h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

First off, I will announce that I have not been well. Not sure if it's this wonky wisdom tooth or if my tonsils are infected, but I went home Monday with a reasonably high fever and stayed home from work yesterday- at month end no less!

Also I want to vent a bit about this emergnecy bailout bill the Bush administration keeps trying to push. Trust me, I do not want to see the economy worsen for me or anyone else. But what the bill as presented to the House was missing was a solid plan for oversight and greater fiscally responsibility on the part of lenders- as well as legislation to prevent the directors of banks that have gotten into trouble from being rewarded for pissing away stockholders' money. The CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both left with Golden Parachutes worth in excess of $100M. If my tax money is going to buy out bad debt so that people don't lose their jobs and homes, great. If it's going to provide bailout packages to overpaid bank directors whose greed and shoddy accounting procedures caused their companies to go belly-up, I say they should be held liable like the tax laws say they should be.

for symptoms.

There's something amazing about the Rebublican party's capacity to throw trillions of public money into unwinnable wars, then billions more into failing money pits at the poor taxpayer's expense.

And they have the nerve to call it conservatism!

Thanks for the sympathy. On both counts.

Maybe I'm especially cranky because of my sore throat, but the whole thing is really ticking me off. Thank goodness that bailout deal wasn't passed though.

I mean, of course it was partisan. The bloody GOP want the taxpayers to foot the bill when it's the boards of directors who should be held responsible. Gosh am I glad I work for a lender which has never and does not deal in sub prime loans (as well as being privately owned so there aren't a bunch of greedy investors to approve dubious practices).

But I'm seriously considering moving my savings account out of my bank and back to the old credit union, even if it is 30+ miles away. Not that I'm concerned about my deposit- FDIC insures depositors up to $100K and we don't have quite that much - but rather I'm so annoyed with this whole thing that I'd rather "loan" my deposited funds to a non-profit and see the return myself than pad the pockets of a bunch of stockholders.

Don't think I've ever been more grateful not to have any money!

Well, I've got a bit, but it's put aside to help Tom move, at some point. The rest could fit in a sock.

Yeah. We've been saving for a down payment for a home so we've got a fair amount set aside. I'd hate to keep it in a sock under the mattress. With my luck the place would burn down. Or just the bed, anyway.

Could you hold your nose and put it in government bonds, or something?

Nah, the savings bit needs to be a bit more liquid than bonds. We also set aside a bit of pre-tax every paycheck into 401(k) for more long-term. Actually the investment accounts are more worrisome than the depository ones. Our savings/checking accounts don't bear much interest but won't lose money- the 401(k) is more subject to market fluctuations.

But it'll bounce back before we're old enough to cash it in anyway (64 1/2 last I checked).

I have no idea hiw much German banks are affected, so I have decided not to worry.

Hope you'll get rid of your cold soon.

Yeah no point in worrying ahead of time.

It's just frustrating. I'm all in favor of taxpayer support of social services, but it sickens me when the same people who get all the tax breaks get to have their severance packages subsidized by those of us who pay a higher percentage of our income in taxes already.

I'm thinking this ins't so much a cold as tonsillitis. I sure do hope it doesn't turn out to be strep throat. That'd lay me out for a week or so.

I'm not worrying either, well; I'm not worrying anymore than usual as I have been relatively cheerfully in the red for nearly a third of my existence. It all sounds a bit like politics to me, I don't know much about politics, I never really got it, it's just not my thing, I wouldn't know the difference between Anarcho-communist-syndicalism and Anarcho-syndicalist-collectivism.

That was probably a poor joke but I couldn't think of anything else. Anyway it was a good rant. Concise, effective in it's use of imagery and with a majestic undertone. 9.5.

Hope the tonsils feel better

Nothing beats a good rant. I'd join in if I had more time... Anyway, the two things that really get me about this whole financial business is that the US seems not to have any effective regulatory system in place already, and that some of the members of the Monster Raving Loony Party - oops, I mean Republican Party - are objecting to the 'rescue package' not because it potentially rewards white-collar criminals and greedy fools, but because it resembles socialism. For crying out loud, Socialism does not equal Communism or Totalitarianism. I wonder if this will ever be widely understood on your side of the Pacific, Pc. D'you think there's any chance of that?

(Personally, I'd like to see the greedy bastards sink - but the risk of everyone else being caught in the backwash makes intervention necessary, in my own honest ill-informed opinion.)

Oh look. I seem to have had time after all.

<---- That's for the tonsils.

>Personally, I'd like to see the greedy bastards sink - but the risk of everyone else being caught in the backwash makes intervention necessary, in my own honest ill-informed opinion

Exactly!

I guess regulatory systems are only as good as whatver legislative branch is in charge of enforcing them. So when you have an adminstration that passes legislation making it *impossible* for individual consumers and small businesses to file bankruptcy and get rid of debt (all they can do is negotiate lower interest rates *if* the lender, often predatory, is willing- ask me sometime how my student loan interest rate went from 6% to 33.2% in a single month...) but will allow a ing lender to do so... I guess it's not such a big surprise when the bottom falls out.

But yeah, it really just feels good to rant about it. Ain't much I can do.

for the tea. Throat actually feels a bit better now, after a lunch of soup and Tylenol.

Get better soon, PC *brings chicken soup*

I'm glad I don't have a mortgage. The interest rates here on house loans has raised lately, from about 4% to well over 6,5%. The market falls and even in the big cities it's hard to sell now. I was considering buying a condo recently, but feared the increasing interest rates. Being a single Mum for years does not improve your bank account, so I signed a contract on a bigger rental flat instead. At least I know my monthly cost and don't have to worry about mortgages.

Honestly I'm not that interested in financial matters, and have got people to handle my pension funds. They are better than I was the years I tried to do that myself. Nevertheless, the latest week my pension funds have dropped a lot. Hopefully something will be left when I retire...

Thanks for the virtual soup.

Feeling better today, if you don't count a stupid cold sore.

The Senate and House have passed some sort of bailout package. I guess we'll see what kinds of oversight are implemented, and whether or not the burden is shared by the folks that caused this mess as well as middle and lower income taxpayers.

So, now there's nothing left for me to moan about, for the time being anyway.

I did a vector pic of Herman, was that okay?

Sure- I don't mind people I know using my photos as long as they let me know. Did you put it up somewhere? I'm sure Herman would love to see it.

It's up on FB.

It's very nice! Herman will be very flattered.

Meanwhile, I've got a new wireless keyboard and mouse set at work (the thingy that sends the signal out on my old one was damaged by our housekeeping crew somehow) and I've finished a ginormous voluntary (and not terribly exciting) project I'd been working on for a while. My boss is out tomorrow, so it'll be a nice quiet day and I should be able to knock off early.

Can I have your old one? It's just that I have just this very moment tipped a whole cup of coffee on my work keyboard. Minesweeper. Stimulants. Work-related ennui. That's it I'm going for a break.

PS. Is Herman a cat? Is he named after a specific Herman? Should I call my new cat Magneto?

Herman is a cat. He's a special needs cat, with a condition not unlike cerebral palsy. It makes him wobbly and stumbly. So he's named after Hermes, Greek god of light-footedness. How cruel.

Sorry to hear about the coffee tipping incident.

The new keyboard is nice, but for some foam rubber stuff stuck to the surface of the keyboard tray thingy that's making it wobble at the moment. It's better than the old one, which was one of those wavy ones which interefered with my touch typing.