One of the things I hoped to accomplish when I started posting here was to get a continuous stream of history of myself. Almost a reference of my life.
The purgative value of a diary can not be underestimated, but a forum where people you know will read what you write is a very different sort of place to write your opinions and fears.
There is a constant temptation to turn this into a running commercial for myself, with the disappointing realisation, that my life isn't nearly as exciting as the internet made it seem, ready to break at any moment.
How to balance the temptation to glamourise my comings and goings? How to achieve the honesty I hope will reward me in the long run with a useful and accurate record? How to accomodate the necessary privacy of my clients and employer, while including enough information to reconstruct it?
My current hope is that I add something every day or two, that I catch up when I cannot, and that I get a photo from any new place I visit. My fear is that I only do that.
I received a phone call from merit financial last night. They have found a loan for me to cover the nearly $30,000 in improvements I am undertaking on my house. The details are being fedex'd to me, and I should get an answer to them this weekend.
I also received a phone call from Sears, and they should be able to start replacing my windows on Tuesday morning. Luckily, I will be in Tumwater all week, so anything that comes up can be handled by a thirty minute drive, and meeting a contractor at 7AM isn't unreasonable. I have foregone a number of comforts due to businesses inflexibility in handling service visits. Qwest wanted a weekday visit with multiday advance notice and a $99 minimum charge. For those of you for whom it is a viable option, broadband or digital voice services are the way to go.
I am terribly behind on paperwork, and feel a tinge of guilt posting here. Forgive me, uncle, for I have slacked.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Tri Cities
One of my constant pleasures in traveling is Horizon Air. This is Alaska's northwest regional fleet of turboprops (q200?), flying to small or nearby cities. Horizon is home to the tacky shirt, and the free microbrew, complimentary wall street journal at the terminal in seattle, and northwest vintages. The stewardess often makes it through the aisles a second time to top anyone off if they want it.
I had the luck to be Horizon's guest on my recent trip to Pasco, for a visit to a winery nearby in Eastern Wa. Unfortunately, it was a very short flight, and I opted for coffee in the morning and slept on the return leg.
The Tri Cities lie at the confluence of the Columbia and yakima rivers, and seem to be in a boom. Looking at new construction visible from a short drive and a day trip, it looks like a lot of the live-work-play destinations they have been busy marketing near bend, or. I suppose that California will in time fill up, and the north will ironically be the new sun-belt. Since Portland and Seattle are overcast 9 months a year, the inland will fluorish. It should be an alternating patch of golf courses and homes stretching from the Coachella valley (or Yuma?) all the way to Spokane. Of course, it will come in spurts, and the snowbirds may still find deals in Guadalajara or elsewhere... but the north is it. How odd. How long until nice Southern men and women start retiring to the deals of the north? How long until the deals of the north evaporate, and rural missouri becomes the hot-spot? Where will the madness end? I can only watch, and hope the big one doesn't take me out.
I had the luck to be Horizon's guest on my recent trip to Pasco, for a visit to a winery nearby in Eastern Wa. Unfortunately, it was a very short flight, and I opted for coffee in the morning and slept on the return leg.
The Tri Cities lie at the confluence of the Columbia and yakima rivers, and seem to be in a boom. Looking at new construction visible from a short drive and a day trip, it looks like a lot of the live-work-play destinations they have been busy marketing near bend, or. I suppose that California will in time fill up, and the north will ironically be the new sun-belt. Since Portland and Seattle are overcast 9 months a year, the inland will fluorish. It should be an alternating patch of golf courses and homes stretching from the Coachella valley (or Yuma?) all the way to Spokane. Of course, it will come in spurts, and the snowbirds may still find deals in Guadalajara or elsewhere... but the north is it. How odd. How long until nice Southern men and women start retiring to the deals of the north? How long until the deals of the north evaporate, and rural missouri becomes the hot-spot? Where will the madness end? I can only watch, and hope the big one doesn't take me out.
Salem
Salem has a vintage (warning--euphemism) looking downtown, and it was clearly a happening place 80 or 100 years ago. They have free parking near the mall downtown, things could be a lot worse. The traffic at 5pm, however, is nearly unmanageable. Almost all the streets are 4 lane one ways, with mandatory turn lanes on either side. Unfortunately, once you become stuck in a left turn lane, you turn into a mandatory left turn lane. If the roads were clear of those other people who litter the streets like debris, this would be alleviable by merely changing lanes. At 5pm, this can lead to a frustrating cycle of turns through a maze, and a resulting loss of direction.
It took me twenty minutes to make my way onto the wrong highway leaving Salem, following a state route that took me through a handful of farming villages along the way to Portland. I hadn't seen a Grange Hall or a 4H in a very long time, but the town of Lincoln has them both, along with a single-steepled church on the corner of the only intersection.
In defense of this detour, I found a taco shop in West Salem that had decent Carne Asada burritos... guacamole, no beans, no rice, no options. Subway has led to a massive complication of the non-burger fast food industry, tempting even stalwarts like burger king to let you 'have it your way'.
It took me twenty minutes to make my way onto the wrong highway leaving Salem, following a state route that took me through a handful of farming villages along the way to Portland. I hadn't seen a Grange Hall or a 4H in a very long time, but the town of Lincoln has them both, along with a single-steepled church on the corner of the only intersection.
In defense of this detour, I found a taco shop in West Salem that had decent Carne Asada burritos... guacamole, no beans, no rice, no options. Subway has led to a massive complication of the non-burger fast food industry, tempting even stalwarts like burger king to let you 'have it your way'.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Energy and Food
When I was about ten, I read a book concerning possible plans for manned space outposts. A huge number of the facts and ideas presented are lost to me. I remember a long argument suggesting that planetary colonies were not the path to follow, due to the high energy cost of escaping planetary gravity. The analogy was struggling to escape a deep well, and looking around the plane for the first deep well to hurdle into.
I also remember an analysis of the relative merits of animals for foods, and a suggestion that their short time to slaughter, high fecundity rate, and low input food to output meat ratio identified rabbits as an ideal food source for confined quarters. They also have a relatively high surface area per unit of mass, this leads to cheaper leathers and furs than from cows or other large mammals.
Are the current outbreaks in poultry a dire warning to us before we stack a single species sky high in tight quarters?
Is there any new serious work being done on the economics of space exploration. I have seen recently an article explaining the large initial capitalization of space projects, that tends to limit their attractiveness to private investors, and arguing that government would need to fund these projects. If it is an unattractive use of private capital, why is it a good idea for any government to fund it? And will the government get enough rabbits?
Headshot
Maybe it is a little vulgar to just post my photo for no reason. Maybe this attempt to dress it with words is even more so.
Finally, Someone 'gets' me!
ING Direct has started a promotion where new funds deposited after 19 Jan earn a whopping 4.75% APY until April 15th. Unfortunately, they subtract all withdrawls from the 19th on to determine net new money, so I can't withdraw a few thousand now, wait a week, redeposit it, and let it ride. But anybody with cash in the couch cushions would probably find this an attractive rate. What's the average 180 day CD rate? 3.88%! Take that. Way to stick it to the man! However, if you have $10,000 to lock away, VirtualBank is offering 4.4% 90 day CDs.
I saw an add for a credit card, recomending that you get a high interest 'miles' card, then every month transfer your balance to their card. Keep your miles, avoid the interest. Clever. The banks are all tripping over themselves trying to get your debt. It must be worth a lot to go through all that effort.
I saw an add for a credit card, recomending that you get a high interest 'miles' card, then every month transfer your balance to their card. Keep your miles, avoid the interest. Clever. The banks are all tripping over themselves trying to get your debt. It must be worth a lot to go through all that effort.
checking and you
In a consistent attempt to make the world a safer place for billion dollar corporations, the congress introduced Check21, and I'm sure all of you received notice of this from your banks.
The main point of check21 is to reduce the amount of time it takes for a bank to be paid after receiving a check. It replaces physical check clearinghouses with electronic images of checks, which are zipped around the country. The net effect is that when you write a check, the funds may disappear out of your account in a day or two instead of a week.
At this point it is still only optional. All banks must accept copies of checks in lieu of checks. At some point it will be compulsory, there will surely be a law five years from now to cause that.
When will the consumers see the benefits of this law returned to them? Has anyone had their fees lowered on a checking account. My checking account returns with my statement a copy of every cancelled check. Three months after check 21, they send me a paper sheet with three checks a piece. I am still being charged an extra $2/mo for check return!
When will funds availability be updated to reflect the fact that the bank doesn't need a week to verify the validity of a check. If you have ever unexpetedly overdrawn an account based on these old fashioned funds availability laws, you've seen how quickly the check you wrote cleared. If it takes 5 business days for funds deposited to be released, then it should take five business days for my check to clear as well, and float is invisible.
I received a funds availability notice from one of my banks today. Five business days.
The main point of check21 is to reduce the amount of time it takes for a bank to be paid after receiving a check. It replaces physical check clearinghouses with electronic images of checks, which are zipped around the country. The net effect is that when you write a check, the funds may disappear out of your account in a day or two instead of a week.
At this point it is still only optional. All banks must accept copies of checks in lieu of checks. At some point it will be compulsory, there will surely be a law five years from now to cause that.
When will the consumers see the benefits of this law returned to them? Has anyone had their fees lowered on a checking account. My checking account returns with my statement a copy of every cancelled check. Three months after check 21, they send me a paper sheet with three checks a piece. I am still being charged an extra $2/mo for check return!
When will funds availability be updated to reflect the fact that the bank doesn't need a week to verify the validity of a check. If you have ever unexpetedly overdrawn an account based on these old fashioned funds availability laws, you've seen how quickly the check you wrote cleared. If it takes 5 business days for funds deposited to be released, then it should take five business days for my check to clear as well, and float is invisible.
I received a funds availability notice from one of my banks today. Five business days.
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