I'm giving Traceroo's brain all she's got, Captain!
Cut for chattiness today with an update on the aforementioned issues with Ian's student loans, what I'm reading for pleasure and for school, detailed notes about what I'm learning in school, and at the bottom of Pandora's box - hope for Ian's career.
The issue with Ian's student loans mentioned in my most recent post seems to have worked itself out -- allegedly. Ian called his old student loan company, and they said, "Oh don't pay any attention to that silly bill we sent you, we sold all your student loans. We're getting out of the business" This makes me nervous since the information Ian received over the phone does not yet match the paperwork we have from either company, old or new. My inner lawyer wants everything in writing, nice and specific. We decided to just preempt the paperwork process by making what has been our usual monthly payment on the entirety of the loans to the new company this month, and let's hope that works out and the paperwork catches up with us!
As soon as we're a two-income family again, back running at full steam financially, goal #1 is to return our savings fund to the desired level. Once we reach that benchmark, then it is frigging open season on these student loans!
The Finance Talking Heads have been drumming the message that debt is the devil into the heads of audiences for years. I heard it, but I never really embraced it until some undefined moment in the past year. I'm not at all sure what it was that triggered the change for me, that transformed my opinion from, "Yeah, yeah, Mom, I know eating fresh vegetables is good for me..." to a really fundamental hatred of the state of being in debt in any way! Out, out damn debt! I have just come to loathe the very concept of being enslaved to debt, really shackled by the notion that our money is committed elsewhere before we even earn it. YUCK! Fortunately, the student loans are our only debt in the world. The interest rate could be a whole lot worse, but still... grrr. Their days are numbered, and I hope the loans enjoy sweet life while they have it!
Shortly I'll be adding a new tag to my journal entries to specify personal finance reading. I keep wanting to look up old reviews about the money books I've read, and I'm having a hard time finding them. Add to the stack David Bach's 2009 release, Fight For Your Money: How to Stop Getting Ripped Off and Save a Fortune. David Bach is my favorite Finance Talking Head. I often mention that my favorite finance book which absolutely everyone should read, Smart Couples Finish Rich. This book wasn't nearly as awesome in my opinion -- at least not for me. Bach goes through various categories of expenditures where consumers could spend less money just by negotiating for a better deal. The theme is repetitive: Ask for their lowest rate. Ask for a better deal. Ask for extras. If they say no, ask to speak with a manager and ask for him all those things. It's good advice, certainly, just not news to me. Bach does provide some specifics here and there like in the category of rental cars, for example. He's got very specific suggestions about how to secure a lower rate. If this is the book that opens a reader's eyes to the concept of negotiation, then it does its job. It's not one that I plan to read a second time, however.
Also on deck for my reading pleasure in the next week is Al Gore's new release, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. This just came out, and I was super excited to see that the really very good Austin Public Libraries had many copies pre-ordered. I put mine on hold, and I think I'm the first person to check out this edition. I started reading last night right before bed, but I'm a slow reader, and I didn't get very far yet. One thing that's interesting is that Gore seems to be steering away from the label, "global warming," and prefers to substitute the larger - and perhaps also less controversial? - title, "climate crisis." One thing I can tell you is that the book is visually stunning -- which makes me both happy and sad. It delights me because I'm a very visual thinker and a picture really tells a thousand words for me. Gore selected some very moving images, and the book prints them in four color glory. My experience with this book is enriched by that choice, and I like it a lot personally. On the other hand, I can hear the voice of one particular critic I know who refers to this man whom I think is a real hero as, "Al Bore." I can just hear the critics whining right now that this crazy "theory" about saving the environment needs pictures to communicate to its intellectually inadequate readership. For that reason, I'm not sure yet if I wish that Gore hadn't gone there, preserving us from this obvious attack, or the idea which will probably win for me in the end: This book is visually beautiful, and very moving. Critics will criticize no matter what, and if the first and perhaps best thing they can say is to make fun of this book for having lots of pretty pictures? On whose inadequate intellect does that sort of comment really reflect most? It does make me wonder what the carbon footprint of a flaming bag of dogshit left on the critics' doorstep is, however -- but you know that's just how my vulgar little intellect rolls! Ah, I amuse myself....
The environment is on my brain this week as I wrap up this semester in school. American History II: The Spawning is at an end, and I earned the A! I have finished 7 of 8 labs in Biology by watching a documentary called, "The Unforseen." It's all about urban sprawl, and in particular a fight here in Austin over a giant development over the Barton Springs area. It was educational for me, and of course intentionally emotionally rousing. The last of the Biology labs called for watching Gore's, "An Inconvenient Truth," which I watched just for the first time over this past summer. I think it's such an important film, and I wish everyone would see it. I've now got to write a paper on the claims made by the movie, and arguments for and against. I did my research on claims prior to watching it the second time so I could have the counter-arguments in mind while listening to Gore's presentation again. The paper has pretty well written itself and I hope to finish it today. That will conclude my Lab class, and leave just two more exams (one cumulative) for the Biology lecture. It will be my only class left.
As a parting note on the American History class, I really enjoyed the study of the various presidents since 1900. Even in the eras of that period I had studied, I never really experienced much focus on the presidents and their attitudes and policies. It was very educational for me -- and you know me, certainly helpful in forming my all-important opinions which I couldn't live without! I was surprised by some, utterly unsurprised by bothers. Ronald Regan is now officially my least favorite president in American history -- yes, even less popular with me than that jackass who took over after Lincoln, and perceived as even a bigger than Jackson, and that's hard to do! Reagan was just the very antithesis of everything I want in a leader. He fired the air traffic controllers (and oh, don't get me started about naming the National airport after him after that stunt!). He opened our national parks to logging and mining which my Biology For Hippies class teaches me are rights sold well below market, profits for those companies at the expense of American tax dollar subsidies. He bailed out the ever-sagging American auto industry by relaxing those harsh restrictions on them about silly trifles like safety and air pollution standards. And in an effort to shrink the size of the government and cut spending, he decided to cut from food stamps, student aid, and subsidies for urban mass transit. WINNAR.
So, Reagan? Not a fan -- but this shouldn't surprise me or anyone who knows me. What did surprise me is how much I fail to like JFK whom my parents referred to familiarly as, "Jack," and regard largely as a lost hero. He didn't less for civil rights that I wish he had done, and far more to advance the Cold War and our stockpile of nuclear snowballs than I wish he had as well. Kennedy wasn't nearly as awesome in my opinion as I expected him to be, once examined. On the other hand, Lyndon Johnson did lots of cool things! He declared war on poverty, and advanced lots of domestic causes which I support -- now, to be fair, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was supposedly started by Kennedy and finished by Johnson, so I must give team credit there. Unfortunately, Johnson was also responsible for the advancement of Vietnam, and that's largely all I previously knew about him other than his advanced personal Texanness. I think Vietnam largely overshadowed all the good Johnson did domestically, and that's really unfortunate -- but boy, if there's one thing you can say about the war in Vietnam altogether, "unfortunate" really only begins to scratch the surface, doesn't it?
There's your walk through academia with me.
One last note of interest is that Ian found out that plans have changed at work. The first planet he worked on there is now scheduled to be announced relatively shortly. Meanwhile, Ian's #1 choice of favorite company where to work has begun advertising Environment Art positions. The soon-to-be-released material should be very useful for Ian's application since the work he's been doing is definitely relevant to the description of the job he wants. Yay, PROGRESS! Natch, I'll keep you updated at every possible step.
Traceroo
The issue with Ian's student loans mentioned in my most recent post seems to have worked itself out -- allegedly. Ian called his old student loan company, and they said, "Oh don't pay any attention to that silly bill we sent you, we sold all your student loans. We're getting out of the business" This makes me nervous since the information Ian received over the phone does not yet match the paperwork we have from either company, old or new. My inner lawyer wants everything in writing, nice and specific. We decided to just preempt the paperwork process by making what has been our usual monthly payment on the entirety of the loans to the new company this month, and let's hope that works out and the paperwork catches up with us!
As soon as we're a two-income family again, back running at full steam financially, goal #1 is to return our savings fund to the desired level. Once we reach that benchmark, then it is frigging open season on these student loans!
The Finance Talking Heads have been drumming the message that debt is the devil into the heads of audiences for years. I heard it, but I never really embraced it until some undefined moment in the past year. I'm not at all sure what it was that triggered the change for me, that transformed my opinion from, "Yeah, yeah, Mom, I know eating fresh vegetables is good for me..." to a really fundamental hatred of the state of being in debt in any way! Out, out damn debt! I have just come to loathe the very concept of being enslaved to debt, really shackled by the notion that our money is committed elsewhere before we even earn it. YUCK! Fortunately, the student loans are our only debt in the world. The interest rate could be a whole lot worse, but still... grrr. Their days are numbered, and I hope the loans enjoy sweet life while they have it!
Shortly I'll be adding a new tag to my journal entries to specify personal finance reading. I keep wanting to look up old reviews about the money books I've read, and I'm having a hard time finding them. Add to the stack David Bach's 2009 release, Fight For Your Money: How to Stop Getting Ripped Off and Save a Fortune. David Bach is my favorite Finance Talking Head. I often mention that my favorite finance book which absolutely everyone should read, Smart Couples Finish Rich. This book wasn't nearly as awesome in my opinion -- at least not for me. Bach goes through various categories of expenditures where consumers could spend less money just by negotiating for a better deal. The theme is repetitive: Ask for their lowest rate. Ask for a better deal. Ask for extras. If they say no, ask to speak with a manager and ask for him all those things. It's good advice, certainly, just not news to me. Bach does provide some specifics here and there like in the category of rental cars, for example. He's got very specific suggestions about how to secure a lower rate. If this is the book that opens a reader's eyes to the concept of negotiation, then it does its job. It's not one that I plan to read a second time, however.
Also on deck for my reading pleasure in the next week is Al Gore's new release, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. This just came out, and I was super excited to see that the really very good Austin Public Libraries had many copies pre-ordered. I put mine on hold, and I think I'm the first person to check out this edition. I started reading last night right before bed, but I'm a slow reader, and I didn't get very far yet. One thing that's interesting is that Gore seems to be steering away from the label, "global warming," and prefers to substitute the larger - and perhaps also less controversial? - title, "climate crisis." One thing I can tell you is that the book is visually stunning -- which makes me both happy and sad. It delights me because I'm a very visual thinker and a picture really tells a thousand words for me. Gore selected some very moving images, and the book prints them in four color glory. My experience with this book is enriched by that choice, and I like it a lot personally. On the other hand, I can hear the voice of one particular critic I know who refers to this man whom I think is a real hero as, "Al Bore." I can just hear the critics whining right now that this crazy "theory" about saving the environment needs pictures to communicate to its intellectually inadequate readership. For that reason, I'm not sure yet if I wish that Gore hadn't gone there, preserving us from this obvious attack, or the idea which will probably win for me in the end: This book is visually beautiful, and very moving. Critics will criticize no matter what, and if the first and perhaps best thing they can say is to make fun of this book for having lots of pretty pictures? On whose inadequate intellect does that sort of comment really reflect most? It does make me wonder what the carbon footprint of a flaming bag of dogshit left on the critics' doorstep is, however -- but you know that's just how my vulgar little intellect rolls! Ah, I amuse myself....
The environment is on my brain this week as I wrap up this semester in school. American History II: The Spawning is at an end, and I earned the A! I have finished 7 of 8 labs in Biology by watching a documentary called, "The Unforseen." It's all about urban sprawl, and in particular a fight here in Austin over a giant development over the Barton Springs area. It was educational for me, and of course intentionally emotionally rousing. The last of the Biology labs called for watching Gore's, "An Inconvenient Truth," which I watched just for the first time over this past summer. I think it's such an important film, and I wish everyone would see it. I've now got to write a paper on the claims made by the movie, and arguments for and against. I did my research on claims prior to watching it the second time so I could have the counter-arguments in mind while listening to Gore's presentation again. The paper has pretty well written itself and I hope to finish it today. That will conclude my Lab class, and leave just two more exams (one cumulative) for the Biology lecture. It will be my only class left.
As a parting note on the American History class, I really enjoyed the study of the various presidents since 1900. Even in the eras of that period I had studied, I never really experienced much focus on the presidents and their attitudes and policies. It was very educational for me -- and you know me, certainly helpful in forming my all-important opinions which I couldn't live without! I was surprised by some, utterly unsurprised by bothers. Ronald Regan is now officially my least favorite president in American history -- yes, even less popular with me than that jackass who took over after Lincoln, and perceived as even a bigger than Jackson, and that's hard to do! Reagan was just the very antithesis of everything I want in a leader. He fired the air traffic controllers (and oh, don't get me started about naming the National airport after him after that stunt!). He opened our national parks to logging and mining which my Biology For Hippies class teaches me are rights sold well below market, profits for those companies at the expense of American tax dollar subsidies. He bailed out the ever-sagging American auto industry by relaxing those harsh restrictions on them about silly trifles like safety and air pollution standards. And in an effort to shrink the size of the government and cut spending, he decided to cut from food stamps, student aid, and subsidies for urban mass transit. WINNAR.
So, Reagan? Not a fan -- but this shouldn't surprise me or anyone who knows me. What did surprise me is how much I fail to like JFK whom my parents referred to familiarly as, "Jack," and regard largely as a lost hero. He didn't less for civil rights that I wish he had done, and far more to advance the Cold War and our stockpile of nuclear snowballs than I wish he had as well. Kennedy wasn't nearly as awesome in my opinion as I expected him to be, once examined. On the other hand, Lyndon Johnson did lots of cool things! He declared war on poverty, and advanced lots of domestic causes which I support -- now, to be fair, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was supposedly started by Kennedy and finished by Johnson, so I must give team credit there. Unfortunately, Johnson was also responsible for the advancement of Vietnam, and that's largely all I previously knew about him other than his advanced personal Texanness. I think Vietnam largely overshadowed all the good Johnson did domestically, and that's really unfortunate -- but boy, if there's one thing you can say about the war in Vietnam altogether, "unfortunate" really only begins to scratch the surface, doesn't it?
There's your walk through academia with me.
One last note of interest is that Ian found out that plans have changed at work. The first planet he worked on there is now scheduled to be announced relatively shortly. Meanwhile, Ian's #1 choice of favorite company where to work has begun advertising Environment Art positions. The soon-to-be-released material should be very useful for Ian's application since the work he's been doing is definitely relevant to the description of the job he wants. Yay, PROGRESS! Natch, I'll keep you updated at every possible step.
Traceroo