Posts Tagged Uncategorized

Recess iz in

November 5, 2007 at 8:51 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , ,

I have been waiting to find someone who would mention this fact because it has long been one of my contentions that part of our failure to understand our own culture is that we deny the facts in favor of the fantasy.  England’s George Monbiot writing in the Guardian on Oct. 9th, however, finally crossed the line in this post about welcoming the coming recession.

The exception is housing, and in this case the growth in value is one of the reasons for exclusion. A new analysis by Goldman Sachs shows that current house prices are not just the result of a shortage of supply: if they were, then the rise in prices should have been matched by the rise in rents. Even taking scarcity into account, the analysts believe that houses are overvalued by some 20%.

Here in California 20% seems really low.  Six and Seven bedroom McMansions jammed up against each other so that the developer can maximize his or her income.  Six or Seven bedrooms when the average family size has shrunk to 2.5 children. 

George’s point is that we will never cut back unless forced to do so and now that the recession is at the gates, there is more and more reason really to throw them open and let it in.

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Drink Up! the diet plan

October 24, 2007 at 10:55 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , ,

The other day I spent a while talking about T. and I and our mutual learning curve.  During that post I mentioned my new diet and said I tell you more later.  Well now is later.

Many years ago right after I finished college and started to work, I began to experience a weight gain that before I knew it was completely out of control.  One day while walking down the sidewalk, I glanced at my profile in a store window and realized I was able to see my stomach pushing out in front of me.  That day I went down to the grocery store and bought a case of Metrecal, a liquid diet drink that was popular at the time.  My weight had reached 195 lbs and that was it.  I drank Metrecal four times a day for the next month and every time I walked by that window I checked my reflection until the stomach was gone.  My weight moved back to 170 lbs.

I could do that then because I was young and really angry at myself for getting into such a condition.  So it didn’t surprise me a couple of weeks ago, when I found that now, some 30 years later I had reached the stomach proceeding stage again, to find my mind remembering that first diet. 

Two weeks ago I implemented a new version of that old plan.  Once a day I eat a full meal.  And by that I mean, if it’s breakfast, bacon & eggs, toast, coffee, OJ, even pancakes on the side.  The rest of the day I drink 5 cans of 180 calorie Slim-Fast Optima drink and any liquids – iced tea, water, coffee, milk, Pepsi that I want.   If the meal happens to be lunch then a home-made cheeseburger, large salad, two side veggies, and bread.   And just like before, the rest of the day is liquid.  As much as I want as often as I want. 

Several things I have noticed already.  One, I can pick the meal so that it coincides with eating with T. or if I have already eaten my meal for the day, I can still eat with her by just having soup.  Thank you Volumetrics.  It has been two weeks, and I have lost 14 lbs so far and I feel good and light.  By the way, the diet described above is mine.  I set it up for me because I know I can do it.  If by any chance you decide to try it, please check with your doctor first and pay attention to any side effects that mean it is not working.

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A Funny Thing Happened

September 29, 2007 at 11:04 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , ,

Actually two funny things but I kinda’ liked the sound of that title so I went with it anyway.  First funny thing.  The Democratic led congress tacked a hate crimes amendment onto the war funding bill that the senate is getting ready to send to the Pres.  Why’s that funny you say, well for one thing it bugged Bill Maher and two it is a continuing example of the chess game these two parties are playing with our country.  The Repubs make a move then the Dems do.  Check, no check you, no check you.  Here’s how I see it.  Since the Dems can’t override the President’s veto to curb spending on this war they decided to hit the ball back by adding on this amendment which the Repubs have said all along was unneeded legislation.   But the Pres can’t veto the funding bill can he?   So see, the Dems look like they’re doing something but they really aren’t because we still have a Pres stuck on war.

Meanwhile, the other funny thing is the deal that going on with the soon-to- be-ex CEO of Countrywide, Angelo Mozilo who apparently has cashed in 138 million in stock options since 2006 while steadfastly maintaining that Countrywide is a stable organization.   When I read that story aloud to my partner T. she wondered why it made me so agitated.  “Hah! Now you know why we always said you can never trust a suit.”  If the report is true, Mozillo has spent months cashing in while manuerving his loyal company into believing that there was no danger in the sub-prime lending fiasco to Countrywide Finacial Corp.   And something else makes me curious about this deal, if CW is laying off 12,000 and several other lending institutions have done the same, how the hell can the unemployment figures, 4.5%, be true?  This whole deal reminds me of the Standard Pacific deal I read about last Tuesday.  “In a deal that’s so counterintuitive it almost sounds illegal – though experts say it isn’t – the Irvine(CA)based company said Monday that it was selling $100 million in bonds that can be converted into its stock.  At the same time, Standard Pacific in effect is lending 7.8 million of its shares to buyers of the bonds, who will promptly sell the stock.”   The best that can be said about this is that at least it isn’t happening in secret and the company seems to be saying to its shareholders, we are all in this together.  Of course, it follows last weekend’s, “Mission Impossible Diamond Ridge Homes blowout sale” by the same builder so it may be a case of way to little too late.

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