iPodius

Who of all people would have ever guessed that I would receive a Monogrammed silver iPod Nano for my birthday???
Only one: Joni.
Thank you, Joni for a really fucking cool gift.

I don't recall if we've discussed this already...

If you've ever heard of Lower My Bills dot kom, you should know that it is a company owned/operated by Experian... one of the thre credit reporting bureaus. Your FICO credit scores are generated by TransUnion, Experian, Equifax. Lower My Bills online helps people sometimes obtain lower interest rate loans for their current debts.
How?...By selling lists containing contact info for 1,000s of people who clicked on Lower My Bills.
Huge revenue for them.
Smart.

Fouled Up Spine

It's called the back, but the front of your body is called the abdomen. Interesting terms... So I fouled up my back lifting something heavier than me, incorrectly. The leopard is known to carry prey weighing 2x its body weight up a tree. I, however, cannot. I am missing the anatomical equivalent of a retaining clip or someting. SHIT.
Speaking of retaining clips, I've located my newest online hero while searching for a gas dryer repair manual.
Laundry piles high quickly, doesn't it?

Indian Summer in Santa Cruz

August and September were frequently foggy. It was a crappy experience to get people fired up to go sailing and then get fogged in -- several times. This past week, however, it's been the classic, fog-free Indian Summer that we all remember from our youths.

And what a day this was. Crystal clear as far as you could see. A small amount of transparent fog veiled the view to Monterey.

Went to the harbor with the West Marine Art team and four of us modeled self-inflating PFDs that will be the photos used for a flier or catalog. I was part of 2 pairs of "models" which cruised around on two boats: one taking photos of the occupants of the other boat, usually positioned with the harbor lighthouse in the background.
The photographer asked me, "Is this your first modeling job?"
"Welllll", I said, "the first time with my clothes on".

(what's a PFD?)

What's it Worth to You?

SHIT! It has now become quite difficult to get loans approved.
Before, it was difficult to locate customers ready to move on some type of transaction.

BTW - How are your dollars lookin'?
Germany, UK, Iceland, Everywhere... all their markets are falling as well.

Up Down All Around

A friend asked me, after the 2000 Y2K bullshit had died down, "Do you know the difference between a recession and a depression?" Nope.
"A recession is when the USA economy is in the junker, and a depression is when it happens to you". He had lost some $$$ in the stock market.

I dunno if we ever expected to see the current credit crunch in our lifetimes??? It's been challenging and exciting to get loans approved for my buying and refinancing clients. For sellers, it's a non-issue until there are fewer buyers being approved, fewer bids being received, and lower selling prices overall.

Stand by... The bailout program was just approved
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A New Definition of Trust

I tied a aluminum ladder to the roof of a vehicle and drove onto the 2-lane highway and cont'd on at the same rate of 70mph with a clear dry day of casual traffic changing SUDDENLY to heavy traffic: If I had to guess, I would say 88 harleys flew past me left, right, while I casually cont'd on in the #1 lane. I could only trust that the ropes and cables used to secure the ladder held on. There were easily 40 bikes behind me when I noticed the ladder wobbling in the coastal wind at 70mph. FOCK.