$700 Billion Bailout Busts...

While like many Americans, I was stunned about today's massive 777+ point drop in the Dow Jones, but I can't help but think that it would have happened anyway, even if the big $700 billion-dollar bailout had passed the House today.

Why?  Well, if you were watching, the stock was down by more than 230 points before they started voting!  Maybe if they passed it the Dow would have dropped less, but it still would have dropped.  After the failure of the House to pass the bill, the Federal Reserve started dumping money into the market, and even this didn't slow the plummeting Dow.

Mortgage Mess... or how I saved my home from foreclosure, at least for now

As one can see from my prior very-long-winded post about the so-called housing bill, I'm more than a little interested in the how the mortgage industry in our country operates.  My own personal experience, which I'll share now, perhaps will help not only illustrate just how screwed up the industry is, but also, how even the smartest of persons can end up with a mortgage nightmare.  Maybe it will save a few of you some grief in your own lives.

The Greatest Housing Bill Ever... NOT!

I don't know about you, but I was so excited to hear that today, Congress passed a bill providing real help for homeowners facing forclosure and serious measures targeting the housing crisis. I knew better than to be excited, because I went through the same thing with last year's FHA mortgage assistance excitement, just to be seriously crushed when I found out I didn't qualify, because my loan had it's first adjustment more than 3 years earlier.

So I read everything I could on today's "landmark legislation" with both excited hope and a jaundiced eye: Maybe this time, *I* could get some help.

I will warn you right now is a VERY long "I'm on a soapbox!" rant....

First off, this "unprecedented" bill is "regarded as the most significant housing legislation in decades." That's a lot to say, considering it's only going to cost us taxpayers SEVERAL HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS. But hey, if it helps stop people from losing their homes, I'm all for it.

What's in a Name?

I love living out here in the "boondocks" of Calhan, Colorado. We've got pretty much everything one needs within walking distance: grocery, small restaurant, Post Office, Town Hall, hardware store, feed store, butcher's, elementary & high school, park, walking trail, even an insurance company! (We used to have a bar and a bowling alley, but the smoking ban killed those. That's another story for another day....) Anyway, here in Calhan, the one thing we don't have is a library. Fortunately, our wonderful Pikes Peak Library District provides us with Bookmobile services twice a week.

Well, that is, they used to. Very soon, Pikes Peak Library District, in their wonderful wisdom, will no longer drive the Bookmobile out to Calhan anymore: From now on, they will be driving the Mobile Library Services um, vehicle? Van? RV? Truck?

The Cost of Marriage

Very likely later today, the Colorado senate will be voting on a proposal to raise the cost of a marriage license from $10 to $35. According to The Gazette, Sen. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, is against the idea, arguing that the State should do "everything it can to promote marriage and should consider adding the fee to the cost of getting a divorce instead." I say Schultheis is not only wrong, but that the Senate should consider raising the cost of a marriage license higher. Much, much higher.

Colorado, like many states, makes it extremely difficult and expensive to get divorced. Now, I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, but I do believe the emphasis is in the wrong place. I don't think divorce needs to be made more difficult. I think we need to make it far more difficult to get married.

Why? Because it's cheaper - and simpler - to get married than it is to license my dog. Seriously. If I wanted to get married - and I don't - all I need to do is go pay $10 and sign a short piece of paper. Until not too long ago, you didn't even need to show an ID.

Just a harmless whistle....

This past Saturday night, a friend ruptured my eardrum.

You see, I went back to college five years ago, and to help support myself, I started a small karaoke business. Most Friday and Saturday nights I'm in one small-town bar or another, aiding and abetting the vandalism of many a great hit song. This past Saturday night, at one of my regular gigs, one of my regular singers decided it was too quiet and let out a shrill, high-pitched, extremely loud, excruciatingly painful whistle. You know the kind, with two fingers in the mouth, intended to be heard across football stadiums over 90,000 screaming fans. That kind of loud.

The first time she let out one of her obnoxious sirens, it literally knocked me breathless. I yelled into the microphone, half-jokingly, to quit it, she was making my ears bleed!

In truth, I discovered just a few short minutes later, she really did make one of my ears bleed. My left ear started to ooze a very small amount of blood, mixed with some sort of clear-ish fluid. Still ringing, and a bit numb, the bleeding and oozing stopped very quickly.