Saturday morning rant....

This mornings news fodder is rife with nuggets of stupidity.  This one I just can't leave alone.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By DIANE CARDWELL


Published: December 16, 2011


The law to phase out traditional incandescent light bulbs was promoted as a simple, almost painless, change when Congress first passed it. By requiring that light bulbs use at least 25 percent less electricity, starting in 2012, the nation would use less energy, manufacturers would invent more efficient types of bulbs and the planet would be spared millions of tons of carbon emissions every year.


But the traditional light bulb — that lowly orb of glass, filament and threaded metal base — has become a powerful emotional symbol, conjuring both consumer anxiety over losing a familiar and flattering light source and political antipathy to government meddling.


On Friday, the House voted to delay enforcement of the new standards until at least Oct. 1, with the Senate expected to agree, as part of a last-minute budget deal to keep the government operating through the rest of the fiscal year. Republicans have vowed to press for a full repeal of the new rules.

“This was one of those things that resonated with a lot of people, especially in the election of 2010, where so much personal liberty had been eroded,” said Representative Michael C. Burgess, Republican of Texas, a state that recently passed a law to exempt bulbs made and sold within its borders from the federal standards. “The light bulb was what put a public face on it. People got it when you said, ‘Well, why should the federal government restrict my freedom on what type of light I use?’ ”  Full article here

---------------------------

First let me say that we use mostly CPF's (compact fluorescent) in our house. The decision was made for financial reasons. I did the math on what we could save v.s. the upfront costs and "I" chose to make the change. You know the drill...cutting living expenses as much as possible so we can afford trips to Vieques.

But this wrangling by congress and then the masses hoarding traditional incandescent 100 watt bulbs is just plain stupid. You've got the government claiming this is huge step towards energy independence, business salivating like Pavlov's dogs over another  new "government enforced" revenue stream and the consumers reacting like idiots.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Light Bulb Ban
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Seriously folks...I've got a better solution. Try not buying bottled water. You'll save yourself $400 a year (for a typical 4 person household) and you'll save over 45 million barrels of oil, satisfying the "green" mantra. No government intervention and no upfront costs to you. KISS (Keep it simple stupid). Just in case you want to do the math here's some links:

 U.S lighting energy usage
 Bottled water and energy
 Bottled water facts

If you don't think plastic is a problem on our beaches take a look at this picture from November of this year on Orchid beach:

  :-)

Evening Rant #3....

Just can't help it......sorry.

All over the web tonight it's Bank of America and debit card fee's. Everyone is pissed about the $5 monthly fee (unless of course you have a mortgage or 20k in checking or combination of accounts). "Hello U.S. sheeple", Bank of America is broke and unless you've been living under a rock for the last year the $5 charge should come as no surprise to anyone. Also, they're not the only bank to adopt new fees since our gubberment decided to step in a limit transaction fee's.  So much for a free market. But that is material for another rant, for another evening.

More to the point...why would anyone still be using debit cards when you can get a no fee credit card? Granted you have to pay the sucker off every month, but really, is it that much of a inconvenience? I mean jeez, c'mon people. You could even go one step further and get a rewards card like an American Express and if your diligent about using it you can get enough points to pay the annual fee's plus enjoy the perks. We use an American Express Gold Rewards card. I've had an American Express since I just out of college, many, many  moons ago. Making the monthly payment forces you to analyze just where the heck you spent all that money each month. Ah...but I forgot, this is America, where we citizens are nothing but a bunch of comatose piles of ever consuming flesh unable to engage enough cerebral tissue to make even the most fundamental financial decisions.

Always the victim.... you know...that story just wears me out. It's not the banktsers fault people, it's your fault. Your the ones that decided to spend the next 20 years of earnings TODAY. Without your greed the boyz would have never been able to gin up the mess we now find ourselves in. Cry'n about a $5 fee, when all the tools are readily available for you to avoid ANY FEES, does nothing but prove how easily the boyz can spook the herd. Wake up and stop playing the games they've created for you.

I feel so much better now.

One last note regarding American Express. They had a nasty habit of sending TONS of mail to me. This offer, that offer. I finally called them a number of years ago and said that IF they didn't stop sending me any and all mail I would cancel the card. Amex is one of few companies that actually listens to their customers. I haven't received one single piece of mail. If your using Amex and they're sending you tons of junk, give them a call and you can stop it. I did and it works.

:-)

Evening rant #2

I know this blog is mostly about our trips to Vieques with a few things thrown in about our life "after the mortgage", but I just can't help myself on this one, especially since we personally have lived most all of our married life within our means with an ultimate goal of being exactly where we are today. It wasn't easy.  I lost my job 10 years into our marriage and had to totally change careers. This happened without warning (the company moved) and it was while we were building our first house.  But we had planned things so that one of us could lose his/her job and we still could make it. That's called living within your means, not living at the edge of your means or even beyond.

So "cut to the chase" you ask. Well ok.

 Yesterday I see splashed all over the web that our president is declaring that IF the debt ceiling is not raised SSI checks may not be mailed out first of August. Now aside from the fear mongering there's a real problem with what he's saying. Am I the only one that's bothered by the fact that we can't send out SSI without using borrowed monies? Uhh...aren't the deductions off  mine and everyone else's  payroll checks each week supposed to be going into an account to fund SSI? Think about it for a sec. We can't borrow ad infinitum to fund a program that's essentially broke or soon to be broken. Yeah I know..."we have a social contract" with retires. It also seems like we have a social contract with home mortgage owners who borrowed more than they could afford. You know...the tax monies that have been set aside to help pay down principles on peoples home mortgages. You think  that doesn't chap my arse!  Also seems like we have a social contract with the people who have been layed off recently.....we'll I use that term "recently" lightly. Some have been layed off for 3 years. Is that a social contract or a new career path? Seems we also have a social contract with the people who's jobs have been shipped over seas. I have a cousin who's job has been shipped over seas and he tells me he qualifies for assistance with his rent and utilities, plus his college for 2 years.  Think about that for a sec. The company axes him because of labor costs, it's been happening all over the country for years. So with each job we lose  more of our tax base and  now we also incur the cost of re-training these cast-offs. 

I've veered off onto multiple tangents here...I know.

IMHO the bottom line is NOT that those SSI might not be mailed out the first of August. No...it's that the system is broke and government and a large portion of this country is living beyond it's means. It's not going to be easy and it WILL be painful.

Did I ever tell you there's an island off the coast of Puerto Rico that I like to go to because I can get away from it all?

:-)

Evening rant.....

Reading the news this morning  has taken me down a tangent that ended with an article I just finished this evening about living on a boat. Crazy that an article about how a U.S. official reportedly said that the administration is willing to increase the U.S. contributions to the IMF led me to end the day with reading about living on a boat, but it happened. I already knew that the  U.S. is the largest contributor to the IMF. Reading the article outraged me so I decided to watch a movie on Netflix. Just so happens one of the movies that came up was "Life and Debt".  Director Stephanie Black's documentary on how policies of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other aid organizations have altered the Jamaican economy over the past 25 years, leaving the locals to struggle in poverty. I was already primed because of the article so I thought "what the heck".  The movie is eye opening and worth the watch.  I encourage people to watch it.

So what does all this mean? I see so many people trapped. Be it in an upside down mortgage, credit cards or  just being hooked on the plethora of gimicks that are designed to steal your hard earned $'s.  I listen to co-workers regurgitate sporting stats with the exactness of an neuro-surgeon, yet if I ask them what the IMF is or what their supposed function is, all I get is a "deer in the headlights" look.  Uninformed.  All the time wondering if there's going to be any overtime this week, as if that's the answer.  Mortgage, credit cards, cell phones, sat TV, car payments...it's a trap and the vast majority of people are nothing but plankton that the sharks feed on . The same sharks that have now put so many countries begging to the IMF.  You buy the new car....you pay higher insurance, along with a hefty car bill and don't get me started on depreciation. Cell phone....biggest trap out there.  Is there a limit to how much the can actually  get people to pay each month? They're like leeches sucking your money from you, and you let them.  Our friends just couldn't believe it when we dropped our sat TV. I'm telling you we've haven't  missed it AT ALL. We've got dsl in the house and get all of our news off the internet.  IMHO the $25 a month I pay for my DSL is one of the biggest bangs for the buck out there. Not only do I get my news off of it, we listen to free internet radio (it's what feeds the background music on this blog), we pay all of our bills via online bill pay and watch all of our movies via the web. I was paying Direct TV $83 a month. They're leeches. We went to liability on all of our vehicles. Our friends thought we were nuts. "What happens if you get into a wreck?" they would say.  Well...we would buy another USED vehicle and pay cash. They just can't understand how one could have the cash to buy a vehicle. Well...take some that money your pouring into sat TV, cell phones and all the other sheit you don't need and save it. Better yet take it and pay off your mortgage. Your not going to get 5% return on the money in a savings account, so why pay the banksters the 5%. Nope..they would rather study sport stats. None of our friends could understand why we never amortized our property taxes nor house insurance, when we had a mortage. Well...if you write that check out you know exactly what it's costing you. You also pay more attention to any change in your taxes or insurance.  But no..that's not the American way. We've got to have in idiot proof and absolutely painless and that's the trap.  It's the same trap the IMF is setting for the global community and the same trap Greenspan set for U.S. homeowners.

People need to wake up and take responsibilty.  Live within our means. At the very least start somewhere. Take your lunch to work. Dump the texting on your phone (do you really need texting?).  We dumped our trash service and I built compost bins and an incinerator, we recycle the rest. We even  make our own laundry soap. What if I told you that we make a 5th of Kahlua for 3 bucks.  How about making your own exspresso or cappuccino at home instead of Starbucks. Stop buying pre-packaged meals and  learn the lost art of cooking.  Take all those little steps together and they add up.  It can work, we're proof. Our biggest  monthy expenses now are food and gasoline. I've even  thought about biking to work, it's 9 miles one way.  You don't have to buy into the game the crooks have ginned up. When you realize this your whole perspective is shifted.

You'll  spend your evening reading about living on a boat or you'll spend one month a year in a place like Vieques. 

:-)