Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Photo, Smurfling | 3 Comments »

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s good to know that Duncan’s pre-school isn’t too worried about being politically correct and had all of the kids go all out in honor of good old Squanto.

I didn’t see a single pilgrim hat…

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on November 26th, 2009 at 5:55 am by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Photo, Smurfling | 2 Comments »

My Home’s Value — Explained.

No one has actually posted such a thing in the comments yet but I’ve received a few borderline obnoxious emails regarding the home value that I list in my monthly net worth reports.

Specifically, the aforementioned and suspected one-and-done readers usually question the validity of the number that I post, call me a a few names, and then accuse me of inflating my numbers.

They justify it to themselves by saying that my home’s value fluctuations (or lack thereof) have never really reflected the widely reported “housing crisis” that I’m personally sick of hearing about.

I’ve posted this part before but here it goes again…

Here’s how I calculate the number that I post each month…

In 2007, the city that I live in did a revaluation of every residence in town in order to, well, in blunt terms, significantly boost their tax revenue.

I know that all cities do this from time to time but this one was rather suspect. Anyway, the city’s assessment of my house was $210200.

That’s my starting point. From there, I head over to Zillow.com on the last day of each month to get their “Zestimate” of my property.

I then take the weighted average of the two numbers — with the more current Zillow estimate weighted 3 times that of the 2007 assessment.

There, that’s how I come to that number each month.

So, back to the lack of fluctuation…

Back in June of 2008, I estimated my home’s value at $212300. The lowest the value has fallen since then was $193175 (May 2009). That’s a drop in value of 9 percent — not a small number but not something that would cause a responsible homeowner to go underwater.

As of last month, though, the value is right back up to $207050. That’s a mere drop of 2.5 percent since the housing market apparently started to tank.

I’m fortunate in that respect – not padding my numbers.

I only mention it because a Reuters story caught my attention today:

Northeastern Cities Perform best in Job Growth

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Several cities across the northeastern United States were among the biggest gainers on the Milken Institute’s Best Performing Cities 2009 index, the economic think tank said on Wednesday.

Fourteen cities across the Northeast, including some in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, were among the top 20 gainers in terms of job growth and sustainability.

The institute compiles the index annually by ranking 200 of the largest cities in the United States based on measures such as wage and salary growth and short-term job growth.

“In a period of recession, the index highlights (cities) that have adapted to weather the storm,” said Ross DeVol, lead author of the report.

“As we move forward in a recovery that still lacks jobs, (cities) will be further tested in their ability to sustain themselves.”

Hartford, Connecticut, was the largest gainer this year, jumping 101 spots from its 2008 ranking to 48.

Hartford was followed by New Haven, Connecticut, which rose 96 spots to 88.

“These cities didn’t experience extreme housing bubbles and therefore avoided a major correction,” said the report.

“They also tended to have a smaller dependence on durable goods manufacturing and instead have a larger stake in the services sector.”

The biggest decliners were cities in Florida and California, which have suffered most in the housing downturn.

Twelve of the 20 worst declining cities were in Florida, including Pensacola, which fell 124 spots to 157 to lead the laggards.

So, guess where I live?

Yep… the Northeast.

Somewhere right between Hartford and New Haven.

While this article certainly contradicts my recent comments regarding salary growth in the area (and the country as a whole), it certainly substantiates my relatively steady home value…

I think my 2007 assessment and monthly Zillow zestimate calculation is pretty darn accurate.

Posted on November 11th, 2009 at 8:29 pm by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Finance | 3 Comments »

Three Misguided Senior Perspectives from a 30-Something

As we stumble into another election season here in the US, the fact that the senior citizens are generally the largest voting block (and dictate who actually wins) is really starting to scare the crap out of me.

Whether it’s my parents, my friend’s parents, or even the interactions I’ve had with the dinosaurs that attend our imaginary government meetings (the meetings aren’t imaginary, the government is — it’s complicated), I can’t help but notice how differently they see things and how, well, out of touch they are with how things work these days — simply because they don’t need to stay in touch with how things work.

The first thing I think they’ve lost touch with is this whole healthcare issue that has been in the news for the past few months. Yeah, yeah, I know they’re all over the whole medicare side of things (for their own reasons) but they can’t understand why the “younger” set is by-and-large upset with the wacky costs associated with health insurance.

In my own situation, I’d consider myself pretty well off. My wife and I both have full time jobs and both offer health insurance. It sounds like a pretty cushy situation but we’re still paying around $15000 per year for insurance — and this isn’t for some special elite plan. I don’t think the average senior realizes that it’s that high of a number — it wasn’t during their working days.

Yep — using an average household income of $50,233 (2007 numbers), healthcare is costing us nearly 30% of our PRE-TAX income. You can’t deny the percentages — the average American household wasn’t blowing 30% of their pre-tax income in the 1970′s and 1980′s unless, of course, they were a really unhealthy family.

The crazy part in my own personal situation is that I haven’t been to a doctor in over a decade. Do the math… Yep, I should have an extra 6-figures in my pocket. It’s highway robbery. It really is.

Now I’m not saying that a government plan is the best option (even though I am Canadian and do, in theory, support such an idea) or even a solution, I just think that there’s a HUGE segment of the voting population that are completely unaware of what the younger folks are paying, not for services, but for just-in-case insurance. It’s not right.

The next thing is the whole concept of a 401k plan. I’ve heard two or three people over the past couple of months someone say along the lines of, “Yeah, well you don’t need pensions because people your age have 401ks…”

I don’t know about you but there are an awful lot of companies out there that don’t even offer 401k plans — I’m pretty sure that most of my friends have nothing of the sort. And even if they do, good luck finding a company that *still* offers a match — sometimes I even have to laugh that employers call it a “benefit”.

Using my own 401k as a real life example : I’ve been contributing to it pretty heavily for a dozen years to receive the largest possible employer match (from when they were *still* offering a match). You know, basically making the most of it that I possibly could.

My total balance right now is right around $79000. Fourteen thousand of that is from my employer — or a little over $1000 per year over my 12 years of contributing.

You can throw phrases like “compound interest” or “tax deferred” in there all you like, there is NO WAY that anyone can claim that $1000 per year over a 25-30 year career (if you’re lucky) is going to be enough to “retire” on.

The fact is — employers aren’t going to take care of their “former” workforce like they used to and calling a 401k plan a “retirement” plan similar to a pension is, well, like comparing apples to asparagus. One tastes like crap.

That’s right Mom, I still don’t like asparagus. I think, at this point, it’s safe to say that I never will.

So, from my employer’s contributions to my 401k, I might end up with a $200 check each month for a few years once I retire… And don’t forget — I’m at that unfortunate age where I won’t be getting any social security checks on top of it all either… Ouch.

And on the subject of fixed incomes and social security checks, what is up with the seniors getting all upset about not getting a “raise” in 2010…

Are they as out of touch as Wall Street?

Maybe my job sucks but I’m pretty sure that I’m not alone — I haven’t gotten a raise since 2003. It might even be as far back as 2001 but plain and simple, right now, I’m certainly not expecting a token raise anytime soon, you know, just because…

Really, everyone’s cost-of-living has gone up (I personally haven’t noticed) but those still lucky enough to be part of the workforce aren’t seeing the “adjustments” that the seniors have come to expect. It’s messed up — the seniors need to get in touch with reality on this one.

Again, like the 401k/pension thing, that isn’t how things work anymore — people don’t get token raises just because…

But in the end, it’s really funny to me as I can’t deny that I’ve jumped the bandwagon before and said stuff like, “Yeah, the bratty Gen Y’s out there just expect everything to be handed to them…” but now I’m seeing first hand that AARP members are just as expectant of handouts.

Weird how perspectives change… or fail to change… Seems that every generation can fall into that often mocked me-me-me category indicating that one thing is for certain — we’re not all in this together.

Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 8:18 pm by Brainy Smurf
401k, Current Events, Finance, Health, Life, Rants | 4 Comments »

Chicago-style Commute

We had our first snowfall of the season here in Connecticut this afternoon — pretty early for us too. I mean, I haven’t even started raking leaves yet?!

Last year it didn’t snow until Decemember 7th…

Anyway, there isn’t much in the way of accumulation (it’s still snowing) but it’s as though the people on the road have *never* seen snow before. I hate how that happens.

Really, tonight my three mile commute home from work took…50 minutes!?. How ridiculous is that?

In my prime, I could *run* that distance in under 16 minutes. In fact, I could’ve walked home faster.

Apparently, according to the local news, this isn’t the earliest snow we’ve ever had. Way back when we had a significant snowfall during the first week of October. I’m shocked that I don’t remember it but that’s probably because it was right around the time that I would have been too busy memorizing things like ↑, ↑, ↓, ↓, ←, →, ←, →, B, A, Select, Start…

Someone out there will know *exactly* what I’m talking about…

I hope.

PIAC Post Extension:
I titled the post Chicago-style commute because I’ve never encountered traffic worse than that of greater-Chicago. Three miles in a little under an hour seems about right. It’s no wonder that my dad took the train to work when we used to lived there.

Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 8:14 pm by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Rants, Retro | 3 Comments »

The Great Pumpkin: 59¢ per Pound

So this morning we headed out on a daytrip to go and pick our pumpkin for 2009. We do this every year but this was the first time we’ve made the trip as a trio.

First we took a hay ride…

Then we roamed the fields…

And then we found the great pumpkin!

Weighing in at just over 16 pounds, he was less than $10… Such a deal.

Posted on October 11th, 2009 at 4:19 pm by Brainy Smurf
Bargains, Current Events, Photo, Smurfling | No Comments »

Escaped Monkey-Fightin’ Snakes Cause Multi-Car Crash

No joke – this was the lead story all day yesterday and much of the day today in my neck of the woods…

A 20-year-old driver told police his baby pet snakes are to blame for a multi-car crash he caused on Main Street Monday morning.

Angel Rolon lost control of his SUV as he and a passenger scrambled to catch the two snakes, he told police. He said they escaped from his pants pockets and slithered down near the gas and brake pedals, police said.

Rolon is charged with reckless driving, failure to drive in proper lane, driving while being distracted and driving without a license.

At least three other cars were involved in the crash, reported to police at 10:20 a.m. Rolan’s SUV sustained heavy front end damage and rolled over onto the driver’s side.

Animal control responded to the scene but did not find the snakes, police said.

Okay, I’m not sure where to begin…

But on the subject of snakes in odd situations, has anyone else seen the safe-for-television re-dubbed version of Snakes on a Plane on USA or TNT?

“I’ve had it with these monkey-fightin’ snakes on this Monday-Friday plane!”

So, anyway, I hope the police inquired as to why anyone would put some monkey-fightin’ snakes in their Monday/Friday pockets and then go for a monkey-fightin’ drive during monkey-fightin’ rush hour?

Seriously…

And I thought driving while texting was dangerous…

Posted on July 28th, 2009 at 7:47 pm by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Movies, Rants | No Comments »

Some Final Thoughts on MJ

Unlike my previous post, this one actually is about Michael Jackson.

Even though I wasn’t born in the US, if I had been, I’d be one of those bicentennial babies. What that basically means is that the Jackson 5 were a little before my time. But it also means that I was the perfect age for MJ’s solo career.

My parents were still listening to popular music when “Off the Wall” came out in 1979 so I got my share of “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” and “Rock With You” riding in the back of the car.

I don’t remember either song being a favorite (neither could top Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” or Christopher Cross’ “Ride Like the Wind”), but I certainly remember hearing them an awful lot.

By the time Thriller came out, sure, my parents had turned the dial to the oldies stations instead but I was six years old by then — I had access to my own radio dial.

Best of all, our next door neighbor was an audiophile. His “band” was the Who but he also had the Michael Jackson album before anyone that I knew. I’m not sure he’d be willing to admit it but he had it in his collection probably the same day that it came out.

We used to go over there, put on his enormous headphones and giggle endlessly wondering what on earth “Ma-Ma-Se, Ma-Ma-Sa, Ma-Ma-Goo-Sa” meant… Back then, you couldn’t just jump to a song as easily as you can now (partly because we weren’t allowed to actually touch his turntable) so we listened to “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” (the first track on the album) more than any other song on the record. In fact, I’m not sure we ever listened to the flip side…

My friend Chris and I even used the “Ma-Ma-Se” thing as a greeting? Weird.

We were living outside Chicago at the time and I remember walking to school with Chris and his older brother Kurt pretending that the sidewalk was lighting up in front of us like it did in the “Billie Jean” video.

I also remember very long sessions of attempting to moonwalk on the kitchen tile with our slipperiest socks on. I never quite mastered it.

I remember the hi-fi guy, Kurt and Chris’ dad, saying that it was a fake special effect but we kept trying anyway…

As 1st graders, we had no idea what the song, “Billie Jean”, was about but we certainly knew all the words. When “Beat It” came out, well, game over, everyone that I knew was asking for the Thriller record for their birthday.

I got it on tape that summer — along with a tape recorder.

Then we moved to Connecticut and my access to Hi-Fi music was dashed. But with the move to New England came something new — cable television and MTV.

Not only could I listen to MJ, now I could see him too! I’d seen the videos before, probably on Solid Gold or something, but never over and over and over again.

I remember when the Thriller video came out — I think it was even listed in TV Guide — my parents even watched. And they enjoyed it!

Imagining my son being 7 years old now instead of one month, I’m not sure I’d be able to “enjoy” the music or the videos he might be watching right now. Somehow, in the early 1980′s Michael Jackson was able to appeal to 7 year olds AND 37 year olds.

My next big MJ memory came a few months after the big Thriller music video.

I had the jacket from Thriller in 3rd grade — it was awesome.

Yeah, my parents were too cheap to buy me a glittery glove that I also wanted but they totally went all out and hooked me up with a red and black pleather jacket.

Did I mention yet that it was awesome?

I remember it almost having a Michael Jackson like effect at the bus stop.

No, the girls weren’t passing out or anything just being in my presence but they were asking to try it on and I thought that was pretty cool.

While I can’t prove it here with photographic evidence as I’m not sure a photo of me in the jacket even exists — thank god, too, evidence like that would have jeopardized my popularity in high school — trust me, I had it. And it *was* awesome.

I’m sure that if I dug through the attic enough, I’d find it. Or maybe my parents still have it? Mom?

Anyway, I’m not really sure where it ended up but I’d hate to think that we just threw it away…

The next time Michael Jackson came up was when I was just heading into junior high school.

It was the end of the summer and I had a birthday party to go to and I wanted to buy the “Bad” tape for my friend Ryan.

Problem was, the album was being released the day of the party *and* it went over the $10 birthday present limit my mom had set. (Yeah, back then, cassettes were $16.99 for a new release).

My mom ending up buying the tape last minute (going over the $10 limit) and as my friend was opening his other presents, I was a little worried about how he’d react to mine.

See, Michael Jackson wasn’t as cool as he’d been when we were in third grade but when he opened it, everyone at the party was excited. (I did a little fist pump in my head. Yes!)

I remember after the party, when his mom was driving us all home, she had the tape playing in the car (they were loaded so, unlike the rest of us, they had a tape player in the car – remember, this is 1987!) and we were all in the back clapping along to “The Way You Make Me Feel” which was the first song on the album that none of us had ever heard before.

If I remember correctly, that was pretty much the last real birthday party that wasn’t just a sleepover with a few friends that I ever attended. Later that week, we were, afterall, junior high schoolers and far too grown up for “Fudgie the Whale” cakes.

His next album was “Dangerous” with the big prime time network debut of the “Black or White” video and the morphing faces at the end.

I was in high school at this point and while it was okay to admit that you thought the end of his video was cool, it was best to keep being a fan on the hush-hush.

I bought his Dangerous album in Germany on tape because, yeah, I didn’t have a CD player yet and because I was certain that I would probably never again see any of those Germans there to witness me purchasing it.

Yeah, in 1992, there was a little bit of shame in admitting that you liked Michael Jackson *and* Pearl Jam.

I’d say that it was the first MJ album that I didn’t play the crap out of.

It’s not that it wasn’t worthy, but I think my tastes had begun to slide over to less mainstream stuff like They Might be Giants. And, um, Pearl Jam.

Crazy to call a guy like Michael Jackson mainstream, huh?

The last time I gave Michael any thought, prior to Thursday, was when HIStory came out in 1995. It was in the summer of 1995 and I was taking a few courses in University.

My friend Alison, almost as a joke I think, suggested that we line up to buy the album at midnight.

Thinking that sounded like more fun than watching Baywatch and Unsolved Mysteries reruns I said that I’d be up for it.

When we got to “House of Sounds” on Princess Street in Kingston, which still sold records at the time, there was already a line up?!

I couldn’t believe it!? At a time when few would admit to even liking Michael Jackson, he could still get people to line up in the middle of the night to buy one of his albums. Amazing.

Anyway, 6 minutes and 15 seconds past midnight, I owned HIStory… and Disc 1 (best compilation EVER!) is the CD player in the car right now…

(Though I must admit, I had to dig through a few boxes this morning to find it.)

Posted on June 27th, 2009 at 9:22 am by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Life, Music, Retro, Television | 5 Comments »

Bank of America Cut my Credit Line in Half

So all of this talk on the news about people losing their credit has finally hit home.

Apparently, based on the date of this notice I received from Bank of America, I was financially assaulted on April 24.

Seems that they held off on mailing the notice out, though, as I just received this on Thursday or Friday (and I only opened it this morning.)

Given the size of your credit line and the way you have historically used your account, we have adjusted the credit line on your card to $14,000.

Looking back on my last Credit Card Roll Call from December 2008, my credit limit on this particular card was $27,400.

A ridiculous limit — no question. But they cut it in half?!

I’m not really upset as I haven’t carried that card in my wallet since 2005, though I’ve still put my monthly cable bill on it since that time just to make it appear to be an “Active” account to the credit card company.

I do feel slightly violated though. I mean, back in 2004, I carried a $16,000 balance on this exact card. For months…

Historically speaking, I’d say that proves that I do indeed need a higher credit line than the one they’ve “adjusted” me to.

And they claim that the decision was based in part on a credit report that they pulled. I find that a little upsetting too.

First, the fact that the pulled a credit report — not to offer me something but to take something away that they’d already given me. Sorry, that rubs me the wrong way.

And though this was probably just a soft pull and won’t affected my credit score at all, the lowering of my limit by so much most certainly will.

It also baffles me a bit because I’ve seen my credit report and what I saw shouldn’t have resulted in this.

According to Experian, I have 17 open accounts, all in good standing, and not a single account with a late payment. They also listed that I’m a pro at carrying HUGE balances.

Listed alphabetically, my BMW Financial Services account was right up top. How many people do you know that can afford not to carry a huge balance on a BMW ? I’m certainly not one of them.

Though most my accounts were holding steady at $0 when I last pulled it, the credit report also listed when and what the high water mark was for each account — and it wasn’t that long ago that nearly all of them were well over 5-figures.

Basically, between 2004 and 2006, I was pretty deep. “Historically” speaking, that wasn’t a very long time ago.

Of course, though, the notice from Bank of America states that they based the information on an Equifax credit report.

They’re the only agency that I haven’t seen my credit report for because, well, their website sucks.

Figures…

Posted on May 10th, 2009 at 7:35 am by Brainy Smurf
Credit Card, Current Events, Finance, Rants | 18 Comments »

Welcome Back!

Yep, that’s right, I’m welcoming myself back.

I feel like I’ve been on vacation except that I haven’t…

Anyway, I’m a few days late with this but remember how I mentioned that I’d tossed in $5 to be included in on of those March Madness bracket things?

While I may not have finished “in the money”, I’m quite proud of where I landed — out of 60 participants, I finished in 7th place — considering my chosen method of selecting who would win each game throughout the tournament.

For the early rounds, I picked teams that I had t-shirts for.

Yep, it’s true — it was as simple as that.

So that cheap ($7.50) Michigan State t-shirt that I bought on a whim at a Steve & Barry’s in, I’d guess, Michigan almost paid for itself 40 times over.

It’s actually too bad that I let my personal feelings towards the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team get in the way.

I have a UConn t-shirt in closet too. Had I chosen them to go further in the tournament (they reached the Final Four), I’d have won the whole darn pool…

Don’t worry Steve & Barry’s… I won’t hold it against you.

It was my fault.

I really miss that store.

Even the smell.

Posted on April 10th, 2009 at 8:01 pm by Brainy Smurf
Bargains, Current Events, Sports | No Comments »

The Haunting in Connecticut

Yeah, whatever…

Sheesh, another embarassing showcase of the state I call home.

First we have a pet chimpanzee maul someone and now we’ve got a creepy haunted house movie with a kid barfing on the poster…

I’ve driven by the house portrayed in the movie. Many times.

No joke, as the crow flies, it’s less than 5 miles from my house. I was going to drive by today and snap a picture for this post but apparently there’s a police car out front in an attempt to keep the curious away so I’ll describe it instead…

It’s a dumpy multi-family home on a busy road surrounded by a bunch of very similar dumpy multi-family homes. The kind that’s had all of its porches enclosed so as to be listed to have more bedrooms for rent than it actually should.

Unfinished attic? Put up a rickety staircase on the exterior, toss a dirty mattress up there, and you’ve got yourself another room to rent.

Can you picture it in your head now?

(I’ll admit, I’ve exaggerated slightly — but it really is a dumpy looking multi-family that I wouldn’t ever consider living in — and look what the inside of my house looks like!)

It’s also not, as I’ve heard reported by the national media, in Northern Connecticut.

Seriously, the town’s name is Southington.

Would they name a town Southington if it were in the northern part of the state?
Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Anyway, I’m officially declaring that it’s not haunted.

It’s not even scary looking!?

It’s just a dumpy multi-family home that they current owner, through no fault of their own, will now be able to charge an arm-and-a-leg to rent out. Bonus for them.

And all this talk of orbs or anomalies in still photos — well, being a pro photographer, let me straighten this out once and for all…

It’s called dust on the sensor or a smudge on the mirror… Oh, and that prism hanging from a hook over there in the corner of the room where the “contact” occurred isn’t exactly helping the situation…

Yeah, that’s right, I’m a skeptic.

If you believe that this movie is based on a true story, you’re either a teenage girl who thinks that vampires with messy hair are “Hottie McHott” hot or you’re just a weirdo. My mailman is actually one of the latter.

He asked me a few months ago to take a look at some of his cemetery photos taken during one of his, um, “expeditions”.

The photos were taken with a piece-of-crap Sony point-and-shoot and then enlarged to a point where, well, you could see every jaggedy pixel. Basically, to him (and his cohorts), there were ghosts all over the place.

To me? Well, the photos were overexposed, over-enlarged, and the sensor on the camera obviously had some crap on it. The lens was scratched too…

Of course I didn’t have the heart to tell him, just nodding my head saying, “Yeah, that’s kinda neat…” as he eyed my camera equipment.

Then I turned him down when he asked if I’d be interested in going out for the next investigation…

Please don’t waste any money on this terrible movie.

Here’s a photo of another local home that I’m pretty sure *is* haunted.

Well, at least it looks the part…

For the curious, I can even give you the street address — no police cars outside or anything. Just creepy-goodness.

And maybe it’s just me, but I find it hilarious that the movie’s tag line is “Some things can not be explained.”

That’s certainly true — a lot of things can be totally fabricated though…

Posted on March 28th, 2009 at 9:53 pm by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Rants | 6 Comments »

And Just Like that… Tim Geithner is a Stud!

Crazy how public opinion can turn on a dime.

The attitude went from “He’s a bum — get him outta here!” just yesterday to “Master of the Universe” this afternoon following the 7% surge in the markets.

I don’t understand it all — I never do — but from the reports that I’ve heard, the US Government just made a really terrible investment and as a result, everyone else’s investments went through the roof.

Kinda like they “took one for the team”…

I suppose that’s good?

Except… they made a really terrible investment, right?

Wait. How is that good?

Isn’t this going to just come up and bite all of us later?

Posted on March 23rd, 2009 at 5:30 pm by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Finance | 3 Comments »