Not the Time for Greed and Entitlement
Permalink | September 26, 2008 by John in Family, In the News, Money, Politics
My dad sent me the latest e-mail form letter circulating the net calling for the $85 Billion AIG bailout (now $700B) to instead be given to the American citizens. It calls this the “‘We Deserve It’ Dividend.” I call bullshit on that. I get a lot of e-mails like this from my family (don’t even get me started on the religious ones) and I don’t generally reply. Now I know he didn’t write it but it irks me that he (Update: he doesn’t) and probably most other Americans think this is a good idea. So I had to reply this time. I’m sure my reply will be written off as just another of John’s rants…
Whoever wrote this is retarded. It’s just more greed and entitlement. Nobody “deserves” anything.
How about they don’t spend the money at all, money we don’t have because of the war and because the republicans have been spending like drunken sailors (no better or worse than if the democrats by the way) and STOP FINDING WAYS TO DEVALUE THE DOLLAR FURTHER! Devaluing the dollar is essentially a hidden tax. We all pay for it and don’t even realize it.
These companies should be allowed to die for their poor business practices.
Unfortunately the bailout will go ahead, further damaging our country and our currency value in the world. We need to avoid printing more money. This is not the time for greed and entitlement. It’s time for us to tighten our belts and clean up this mess.
Here is the original message (YES, the math is incorrect, but I’m trying to make a larger point):
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Debt Snowball Worksheet
Permalink | August 26, 2008 by John in Money
Free Debt Reduction Calculator for Excel
Download a free credit card Debt Reduction Calculator and Debt Snowball Payment Schedule worksheet for Microsoft® Excel®. This spreadsheet allows you to choose different debt reduction strategies, including the debt snowball effect (paying the lowest balance first) and highest interest first. Just choose the strategy from a dropdown box after you enter your creditor information into the worksheet.
Fire Sale Update
Permalink | August 2, 2008 by John in Auto, Money
Well, it’s been a slow Fire Sale, but I finally sold the Jeep. I sold the 327 about a month ago. I had a buyer on the elliptical trainer in Billings but the resistance ramp wouldn’t go up so he wouldn’t buy it. If I can fix it he’ll consider buying it, and Gene offered to haul it to Billings. I’ve had a TON of interest (well, okay, about a dozen inquiries, but still…) in the Porsches but no takers. I’m pretty much resigned to parting them out this fall. I’ve set a tentative (and somewhat arbitrary) deadline for selling them of Labor Day. The good news is I’ll make a lot more money on them, but the bad news is of course it will be a lot more work.
I’m a god-Damned Precog Sometimes
Permalink | February 25, 2008 by John in Consumer, Video Games
A couple weeks ago over on BonnevilleAmerica.com, in a thread about Blu-ray vs. HD DVD (hey, it’s winter - we have to have something to talk about), I was saying the Xbox360 HD DVD add-on drive might be worth it if it dropped below $50. At the time it had been lowered from $179 to $129 in the wake of several companies announcing they would discontinue carrying HD DVD discs (Netflix, BestBuy, et al). WELL… (emphasis mine):
Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp. plans to stop making HD DVD players and cut the price of existing supplies by more than half after the leading promoter of the high-definition video format conceded defeat to Sony Corp.’s Blu-ray last week.
“From tomorrow, we will cut the price to $49,” said Grace Chou, a Taipei-based spokeswoman for the Redmond, Washington- based company. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console includes a standard DVD player, and customers can buy an HD DVD machine to use with the console at $119.99 through retailers such as Amazon.com.
Nerdgasm, #27 in a Series
Permalink | by John in Consumer, Entertainment, Household
This Star Wars Inspired Desk would be so much cooler if it acted as a PC casemod, too:
Tom Spina Designs created this custom Star Wars inspired desk for the studio office of Mark Hall, from the Grammy award-winning group Casting Crowns. Underneath the 1/2″ thick glass table top, a carved Han Solo emerges from below. Metal and fiberglass construction with a heavy glass top create an elegant and extremely unique piece of furniture.