I don't consider myself a news junkie. At work, I peruse through News For Dummies (AKA The USA Today), scanning headlines and ultimately searching for whichever section the crossword puzzle is in. I can now finish the crossword every single day - even the difficult Friday puzzle.
Occasionally I find headlines that I find interesting and I will read them, trying to broaden my horizons. The past few months, though, I find myself delving deeper into the papers, reading everything from the editorials to the NYSE reports. Yesterday I actually searched the Money Section for information, and when I didn't find what I wanted, tried to read The Wall Street Journal.
As I am getting (ugh) older and (not-so-ugh) wiser, I feel a need to connect with the world in a wider view. I need to understand what the Senators are doing, and how my money is working for me. I need to feel as if this whole, big, messed-up country is mine and I need to take responsibility for it. And only knowledge can enpower me.
But I haven't understood what I have been reading. Or maybe its that I don't like what I'm reading so much that I have convinced myself I must be reading it wrong.
Earlier this year, a one-time tax-free $7500 government loan was offered to new homeowners who bought within a certain time frame. Hubs and I, of course, bought our house 8 months before this government-imposed time span. Being a very good consumer of goods, it would be beneficial to both the economy and to my interest-raring credit cards if the government would give me this loan. Trust me, I would put it back into the economy. Much more than if I have this credit cards hanging over my head, the need to pay off this debt over-riding my need for that gorgeous pair of boots or desperately needed manicure.
I took a few breaths and tried to get over this hard luck - this 8 month time difference that could have helped me out of a tough situation. Breathe. Just breathe.
Then I heard on the news this morning that the government is now considering a one-time $8000 gift to first-time homebuyers who bought after a certain time period. Gift. That means no repayment. No interest. Gift. As in, open the wrapping paper and see what Uncle Sam sent you!
This pisses me off.
Hubs and I bought our house 1 year and 7 months ago. We bought in a very, very high market when the prices had only just begun to fall. When we applied for our home loan, our bank was willing to give us a much bigger loan. Oh, how we wanted to take them up on it. We wanted so badly to buy the beautiful house (complete with pool for the hot summers and grass - real grass that you don't often see in Phoenix) in a upper-middle class neighborhood. We wanted that extra room we could have as a game room, and a living room that could comfortably fit three sofas - and an armchair or two.
Instead, we bought within our means. What a concept, right? We bought a nice, comfortable home - sans pool, grass and extra bedroom - in a middle class neighborhood. We bought a home that we thought we could afford and still be able to live.
In other words, we were smart and bought what we could afford, not what the bank would give us.
And what are we getting out of this bailout situation??
That's right - nothing!
I don't expect handouts. I don't expect anyone to pay my bills. But I don't expect my tax dollars to go to handouts and bill-paying for other people who got in over their heads through greed. Or through other reasons. I understand that people are losing their houses for all sorts of reasons - loss of job, divorce, bills, etc. I understand its a rough time right now. I'm having a rough time, too. But I don't think that what I work for should go towards helping people who took too much. Greed, people. It's as simple as that.
Everyone is blaming the banks for the foreclosures. As I have just begun to read the news more, I am not an expert, but I do have this question - who forced these homeowners to buy homes that were double what they could afford? Who forced homeowners to have ARM's instead of fixed rate mortgages? Couldn't they have continued renting until they had enough saved money to buy a home on a Fixed Rate? Couldn't they have told the banks, 'No, that's too much money. I only need a house that is $100,000. Or $150,000. Not $350,000. Thanks, but no thanks.'
Why am I having to bail out all those in greed when there are alot more who are just in need?
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Once again. A post about my Dog
My dog, as many of you know from blogs like this and this, is the bane of my existence. She is the 'Marley' in my life and the first spoiled, stubborn child Hubby and I have.
In September 2007, she had a cancerous mass removed. Discovered while petting her one evening, Hubby and I thought nothing of it, convinced it was merely a cyst or an infected hair follicle - until I took her in for her yearly shots a few weeks later. Since I was at the vet's office anyway, I asked the Doc about her small, cystic-pimple-sized lump. She said it might be nothing, but we would have to biopsy it to be sure. The second the needle entered the lump, it began to spread. Soon, the small bump was the size of a silver dollar - and still getting larger.
We had a couple of options: removal, chemotherapy or radiation. I chose surgery.
Luckily, the Doc had an opening in the afternoon, so I left my girl with her to get the lump removed. She came home that night with 12 stitches.
She didn't know what was going on, still trying to jump on the bed, and then whining miserably when she got up there because it would hurt her so bad. We had planned on going out of town (the wholereason for the vet visit was to renew her shots so she could be boarded) but I cancelled my trip and stayed home with her, just laying on the couch making sure she was ok.
Monday the call came that the mass was benign. She was going to be ok.
But, once dogs have this problem once, it recurs frequently and with greater intensity. She needed to be watched constantly in order to catch further lumps, and there was no guarantee that further lumps would also be benign.
As any good parent would do, we hovered for a few weeks - maybe even a few months. Constantly brushed and petted her, checking for new lumps. As time wore on, we didn't check her skin everyday. When taking her to the groomer, I couldn't even tell which side her stitches had been on. There was no visible scar under her mounds of hair, and it was not sensitive to the touch.
Then I came home from work today and Hubby wanted me to feel something on her. A lump. Two lumps, actually. One behind her shoulder and the other on her side, above her back leg. Big lumps - much bigger than the one before. Put your thumb and index finger together to form an "O". They are each that big.
They could just be fatty deposits. Dogs get these fatty deposits all over their body; they don't hurt, they don't do organ damage. They are just there. But there is no way of knowing if it is a tumor or just a fatty deposit without a biopsy.
Biopsies are very expensive. We were warned about the possiblity of more tumors and masses, and we had braced ourselves for this outcome soon after her surgery. But after a year and a half of clean health, the thought of another tumor hadn't even entered the mind. Now we have to think about our options.
In September 2007, she had a cancerous mass removed. Discovered while petting her one evening, Hubby and I thought nothing of it, convinced it was merely a cyst or an infected hair follicle - until I took her in for her yearly shots a few weeks later. Since I was at the vet's office anyway, I asked the Doc about her small, cystic-pimple-sized lump. She said it might be nothing, but we would have to biopsy it to be sure. The second the needle entered the lump, it began to spread. Soon, the small bump was the size of a silver dollar - and still getting larger.
We had a couple of options: removal, chemotherapy or radiation. I chose surgery.
Luckily, the Doc had an opening in the afternoon, so I left my girl with her to get the lump removed. She came home that night with 12 stitches.
She didn't know what was going on, still trying to jump on the bed, and then whining miserably when she got up there because it would hurt her so bad. We had planned on going out of town (the wholereason for the vet visit was to renew her shots so she could be boarded) but I cancelled my trip and stayed home with her, just laying on the couch making sure she was ok.
Monday the call came that the mass was benign. She was going to be ok.
But, once dogs have this problem once, it recurs frequently and with greater intensity. She needed to be watched constantly in order to catch further lumps, and there was no guarantee that further lumps would also be benign.
As any good parent would do, we hovered for a few weeks - maybe even a few months. Constantly brushed and petted her, checking for new lumps. As time wore on, we didn't check her skin everyday. When taking her to the groomer, I couldn't even tell which side her stitches had been on. There was no visible scar under her mounds of hair, and it was not sensitive to the touch.
Then I came home from work today and Hubby wanted me to feel something on her. A lump. Two lumps, actually. One behind her shoulder and the other on her side, above her back leg. Big lumps - much bigger than the one before. Put your thumb and index finger together to form an "O". They are each that big.
They could just be fatty deposits. Dogs get these fatty deposits all over their body; they don't hurt, they don't do organ damage. They are just there. But there is no way of knowing if it is a tumor or just a fatty deposit without a biopsy.
Biopsies are very expensive. We were warned about the possiblity of more tumors and masses, and we had braced ourselves for this outcome soon after her surgery. But after a year and a half of clean health, the thought of another tumor hadn't even entered the mind. Now we have to think about our options.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Whats it save to you?
In the spirit of cutting corners, Hubby was looking through the bills yesterday when he happened upon something interesting. . .
Call Waiting Caller ID - $6.95 a month.
Hmmmmm. . . Call waiting caller ID? Barely anyone even knows our home phone number anyways, much less calls us at the same time as the other three people who know the number. We have been paying for this service since we moved to Phoenix 2 years ago, which equals $166.80. I wonder if this is something we can get rid of.
And it is.
I called the Cable company today (with whom we get a smokin deal on cable, internet and phone), and had them cancel call waiting caller id and our sports tier (because all the games we want are on local channels anyway, really) and saved us about $15 a month. Or, as they say in the car insurance commercials 'Over $180 a year!'.
I can't believe we have been paying for things we don't need, and never even stopped to look what they were. Just went on paying like the good little suckers we are. I am going to start scouring our bills item by item. Every little bit helps. Maybe this recessive economy thing is a good thing - it will keep us budget-friendly and on our toes. See, the glass is always half full!
Call Waiting Caller ID - $6.95 a month.
Hmmmmm. . . Call waiting caller ID? Barely anyone even knows our home phone number anyways, much less calls us at the same time as the other three people who know the number. We have been paying for this service since we moved to Phoenix 2 years ago, which equals $166.80. I wonder if this is something we can get rid of.
And it is.
I called the Cable company today (with whom we get a smokin deal on cable, internet and phone), and had them cancel call waiting caller id and our sports tier (because all the games we want are on local channels anyway, really) and saved us about $15 a month. Or, as they say in the car insurance commercials 'Over $180 a year!'.
I can't believe we have been paying for things we don't need, and never even stopped to look what they were. Just went on paying like the good little suckers we are. I am going to start scouring our bills item by item. Every little bit helps. Maybe this recessive economy thing is a good thing - it will keep us budget-friendly and on our toes. See, the glass is always half full!
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