any of a thousand things that can suddenly make me unable to earn our current income, we will still have a roof over our heads.

And on Google+

CB wrote: Well I think why either of these proposals r enticing (deduction vs. no deduction)
We fail to see y a mortgage has to be for 30 years! I mean the over extension of credit and govt. subsidies have priced many individuals out of owning and so banks have to create these huge loans that r quickly sold to get them off their books.
If the govt would get out of the mortgage business, costs would come down, mortgages would be smaller etc.
I mean building construction hasn't changed much over the years, its unnecessary land use regulations and debt financing that requires huge mortgages.
And so we persist because the govt will give us "credits"

@CB I'm not so sure that the government getting out of the mortgage business would cause costs to go down, by itself. Actually, at this point, even if the government got out of the mortgage business, and eliminated a lot of other programs that cause inflation, I doubt costs would go down. The genie is out of the bottle there. What I do think is that costs would stop rising so rapidly.

I also don't see it happening anytime soon. Both parties seem to believe that the key to fixing the economy is to continue to spend, spend, spend.

Mortgage as Tax Deduction

2012-02-07T12:39:00.000-05:00

A while back I wrote a post on Living Within your Means that elicited the following comment on Facebook.

AJ wrote: I agree with you philosophically that people should be living within their means - but if by "renting money" you mean taking on debt, there are actually several times where debt is actually good. Mortgage debt - when acquired at a very good rate and within the limits that are deductible is almost always good debt. If a family is disciplined about saving/investing the money (instead of spending it), the return on the money they have "rented" each year can be far more than the cost of the interest - we achieve that every year. As such, we'll continue to find the point where the "lines cross" on the graph and strive to stay at the point where we maximize NET return (income minus interest). Essentially, we "make money" from our mortgage.

I replied on FB:

Scott Burgess: I guess I've never made enough money for it to make sense to pay interest on my mortgage. Even when I first had my mortgage, at what would be considered an exorbitant rate these days (8.375%), my annual interest was never high enough to give me any kind of tax credit at all.
Where I felt the mortgage was worthwhile was in the fact that it was less expensive to rent that money than it was to pay rent to a landlord, so as far as that is concerned, I'll agree, a mortgage can be a good thing. Since every dollar that went to the principal got me that much closer to not paying rent at all. But having a mortgage just for the sake of having one for a tax credit, nope, I just can't see it.
What it boiled down to was that the "rent" of the money to buy my house was lower than the rent payment to a landlord for the same house. But, now that the mortgage is paid off, there is no way I'll let myself get back into paying a bank rent for money. Instead, we'll save up for our bigger house, an let the bank rent the money from us while we save.
I did say in my rant that "the only things you should ever rent money for is something that is absolutely essential for survival", and housing fits that bill.

My main point being that if you have a choice to not have a mortgage, there is no reason to carry one.

Kristen uses a wonderful program for our finances called YNAB (You Need a Budget). The makers have a video series, that I haven't watched, but Kristen sent me a link to this one, Day Four: The Value Of A Deduction, that explains what I was trying to say about having a mortgage quite well.

Basically, if you don't need a mortgage, you're just throwing away (shredding) your money to carry one. The government never refunds you more than you paid in interest. You do not make money from the deduction. The only way you might make money would be if you were able to invest the money you aren't using to pay off your mortgage for a higher return than the interest on your mortgage plus the, I believe it's 15% tax rate on investment income? That certainly isn't in a savings account, I believe those are currently paying around .5%.

As the young man states in the video, if you have to have a mortgage, by all means, aggressively pursue tax deductions, but don't carry a mortgage just for the deduction.

As AJ says in her reply to my previous post:

Mortgage debt - when acquired at a very good rate and within the limits that are deductible is almost always good debt. If a family is disciplined about saving/investing the money (instead of spending it), the return on the money they have "rented" each year can be far more than the cost of the interest - we achieve that every year.;

The key word being investing.

If you have a certain investment, that is guaranteed to pay you 6% on your money, and you can get a mortgage for 5%, you might make a little money ... assuming your mortgage interest goes high enough to actually earn a tax credit. Don't forget, the government is going to tax any income you might make from your investment regardless of how much, or little, it is, but unless your itemized deductions exceed a standard deduction, the interst paid on the mortgage doesn't mean a thing.

My point being, it's not the deduction you should be looking at to make the money, it's the return on your investment. That's the trick, though. Finding something that is guaranteed to return 6% or more on what you put into it. 6% being good at current mortgage rates, not so good when they were at 8%.

Personally, I don't know of anything that is guaranteed to make me 6% or more on my money. If you do, please let me know, I would love to get in on it.

Photo by Images_of_Money

Tom's Debate Continues

2012-02-02T06:27:00.001-05:00

The debate continues. Debate With A Leftist Pal, Part 12.

What Got Better

2012-01-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

I mentioned a few things in last night's post that got better when I went LCHF. It wasn't only weight loss, blood pressure, and lipid panels.

I wanted to go over some of them in greater detail.

Acne

I've suffered from pretty bad acne from way back. As a teen, I was told repeatedly by doctors and dermatologists that it had nothing to do with my diet. It would clear up as I passed through puberty. It's hormones causing it. Yet, at 40 I still had it. I'm pretty sure a 40 year old has finished going through puberty.

I will grant the contention that it was hormones causing it, just not puberty hormones. Insulin is a hormone. A powerful one at that. Guess what causes your body to over produce insulin. Carbohydrates. Any carbohydrate consumed quickly converts to blood glucose once consumed. Even so called "healthy whole grains". This causes your body to produce insulin.

Photo by Siona Karen

Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Hypertension has been billed as the silent killer, displaying few if any symptoms.

My hypertension was first brought to my attention when I started regularly donating blood while in the service. Every 60 days I was eligible to donate again, and was strongly encouraged to do so. So, every 60 days or so for 4 years I heard yet again that my BP was a bit too high.

So, this isn't something that started because I got older, it's been with me throughout my adulthood at the least. Additionally, while I was in the service, I was fit. The USAF has constant checks on that. There is no doubt that at that time, I was not overweight. So, my hypertension was not caused by obesity.

Photo by woodleywonderworks

Arthritis

Also while in the service, I noticed frequent swelling and pain in my knees. Fearing an injury of some kind, I had the doctors check it out. Not being able to find anything obvious, they performed an arthroscopic examination of my knee joint. This involved injecting a dye into the joint and taking pictures of the insides, to see if I had any tissue damage.

The diagnosis? Simply arthritis. I was dumbfounded! Arthritis? I was 21 years old! I thought only elderly people got arthritis?

Apparently I was mistaken, and it only got worse as I got older, I ached all the time, and it spread to more and more joints, eventually turning into gout in knees and toes.

Gout

Everything I read on this disease blamed it on the consumption of meat and protein. From the Wikipedia entry on gout:

Dietary causes account for about 12% of gout, and include a strong association with the consumption of alcohol, fructose-sweetened drinks, meat, and seafood. Other triggers include physical trauma and surgery. Recent studies have found dietary factors once believed to be are, in fact, not; including the intake of purine-rich vegetables (e.g., beans, peas, lentils, and spinach) and total protein. The consumption of coffee, vitamin C and dairy products as well as physical fitness appear to decrease the risk. This is believed to be partly due to their effect in reducing insulin resistance.

I see something new has been added to the Wikipedia. There's hope after all if studies are finally looking at insulin resistance as a cause. If you've read anything I've posted, you'll know I believe insulin resistance (precursor to type 2 diabetes) is caused by carbohydrate consumption.

IBS

I'm going to go again to the wiki for this one.

The primary symptoms of IBS are abdominal pain or discomfort in association with frequent diarrhea or constipation, a change in bowel habits. There may also be urgency for bowel movements, a feeling of incomplete evacuation (tenesmus), bloating or abdominal distention. In some cases, the symptoms are relieved by bowel movements. People with IBS, more commonly than others, have gastroesophageal reflux, symptoms relating to the genitourinary system, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, headache, backache and psychiatric symptoms such as depression and anxiety. Some studies indicate that up to 60% of persons with IBS also have a psychological disorder, typically anxiety or depression.

I'm not going to go into more detail, but, yeah, it's nasty, painful, and embarrassing.

That clip reminded me of another condition that has vanished.

Acid Reflux

I practically lived on Tums. I went through at least one, sometimes, two giant bottles of extra strength every month.

Depression

I didn't mention this one, but depression has been a constant companion throughout my life. It's something that I always denied, but it was there. Many people will tell you that I'm a much happier person these days. Most of them will attribute it to Kristen and the kids. I do attribute it to Kristen, but it was the changes she made to my diet. Real foods, chock full of nutrients.

During our junk food extravaganza of Kristen's pregnancy with Honor, both of us battled with depression.

Then there's depressions frequent companion.

Low Self Esteem

Yeah, I didn't think much of myself. After all, conventional wisdom says that calories in less than calories out is all it takes to lose weight. It's just my weakness of will that causes me to be fat. It's all my fault for not getting my lazy ass off the couch and exercising more and eating less.

Yeah, anyone who still believes that needs to watch Fat-Head The Movie. Or, simply go read the stuff on Mark's Daily Apple, Fat Head, Diet Dr., Dr. Eades, and many others that their blogs link to. Willpower doesn't have a damned thing to do with it. If you've become insulin resistant from eating a high carbohydrate diet, your body is forcing you to eat because your cells are starving!

Your body is also slowing your metabolism in an effort to keep from shutting down completely from starvation, hence the total lack of energy, or inclination to get that lazy ass off the couch. It's a vicious cycle. Which leads to the next item nicely.

Lack Of Energy

It got to the point where I rarely got out of my chair. Between a lack of energy and arthritis, I always took the elevator at the office, and there's only basement, main floor, and 2nd floor.

Conclusion

I've likely left out something, but those are what I can recall easily this morning. I'm not trying to say that LCHF will cure everything that ails you. However, more research continues to be published that many of our modern illnesses are dietary.

Actually, some of the research is quite old, like the work of Dr. Weston A. Price and Dr. Pottenger. Dr. Price's work was dental in nature, the problems he researched are also problems I've had. I do not yet know if my changed diet has helped those issues, but Richard Nikoley recently posted an article describing his recovery from everything that has plagued my mouth. So, I know it's helped at least one person.

My suggestion is simply this, if you're having any of these issues, follow some links, read some blogs, read some books, be another n=1 experiment. Just make sure you do it right, LCHF is not about counting calories. Don't do it. If you're hungry, eat. Just make sure you eat real food! No protein bars made in a lab. Nothing prepackaged. LCHF is more about what you eat than how much you eat. Don't starve yourself, you'll doom your experiment if you do.

Quick Link for Sunday

2012-01-29T06:21:00.001-05:00

The Diet Doctor posted a link with comment to a very nice infographic that explains How Carbs Make You Fat. Check it out!

Why I'm Living Low Carb High Fat

2012-01-28T21:57:00.001-05:00

I've posted quite a bit on this blog about low carb high fat (LCHF), Paleo, Primal, Wheat free diets. I tend to write quite frequently about it. I also tend to talk quite frequently about it. I'm actually quite certain that many of you friends and family are probably sick of hearing about it. You probably look at me, still overweight, and think to yourself, yeah, he'll get over it eventually.

I won't get over it. And, I will probably continue to preach it. I have to. Maybe what I'm about to post will help you to understand why I've become passionate about this.

Back in 2002 I tipped the scales at 265lbs. For someone 5'7" tall, that's 100lbs overweight (according to some sources, even more so). I would turn 40 next year. That's me over to the right.

My doctor prescribed me lisinopril for hypertension, and a statin for cholesterol. I took myself off the statin after only a few months, fortunately, because I probably would have been fired if I had kept taking it any longer. I couldn't think straight anymore, and it showed in my work. Please read my other post on statins if you're taking one.

On the plus side, I was also sent to talk to a dietician. She suggested that my IBS might in fact be celiac. Additionally, she also told me that the biggest reason I gave up on the only successful diet I had ever tried, might not have been the diet, but actually have been an allergy to soy (she was right about the soy).

Following her advice, I went wheat free. I also gave up drinking everything except coffee, tea, and water. Following this advice, I dropped to 248 lbs. There I stopped. Of course, at that time I was still eating plenty of carbs. Corn and rice especially. I had chosen not to again try the Atkins diet, even though I had successfully lost weight in the past with it. I just didn't quite believe that soy could be the problem, after all, that's a health food, isn't it? Or, that's what we're told. Of course, we're also told grains are healthy, but I digress.

Then in 2008 I married Kristen. She introduced me to real food. She had read a book called Nourishing Traditionsthat changed her way of thinking about food. She also insists she wants to keep me healthy for a good long time, something about seeing our children grow up and have kids. We now have five of them.

No more foods that were created in a lab for me. We also discovered Mark's Daily Apple and bought The Primal Blueprint. We put me back on a low-carb diet. My weight moved slowly down to 212 lbs. And, stopped.

My weight was not where I want it. The good news, however, was that my blood pressure was. As a matter of fact, my doctor (a new one, my old one having decided he wanted to work exclusively with geriatric patients) was actually a little alarmed that my blood pressure was 106/60. She suggested I should stop taking lisinopril that I had been taking daily for five years.

This was right around the time that Galen was born. A little over 3 years ago. My weight fluctuated up and down between 212 and 220. Refusing to budge lower. This continued pretty much until Honor was conceived.

Frustrated with my lack of progress, and (no, I'm not blaming you Kristen) giving into the temptations of Kristen's pregnancy cravings, I stopped being low-carb and rocketed back up to 240 lbs.

Honor was born In May, and Kristen put us both on a low-carb, and this time high fat, diet about two weeks after.

Here's why I'm passionate about LCHF. Three years ago, when I was down to 212 lbs. my lipid panel was still not great, triglycerides were 203. That's the number that I've learned is actually most important. Additionally, I was stalled at 212 lbs. It was as if I were still eating sugar or something.

This fall my lipid panel came back with a triglyceride reading of 74. That's awesome! The difference? High fat diet! Real fats, no frankenoils. I've also dropped back to 220 lbs. All arthritis is gone. Gout is gone. Acne is gone. All these things came back during Kristen's pregnancy with Honor.

I'm convinced. LCHF is not a diet, it's now the way I eat. We'll see if it also gets me past that 212 lb. barrier. I suspect it might, as the high fat part of the diet satisfies my hunger better, and our continuing studies in nutrition have taught us that your body can actually turn proteins into glucose (sugar), which I suspect is what my body was doing, which is why I was finding it harder and harder to resist eating carbohydrate heavy foods.

~Scott

Snow Day Saturday

2012-01-28T12:13:00.001-05:00

Change is the only constant.

I remember one of the first things Kristen taught me about raising kids was to not tell them what we're doing tomorrow. Today proves the wisdom of that.

We both feel it's pretty important to not lie to our children. The thing is, telling a child "tomorrow, we're going to build a storage bin for our recycling containers as a group project" and then having plans changed by the weather is a lie.

Take a look at the picture on the left, that's the front of the house early this morning, and it's still snowing. Sadly, it was precisely to keep the snow out of the recycling bins that I had planned this project.

I do plan on attempting to begin the project, but it's going to be more planning, drawing, and measuring than working on it … today anyhow. Oh, if it goes smoothly (hah!) I might get to some actual cutting today. My point is, since they have not been told that we're going to be doing this, they're not A) disappointed, and 2) haven't been lied to in their eyes.

I can hear the argument without anyone saying it. "They need to learn to handle disappointment." To that I say, life will deal that to them, it doesn't need my assistance. Additionally, they will have ample opportunity to see momma and daddy handle their own disappointments.

Feel free to post your own thoughts on this in the comments.

Quick quote

2012-01-28T10:41:00.001-05:00

Seth Godin has the ability to say something meaningful in short bursts. I enjoy reading his blog, and recommend it. Todays post: The honest broker. I hope you enjoy it, and recommend adding his blog to your own RSS feed.

The Value of Jobs

2012-01-23T19:09:00.001-05:00

Interesting point of view on the mantra of we need to create jobs. I really liked the way that Adam Gurri changed that to Create Value Not Jobs in this post.

The point is, our goal should never be to “create jobs”. Our goal should be to enable people to contribute something valued by other people. The value is the point, not the work. If someone finds a way to provide value to hundreds of millions of people and it requires no more effort from them than batting their eyelashes, that would be a win.

I like that. It ties in well, I think, with a letter that Donald J. Boudreaux sent to the New York Times. Companies want value for the money they spend. I think Prof. Boudreaux nails it in his final paragraph.

Put differently, your report, like Mr. Obama, insinuates that low-wage jobs overseas (and jobs currently performed by machines) would, if transferred to America, somehow become the same – but higher paying – jobs for workers here. This insinuation is wrong. If Apple followed Mr. Obama’s suggestion, there would soon be no Apple and, hence, no “iPhone work” that the U.S. could possibly “lose out on.”

Every time I hear talk of raising minimum wage, I can't help but think, what that really means is that the value I get for my work is about to go down. Raising the minimum wage doesn't mean that those of us who make more than the current minimum will also be given a raise, quite the contrary actually. However the goods and services I consume will undoubtedly go up in price, meaning that I will need to cut back on what I purchase. I won't be alone in this by any stretch. So, all the people who have to trim expenses because the price of everything went up, will stop buying what has now become a luxury widget that was made by some minimum wage, unskilled laborer. Which means the company that made that widget is now out of business. Which means that laborer is now out a job completely.

So, contrary to what the economists say in that Huffington Post article, I think what would actually happen is the economy would ultimately slow down even more. You don't create jobs by making it harder for the widget makers who employ people to stay in business!

Each and every time the government artificially attempts to redistribute value, they only succeed in making the situation worse. As unpopular as this probably is, what I think should really happen is that minimum wage should be eliminated altogether.

Photo by Images_of_Money

Changing Back

2012-01-19T12:14:00.000-05:00

Life is sand on the beach, always shifting.

I just wanted to give a brief post about the fact that I've decided to remove the FB commenting app, and go back to the blogger commenting system. If I had seen a great increase in comments, I probably would have left it in place, but I didn't, and blogger has implemented threaded comments, so you can now comment on other people's comments. I like that feature, now I just need to get you readers to comment. ;-)

Statins

2012-01-19T12:09:00.000-05:00

Dr. Eades has written a post, and posted a video that I think everyone who has been prescribed a statin drug, who has not already had a heart attack needs to read and watch. Statins and diabetes. Go watch the video if nothing else, it's less than 12 minutes that will be well spent.

Photo by Jamiesrabbits

Kairos Time

2012-01-18T21:04:00.001-05:00

I just read a great article that I would like to share. Don't Carpe Diem

I just wanted to add my own, as Glennon Melton calls it, Kairos Time. When I walk through the door two hours late, after having spent the last four hours on the phone troubleshooting a database issue, and not getting it fixed, and then had to walk home in a blizzard, exhausted, hearing my three year old holler "Daddy!" and the thumping of his little feet as he tears through the house to wrap his little arms around me in a Galen sized hug. Makes it all worthwhile. Sigh.

What do you think?

2012-01-11T12:30:00.000-05:00

Christopher Buentello asked via Google+

Do you think the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will alleviate/exacerbate housing finance?

Gut response, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) being a government agency, will make things worse. I'm not in favor of more government. Frankly, I think we have too much government now.

I firmly believe that the government should provide defense of the country. Should provide a police and fire force. Should build and maintain roads, rails, bridges, etc (infrastructure). And, yes, should write laws. Sadly, basic human nature is selfish, and people, in my not so humble opinion, only ever do things for selfish reasons, so you have to make it to their benefit to get along with one another.

The problem with yet another "Bureau" is built into the whole definition of what a bureaucracy is. I can't for the life of me recall where I read it, but I once read a definition of bureaucracy as "Government by Desks". The way a bureaucrat works is that he has power only by the number of "desks" that work under him. Each of those "desks" increases their power by getting "desks" under their supervision. Of course, this also increases the power of the top "desk", etc.

What you end up with is a bunch of people creating reams of paper and reports, who basically do nothing but supervise other people who produce their own reams of paper, so they can get to the point where they need to hire someone to produce ... to infinity.

In other words, it's a pencil pushing, paper shuffling, waste of taxpayers money.

After going to the site I linked above, it looks like a beneficial thing. I'm sure that the people who created it had good intentions. The goals certainly sound lofty.

The central mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans — whether they are applying for a mortgage, choosing among credit cards, or using any number of other consumer financial products.

The thing is, as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Who is this agency protecting the consumers from?

Like a neighborhood cop on the beat, the CFPB supervises banks, credit unions, and other financial companies, and we will enforce Federal consumer financial laws.

Hmm ... but it wasn't the banks, credit unions, and other financial companies who ultimately created the mess, it was the government.

Uh, oh.

So, the government encourages banks, credit unions and other financial companies to do loans to high risk consumers. Then, when the consumers who shouldn't have been loaned the money in the first place default on the loans, the government blames the banks, credit unions, and other financial companies for the mess, and, creates yet another government agency to keep watch on ...

Yup, sounds like the definition of a bureaucracy.

I think I'll stick with my gut reaction, the CFPB will only make matters worse in the end. I think there are already plenty of government agencies watching over banks, credit unions, and other financial companies now, we don't need another one. If anything, we could use less interference from government agencies on lending policy. Most especially, stop pushing lenders to loan money to people who are a bad risk.

If the government wants to truly help, what they need to do is first, become fiscally responsible themselves, and set a good example.

Photo by Khanele

Housing Bubble Explained

2012-01-10T21:01:00.000-05:00

I want to thank Tom Naughton for recommending the Cafe Hayek blog to his readers. I've been really enjoying the posts there. This one titled Be careful what you wish for is especially good. Russ Roberts does an extremely good job, with links, of showing why it was the government that caused the whole housing bubble.

Of course I also think that an educated consumer could have protected themselves, and managed to use the opportunity created by the government policies to do what those policies stated intentions were. I know it could be done from personal experience. I did it. In 1995 I scraped together every last penny I could for the 5% down payment that was as low as most banks would go at that time.
I could have still easily lost my shirt. The realtor tried repeatedly to push me into a house I would not have been able to afford the payments on. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the payments, but he was using the government's new guidelines to judge how much I could borrow, which did not mean I would be able to actually afford to make the payments. I had to be extremely firm with him about the price range I was willing to look at.

I'm pretty sure that my experience was not unique. I'm sure that quite a few people were talked into buying homes that they couldn't really afford. Yes, the realtor was trying to maximize his profits. I really can't fault that, I know I prefer to make as much as I can for my work. The thing is, if the government, through HUD, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac weren't making it so easy for people to qualify for more loan than they could truly afford, this wouldn't even have been an issue.

There's a good reason why someone with only 5% down payment is considered a poor credit risk. It's a lot easier to walk away when you can't afford the payment if you only have $5,000 invested than it is if you have $20,000. This is especially true for someone who has been making payments for a couple of years on a 30 year mortgage, and has recently realized that he still owes almost as much as he did 2 years ago. The principal reduction on a 30 year mortgage is a pittance at the beginning of the 30 years.

Insanely enough, I've heard tell that some lenders, again at the instigation of FNMA and FHLMC are actually offering a 40 year mortgage!

And there's the crux of the reason I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I could not afford to borrow the amount that the realtor thought I could. There was no way I was willing to pay the interest charges that would accrue over the life of a 30 year mortgage. At that time the best rate I could get was 8.875%. I had every intention of paying that thing off by making a payment that would pay it off in 15 years.

Which was the reason I knew I couldn't afford the loan the realtor thought I could. But even at today's low rates of say 4%, the total amount of interest over the life of a 100k, 30yr mortgage is $71,869.51 ($186,432.16 at the 8.875% I could get in 1995). Change that to 15yr payment and your total interest is $33,143.83 ($81,231.93 at 1995 rates). The 30 year mortgage is good for lenders, not borrowers. Same 100k, but they make more than 2 times the income for only double the length of time.

Despite a minor setback in 2003, I did it in 16 years 2 months.

If I could have swung it, I would have paid it off in ten years. But, I couldn't, and it isn't near the savings either, as you're not upside down on the payment on a 15 year mortgage.

What do I mean by upside down on the payment? Briefly, the payment on that 30 year $100k mortgage example was $477.42. Of that, only $144.08 of the first payment made went to the principal. Only 30% of the payment went towards paying off the loan ... way less than half. That's what I mean by upside down. Nice income for the lender.

Compare to the 15 year payment of $739.69 (note, that is not double the 30yr payment). The principal paid on the first payment is $406.35. That's 55% of the payment. In other words, more than half your payment is going towards retiring your debt. You're not upside down. And, the situation only gets better as you make payments.

Whew ... I got a little long winded there, but it's a topic I'm passionate about. I firmly believe that if more people understood loans better, this country would not be in the financial straights it is.
Next time maybe I'll talk about credit cards, and why they love you for making the minimum payment.

Two Yolk Locally

2012-01-07T20:10:00.001-05:00

LOL. Mom sent me a local news story today. It's twins, a carton of them. I must assume it's because of the Two Yolks post I made last month. What's funny is, last night Kristen called me into the kitchen to see the two yolked egg she had just had just cracked, and she had also hard boiled one the other day.

I'm guessing from that, the article I had previously linked to, and the Cadillac article above, that there are currently a lot of young egg layers.

Photo by kajj

The New Free Lunch

2012-01-06T12:17:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to reading this post 2011: The Year the Free Ride Died this morning, it's been queued in my free "Read it Later" queue for awhile, I actually think it was e-mailed to my free GMail account by my wife, and I'm now posting it on my free blogger.com blog. And I'll link to it from my free Google+, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Of course, as the article points out, none of these are truly free services. You pay for them. I'm a firm believer in TANSTAAFL. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch! Someone is paying for these things, and the fact of the matter is, that someone is you, me, and anyone else who is using them, ultimately. If nobody is making money from them, they're going to go poof, sooner rather than later. And you know what? That is a good thing!

The point I think the author is making in this post is a good one. If you want to control how the app works, you need to be a more direct contributor to the developers business model. If you want to know who has the most influence on app developers, follow the money. An app developer is going to listen most to whoever it is that's putting food on his plate.

TANSTAAFL! Need to embroider that on the flag.

Photo by mheisel

Debate Part 10

2012-01-04T20:30:00.001-05:00

Debate with a left wing pal part 10.

Tom talks about climategate in this post, but I think he missed a point. Maybe I noted it simply because I don't watch Fox news, or any of the other broadcast network news for that matter, but climategate was published quite a bit on MSNBC, BBC, and others that I read, but only for a day or two when the news first broke ... then silence. Then a month or so later a couple pieces that tried to make out that all the lies that were told, and the data that was suppressed didn't matter.

Of course, Tom makes so many extremely valid points, that fact is relatively minor. Like this point:

"4. Even if your pals at Berkeley had gone out and performed a totally unbiased, thorough review of the data, even if they actually had the capability of measuring all the temperatures all over the world and comparing those temperatures to equally accurate measurements from the same places under the same environmental conditions throughout time (measurements that don’t actually exist, by the way) and then — with no attempts to massage the data — they concluded that the earth has gotten warmer, here’s what you could reasonably state based on their conclusions:
The earth has gotten warmer.
That’s it. It doesn’t tell us diddly about WHY the earth has gotten warmer and therefore isn’t proof that humans have anything to do with it."

Yep, that's it. That's all anyone can say with certainty. And, you know what? It's been much warmer, and much colder, in the past. And mankind didn't cause it then, that much is certain. I have yet to see any conclusive evidence shown by anything I've read that humans are causing temperatures to rise, and ice caps to melt. It's a hypothesis, and a weak one at that. The planets' variable orbits, the sun's cyclic fluctuations of temperature, both known facts make a lot more sense, assuming that the earth is actually getting warmer, and the ice caps are melting, which hasn't even been firmly established!

"The mainstream media didn’t report on that story because they don’t want people doubting the man-made global warming theory … same reason the news story about temperatures declining and ice increasing in the eastern Antarctic never saw the light of day in most American media. That also should have been front-page news."

What it all boils down to is, someone is using this hypothesis to be able to have power to tell everyone else what to do.

Photo By pululante

I Wonder How Mother Nature Will React

2012-01-04T12:13:00.000-05:00

I wonder how Mother Nature will react to GM silkworms make Spider-Man web closer to reality

"It's hard to see how a silkworm producing spider silk would have any advantage in nature," he said.

Really?!? Hard to see? More like, you aren't looking hard enough. The most likely scenario that I can see would be detrimental to the silkworm, and that would be that it couldn't break the cocoon to emerge after pupating, and therefore die off, however, there could be other, unforeseen consequences. Which is the point, nature is fantastically more complex than mankind can know at this point.

I really like the way that Russ Roberts puts it in his post titled Spaceship Earth.

Kind of like a spaceship? We’re pretty good at managing or re-engineering actual spaceships. Human beings have a mediocre track record for aggressively managing or re-engineering a modestly complex system such as a city. An even more complex system, such as an entire economy or Yellowstone Park or the entire planet? That we have no clue about how to do well.

Hey, scientists, stop monkeying around with shit you don't really understand! Investigate, observe, stop changing! The point I'm trying to make here is, you really don't have a clue what the consequences will be. Frankly, I think that the possible bad consequences in this instance far outweigh possible benefits. I still think that we're just beginning to see the consequences of what's been done to wheat, corn and soy. About the only upside on the frankenworms is that at least the worms aren't destined for our dinner tables like the wheat, corn and soy have been.

Photo By Steve Shattuck

Blinded by the Light

2012-01-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

Sounded like a fun title for a quick post. Had my annual (it's been 3 years) eye checkup this morning, hence the blinded by the light. It's a cloudy, blizzard filled day, but it's way too bright out there for fully dilated pupils even still.

I'll need stronger reading glasses, but I was expecting that. What I wasn't expecting was for the Dr. to tell me that my distance vision also needs help, and he suggested bifocals. Bleh, no thanks. Besides, I haven't noticed any difficulties, except when I've been wearing reading glasses all morning. If, as I do more on the weekends, I don't wear my glasses as much, my distance vision is just fine, tyvm!

I tried to discuss this with the Dr., but he pish poshed me and said that nothing I can do will make the slightest difference, and that my weakening vision is purely a fact of aging. Sounds to me like he has a blind spot there (pun intended), as do many doctors in my experience.

I declined to argue with him. Not worth the frustration, and he clearly has a closed mind on the subject. As my previous medical doctor did on the subject of hypertension and diabetes. They're permanent, can only be treated with prescriptions, and a low fat, high carbohydrate diet. Ditto with cholesterol levels, etc.

And, I know that opinion was just plain wrong. My hypertension is gone. BP absolutely normal, where it had never been in the past, right back into my teens. Incipient diabetes completely undetectable by current tests, where tests 8 years ago were showing I would need medications to control it soon. All by simply changing my diet, and not to the conventional wisdom recommended low fat, high carbohydrate one.

AND, I'm still losing weight! I fully expect that I'll get back down to a 32" waist, eventually.

As I said, I declined to argue with him, and he didn't try to force bifocals on me, so we're good.

I do think I'll be researching the subject on the net a bit, and I'm sure Kristen will be too. I already know for certain that my eyes do much better with distance vision if I do not wear my glasses at all. They do better for closer work too ... but not good enough to go without close up.

I'll keep you posted on what we find.

Photo by RÃ©mi

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T20:25:00.000-05:00

It's 2012, time for New Years Resolutions, time for new beginnings, and saying goodbye to 2011. 2011 had two huge milestones for me, Honor was born in May, and we paid off the mortgage on the house in August. There were many, many other smaller milestones last year, from children learning to ride bicycles, a trip to a national park where the 3 older children became junior rangers, a chipped tooth, and I could go on and on, and still forget something. Sometimes I feel like my life only began a little over 5 years ago. It's been a busy 5 year.

What's ahead for 2012. Well, it's an election year, so I'll be thankful that we don't watch TV, and rarely listen to the radio even. I'll probably wish that we didn't have a phone either, though Caller ID is a blessing in that regard.

Hopefully 2012 will be the year we find our homestead, but, if not, then it wasn't meant to be yet.

I must admit that I actually dream of building my split rail fence from logs harvested from my own woodlot. Of preparing a whole field for tomatoes, so we'll have enough for Kristen and the kids to actually put them up for later use. Of having a pole barn where I can actually have a shop, learning how to do all those things to make us self-sufficient.

I hope this will be the year that I write posts about all those little milestones.

I resolve to ...

2011-12-28T20:01:00.001-05:00

Fair warning, the blog this link goes to uses rough language. Despite that, I think Greg Swann, the guest poster, makes a really good point.

Guest Post: Greg Swann and Resolving to Master Something Difficult in 2012

For myself, I haven't decided for sure which of two things I'll choose. I regret not learning trigonometry well, and I regret having given up playing the trumpet. I'm leaning strongly towards the trumpet at this point, as I think I'll get more long term use and enjoyment from it, whereas, I'm not sure how much use I would get from trig at this point in my life. I may wait to study it in depth for one the kids to be learning it, and learn it along with them.

So, what will you resolve to master this year?

Mother Nature Strikes Back

2011-12-28T19:30:00.001-05:00

Why am I not surprised? People never seem to learn, and nature continues to adjust more rapidly than scientists ever thought possible.

Bugs may be resistant to genetically modified corn

Scientists always expected rootworms to develop some resistance to the toxin produced by that gene. But the worrisome signs of possible resistance have emerged sooner than many expected.

Whether it be an antibiotic, vaccine, or artificially modified corn, nature continues to adjust and survive despite everything mankind does. This shouldn't surprise anyone, really, least of all the scientists that develop such things.

What does surprise me, and probably shouldn't, is that

scientists fear potentially risky farming practices could be blunting the hybrid's sophisticated weaponry

The scientists are blaming the farmers for the earlier than expected resistance!

What the heck did they expect the farmers to do? One of the major reasons that farmers used to rotate their crops was to avoid pests, but Monsanto sold them a seed that was supposed to eliminate that need. Now they're blaming the farmers for using all their fields, all the time on a profitable crop? Give me a break!

Of course, that still begs the question, this corn, that produces its own pesticide? They feed this to humans and livestock?

When it was introduced in 2003, so-called Bt corn seemed like the answer to farmers' dreams: It would allow growers to bring in bountiful harvests using fewer chemicals because the corn naturally produces a toxin that poisons western corn rootworms. The hybrid was such a swift success that it and similar varieties now account for 65 percent of all U.S. corn acres — grain that ends up in thousands of everyday foods such as cereal, sweeteners and cooking oil.

I really think some long term studies of the effects of eating such pesticide, and likely herbicide laden (I'm sure it's probably Roundup Ready^® too) corn are on animals. None of this short term, three month stuff, something that examines how these things might collect in our bodies like mercury has done in lake trout.

It's The Economy Stupid

2011-12-28T18:41:00.001-05:00

What worries us most: Economic collapse

I'm not surprised by the results. Anyone who can do even basic math can see that raising the debt ceiling yet again is not going to solve anything! Yet, that is exactly what our government continues to do. We can't even afford to pay the interest on the national debt, and our government thinks the answer is to borrow more?

What this poll shows is that 63% of the people polled can see the train wreck heading straight at them, and it's scary!

Have Americans Given Up Too Many Freedoms

2011-12-28T13:45:00.000-05:00

Scrooge-like predictions for the New Year

Reading this editorial reminds me that Americans have been steadily forfeiting their freedom for the last couple centuries.

A great example: "Mainstream" critics recently have mocked Paul’s crusade against laws that ban the selling of raw milk. They say this is such a small issue, and his emphasis on it portrays his “crazy uncle” weirdness. But the smallness of the matter is the issue. If Americans cannot sell raw milk to willing buyers without risking a SWAT-team raid, then what area of life is left to individual choice? The GOP doesn’t really get this point and as a result will fail to deliver a compelling enough message to defeat Obama, especially if my economic-rebound prediction comes true.

Steven Greenhut makes a great point with that example, among others in his post. Indeed "what area of life is left to individual choice?"

Kristen and I would like to keep a couple chickens here in town to supplement our family's meals with chickens we know are not diseased. Upon looking into what once upon a time was a normal practice, however, we discovered that (at the time) it was completely forbidden by city ordinances. Since then, the city did change the rules a bit, but not really. It's no longer completely forbidden, however, you may not have a rooster under any circumstances, you must have a coop, and it must be a minimum of 25 feet from any of your neighbors property line. It's that last bit that pretty much means, no, you may not keep chickens.

Most of the lots in Traverse City are very much like our lot, a mere 33 feet in width. Which means it's flatly impossible for us to place a chick coop 25 feet from ALL neighbors property lines. If we were to set up the coop 25 feet from our neighbor to the west, it would be less than 8 feet from our neighbors to the east.

I could go on and on with these examples, but what it boils down to is, yes, we Americans have indeed given away our freedoms.

What do you think?

More on Debt

2011-12-28T07:25:00.001-05:00

Michigan a step closer to Detroit takeover

Another US city in financial trouble. What I'm reading in this article are a whole lot of excuses as to why it's in trouble. From the automobile companies moving operations elsewhere to shrinking populations. What I'm not seeing is mention of fiscal irresponsibility on the part of the city government.

I'm beginning to think that what needs to be done here in the USA is to completely take away the governments ability to borrow money. The government clearly cannot do so in a responsible manner. Over and over I'm reading that our legislators think that the solution to debt is to borrow even more money. Basic common sense should tell anyone that won't work!

I think the occupiers have it all wrong in this. The trouble this country is in has not so much to do with the so called 1%. It has a lot more to do with the fact that the government continues to believe that the solution to our economic woes is to spend more money.

I firmly believe that the true, long term solution is to stop borrowing, and lower the interest load. Pay off that national, state, city, township, etc. debt!

Tongue in Cheek Editorial That Makes a Great Point

2011-12-27T18:49:00.001-05:00

A Modost Proposal: Ban All Sports. You have to read down a bit, but this editorial struck a chord with me. I really think our government needs get out, and stay out of healthcare and nutrition. Especially since politicians get it so very wrong.

I don't know, Karma?

2011-12-27T17:35:00.001-05:00

This one is bound to make it onto Dave Barry's blog. Whiz-bang! Man accidentally shoots self while peeing.

BBC Editorial on Debt

2011-12-27T16:47:00.001-05:00

You could count through your whole life (day and night) and never get to the billions, nay trillions, which are now owed by me, you, us, companies, governments, sovereign nations to - well, to whom exactly? That's the other thing that does one's head in. Not to mention what happens if we don't pay it all back. Because "obv" - as my children would say - it's just not going to happen. Are we really staring into the abyss? Is this the end of the world as we know it?

Curious thing, I continue to find some of the more interesting articles on the BBC site, rather than US sites. Anyhow, this article is interesting for its take on just how unimaginably, incomprehensibly, huge the current debts that "are now owed by me, you, us, companies, governments, sovereign nations to - well, to whom exactly?"

The author is delving into the question of just how it all began. I invite you to read the article, and comment. Do you think that this debt will ever be repaid? Personally, I don't believe they will. I fear what life will be like when it comes time to pay the piper.

A Point of View: The meaning of debt

Another great paragraph from that editorial.

While on the one hand we are being told that if we are to save our planet we simply cannot go on exploiting its resources and must drastically reduce our levels of consumption - we are also being told that in order to pull ourselves out of the nightmare of spiralling recession, we must have growth and that growth depends on continued spending and consuming, ie more credit and more debt.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T10:12:00.001-05:00

Now for some selected photo memories of Christmas 2011.

Honor eating a helicopter

I just like this one of Galen and me.

Honor in one of her good moods.

Siamese Galen's.

Galen in front of Nana Bonnie's tree ... look out ornaments!

Momma absorbed in a book ;-)

The elder boys racing their new trucks across the floor.

Everyone gather around the organ and listen to Nana Bonnie play

Two Moons

2011-12-27T09:16:00.001-05:00

This article caught my eye, and then disappointed me. Earth has two 'moons' right now, theorists say. If they're going to call that pebble (relatively speaking), all the satellites up there are 'moons'.

On the other hand, there is a coolness factor to this article.

These limitations mean we don't currently have a way of finding our second moons. But an observatory called the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), planned to open in Chile in 2015, could change that.
"We hope that LSST will do something about this, but dedicated programs will without doubt be even better," Vauballion said. "Statistic study is still needed to see where and how to look for them."

A new ground based telescope that can see those pebbles is exciting.

Living Within Your Means: II

2011-12-23T12:16:00.000-05:00

Read a good article about living within your means on Mother Earth News: How to Save a Million Dollars With a Sustainable Lifestyle today that I thought I would share.

We haven't gotten quite there quite, as we're not on our homestead yet, but that's the goal.

Nerdiest Christmas Trees Ever

2011-12-23T12:07:00.001-05:00

Just a fun link to share. The nerdiest Christmas trees ever. I think my favorite was the RAM tree.

PSA: Deadly shoulder massager relaxes, strangles

2011-12-23T12:03:00.000-05:00

Deadly shoulder massager relaxes, strangles.

The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert on Wednesday warning that hair and necklaces can get caught in the massager and cause strangulation. One person has died and another nearly did, according to the FDA.

That's actually kind of scary ... of course, from what I read, it's only dangerous if you're wearing a necklace that is unlikely to break under pressure ...

The Debate Continues

2011-12-21T17:37:00.000-05:00

Just finished reading Tom Naughton's Debate With A Leftist Pal, Part Nine. I enjoyed it as usual. I wanted to highlight one of Tom's closing paragraphs.

The bond market was where the crappy loans eventually did their damage. Take away the derivatives, and the implosion merely would have happened somewhere else. Once the bad loans were written, we were going to have a financial failure somewhere. If Fannie and Freddie had kept the loans, all the damage would have shown up there. They sliced and diced the loans and sold them to Wall Street, so the damage showed up on Wall Street. No amount of financial regulation would have prevented the trillions in bad loans from going bad once they were written — and they wouldn’t have been written without the Fed, Fannie, Freddie and Congress @#$%ing everything up. Again, go back 25 years, before our government geniuses created all those asinine incentives, and banks didn’t write loans like those.

I added that highlight. As all my friends know, I work at a bank. I was hired in back in the refinance boom of '92, specifically to do data entry on all the refinances that the bank was doing back then as the rates fell. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the bad loans were not really the fault of the banks. The government, in the person of Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, pressured banks to lend to people who were poor credit risks. I find it irritating that the government is now saying they need even more regulations on banks. No, what needs regulating is the government.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? In this case, it's the regulators who need to be regulated. If the government had left well enough alone, banks would have continued to do as they had always done, denied loans to people who were unlikely to pay them back. I really believe that some banks, the one I work at being one of them, really did an incredible job of doing just that, despite the pressures from FNMA and FHLMC. Not every bank needed to be bailed out.

What He Said

2011-12-21T12:17:00.000-05:00

Humanity's Ponzi Scheme. I liked this article, Bryan Welch lays it out in terms of natural resources, but really, it applies to everything.

The whole reason the economy is in trouble is based on the same thing. Our country has spent the last hundred years or so spending future income. And, the population of our country has done pretty much the same thing. It terrifies me every time the government raises the debt ceiling! That way lies bankruptcy.

Sadly, I think it's likely already too late.

Before and After

2011-12-20T14:40:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick, much more dramatic than my pictures, before and after post from the diet doctor. Before and After Avoiding Sugar.

Wood Stoves

2011-12-20T12:14:00.000-05:00

I was just reading Wood Stoves - Common Sense Selection Tips and it occurred to me that a lot of the people I know have had fireplaces and/or wood stoves. I think this article had some good advice regarding the selection and purchase of a wood stove. I think it is very much in our plans for our new home to have a wood stove, even if it doesn't have one when we purchase it, we'll likely install one.

Anyhow, I thought I would invite anyone with tips on where to buy a wood stove in our area to leave a comment. Advice on what kind of wood stove would be welcome too.

2011 Advent Calendar

2011-12-19T18:08:00.003-05:00

OK, this was just cool. A little late in the season to be starting an advent calendar, but this was pretty neat, and pretty too. 2011 Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar.

Cattle Rustling in Michigan???

2011-12-19T17:58:00.001-05:00

Yes, I said Cattle Rustling. Animals Stolen From Marion Auction Barn

Snow Art

2011-12-17T08:18:00.002-05:00

Ok, I admit it, I'm a geek. I must admit that I thought these 10 chilling super-nerdy snow sculptures were pretty cool.

Comments

2011-12-17T08:15:00.001-05:00

By the way, everyone is welcome to comment right on the blog if they wish to make a comment ... I would actually prefer it if you did. That way any discussions that get started can be seen by all my friends, across Google+, Twitter or Facebook. The comments are moderated and captcha'd, but that's to eliminate spam bots, not because I want to block anyone from posting. I'll pretty much just approve any comments that are really comments.

Poverty Numbers

2011-12-17T08:10:00.000-05:00

Census Bureau clarifies poverty numbers. Well, that explains it. Actually, if 50% (which is the number that's been flying around the net) of Americans are living in poverty, why is it that More than Half the Homes in U.S. Have Three or More TVs? I think someones definition of poverty needs to be re-examined.

Citizen Scientists

2011-12-16T12:20:00.000-05:00

Yup, that's the title for Tom's latest blog post, Citizen Scientists. I want to quote a section of it, then add a couple comments of my own.

Richard Nikoley of Free the Animal gave an excellent speech at the Ancestral Health Symposium about n = 1 experiments, the point being that if you try different diets, supplements, exercise programs, etc., and carefully track the results, those results are relevant –- for you, if not for everyone else. If you adopt a low-carb diet and your roller-coaster glucose level stabilizes, it’s relevant. If you give up wheat and your psoriasis or arthritis vanishes, it’s relevant.

What do you call it when you're quoting someone who's paraphrasing someone?

Anyhow, I think that those last couple of sentences are possibly the most important part of the whole article. If you try it, and it works for you, then it's relevant!

I know that it is working for me. Granted, I'm not yet the 32" waistline, 165lbs guy I was when I was 19 yet, but I suspect that I'll get there, eventually. It took me 25 years or so to get to my 45" 265lb mass of a few years ago, I don't expect it to disappear overnight. But right away, eliminating grains from my diet eliminated my painful arthritis, my lifelong struggle with acne, and a whole host of other seemingly minor and you might have thought unrelated issues. I don't think so anymore. They're related, in my humble opinion.

What's that saying, a picture is worth a thousand words?

Look, here's a picture of me from back in August 2002, you won't find many of those, I didn't like having my picture taken, it would mean seeing for myself just how fat I had gotten.

And here's a picture of me taken at Sleeping Bear Dunes on September 24th, National Parks free day.

As you can clearly see, the fat has melted away from my face and neck, and some has even gone from my belly. That "Wheat Belly" is the most stubborn and resistant part, but it's going. I've dropped from a size 42" to a 38" waist. 6 more inches and I'll be satisfied. That doesn't mean I'll start eating grains again. I don't feel like suffering the return of my arthritis.

Yeah, we want government run healthcare

2011-12-15T17:40:00.000-05:00

Finance woe 'will prompt major NHS revamp'.

Time after time it has been shown that governments cannot run healthcare, yet, people still push to have it happen.

Financial difficulties will force NHS services in England to undergo major reorganisations which could hit the poorest the hardest, MPs say.

Yet, we're being told that government run healthcare will help the poor. The problem is, the poor are eating it up, and voting for their bread and circus's. Does nobody recognize that there ain't no such thing as a free lunch! Someone is going to have to pay for that healthcare. I don't know, maybe it was because I grew up with my healthcare paid for by the government (I was a Navy brat), but I've never thought it was a good idea. All I ever heard around me was people bitching about what a crappy job military doctors did! Military dependents would do anything they could to find a way to not have to go to the military clinic if there was a problem.

Debate With A Leftist Pal, Part Eight

2011-12-15T16:33:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have been following Tom's debate only because I've linked to it, here's part eight. It's a long one. Debate With A Leftist Pal, Part Eight.

Enjoy!

No Child Left Behind ... fail

2011-12-15T12:27:00.000-05:00

I am not surprised by this headline Study: Half schools don't meet NCLB. I've always felt that policy was a mistake. The only thing that "No Child Left Behind" will do is what we've been seeing, cheating. Educators afraid of losing funding, cheat. There is something basically flawed in our education system.

In my admittedly biased opinion, one of the biggest issues is the fact that student's are not FLUNKED. Once upon a time, if a student wasn't able to do the work, they were held back a year or two if needed, to give them time to develop to the skills they needed to complete that grade.

I think the whole "you can't hurt their self-esteem" thing is a crock. If they don't have the skills, they don't have them. Forcing them to stay with their grade will just hurt them (and all the other students in their class being held back) more. They're always running behind the other students, always struggling to keep up! Each and every child needs to be taught at their own pace! But, since the public schools cannot have a 1 to 1 teacher to student ratio, that's not going to happen.

I'm so glad that Kristen convinced me we should home school our kids. We are able to give them the individualized help they need. If one of them is struggling with something, we can take the subject as slowly as needed, until we are certain it has been grasped, then move forward again at a faster pace if the next area is being understood at a faster pace. And, that's another part of the problem with large classes. They tend to move at the pace of the slowest children.

I know that's how it was when I was in school. I do know that I was constantly in trouble about one thing or another. I can't help but think of Ashley's "boredom practice" sessions as I write this. I know for a fact that the biggest factor involved in my getting in trouble so very much, and the comments of me not applying myself from my teachers, was simply that I was bored out of my mind! There were very few of my classes that ever truly challenged me. And there was way too much of "group exercises".

And that brings me to another problem with the current state of the education systems. Group exercises! Yeah, I'll tell you, what that means is that one or two students do all the actual work, and everyone gets credit for it. To truly have a group of any kind do a task, there must be someone in charge, and a way to kick the takers out of the group, so that the doers can actually get the job done.

What it boils down to is that there was rarely any real incentive for me to apply myself. I was there because I was told I had to be. Now, if I had been schooled the way our kids are, applying myself to have the reward of going out to PLAY, rather than sitting there quietly in class, waiting for the slow students to grasp what I understood 30 minutes ago, you would have seen me doing a lot more application! Let me tell you.

Living within your means.

2011-12-14T12:12:00.000-05:00

This one is closer to what I've lived most of my life. Family of three lives well on $20,000 a year.

I think these people are doing a much better job than the Mother & Son who were barely getting by on $50k.

The problem as I see it exists from the highest levels of our government, all the way down. At all levels, more money is being spent than is earned. Yeah, it's tough to even survive at a lower income, but if you're renting money, you are basically throwing money away! In my opinion, the only things you should ever rent money for is something that is absolutely essential for survival, and even then, you should keep the amount you borrow as low as possible, and rent it for as short a term as possible. If it's not essential for survival, and you do not have the cash available for it, do without!

At the end of the day, I think that couple with the toddler are much happier people, because they're living within their income. Ultimately, if they stick with it, and their business succeeds, they'll be "rich".

Tom does it again

2011-12-13T17:43:00.000-05:00

I'm still laughing ... hah!

Enjoy the story! How Tiny Tim’s Diet Got Scrooged

This bill is NOT progress!

2011-12-13T17:22:00.000-05:00

Bill would permit robo-calls to your cell phone. Good Grief! Talk about a step in the wrong direction! What they need to do is outlaw robocalling, period, not expand it!

Not that it's done me any good to put my number on the do-not-call list, we still get calls all the time anyhow.

I've never been able to figure out why! In 30 years of having a phone, I have never, not once, purchased something from someone calling me! I know, I know, this is more to allow all those politicians to solicit votes. I don't know about you, but any politician that calls my phone to solicit a vote has pretty much guaranteed that I will not vote for them.

Median Income Articles

2011-12-13T17:13:00.000-05:00

I've noticed a whole series of stories on what it’s like to live on around $50,000 a year, the nation’s median household income.

I'm really curious what my friends and relatives think of these articles.

I have to admit that I've been rather surprised by them myself. Especially What does it take to be rich? About $150k, apparently and Mom and son scrimp and plan to get by.

I haven't read all of the articles, but those two really caught my attention. First, the $150k one ... really ... $150k / yr is needed to be rich? Of course, I can easily see someone living somewhere like NYC saying, "that's all?" I suppose where you live is going to make a big difference on the number that would make you feel rich.

That is also true I suppose about the mother and son "skrimping" to get by on $50k. Really? Two people ... barely getting by ... on $50k?

I suppose my lifetime of frugal living has skewed my thinking on this. I'm so glad that Kristen agrees with me so wholeheartedly on fiscal issues, and that we've managed to eliminate our debt to the point that we're no longer renting money. I'm only sorry that I didn't manage to get that way younger.

Really? Immortality?

2011-12-13T16:43:00.000-05:00

Scientists say they're close to unlocking the secrets of immortality. I could understand this article a little better if today were April 1st. Some day, maybe, figuring it out, but the scientists in this article are saying that it's so close it could happen in our lifetime!

Of course, if they really do figure it out, it would guarantee one of two things, either humans would rapidly expand the space programs and start trekking to strange new worlds, or there would be a world war to end all world wars as all the resources vanished. Talk about a population explosion!

Brain Myths

2011-12-13T16:36:00.000-05:00

I read an interesting lifehacker article today. Nine Stubborn Brain Myths That Just Won’t Die, Debunked by Science.

I have to admit, I've never really much questioned most of these myths, and have even been known to spout a couple of them. Interesting how having heard, from somewhere that I can't even remember, that people only ever use 10% of their brain can be accepted as fact without ever having heard or read anything that gives proof to that.

Kind of reminds me of how the whole lipid hypothesis was accepted as fact by people in government, even though there has never, ever, been a study that shows it to be a valid hypothesis.

Wow! Yet another reason to eat real food!

2011-12-12T16:45:00.000-05:00

Dr. Terry Wahls - Minding Your Mitochondria

This video is making the rounds in the Paleo, Low Carb community. I hope all my friends take a few minutes to watch it. Just under 18 minutes, but she gives you a lot of good information on diet and nutrition!

Daily Sharky

2011-12-12T16:37:00.000-05:00

I just love reading Computerworlds Shark Tank. Here's a link to today's entry. See how easy user education is?

This one is especially for my cousin who thinks she might be happier in I.T.

Two Yolks

2011-12-10T07:52:00.001-05:00

Well, that explains a lot ... I've noticed before that I tend to get double yoked eggs in clusters. What are the chances of six double-yolkers?

It's not a "fad" guys

2011-12-09T20:06:00.001-05:00

I just came across this headline in my feeds. Diet craze leaves Norwegians begging for butter This article is mistaken on several points ... most importantly, calling this a fad diet. They also keep talking about butter on toast and biscuits. Thing is, those of us who are eating LCHF don't eat biscuits or toast.

TGIF!

2011-12-09T16:08:00.001-05:00

After a flurry of stuff on Wednesday, I haven't seen a whole heck of a lot of stuff that's worth really posting or commenting on.

Tom did post a video on his site, I'm not into rap myself, but rapper Not So Fat Joe has a way of telling it like it is. It's all sugar!

One of these days I need to post a series of pictures to demonstrate just what a difference the last 8 years of getting educated about nutrition have made.

The Government Needs to Get Out of the Business of Nutrition

2011-12-08T16:38:00.000-05:00

My darling wife recently posted on her blog about a topic that kind of ties into something that is closely related to what I frequently rant about ... the government telling us what we should be eating ... I'm not one to blame others for my failings, but when I've been misinformed for 30 years (about how long I've been being "educated" by the government on what I should eat) it's hard to take ownership of how bad my health had gotten.

The Truth About Male Infertility

The government told us to start eating low-fat, eat more whole grains, and give up traditional, healthy foods and our fertility rates started to decline (we also developed an obesity epidemic, diabetes, learning disabilities, and a staggering number of chronic illnesses in our children, but that’s for another day, too).

WiFi wasn’t around when this started happening. And can I damn myself by saying that rates of smoking were probably higher back then… before our male (and female) fertility rates started plummeting.

Nothing makes me angrier these days than being reminded that my quality of life from the age of 19 or so to 40 could have been so very much better, if I hadn't been following government guidelines about eating the so called "healthy whole grains" etc. I suffered 20 years of arthritis for no reason! Not to mention going from 165lbs to 265lbs (that I know of, I stopped weighing myself after I passed that mark, I was just so disgusted with myself). Now that I finally know, at the age of 48, that it was actually those very same grains that were causing my arthritis, I live without pain again.

I know that hindsight is 20/20 and all, but really, as Tom Naughton says, I was fed a load of bologna!

TANSTAAFL!

2011-12-08T12:13:00.000-05:00

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch! You tell him Tom!

I've really been enjoying this series of articles. Debate With A Leftist Pal, Part Seven

I do not understand why so many people just can't seem to grasp the concept. It's not "free". Someone is going to have to pay the piper, and not to mix the metaphor too much, the rats in government are doing a great job of stealing our, and our children's money. The government currently has too much power. If they didn't have the power, lobbyists wouldn't be spending millions on them to get them to grant favors.

Here’s what else the mathematics say: when you incur a bit more debt each year, the debt grows exponentially and eventually the interest on the debt exceeds your income, unless your income somehow grows exponentially. Many consumers have learned this the hard way, and nations aren’t immune from the math. The United States is officially 14 trillion dollars in debt, which is outrageous, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Depending on whose figures you use, Medicare alone has somewhere between $50 trillion and $80 trillion in unfunded forward liability. If we use the lower figure, that’s more than $300,000 for every working adult. We will never pay that bill. It isn’t possible. At some point in the next 10 or 15 years (if we’re lucky), the interest on the debt will exceed tax revenues, no matter how high we raise taxes. When that day comes, all these government goodies will stop. Not just Medicare — everything. It’s a mathematical certainty, not a right-wing theory.

It's such simple math! But then, I've found that many people are just really bad at math. My first encounter with this fact was back in the early 80's, when someone I worked with had bought into a pyramid scheme, and was trying to talk me into buying in too ... I was like ... um ... that's an exponential progression ... you're going to run out of suckers to buy into it really fast ... 15 x 15 x 15 ... etc. I could not get them to understand that by the time you had gone even 6 months of weekly contributions from your suckers (that's 26 weeks), you would need 3,787,675,244,106,352,329,254,150,390,625 people buying into it ... not possible ... there aren't that many people on the planet, more importantly, there aren't that many people who are that bad at math.

Reminds me of the Cosby routine where he served cake for breakfast

2011-12-07T17:03:00.000-05:00

Some kids' cereals pack more sugar than a Twinkie, that's the headline I saw, but I can't help but think to myself, just skip the cereal altogether, and serve the kids bacon and eggs.

Officials: Mom who shot her 2 kids was denied food stamps

2011-12-07T16:58:00.000-05:00

Oh, come on! Thisheadline makes it sound like it's the fault of Texas Health & HumanServices that woman shot her kids and killed herself. "Officials:Mom who shot her 2 kids was denied food stamps". Come on, there was obviously a lot more goingon with that poor woman that being denied food stamps. And what the heck does the fact that"The children apparently were home-schooled" have to do with this?

Marathon training 'may pose a heart risk'

2011-12-07T16:51:00.000-05:00

Now, here's aninteresting headline Marathontraining 'may pose a heart risk' … change "may pose" to"poses" and I think you would be more accurate. The more I read about nutrition, heardisease, diabetes, etc., the angrier I get at our government.

I should go throughmy records from 10 years ago and see if I can find the name of the dietician Iwas sent to see, and send her a huge thank you! She may not have gotten everything right, but she sure started me on thepath to better health. She is the firstperson to let me in on the dirty little secrets of wheat and soy.

Finally had mydreaded annual physical that I've been avoiding for a year yesterday (yes, thatmeans it's been 2 years since my last one), and even my doctor agrees that myheart health has dramatically improved from even three years ago.

Anyhow, all of thisimprovement has been made strictly on a change in diet. Oh, I get a bit more exercise these days, butit's not from doing exercise, it's simplythat I now have the energy to get up offthe couch!

Exercise, without achange in diet to a LCHF lifestyle isdangerous for your hearts health, because your body will still be strugglingwith all that inflammation caused by my number one enemy, carbs!

Twin Earth

2011-12-07T16:48:00.000-05:00

I've been seeing alot about this "twin Earth" in the news lately. Viewpoint: The obsessionwith a 'twin Earth'. If you'reinterested in that kind of stuff, here's an interesting article from the BBC.

Flipboard

2011-12-07T16:44:00.000-05:00

Ilove reading my RSS on Flipboard for the iPad, and now for the iPhone too. Great App! My only wish for it, really, is that it would be easier to get links tothe articles I want to share to my blog, rather than to Twitter or Facebook,especially since Facebook doesn't play nice with posts from anything other thanFacebook. Here's a lifehacker article onit if you're interested in checking it out. Flipboard Updates, Launches NewiPhone App with New “Cover Stories” Section

Unemployment Benefits

2011-12-07T16:41:00.000-05:00

New LawProhibits Private Workers at Public Schools and Universities From CollectingUnemployment During Breaks

I was never reallyaware that these workers were receiving unemployment benefits during thenon-school months, however, I really don't see how that's all that differentthan the huge numbers of Michigan workers who receive unemployment benefits inthe winter (aka, non-construction) months. Or the factory workers who receive unemployment benefits during theannual (or more) down time that certain manufacturing plants do.

Oh my! The guy from CSPI actually picking on something vegetarian?

2011-12-07T16:37:00.000-05:00

Ifind it truly amazing because this is a vegetarian meat! Sick'ndby Chik'n? Food police take the fun out of fungus meat. With the CSPI's track history, I would haveexpected them to be trying to force all fast food restaurants to use this fake meat in place of the realstuff. Tip, eat real foods!

LCHF, what is it, why does it work!

2011-12-07T12:12:00.000-05:00

I think this is agreat interview. Listening to Dr. MaryVernon explain what LCHF is and why it just worksis exciting and infectious. Low Carb Explained

Expect Changes

2011-12-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

For anyone that's followed my blog (that I haven't written for in ages), I'm going to be making some major changes to it.

First of all, I'm probably not going to be posting a whole lot about Final Fantasy XI anymore, oh, I still play, but really casually these days. I don't even know that I can call myself an addict anymore, as I will occasionally go days without even playing.

Anyhow, expect a change to the whole look and feel in the near future. I also expect to be making a lot more posts, though I have serious doubts about anyone reading or caring about them. What I plan is to post comments about web sites, stories, etc that I've been just sporadically posting to Facebook, Google+, or Twitter. Then, after I've posted them here, I'll link to my comment from said social networks, that way my friends and family can use whatever their favorite service is to keep up with my comments.

Abyssea - Fail

2011-07-19T17:15:00.003-04:00

I have to laugh today, but I certainly was not laughing last night. Our first adventure into Abyssea was a complete fail.

On Kamii's advice, we made our way to the "worm" camp in Abyssea - La Theine. Well, all the worms checked {Incredibly Tough} to my poor little level 82 Puppetmaster. Yeah, that won't work. So, there were some {Decent Challenge} Irate Sheep nearby ... that is, until we killed 2 (for very poor EXP), and then the first one repopped as {Very Tough}, which I didn't notice until AFTER I had pulled it.

Note to self: Always CON a mob BEFORE pulling!

So, that was a fail.

I'm thinking we'll wait a couple of days (takes 20 hrs to build up 30 minutes of Abyssea time) and try something else. Maybe go in there on our BST 90's and just build up some points for a bit.

In the meantime, I need to find someplace a tad faster to get my Puppetmaster to 84 so I'm even with Rahanna, and we won't have to level sync to duo. I've been blasting through FoV's in Ro'Maeve with my NPC Liabelle, but there are no skillups doing that for my automaton.

Abyssea

2011-07-18T17:15:00.000-04:00

Well, we've done it, bought the FF XI Ultimate Collection - Abyssea Edition. Kamii talked us into it with the promise that we would be able to DO stuff with our friends again. Kamii also assures us that duoing is quite possible in the Abysse zones.

So far it's only been confusing. But Rahanna and I have obtained our first Traverser stone, and managed to trade it for 30 minutes of visitant status, and then basically leave. Which was the advice of the wiki article on Gamer Escape.

What I really want to know right now is how to go there and duo for EXP. We're currently trying to get Rahanna's WHM, and my PUP to 90.

The staging area for Abyssea was confusing on first visit. I hope that it will all become less confusing as we do it.

So, if Honor cooperates, I hope to get Rahanna to actually venture into Abyssea with me tonight for some experience points.

Putting a toe back in the water.

2011-07-15T17:15:00.001-04:00

It's been quite awhile since I've posted anything here. Part of the problem is, since the last time I posted my life has gotten hugely busy, and I haven't spent near the amount of time immersed in Vana'diel that I used to spend.

So, for a little post, to get my feet wet again ... I'm kind of excited about the recently posted piece on the official SE forums FINAL FANTASY XI Job Adjustments Manifesto.

I especially liked the:

We plan to broaden the range of monsters that beastmasters can coax into becoming their pets.

There are a whole load of monsters in Vana'diel that I've always felt I should be able to charm ... at least at higher levels ... I don't think I should be able to charm Beastmen ... but several of the giant animals should be charmable.

That's all for now. Party on!

Something to think about

2010-04-15T18:05:00.003-04:00

A recent post I read, True Believers, Part Two, got me interested in reading the book Tom quoted several times "The True Believer" by Eric Hoffer. To my immense surprise, our local library actually had a copy of it.

I've been finding it to be an extremely interesting read. I find that I want to share 2 paragraphs from Chapter V.

Those who see their lives as spoiled and wasted crave equality and fraternity more than they do freedom. If they clamor for freedom, it is but freedom to establish equality and uniformity. The passion for equality is partly a passion for anonymity: to be one thread of the many which make up a tunic; one thread not distinguishable from the others. No one can then point us out, measure us against others and expose our inferiority.
They who clamor loudest for freedom are often the ones least likely to be happy in a free society. The frustrated, oppressed by their shortcomings, blame their failure on existing restraints. Actually,their innermost desire is for an end to the "free for all." They want to eliminate free competition and the ruthless testing to which the individual is continually subjected in a free society.

I found these two paragraphs to be very profound, and wanted to share. I suspect I may be sharing more from this very interesting book as I read it.

Calendars

2009-12-31T09:05:00.007-05:00

Found a pretty cool ability of google calendars that allows you to embed a calendar into your web site ... or even a blog post.

Windows 7

2009-09-20T16:41:00.002-04:00

Speaking of learning ... I'm taking a class at the local college this semester ... SQL Server 2008 ... I already work with SQL server, but I'm looking for more information on how to make it jump through hoops.

This post isn't about the class, however.

Part of the benefits of taking a computer related class at the college is access to stuff like a fully functional version of Windows 7.

I've upgraded my laptop to Windows 7 from Windows XP. As per usual, Microsoft strives to hide everything ... yeck. However, overall, I'm liking the performance. This is an older Gateway laptop, with only 512MB RAM ... and I have to say, Windows 7 is performing better on it than XP did. Though, it's only on par with what Ubuntu Linux did.

Right now I'm installing the most critical software ... or rather, have installed it, and am downloading all the updates. FF XI ... haha. You knew that was coming. :D

I'll let you know how well that works ... since the download of updates is currently at 64%, and estimated time remaining, for just the downloads, is 2hrs.

School

2009-09-18T16:07:00.001-04:00

Well, I did title this blog /random ramblings of an FFXI addict ... this is as about as random as it gets.

I read a quote this afternoon.

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is."
-Isaac Asimoc

Upon reflection I believe this to be so very true. In all my life, I have NEVER been taught something by someone else. I had a lot of trouble in school with grades. Every teacher that gave me poor grades said the same thing ... that I didn't apply myself. Today, I say, well, yeah ... I wasn't interested in the subject. Yet, every class that I have ever taken that was something I WANTED to learn, I aced. This, ultimately, is why I never pursued a degree. I find studying something that amounts to rote memorization tedious, and refuse to do it, so I will never take the "required" classes for a degree program. For that matter, most of what I learn these days is from reading a book, or researching it on the net. Even when I do take a class, it's mostly so that I'll have the resource to ask questions when I find something that confused me in the textbook, but really, I learn it from the book itself, because I'm interested and want to know.

I'll end with this ... There has never been something that I wanted to learn that I couldn't.

December updates

2008-12-08T19:55:00.002-05:00

I don't normally go all ZOMG over an update, but this one does deserve a WOOT!

Several items that are so sweet, and about time.

Top of the awesome list is the fact that Reraise is no longer dispelled. I just hope they didn't miss anything that might dispel it.

Next on the awesome list you can no longer cast raise or tractor on someone who already has raise or tractor cast on them waiting for an accept response.

And finally, 2 new macro selection commands ... and for Select Target Party, and Select Target Alliance.

Lots of other good stuff, but those 3 I just had to comment on.

Staples

2008-10-11T23:51:00.004-04:00

OK, this is WAY off topic, but I had to post the letter I just sent off to Staples.

This is a complaint regarding your poor customer service.

On Friday, October 10th I purchased a Chair for $159.99 and a Printer Cartridge for $37.99 at your Traverse City Staples, and used a coupon for $30 off a purchase of $150 or more.

The printer cartridge I purchased was the wrong one. On Saturday, October 11, I took the unopened cartridge, and the receipt to the store to exchange for the correct cartridge. The correct Cartridge was $40.99 ... $3 more than the cartridge I had purchased. I figure, ok, I'll pay the $3 + tax for the correct cartridge.

When I get to the register, it rings up for approximately $9. This is obviously NOT correct. It should have rung up for $3.18.

It took over 25 minutes of arguing ... and finally having to get quite loud, to get out of the store.

Because of this piss poor customer service, and the fact that the manager of the store made it quite clear that this was CORPORATE policy, and I would have to pay the $9 and take it up with CORPORATE ... I will never, under any circumstances do business with Staples again. You've have immediately lost the sale of the desk I had been planning on purchasing for my wife. Furthermore, you will be losing any business that might have come your way based on recommendations I make to my company.

The manager of the store repeatedly told me "I can see your logic, but that's not the way it works". This isn't logic ... the chair alone qualified for the $150 purchase. And, the cartridge I was GETTING was MORE, so it's not like I was trying to rip Staples off or anything.

Firstly, it shouldn't even have happened. And secondly, when it did ring up incorrectly, it should have taken that manager 30 seconds to override it and get me on my way, a satisfied customer.

Instead, I had to waste 25 minutes of my day arguing with him. It RUINED the absolutely wonderful day I had been having with my wife and kids ... and has me so angry still that I cannot get to sleep. If this is indeed CORPORATE policy, I suggest you change it, before you no longer have any customers. Because you can be assured that everyone I know will hear about the incident, and who knows, it might get someone else to go next door to Office Depot for their purchases.

First Relic set complete!

2008-09-06T18:46:00.003-04:00

Well, the title kind of says it all. First job to 75 was Black Mage ... I have one piece ... pants. 2nd Job to 75 was Beastmaster ... I have 3 pieces. 3rd job to 75 Dragoon ... 2 pieces ... 4th job to 75 Red Mage ... zero pieces ... Monk level 66 currently ... which is shaping up to be one of my favorites ... but is still only 66 as I'm working Puppetmaster hard in order to skill guard so I can skill it ON Monk ... I now have a complete set 5/5. That mannequin I have dressed up to model it (since I can't wear it yet) is even wearing a pair of Destroyers I picked up helping someone else with a KS ... who already had those, they were after something else.

I'm beginning to think Altana REALLY wants me to play as Monk. About the only pieces I'm missing to have some really nice Monk gear is Byakko's Haidate, and the Black Belt.

Thank you rockage for the Monk relic ... I really do appreciate it, and promise, I will get Monk to 75!

Sitting on the docks of the bay

2008-08-02T18:45:00.001-04:00

After an aborted attempt at camping Wights in Gusgen mines (blood aggro, getting locked in, poor camp) that was really because I need a mess of bone chips, I headed for the docks of the bay ... Bibiki Bay to be precise.

6000 exp and a whole bunch of Efts later, I've managed to raise my Guard a mere ONE level, from 90, to 91.

On the up side, these things link like mad, so I should, in theory, be able to come out her on Monk 66 and just piss them all off and MAYBE get some more guard skillups.

So, basically, I was a party of 3. Liabelle, Koumei and I ... playing as Tank. I really wish that I had leveled monk with a pack of mage friends who wouldn't mind me being an MP sponge, so my guard skill wouldn't be so pitiful.

Puppetmaster

2008-07-31T10:05:00.002-04:00

OK, I think I'm going to try playing with my Automaton again for a bit. I'll pull Liabelle out and go to town as PUP/WAR and try to get some guard skillups. That's actually the main reason I'll be playing PUP again, is for the guard skillups. Rahanna says I'm obsessed, but really, it's just that guard is SO very hard to skill. With my Monk at level 66, it's excruciatingly hard to skill on Monk, anything near my level 93 guard skill can't even HIT my Monk 66. But, 93 is a lot closer to cap for my level 34 Puppetmaster, so I'll go that route. I just wish I could convince Rahanna to join me in a Duo on Puppetmaster when I hit level 37, on her WHM so I have a much more reliable healer than Liabelle.

Sneak Attack WOW!

2008-07-03T19:52:00.002-04:00

OK, I guess I just never really paid attention before, but ... wow. I'm leveling THF on my Taru alt. Took him out to solo a bit in Tahronghi, and used Sneak Attack to start the battles, because it does more damage, and once I've hit the mob, I basically CAN'T use it. I guess I just never noticed while leveling Fretion just how much more damage it DOES. My normal hits with my dagger do oh, 15 to 17 damage. Respectable for a low level dagger, really. But when I use Sneak Attack, on the exact same mobs, I do 90 to 120 damage. That's a HELLUVA lot more damage.

Dunes again

2008-07-02T21:18:00.002-04:00

Well, after a false start with a stupid NIN named Lordriku, the evening went fairly well. Why is it that you always find someone like that, who spends all his time bitching about how crappy crabs are, and how crappy the XP is, who insists on pulling something that's too high for the party.

Tonight was really rich though. This idiot NIN got leader by default when the WHM that built the party D/C'd. He then disbanded the entire party (after I died pulling a stupid crab). Anyhow, I got a /tell from one of the other members that they were reforming the party, and decided to give it another shot. Could always home point and go solo somewhere if it went bad this time around.

I'm glad I gave it a try. The PLD took charge of the whole thing, got a SCH and a RDM to be healers, and a couple others to fill in the DD slots (he was tank, of course), and off we went. I went from barely into 15 to 17.5 in a couple hours with this crew. And, here's the best part, NO PL!!

Now for the rich part. Another party picked this NIN up ... about 30 minutes later, I see one member of THAT party SHOUTING in the dunes about this idiot NIN. LMAO ... called him Lord-stupidhead, and then shouted that if anyone saw this guy dead, don't bother raising him.

Aht Urghan Complete

2008-04-29T15:53:00.003-04:00

On a roll, Aht Urghan mission storyline complete, Alexander beaten, and my Glory Crown returned!

Next up, Zilart storyline!

CoP Complete!

2008-04-15T11:05:00.001-04:00

Woot! CoP Storyline complete, Raja's got!

Married!

2008-02-26T09:34:00.001-05:00

I'm so happy!!

Woot!!!

2008-02-15T20:28:00.002-05:00

I asked, and she said yes. My Princess Rahanna and I are getting married!!!

Rank 10 Bastok GOT!

2008-01-03T11:11:00.001-05:00

It was an eventful new years day. I finally completed my Bastok Rank 10. Have acquired my first piece of MNK AF. Started leveling Dancer. Changed my allegiance back to Windurst. And, took a stab at Diabolos Prime (2 wipes).

Monk it is

2007-12-27T13:38:00.000-05:00

Been awhile since I posted anything. Totally skipped over posting anything about the Maw's that have suddenly appeared around Vana'diel, and the way they transport you into the past.

My news is related to the fact that somehow I have managed to acquire 3 pieces of Monk Relic armor from Dynamis runs. The first one was a fluke, nobody lotted on it, the 2nd piece was going to rot, so I said, wth, I'll lot it, and the 3rd piece was like, hell if nobody else wants it, would be nice to complete my set so I can store it ... lmao.

So, now I'm leveling Monk. Might as well get it to where I can actually USE this armor I'm collecting. As usual when I'm leveling a job, I'm loving it too. Raging Fists is awesome, even on Incredibly Tough mobs it usually does over 150 points damage, and sometimes as much as 300, on Easy Prey I've gotten over 450 damage, this at level 44.

I still need to work on my Guard skill though. Wonder if there's a guide on ffxi wiki for skilling guard in particular. More later on monk ... level 45 and climbing fast.

Pankration

2007-10-11T15:53:00.001-04:00

Aka Pokemon for FF XI Online.

Well, sort of, but not really. It's really not worthwhile to have more than one "pet". You can only have one official soul reflector at a time, and would have to have it converted back to a plain soul reflector, then back to an official one ... bleh. I'll stick to one.

I've chosen the biggest, baddest Diremite I could find. Snapped a couple of pictures of it as I was taking it down (took 3 Frost Lizards to do it).

I still need to get him a Support Job, but am not in a real hurry to do so. Mostly just getting him killed over and over to level him while I LFG. Hey, it passes the time. Mostly I've been getting as many merit points as I can. I about have Axe capped now (for Beastmaster) and think I may go for boosting Polearm next, since I really like Dragoon bunches. So many options. Anyhow, I can get merits so much faster as DRG than BST ... well, at least as long as I'm not hanging out in Rabies, which in truth, doesn't exist anymore.

Oh, they went and created a new LS that they're calling RabiesLS, but it's not the same. bleh ... enough of that. I hadn't been spending much time there anyhow. It had been beginning to look more and more like a "Summoner" linkshell. Etc. I do miss having a Beastmaster place to hang out when I'm playing BST, and to do those special BST BCNM's with. Suppose I could go see if TAME is still around.

Actually, what I should do is see if anyone in rockage wants to do some BC's. I'm starting to feel the leveling pull again though. WHM or MNK would likely be next, but I really want to get some more merit's first. I think want to cap my MAX MP, Axe and maybe Polearm before I do anymore leveling of another job. So, for now, I'll ignore that little urge to level another job ....

Promy 4-3 Done!!

2007-10-05T13:11:00.000-04:00

Yes, I have finally completed The Secrets of Worship. I even remembered to take advantage of the photo op at the end of it. Awesome storyline as always on these Promathia missions. It's just too damned bad that Square Enix made them so very difficult.

I will have to count myself fortunate that a member of rockage let me know that someone was shouting for members for this mission Sunday. I sent a tell off to the person shouting in Whitegate that, {Yes, Please} I would like to join them, and that I could definitely come as the Beastmaster member of the party. Well, long and short of it was that his shouting didn't produce quite enough people to do the mission, but he informed me that if I would be ready to do so, and still interested, he would invite me in a "couple of days" to make the run. Turns out that a couple of days meant 4, and that would be Thursday. Actually, they had all the other keys all farmed up and ready to go, and everyone involved except me had been through it before on another character. Sounded way too good to pass up, and I'm glad I didn't.

Turns out that my Beastmastery didn't get used though, damn Charter Communications to the nether reaches. 8 minutes after I successfully landed charm on a Bubble Eye, and 2hrd it to force it to stay under control for 30 minutes, I lost my connection. We were just setting up to attack the NM for the Sealion Crest Key. Of course, my pet was gone, and no longer under control when I reconnected, and since it's a TWO HOUR there was no way for me to get another one short of waiting another 1hr 49min. Kermit (Keremet) turned out to be pretty much a pushover anyhow, though he did manage to charm our PLD a few times, the PLD was easy enough to keep slept during those times, and the local wildlife (Greater Gala's) managed to keep his attention for the most part. Granted, would have been HELLA easier to just let my Bubble Eye solo him, but it just wasn't to be. The Xolotl fights I've done with rockage have given me plenty of practice at this fight. Fun!

Next up Promyvion-Vazhl anyone?

75 and capped!

2007-10-04T08:49:00.000-04:00

Well, Dragoon is 75 and capped, time to let the merit's roll in. Yeah, I can merit on BST, but the fact of the matter is a TP Burn merit party brings in more merits, much faster. Sadly, Black Mage 75 has two options, manaburn Pudding's on Mount Zhayolm, or build a party and play healer ... ew. Or, I could give in and take Red Mage that last little chunk to 75, cap it, and again, play healer. I don't mind playing healer quite as much on RDM, for a Linkshell party or something, but not for a pickup party. The only time I like playing healer is on White Mage. So, for now, Dragoon it is while I do some serious meriting.

I may finally be moving the CoP storyline along a little again. I answered a Whitegate shout for mission 4-3 the other day. We didn't do it then, they weren't getting enough responses, but they said they would contact me later this week, and last night, they did. We're going to do the run tonight ... I'm pretty psyched. According to the leader, it'll be my job as BST to charm a slime, and solo the NM while they handle the rest of the bones. Fun!

Dragoon 75

2007-09-16T08:35:00.000-04:00

Well, I've made it. Dragoon is now level 75. Now to get enough of a buffer to keep it there. One of these days I should finish getting Red Mage to 75 too. Next up, I think, is either Summoner or White Mage. I also got my first piece of Dynamis AF for Dragoon yesterday, pants. I'm styling now eh? Actually, my Dragoon armor is quite the mish mash at the moment. Getting all 5 pieces of the Dynamis level armor is going to take awhile, especially since I still need 3 pieces of Beastmaster.

Heh ... maybe I should just stay on one job for awhile, concentrate, focus. LMAO ... have you MET me? I really like all the jobs, so it's just impossible for me to focus on any ONE.

Mad dash for 75?

2007-09-10T10:41:00.000-04:00

Well, I've gotten Dragoon to 74 ... and halfway to 75 ... time for the mad dash to 75. There just aren't enough hours in the day sometimes. I long ago broke the latent on my Spear of Trials, and turned it back in. Need to finish that. I have Dynamis on Saturdays, Sky on Sundays. I'm still stuck at Rank 7 in Bastok. Promathia mission 4-3 "The Secrets of Worship" aka "The Sacrarium", and Aht Mission 35 "Legacy of the Lost" where we fight that Yagudo. Haven't done an Assault in ages, so I'm also stuck @ Superior Private there. O.o Not to mention haven't touched RDM in an age of days, so it too is stuck @ 74. I always put that one off though, all anyone wants from a RDM anymore is a main healer in the Aht areas ... bah.

Ooh ... the excitement too ... they've done away, FINALLY, with the Experience Point penalty for having a wild pet too. Beastmaster just got that much easier. No more risking life and limb for that extra 30% exp. All I can say is, it's about freaking time!!

It just occurred to me that this particular change will make BLU/BST that much more viable. I already like to play that way, but now it'll be that much better. Not having "Leave" until 70 is no longer quite the issue it was. And, I can now use Even Match pets much more effectively. For that matter, any of the jobs that aren't massive damage dealers (would steal hate from pet too easily) are now viable. Only pet jobs would be excluded, as you can't have 2 pets. I have seen effective use of SMN/BST in the past, using a wild pet while medding for MP, but that would be an exception rather than the rule. PUP and DRG just need to have their "pets" out all the time, so /BST would be useless. But, especially high CHR jobs like BLU, BRD, PLD would be good for /BST. I bet NIN, WHM, RDM, THF, COR and even RNG would do well /BST. A good RNG manages hate control by NOT firing. I think SAM, MNK, BLM, DRK would not do well /BST though. I know from experience that BLM/BST has a real hard time landing Charm. I'd be willing to bet that DRK/BST would have the same issue. Additionally, BLM's would be restricted from their best weapon, the nuke, and DRK's just do too much damage with each hit. The damage would be the same problem for MNK and SAM. MNK is iffy though, imho. I've done a lot of solo work on MNK, using my NPC buddy Liabelle as healer. The massive HP and high EVA and Guarding abilities of a MNK make it viable solo, with a healing pet. I think MNK/PUP or MNK/WHM is better solo. I think I would stick to using my NPC buddy too, even with a Automaton out.

Get a Grip

2007-08-15T08:40:00.000-04:00

OK ... minor attempt at humor there. But, OH, I'm so excited. This is good news for all of my high level jobs, except Red Mage. Square Enix announced yesterday some Battle System Adjustments to be in the next update. Heck, that level 55 "Sword Strap" they pictured is pretty sweet, Two-handed Weapon Delay -3%. This will be most useful on my current passion of Dragoon. But, my BLM uses Staves, and yes, I skill them. Don't generally use them in party situations, but I do skill it as much as possible. And, on BST I've been skilling my Scythe. Only RDM will be left in the cold, as his Staff skill is based on his support jobs ability ... bah!

Back to Dragoon though. Since in party situations I almost always go with Samurai for my support job, with the right grip, and Hasso, it's really going to rock. I just hope that Square makes them easy and cheap to acquire.

I'm also eagerly anticipating good news for Beastmaster in the next update.

Spear of Trials

2007-08-14T10:10:00.001-04:00

Well, while building up my Mamook Assaults, I've made level 71 ... which means I have a somewhat decent spear to use until I get my next 4100 assault points. Spear of Trials. All things being the same, it's a decent polearm to use, at least until I break the latent. By then (since I'm just using it in parties, and not getting all that many skillchains) I should have enough assault points to get my Imperial Neza.

I had a good party last night, little odd on the makeup, and a bit of a shaky start. It might have been beneficial in this party for me to have gone /BLU ... but they didn't want it. Hime BST/NIN was the leader. I accepted the invite immediately when I saw it was a BST inviting me. BST/NIN, DRG/SAM, BLU/NIN (changed to /THF later when he got Zephyr Mantle), SMN/WHM, BLM/WHM and a PLD/WAR tank. The PLD died a couple times during the night, but from 7:30 to 11 I went from 3k into 71 to 21k into 71.

We expizzled on Sea Puk's .. and miscellaneous mamool in the area, concentrating on Puk's. 3 parties just outside the Mamool Ja Staging Point. For a change everyone was actually courteous. I fired off Ancient Circle every time the timer reset. Was nice to see everyone in the party intimidating the Puk whenever this was active, just wish it would last a little longer.

Polearm Envy

2007-08-08T10:44:00.000-04:00

Was in a party on my DRG the other night, awesome party too, ended up only 4k until I hit level 71. The other DRG in the party was doing some awesome damage on her weaponskills, so I checked out her gear. Lot of expensive stuff that I really cannot afford, and would not be better than my AF for solo, but there was one item that is within my reach, and pretty sweet looking. The Imperial Neza. I checked my Mamook Assault points last night, and I'm 7k short of being able to get this pretty sweet 71 Polearm. I just hope the damage increase over my current Grand Knights Lance offsets the lack of accuracy boost. Now I just need to quickly save up 7k more Assault Points from the Mamook counter.

Mamool Ja Assaults anyone?