massive spammage

k, so again for the cheap seats, the way this deal is supposed to work is this:

Fed buys up a mortgage backed security, with a nominal value of $100 million. (just to pick a number) That is, it's a bunch of loans all pooled together with borrowers owing that amount. Now because the banks need cash now, they are willing to sell it for $65 million.

First way in which this makes money is everyone making their mortgage payments every month, at say 7%. which = %7 million, or a yield of 10.8% Since this deal is funded by treasuries at 3.5% (that's 3.5% on $65 million, in case you're keeping track) net income to the treasury from day 1 is $4.725 million, or a net of 4.725%. Even in a bad default scenario, the fed starts making money right away, only (perhaps) losing money in a year or two.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU IS NO OUT OF POCKET COST. No higher taxes, no inflationary pressure.

Second, consider a the ability of the fed to get equity stakes in the participating banks, and of course the ability of them to hang on to those loans until such a time as they are worth more than they paid, and profit again. It's ridiculous that even while having the banks over a barrel, and in such a point of distress where they can get whatever concessions they want, the 'Merkan people still think this is going to cost them anything. It's the worst bit of willful ignorance since Hillary Clinton's UHC debacle 14 years ago.

I have yet to see a well reasoned argument against the merits of the plan in it's original form, just a lot of whining from everyone that they needed to be "sold" on it. Best thing people have said is that without getting the economy moving again, it leaves the fed holding a potentially worthless bag. While this is true, the economy can wait a month or two. The banking crisis is now.

so here's my rough idea of stuff I'd like to do in Denver:

Weds, should be getting in three ish, getting situated n stuff.  Kat and I floated the idea of forming a roving band of karaoke Vandals and Goths bend on chewing up stages in the greater Denver area.  Remember karokey in London that time?  Wicked fun, n'est pas?

Thursday hiking in the day and Casa Bonita in the evening; flexible dependant on the needs of BWB and con. 

I rented a car for Wednesday and Thursday, so I'm good for transportation for five, or six if two of the people are Mo-sized.  All are welcome; no one is unwelcome, but I won't be turrible butt-hurt if people want to do other stuff and it ends up being date-night for me and Erika.

*puts work stress on a shelf and thinks of con* 

I'm turning into AWESOME GUY at work.  You know the one, the guy who ends sentences in e mails with exclamation marks.  The guy who is universally positive even though he hates people.  I kind of have to be that way because it's the only way to get people to do things for me who don't report to me.  Further, it's such a bunch of lazy schlubs I work with, I need to be HIGH ENERGY all the time just to get them motivated to do anything other than play on teh intrawebbs all day, much like I used to do when I was in that job. 

In 40 minutes I have the weekly conference call with all the bank managers in my region.  I am allotted five whole minutes to speak and be TOTALLY AWESOME guy, to get people pumped up to send me clients.  It's draining.

Nail biter of a day for me too, as I'm hoping today is the day Obama finally knocks out Hillary from the democratic race.  Let it go, Hillary. 

Oh, and Happy Earth day!  From AWESOME GUY!

fuck it.  it means I'll have to sling my briefcase over my shoulder, and throw my IBM in a backpack, but I am riding the bike to work today.  I just can't go a week without sitting on my baby.

random thought that my work comp being called the "T-60" makes it sound rather like the Terminator.  I think I shall name it Arnold.

Mikey:  "Just so we're clear, the PRIDE Festival is a big gay event, right?"

Gay coworker:  "Of course, what did you think it was?"

Mikey:  "I couldn't be sure.  The flyer the company e mailed around had a bunch of different colored people shapes holding hands, but no where did it mention alternative sexuality, drag acts, tolerance, or anything you'd expect at such a gathering.  For all I knew, it was an arts and crafts event for minority preschoolers."

Gay coworker:  "Well at least they're trying.  So what if they can't bring themselves to put "homosexual" in an e mail, start with baby steps."

so that's where I'm at today, representing my company's socially progressive (but still undoubtedly fiscally conservative) attitudes.

http://www.phoenixpride.org/

minor superstition I have no to wish anyone congratulations until their child is actually birthed, swaddled in cloth, and not looking like a lizard.  I'm not trying to be a douche, I just think it's bad luck.

ah now that's the better one. thanks,

feelin kinda schmaltzy this week.

so far this trip takes the cake as The Best Travel Evar.

First, everything today has been early and no hassle. Early pickup by the van, breeze through check in and security, and then right to the gate.

Then, *score* they ask for volunteers to take a later flight because this one is overbooked. The deal is they then give you a voucher for a free round trip ticket anywhere in the US. So in return for five hours out of my life, I get a voucher worth probably $400. I figure I'm on company time anyway, so why not?

I like having a free airline ticket, to be redeemed *whenever*. It's nice, like money in the bank. Along with my flyer miles, this makes two tix I can redeem. Good to have given how broke I am, and how I'm attempting to maintain an LDR.

Oh, and WIFI is free now at sky harbor, airport wide. If only I'd remembered to pack my charger in my backpack instead of suitcase.

Jesus, are my neighbors really playing "Warpigs?"  I don't know whether to mock them silently or to knock on their door and ask for a hit from the inevitable bong.

today the cats discovered a neighbor's cat on the next door porch.  Now that porch isn't really visible from ours unless the cat sticks his head out from under the railing.  Mickey and Mallory are being all badass to the neighbor kitty, puffing up and hissing.  It's quite funny.  Being thus motivated, I wonder if Mal will find a way over to that balcony.  It wouldn't surprise me.

did you hear the one about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac who stayed up all night wondering if there really was a dog?

My dyslexia has been fucking awful lately.  I've been transposing numbers at the rate of four to five times per day, necessitating double, triple, and quadruple checking everything I write.  On Tuesday I mixed up ticker symbols on an investment sale which could have been a Very Big Deal had the incorrect symbols actually corresponded to any legitimate securities instead of just coming up as invalid.  All this double/ triple checking means I am abysmally slow at paperwork, not to mention a very slow reader, sometimes having to read paragraphs over and over before retention takes hold.  Long block paragraphs are especially bad, as is anything technical like loan documents or prospectuses.

Perhaps this isn't the legit definition of "dyslexia" but it's still annoying as hell. 

Mikey:  "Plattsburgh?  Did you say you were from Plattsburgh?"

Client:  "Uh oh... yes."

Mikey:  "I went to school there!"

Client:  "Really?  My late husband was a teacher there for twenty five years.  Did you know him?"

I glance over at her account which is up on my computer screen.  "You are Dr. Yardan's wife?  He was one of my favorite professors ever!"

It was my sophomore year when I took East Asian Philosophy back in the 'burgh.  By a quirk of scheduling, a few of my friends also ended up in that class.  Between them, and the random art students trying to expand their minds, and physics kids who needed the elective, we had the diversity of opinion and experience that always leads to the best class discussions.

One day I was at the breakfast cart outside class buying my coffee and muffin, and on a whim I picked up this huge orange as well.  I got to class ten minutes early, so on another whim, I deposited said orange on Dr. Yardan's vacant desk.   Class was assembled by the time he got there, and upon seeing the orange, he just stopped and looked at it for a second.  He smiled, and began his lecture, liver spotted hand clutching at the chalk as he wrote different concepts on the green chalk board. 

This became a running gag in the class, with other people bringing in different food items every Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday.  Sometimes a muffin, sometimes a fruit rollup, and once a large steaming cup of Earl Gray with honey and sugar carefully arranged off to the side.  He never commented on this, and as far as I knew at the time, never ate any of it.  On the day of our final, by unspoken agreement, everyone in class brought some sort of food item, and the one guy who forgot dumped a pocket full of change on the desk right as Dr. Yardan walked in.  Highlight of our East Asian Philosophy cornucopia was this six foot long vine of brussel sprouts, laid out over the length of the desk.

As it turns out, Annette Yardan remembered this whole episode vividly, and we had a good laugh about it.  Unbeknownst to me, she and he are both vegetarians, so they cooked up those brussel sprouts one night at a dinner party they threw.  After a few minutes, she got teary eyed and I fetched her a kleenex.  Dr. Yardan died in 2005, still teaching. 

So 12 years later, and 2700 miles removed, I meet the widow of my former prof.  Small world.  :p

"The beginning and the end of all great things are always in chaos."  I'm sure I garbled the quote, but as I remember, it's an allusion to the word itself.  CHAOS being made from chi, alpha, omega, and sigma.  the A and O of course are the first and last letters of the greek alphabet, being in the middle of the word itself.  

I go through about one phone per year presently, usually because of random acts of phone destruction.  I don't always carry over all my phone numbers from phone to phone, so it's at this, the holiest time of year I play the game, gee, I wonder who text messaged me?  Followed by the musing, did they text me only, or was I just another on the "select all" list?

Of the slightly less benign variety of season's greetings are the "pray for our troops" e mails I get from those who don't know me very well. 

Next year in Jerusalem!

Merry Christmas.  May the spirit of rebirth and renewal be with you this week.

close eyes

extend big toe and tap on the scale near the center.

count to three

step on scale

open one eye, but quick!  put a hand over it...

slowly take hand away and look down.

ah good, not nearly as porky as I thought. 

yeah I've been running infrequently lately, but also drinking a bit and not paying any attention whatsoever to notions of proper eating.  last night for example I killed a bottle of wine in less than an hour.  I just looked up at one point and was like, "Oh, where's the rest?"

I'm looking forward to Baltimore in two weeks, and wish that those in the area who are close enough could make the trip.  I'm looking at YOU, Christie.  and YOU, Nora.  Friends and I are renting a house, so sofa space is available.

I'm not a one to have a lot of "favorite" this or that- it's hard for me to stack rank the things I like best in life.  How do you phrase such an absolutism, especially one that carries with it such permanence?

As of right now, I can honestly say U2 is my favorite band of all time.  I just heard the live version of The Saints are Coming recorded at the Superdome in NOLA.  For twenty years they've been producing music that has changed and evolved, yet still retains the kernel of what first made them great-  passionate vocals, relevant truths about human weaknesses and strengths, multi layered lyrics, guitar lines that are instantly recognizable.  I'm an unrepentant Bono fanboi.

That said, the recent South Park episode lampooning Bono was hilarious.   Every time he entered a scene with the "YEAH YEAH YEAH!" playing in the background, I went into fits of uncontrollable guffaws.  :-D 

"Does Bono want the biddy?  Hmm?  Does he?"

is my polite way for asking you to send me music!

I am sorely in need of up beat moving tunes for the gym.  Hip hop is good, as is hard rock/ heavy metal.  Bass and drums are key. 

An idea of some of my all time favorites:  Anything by Public Enemy, they still make new music, dontcha know?  Disturbed is a personal low-brow guilty pleasure, LL Cool J, The White Stripes, anything by U2 even though I've run through their entire catalogue a hundred times over, and a few dozen newer bands including Arcade Fire, Cut Chemist, Hard Fi, and Interpol.

anyway, if anyone feels like sending me some groovin stuff for the gym, me love you long time.  ;)

yo soy ztemhead@gmail.com

slept for something like 30 hours of a 48 hour weekend, which was nice, but hard to get back to the real world.  (or back into the Matrix, whatev.)

work sucks and everyone is quitting.  I'm basically unsupervised, except for the video cameras that cover every inch of my workspace.  There's no one to tell me I can't get overtime pay, so I hate being there, but I'm there a lot.  *rollseyes*  Been spending a lot of time on the board during the day, which is not good given that half my pay is supposed to come from commissions.  Well hell, at least I'm not like Ser Scott billing some sucker client for time spent posting sarcastic rants about the US auto industry.

bike is still not fixed, though I'm hoping it will be done by the weekend as my buds have been going on rides, and I've been having to beg off.  I'm also having this ultra loud shock sensor alarm installed on it, so in case someone actually cuts through the chain and tries to move it, it will emit a piercing shriek and also send me a text message.  No one's gonna steal my baby again. 

choW, happy Tuesday.