Support The Underground Economy

I am a former homeowner and soon to be homeowner again. When leaving my former house I left a lot of stuff behind. As an apartment dweller there's not a great need for things like extension ladders. Now that the renting phase is coming to an end there is a growing need for tools. It would have been inconvenient to have lugged them around, but I don't want to pay full price either. The solution is, of course, to seek out those who are in the position that I was those long years ago and find garage sales.

Besides the natural benefit of paying less for the replacement tools than I would if buying them new is the feeling of helping out those who need to shed some possessions before moving on to the next phase of their life's adventure. There is also the thought of keeping solid waste out of our landfills. And last, and not insignificant, is robbing the taxman of some money. Despite my filthy, degenerate liberalism, I do still try to avoid taxes whenever possible.

Today's haul brought me a miter box and saw, a prybar, hammer, speed square, combo square and mattock to join my previously acquired hacksaw. Not really sure if I will need the mattock but I've got it if I do. Gardening is to be a big part of the next part of my life's adventure. I had a small hammer, screwdrivers, pliers, tape measure and some small stuff. My house-to-be is on the small side and is going to need at least a shed built and I'd like to add a small woodframe greenhouse as well.

OFF POST TOPIC: My office here is having a "contest" to pick the most favorite book. My five nominees (mostly first things that came to mind) were:

1) 1984 - George Orwell
2) Player Piano - Kurt Vonnegut
3) It Can't Happen Here - Sinclair Lewis
and to avoid going all dystopian all the time
4) The Deep Blue Goodbye - John D. MacDonald
5) Single and Single - John LeCarre

The only one I have much hope for is 1984. The others are a little obscure. Could have gone with Slaughterhouse Five, Elmer Gantry and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or some such. There are brackets and additional voting though.

Regarding MacDonald, anyone who has missed the Travis Magee novels should really give them a try. His is the lifestyle I envy most, though I could never bring myself to live in Florida so will have to keep my derelict self abiding here in the empire state.  

We're Number 30?

Apparently, New York State is number 30 when it comes to happiness. I thought my own sense of abounding joy would bring it up into at least the to 20.

New York was the largest of eight states in which unemployment did not fall in 2012. Many residents who were employed did not like their jobs either.

Well there you go. That's you people's problem. Working. Being between situations like I am would make you a lot happier.

Just 84.3% of respondents told Gallup they were satisfied with their jobs, the worst figure in the U.S. Also, only 76.4% said their supervisors promoted trust, the second-worst such figure.

Like I said.

New York was also ranked among the worst states for the percentage of respondents who stated they had experienced enjoyment — and not sadness and anger — in the previous day.

Well, now I feel sad for all of my fellow NYers. Total buzzkill!

I'm off to see if I can spread some joy cuz this survey is really disheartening. The only good thing I saw was that the unhappiest states of all were Southern and red states. Yeeha!

Coming Home For a Stay

I'm back once again from fighting for the forces of nihilism against all that is good and decent in the world. It's a dirty job and you get a lot of slime on you. Hoping to make this as permanent a vacation as the one I'm attempting to take from my former position of baker extraordinaire at Price Chopper supermarkets. Yes, now it can be told. Anyway, if I write much here, I'll attempt to focus on the local and justify my use of the Hometown label.

I'm presently attempting to move from being a renter to homeowner. In that effort, I went to my local bank where I maintain a checking account and told them I was interested in obtaining a mortgage. The loan officer finding that I had no real estate agent informed me that she knew several in the area and would have one of them give me a call. That seemed very helpful until I found that the agent she had call me was her husband. They all got the heave-ho, although my measly checking account is still with them. Conflict of interest much?

Moving on from there in my quest for financing I landed at Wells Fargo here in Glens Falls. I do have an IRA that is held by them so I thought it appropriate to approach them for the loan. Since I am presently unemployed I expected that they would laugh in my face at my request for funds. If only! They took my application seriously and also took $381 for an origination fee. I thought this was moving along nicely in my direction.

Then a week ago the agent in the GF branch requested copies of my 2012 tax returns which a week previously the Saratoga branch had told me would not be required. Along with the question of how often my former company pays out on my pension, this set off some warning bells. I took a lump sum on the pension so that was a one time good deal. Quite sure that answer didn't help.

Thankfully, I do have (hopefully) sufficient funds to enable me purchase the house I'm looking at outright which I should have done in the first place saving time and money. I have eschewed the rock and roll lifestyle for the cheapskate lifestyle for some time now. So, Wednesday this week I called the GF office to try and get some idea of the verdict on my application. Thinking the agent must have been busy on the previous day, I called and left another voicemail on Thursday morning. That afternoon I gave up on him and called the Saratoga branch. They informed me of the death of my mortgage request.

The moral of this story is that if you can possibly afford to pay cash, pay cash. If you need a mortgage avoid Wells Fargo. BTW, the paperwork went out today to move that IRA to a financial institution with more class.

Live cheap, live well!

UPDATE: Today is Saturday and day 4 of Wells giving me the silent treatment. Not that I expect them to call me on a weekend. But, my real estate agent called yesterday and I talked to her about going forward with financing the purchase on my own. Happened to mention the $381.98 I paid Wells. She reminded me that they  had given me a prequalification on the mortgage. Yes, that's right and then denied me it. So, Friday afternoon I called and requested my money back (to another, number 3, voicemail). I'm really having a ball with this. Anyway, $370 was for an appraisal. Not sure why they would appraise a house that they're not giving me a mortage for. And $11.98 was for a credit report. I want the money back for that, too. The credit report said I pay my bills and they still denied me the mortgage so apparently it's worthless and they can pay for it. I'm calling my legal team of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe on Monday.

I don't think prequalification means what they think it means (or it doesn't mean what I think it means).

John McCain: Still Pissy About 2008

Glad I'm not the only one that this occurred to. Had to go check to see if the "maverick" supported another Rice to be Secretary of State and, "Sacre Bleu," he did.

McCAIN: Condoleezza Rice is a great American success story. This is what America is all about. A young woman who grew up in a segregated part of America where Americans were not treated equally, to rise to the position of secretary of state. We should have been celebrating, I believe, this remarkable American success story.


Also, I thought that some of the remarks — and I’m not going to mention my colleagues’ names — some of the remarks aimed at her during the hearings challenged her integrity. We can disagree on policy and we disagree on a lot of things, but I think it is very clear that Condoleezza Rice is a person of integrity. And yes, I see this, some lingering bitterness over a very tough campaign. I hope it dissipates soon.

Surprise, surprise. McCain totally supported Ms. We Don't Want The Smoking Gun to Come in the Form of a Mushroom Cloud. And BTW, I hope John McCain's lingering bitterness over losing to Obama in 2008 dissipates soon. Though I would prefer if the good people of Arizona toss his sorry ass out the next chance they get. And yes, Lindsey Graham is a hypocrite asshole, too.

BuzzFeed’s Zeke Miller notes that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-NC), who is also opposing Susan Rice, backed Condoleezza. “[E]very intelligence agency in the world was misled. And to connect those two to say that she’s a liar is very unfair, over the line.”

Rich Guy For Romney

Hard to believe as it may be Sheldon Adelson was at one time a Democrat. Yeah, that's right but the "party left him." Apparently because they don't bow low enough to our Israeli overlords:

A sobering Gallup poll from last March asked: "Are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinians?" Barely 53% of Democrats chose Israel, the sole liberal democracy in the region. By contrast, an overwhelming 78% of Republicans sympathized with Israel.

I know I should wake up everyday and think about the well being of Israel before I do the US at least in Sheldon's world. I was afraid he had given all that support to Romney (at least after he beat out some of the even more extremist loons in the primary) because he was a greedhead who wanted his taxes cut to 0%. But no:

My critics nowadays like to claim it's because I got wealthy or because I didn't want to pay taxes or because of some other conservative caricature. No, the truth is the Democratic Party has changed in ways that no longer fit with someone of my upbringing.

There isn't a caricature strong enough for this guy. He's out of a Bond movie. Think Auric Goldfinger. Personally I think that as much as Sheldon LOOOOOVES the Israelis he might be trying to buy a "Get Out Of Jail Free Card" with a Romney win.

The WSJ wrote that the U.S. Attorney’s office in Las Vegas is looking into whether Sands and its executives violated U.S. anti-money laundering laws by failing to report suspicious activity by two big-spending gamblers.


The investigation involves Zhenli Ye Gon (who has been indicted on counts of trafficking methamphetamine ingredients) and Ausaf Umar Siddiqui, (a former executive of Fry’s Electronics who went to jail on bribe charges) who wired tens of millions of dollars to the Sands Venetian casino in Las Vegas during the mid-2000s.

In fairness this article does say that Adelson is not under investigation though God knows why.

For an alternate Republican viewpoint on Israel see Andrew Bacevich.

Peace means different things to different governments and different countries. To some it suggests harmony based on tolerance and mutual respect. To others it serves as a euphemism for dominance, peace defining the relationship between the strong and the supine.

No Word From Christie Yet

Let the two minutes of hate begin etc.

 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg backed President Barack Obama over Republican Mitt Romney on Thursday, saying the incumbent Democrat will bring critically needed leadership to fight climate change after the East Coast devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy.


The endorsement from the politically independent and nationally recognizable mayor was a major boost for Obama, who is spending the campaign's final days trying to win over independent voters whose voices will be critical in determining the winner of Tuesday's election.

Voices of sanity do exist in the GOP.

Biden Wins Sartorial Debate

Joe Biden wins in the all important how-to-wear-a-fuckin'-baseball-cap debate:

vs.

It's no contest folks.