oldi's Blog

I must be crazy to go to a mall on the two Saturday's before Christmas.  But, my dear little Mother could not go out any other time.

We went to Ridgmar Mall last Saturday and it was a mess. We had to circle the parking lot, trying to find a spot. I wasn't being picky, I just wanted to find a legal parking place. The mall was crowded and it was very difficult to get around and see what we were looking for.

Today, (still Saturday at this writing) we went to Grapevine Mills Mall. We were a little smarter this time. We showed up right when the JC Penney outlet store opened. There was a  small crowd waiting for the doors to open and the store was crowded. There was adequate parking when we went and they had the Police watching. I noticed a lot of cars coming into the mall parking lot around 10:30 AM when we were leaving.

Then it was off to the Parks Mall. I am impressed with the way the barricades were set up on the I-20 access road to make exiting the mall safer. There was adequate parking at the Parks Mall and a strong Police presence.

I would give Grapevine Mills and The Parks the highest scores for parking and safety.

I didn't go to the Arlington Highlands shopping center, but it is one of the easier shopping centers to get around in. There is never a problem parking.

This is an update on the situation with my house being paid off. Read part 1 first.

Within 2 days of my faxing the tax and insurance bills to the mortgage company, they paid the bills.

I went to the payoff information link and found out how to make the final payment. It had to be wired to the mortgage company. They also added a tiny interest payment and the title release fee.

The link also stated that the remaining escrow money will be returned 14 days after the final payment.

I went to the credit union and wired the money on Friday, Dec 19. I checked the website and it showes that the house is paid in full, and that there is money in my escrow account.

Now, all I have to do is wait the 14 days for the escrow money to be returned to me.

I am one of the people that did research on home mortgages and real estate before I took the plunge. I said no to the ARM, the balloon, interest only and pre-payment penalties.

My real estate agent showed us a really fancy house that we could “get into” with an ARM. I said “no thank you!” I told the real estate agents that we had to qualify with a 15 year fixed interest loan, and I didn’t want payments that we could barely afford.

I’ve never been sorry for my decision.

Fast forward 15 years and the bone heads at Countrywide have sent me a payment coupon that includes an escrow payment.

Huh! What!!!

This is really strange since I added the tax and insurance bill that are due in December and January. I subtracted that amount from my money in my escrow account. There is actually money left over.

I faxed the insurance and tax bills to the mortgage company this morning. I also sent them a message on their website.

Things really started going bad at Countrywide when the merger with Bank of America was announced last year.

They were late paying my insurance and caused a gap in coverage. There was more than enough in the escrow account to pay the insurance last year, too.

I know that there are a lot of smart people out there. I’ve read your blogs.

Does anyone out there have an idea of what else I should be doing to correct this situation?

BTW, I will update you on this situation in part 2.

This was so small that I have not found any cracks in patios, porches or sidewalks. I was at work with a lot of noise and activity that could easily cover up any type of mild tremmor.

When I was in California, sometimes we would feel a mild vibration and the pictures on the walls would shake.

If it was a nuisance-type earth quake we would have to be cautious of pictures falling off walls.

If objects were tipping over, it was time to take things a little more seriously.

I am surprised that there has been no mention of the tremmors in El Paso, Texas. Those actually did damage to homes. They were strong enough to wake me up, because I thought that someone was pounding on all of the doors to my parents home. When I got out of bed, the floor had waves like the ocean. The next morning we found the cracks running from the front porch to the back patio. There was damage to two arches inside the house. That old mid-century home was brick on a concrete slab.

I have heard that the Franklin mountain range, in the center of El Paso, was formed partly by  volcano and part earthquake. I could ask my ex (a geologist) but I don't have much to do with him anymore.

Pier and beam construction is the best for earth quake prone areas. There are some areas in California that actually do not allow certain types of balconies.

I have always liked the pyramid shaped furniture, due to the stability of it in an earthquake. It is also safer for little children.

BTW, my avatar is me and my girls on the beach of Oceanside California. (Very, very old photo)

Once upon a time a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and, as supply started to diminish,the villagers stopped their effort.

He next announced that he would now buy monkeys at $20 each. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms.

The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would buy on his behalf.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers: "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has already collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each."

The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys for 700 billion dollars.

They never saw the man or his assistant again, only lots and lots of monkeys!

Now you have a better understanding of how the WALL STREET BAILOUT PLAN WILL WORK !!!!

                  Twas The Night Before The Elections

gun control, banking regulations & the fairness doctrine  

First of all, let me introduce myself to you. I am have over 25 years of law enforcement experience. This influences my views on crime and gun control. I am against gun control!!!
Almost every night that I go to work there are police calls holding, because we are so understaffed. I think that the criminals probably know this. The thought of decent citizens being denied the right to protect themselves is very frightening to me. In the "real world" it can take 20 minutes or more to get an emergency call answered. Criminals will always have weapons. I have personally seen weapons made from toothpaste tubes, plumbing parts, medical appliances,  plastic cups and toothbrushes. I have seen photos of weapons made from power tools and common OTC medications.

I am a slightly low-income consumer with excellent credit that has seen my share of credit card company and loan abuses. In my opinion, there are several reasons that we are having the credit issues that we have today. People did not educate themselves before getting a mortgage loan. Obviously, there are a lot of people that do not read stacks of books on real estate and finance, like I do. There are also predatory banks that have been allowed to really abuse the little guy. It is not uncommon for a credit card issuer to jack the interest up on a consumer with good credit that pays their bills on time. I didn't believe this until it happened to me. There were also high lines of credit granted to people that were not credit worthy. I believe that we need stricter banking regulations and some kind of nationwide consumer education program.

Back when I was a young broadcast major in college, we had to learn about the fairness doctrine. It actually made sense at the time, because most parts of the country had only the big three major networks and their affiliated TV stations. Now, we have hundreds of stations that specialize in their own type of programming. I'm also enjoying satellite radio that has hundreds of stations, allowing me to listen to any and all types of news and talk channels. It does not make any sense to force any station to air a program that is not suitable for their listeners/viewers. In this day and time the fairness doctrine is not fair!

Like many folks, my 401k and my 457 took a big hit on the stock market.

It is too depressing to keep up with the numbers. I have checked my accounts on-line a few times. The numbers change so much that I never know what to expect.

I have to quote Warren Buffett. "A simple rule dictates my buying:  Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." If it is good enough for Warren Buffett, then it is good enough for me. He is the wealthiest man in the United States.

If I hadn't been through this before, I would have panicked. I'm not panicking.

We are seeing news reports of widespread foreclosures.

I have always been fond of reading finance books. When we purchased our home, I insisted on a 15 year fixed interest loan with no pre-payment penalty. The real estate agents tried to persuade us into an ARM loan on a much larger home. (keep in mind that real estate agents get 6% commissions on most home sales. If the listing agent and purchasing agent are not the same person, they split the commission between selling agent and purchasing agent) I politely said "No thank you, I want something that we can qualify for with a 15 yr fixed interest loan." I also told them that I wanted to have a little wiggle room in our finances. As a result of these decisions, our home will be paid off in February.

It has been a few years since I saw a foreclosure in my neighborhood.

We are seeing news reports about it being impossible for people to get car loans.

When my car was totalled in an accident recently, I had to get a new car.

 Luckily, I had been looking at cars on Edmunds.com and consumer reports for about a year. When I watch programs that I'm playing back on my DVR, I have the habit of backing up if I see a commercial for something that I'm interested in. I had watched a lot of car commercials, too. 

I thought about all of those reports that I had seen on TV about how "most people are unable to get car loans". I swallowed hard and applied for a loan on-line with my favorite credit union. (the one that gives the best deals, if you qualify) I could not believe what I was seeing when I was approved within one minute. I called the next morning and told them that I needed to speak to a loan officer about my loan, that I had just been qualified for. She told me that I had excellent credit and also offered me a credit card that I could transfer high interest balances to. I asked her what I should expect at the car dealership, and what I needed to do. The process was simple.

I'm one of very many people that get approved for car loans.

We are seeing news reports about how banks are no longer sending pre-approved credit card applications in the mail.

Oh really! I get at least one every week.

The message that I'm trying to get out there is;

Don't believe the hype!  The sky is not falling!!!!!!

Apparently Fox4 wants for you to see this.

It shows up in the middle of every page in the blogs!

I think I'm going snow blind!

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I truly believe that we are living in the era of 'entitlement'.

Take a close look at TV commercials, if you don't believe it.

Loreal is probably the most obvious, with their line "I'm worth it!"

McDonalds is famous for "You deserve a break today."

Nationwide is on your side.

Have it your way. (Burger King)

Puffs Tissues "A nose in need deserves Puffs indeed."

There have been very many companies that use "You deserve _____________"

This has even been used in politics.

Just watch commercials on TV. Now that I've warned you, you are going to be able to identify the entitlement tag-lines more frequently.

The reason that I'm bringing this up is that it is destroying the fiber of our society. I have been given many entitlement messages from well-meaning people, and I've been given these messages in a number of different ways.

I've been told:

Live a little.

Life is too short.

You deserve it. (of course)

Don't be so hard on yourself.

When someone gives me this kind of message in person. I tend to go into analytical mode. I ask myself why this person has this message for me.

If if is a relative that truely loves me or the message comes from one of my doctors, I might feel that the message comes from concern. I have had stress related medical problems.

If the message comes from a person that I don't know very well, I consider it neutral.

If the message comes from a person that is working in sales, I become hyper-alert, because this person is trying the entitlement psychology advertising on me.

Unfortunately, this is one of the most effective advertising methods that has ever been created.

The reason that I'm very wary of this, is that we are becoming lazy and developing entitled attitudes.

This is the reason that people no longer have common sense about what they can actually afford. More people are in debt and don't save today.

This attitude has also discouraged most people from bringing a healthy lunch from home.  I remember a time when most people carried a lunch box with a thermos bottle to work. We don't see that very much any more.

There was a time when people would save money until they could afford what they wanted. I remember that well.

I also remember when people were more likely to admit that they can't afford it.

Has anyone else noticed that we are being bombarded with entitlement messages?

Please give me your examples! 

The story below does not surprise me at all.

(Apparently, this was in the Star-Telegram)

Arlington Fumbles Financing of New Stadium
Submitted by betchison on Sun, 09/21/2008 - 7:17pm.

The city of Arlington is finding that they fumbled the financing for the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington. The stadium, which was jointly financed by Jerry Jones and the city of Arlington is finding itself in the same predicament of many homeowners around the state as they have suffered the sting from a variable rate on the bonds that they used to finance the stadium.

Certainly you would think a city like Arlington would not take a risk on variable rate bonds. The city had already taken a hit on the way they used eminent domain just to secure the land needed for the new stadium. However, at the time they were advised that the savings associated with a variable rate bond would be tremendous. I'd imagine they won't be using that financial adviser again any time soon.

In order for Arlington to terminate the current agreement and put in place a new agreements with a locked rate it is estimated to cost the city $23 to $28 million dollars. If you break that down per citizen of Arlington, a city of about 330,000, that is $84 per person. That is a valuable tank of gas. If you were to look even further and break that cost down per tax payer the number would be astronomical.

While I am all for progress and bringing that business and tourism to this part of the metroplex, it should not be done by wasteful and mismanaged spending on part of the city of Arlington. I'd venture to say that when the voters of Arlington approved those bonds for the stadium they didn't do so with the undertanding that $28 million would be thrown away. Clearly Arlington has fumbled the financing of its soon to be moneymaker.

(moneymaker??????????? - It already has a horrible track record)

You can find the story here:
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/916955.html<
/a>

robert.cluck@arlingtontx.gov

COUNCIL MEMBER MEL LEBLANC DISTRICT 1

Mel.Leblanc@arlingtontx.gov

COUNCIL MEMBER SHERI CAPEHART DISTRICT 2

Sheri.Capehart@arlingtontx.gov

COUNCIL MEMBER ROBERT RIVERA DISTRICT 3

robert.rivera@arlingtontx.gov 

COUNCIL MEMBER KATHRYN WILEMON
DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEMPORE
DISTRICT 4

Kathryn.Wilemon@arlingtontx.gov

COUNCIL MEMBER LANA WOLFF
MAYOR PRO TEMPORE
DISTRICT 5

Lana.Wolff@arlingtontx.gov

COUNCIL MEMBER ROBERT SHEPARD
DISTRICT 6
AT LARGE

Robert.Shepard@arlingtontx.gov

COUNCIL MEMBER JIMMY BENNETT
DISTRICT 7
AT LARGE

Jimmy.Bennett@arlingtontx.gov

COUNCIL MEMBER GENE PATRICK
DISTRICT 8
AT LARGE

Gene.Patrick@arlingtontx.gov

I was shocked to see that hurricane Dolly has caused so much destruction in Ruidoso.

I grew up in El Paso, Texas and Ruidoso is one of the vacation spots that we used to visit.

The report that I saw showed collapsed bridges and campers tents floating down a river. Campers were actually woke up by the movement of their tents. My family used to camp there!

I just did not believe that a hurricane could keep causing so much destruction for such a long distance. This makes me believe that we are all vulnerable to more crazy weather than I ever thought possible.

These are questions for the meteorologists:

What is the record for damage caused by a hurricane once it has gone inland?

Is there a record for miles travelled while still causing damage?

The city of Arlington has Pleasant Ridge closed for construction, and it is a mess right now. I really feel sorry for the people that live in the construction areas. There are some alternate routes for them, but those routes are very time-consuming. This has been one of my favorite detours when there have been major wrecks on I-20. I always liked this street anyway, because it is pretty and tree lined. A lot of the trees have been taken down.

It will not be complete until January 2010.

I had a feeling that El Paso, Texas and possibly part of New Mexico would be flooded this week. When I watched the weather it appeared that Hurricane Dolly was going in that direction. None of the local meteorologists said anything about El Paso being in danger.

It turned out that the street flooding was pretty bad and some houses were flooded in El Paso.

The trans-mountain highway (that goes through the Franklin Mountains) was closed due to rock slides caused by flooding. I loved driving through that highway. The view is gorgeous.

There was a traffic fatality in Las Cruces, New Mexico when an SUV hit a puddle and overturned. A passenger died and the driver and two children were hopitalized.

Ask any person from El Paso and we will tell you that the rest of the state of Texas does not treat us like we are part of Texas.

I considered the above story important enough for some air time.

Some awareness ribbons represent as many as 50 different causes or organizations.

Black represents:

• Amish Support
• Anti-Terrorism
• Gang Prevention
• Gun Control

• Melanoma
• Mourning
• Narcolepsy
• POW/MIA (alternative color: Yellow)

• Sleep Apnea
• Sleep Disorders
• Students for Gun Control
• Trauma

Black and Blue represent:

• Loss of a Brother
• Loss of a Male Child
• Anti-Terrorism
• Mourning a Brother
• Mourning a Son

Black and Pink represent:

• Loss of a Female Child
• Loss of a Sister
• Mourning a Daughter
• Mourning a Sister

Blue represents:

• Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
• Alopecia
• Ankylosing Spondylitis
• Arthritis
• Brachial Plexus Injuries
• Child Abuse Prevention
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Colitis
• Colon Cancer
• Cororectal Cancer
• Crime Victim's Rights
• Crohn's Disease
• Drowning
• Dysautonomia
• Dystonia
• Education

• Epstein-Barr Virus
• Erb's Palsy
• Familial Polyposis
• Free Speech
• Guillian Barre Syndrome
• Huntington's Disease
• Hurricane
• Hurricane Katrina
• Hystiocytosis
• Ichthyosis
• Interstitial Cystitis
• Langerhans Cell Hystiocytosis
• Leukodystrophies
• ME/CFIDS
• Myositis

• Police Lost in Duty
• Rectal Cancer
• Restless Legs Syndrome
• Reye's Syndrome
• Save the Music in Our Schools
• Short Bowel Syndrome
• Steven Johnson Syndrome
• Teens Against Smoking
• Transverse Myelitis
• Victim's Rights
• Water Quality
• Water Safety

Light Blue represents:

• Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
• Alopecia
• Ankylosing Spondylitis
• Arthritis
• Brachial Plexus Injuries
• Child Abuse Prevention
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Colitis
• Colon Cancer
• Cororectal Cancer
• Crime Victim's Rights
• Crohn's Disease
• Drowning
• Dysautonomia
• Dystonia
• Education

• Epstein-Barr Virus
• Erb's Palsy
• Familial Polyposis
• Free Speech
• Guillian Barre Syndrome
• Huntington's Disease
• Hurricane
• Hurricane Katrina
• Hystiocytosis
• Ichthyosis
• Interstitial Cystitis
• Langerhans Cell Hystiocytosis
• Leukodystrophies
• ME/CFIDS
• Myositis

• Police Lost in Duty
• Rectal Cancer
• Restless Legs Syndrome
• Reye's Syndrome
• Save the Music in Our Schools
• Short Bowel Syndrome
• Steven Johnson Syndrome
• Teens Against Smoking
• Transverse Myelitis
• Victim's Rights
• Water Quality
• Water Safety

Brown represents:

• Anti-Tobacco
• Colon Cancer
• Colorectal Cancer
• Familial Polyposis
• Tobacco Awareness

Gold represents:

• Childhood Cancer (alternative colors are pink and light blue)
• COPD
• Embryonal Rhabdomysarcoma

Grey represents:

• Allergies
• Alpha-1
• Antitrypsin Deficiency

• Aphasia
• Asthma
• Brain Cancer

• Brain Tumors
• Diabetes
• Mental Illness

Green represents:

• Bipolar Disorder
• Bone Marrow Donation
• Cerebral Palsy
• Childhood Depression
• Depression
• Environmental Concerns
• Eye Injury Prevention
• Fanconi's Syndrome
• Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
• Freedom
• Glaucoma
• Growth and Rebuilding
• Homeopathy
• Kidney Cancer

• Kidney Disease
• Kidney Donation
• Leukemia
• Literacy
• Living Organ Donation
• Manic Depression
• Mental Health
• Mental Illness
• Mental Retardation
• Missing Children
• Mitochondrial Disease
• Nephrotic Syndrome
• Neural Tube Defects
• Neurofibromatosis

• Open Records for Adoptees
• Organ Donation
• Organ Transplant
• Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
• Safety Driving
• Safe Darfur
• Spinal Cord Injuury Research
• Stem Cell Donor
• Stem Cell Research
• Tissue Donation
• Tourette's Syndrome
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Von Hippel Lindau
• Worker Safety

Lime Green represents:

• Lymphoma
• Lyme Disease
• Muscular Dystophy
• Ivemark Syndrome
• Sandhoff Disease

Orange represents:

• Agent Orange effects
• Cultural Diversity
• Cat Spaying and Neutering
• Hunger
• Leukemia
• Lupus

• Melanoma
• Motorcycle Safety
• Racial Tolerance
• Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome (RSDS)
• Self-Injury Awareness

Pearl represents:

• Emphysema
• Mesothelioma
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinema

Periwinkle represents:

• Eating Disorders
• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Esophageal of Stomach Cancer
• Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or Spastic Colon

Pink represents:

• Birth Parents
• Breast Cancer
• Cleft Palate
• Nursing Mothers

Pink and Blue represent:

• Pregnancy
• Loss of an Infant
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• Male Breast Cancer

Purple represents:

• ADD
• ADHD
• Alzheimer's
• Animal Abuse
• Colitis
• Crohn's Disease

• Cystic Fibrosis
• Domestic Violence
• Fibromyalgia
• Leimyosarcoma
• Lupus

• Pancreatic Cancer
• Religious Tolerance
• Testicular Cancer
• Thyroid Cancer
• Victims of 9/11 (Including Police and Firefighters)

Light Purple represents:

• General Cancer Awareness
• Epilepsy
• Foster Care or Foster Parents
• Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis
• Rett Syndrome

Puzzle represents:

• Autism

Red represents:

• AIDS and HIV
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Congenital Heart Disease
• Congestive Heart Failure
• Courage and Inspiration
• DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)
• Diamond-Blackfan Anemia
• DUI (Driving under the Influence)
• Epidermolysis Bullosa
• Evans Syndrome

• Factor XI Deficiency
• Heart Disease
• Hemophilia
• High Blood Pressure
• Hypertension
• Long Q Sydrome
• T Sydrome
• Love
• Lymphoma (alternative color: lime green)
• MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers)

• Marfan Syndrome
• Project Red Flag
• Stroke
• Substance Abuse
• Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT)
• Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura
• Tuberculosis
• Von Willebrand's Disease
• Wolf-Parkinson-White (WPW)
• Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy

Patriotism (red, white and blue) represents:

• Patriotism
• 9/11 Heroes
• Support of our Troops
• Fireworks Safety

Silver represents:

• Children with Disabilities
• Mental Illnesses such as
  • Severe Depression
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Schizophrenia
  • Anxiety Disorders
• Parkinson's Disease

Teal represents:

• Cancers Types including:
  • Cervical
  • Ovarian
  • Uterine
• Myasthenia Gravis
• Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
• Sexual Assault
• Tsunami Victims

White represents:

• Adoptee
• Adoption
• Anti-Child Pornography
• Anti-Pornography
• Anti-Stalking
• Anti-War
• Blindness
• Bone Cancer
• Bone Disease
• Child Exploitation
• Child Sexual Abuse/Assault

• Community Support
• Congenital Cataracts
• Elderly Affairs
• Hernia
• Holocaust Remembrance
• Hope and Support
• Innocence
• Multiple Hereditary Exostoses (MHE)
• Molestation Survivor
• On-Line Sexual Predator Awareness
• Opposition to the War

• Osteoporosis
• Peace
• Postpartum Depression
• Retinobiastoma
• Right to Life
• Safe Motherhood
• Salvation Army
• Scoliosis
• Student Sexual Assault
• Teen Pregnancy
• Victims of Terrorism

Yellow represents:

• Adoptive Parents
• Amber Alerts (Missing Children)
• Bladder Cancer
• Endometriosis
• General Symbol for Hope
• POW/MIA (alternative color is black)
• Suicide Prevention
• Spina Bifida

Whew, what a long list!!!