First thing - it's been nearly a year since the wedding. The life situation for Allison and I has changed somewhat in that year - new jobs, new cities, we're still exploring and having fun.
It was overall a typical weekend day - shops and market in the morning... split a piroshky (cinnamon cardamom raisin) and the just-out-of-the-fryer tiny cinnamon donuts at the Daily Dozen... pick up some fresh veggies and fruit for the week... back home for lunch.
Walked around the Seattle Center and walked a few errands (new camping 3L pot and sporks at REI) in the afternoon... then cooked dinner.
Mushroom ravioli with a browned butter/thyme/vegetable/reggiano parmesan in a vegetable stock sauce. Side of broiled asparagus. This was one of the simpler/better dinners I've cooked lately.
Allison made a strawberry granita for dessert, and we split a bottle of Pommery champagne.
All in all - good day, good food, time to fall asleep watching a movie.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Updates
Well, my mom is recovering - the first week after surgery is pretty dicey though - lots of monitoring for brain swelling and small strokes and such - signs are pointing to a full recovery - at least she's able to get up and walk around a bit already - and she sounds normal enough - moreso than after the back surgery last year.
In other, more upbeat news - due to lack of seating here I bought a Sumo Omni - freakin huge (5' square) pillow/urban lounge bean bag thingy - it arrived yesterday and I immediately proceeded to fall asleep in it - good sign.
It's comfy, and foldable and feels durable enough. Priced cheaper than more traditional, less comfortable seating too.
Link http://www.sumolounge.com/omni.shtml
Also - for the musically inclined - Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead - still thinking it's the best album I've found in a while.
In other, more upbeat news - due to lack of seating here I bought a Sumo Omni - freakin huge (5' square) pillow/urban lounge bean bag thingy - it arrived yesterday and I immediately proceeded to fall asleep in it - good sign.
It's comfy, and foldable and feels durable enough. Priced cheaper than more traditional, less comfortable seating too.
Link http://www.sumolounge.com/omni.shtml
Also - for the musically inclined - Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead - still thinking it's the best album I've found in a while.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Yikes
The Bad - my mom's in the hospital with a brain aneurism.
The Good - she's generally fine - it's minor and operable - should be back to normal in a month.
Operation to fix it is tomorrow morning - think positive.
The Good - she's generally fine - it's minor and operable - should be back to normal in a month.
Operation to fix it is tomorrow morning - think positive.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Better answer:
After trying to think through the current economic situation and well, not knowing enough - here is someone that fills in the gaps - good article, not too technical.
http://www.annsjournal.sampasite.com/Wall-Street-s-House-of-Cards.htm
http://www.annsjournal.sampasite.com/Wall-Street-s-House-of-Cards.htm
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Economics
As someone that just made a financially risky move - left large corporation for small corporation 3000 miles away, downsized materially - sold a house, car, lots of furniture and stuff, I'm wondering what the ramifications of that are. I seem to be doing alright - but what does the future hold economically - is buying a residence with the proceeds from the last one a smart decision right now - what about going back to school, how will the job market fare - these are rather expensive questions to ask.
For all the reasons given in the news for why the US economy is in trouble, here is my attempt (as someone who has er, just over a year of business class experience) at summarizing what's happening. I may miss things, but hope to explain the basics somewhat correctly.
- The home value question.
Are home prices simply supply vs. demand?
This seems to be a local issue and not a national one - if the economy in a city is strong then it is a desirable place to live and home values will be higher than an economically depressed city (i.e. Detroit). However there seem to be national forces at work here as well: value of the dollar and the availability of credit. Basically - where does the money come from for people to mortgage a home, and how much is that money worth.
Mortgage market problems - what's the deal?
Pretty much anyone that buys a home does so with a mortgage. So the bank gives you money to buy a house, and expects that you'll pay it back with interest over some period of time. Assume you have a fixed rate mortgage at 6% - the bank then generally knows what payment to expect and when it will receive it. This is pretty predictable. (mortgage prepayments and defaults being the risk, however the riskiness is tied to how much interest they charge to make it worth their risk)
The issue at work here is where does the money come from that the bank loans you. People deposit money in savings accounts or CD's - so the bank pays them say 3% for their reduced liquidity and then loan that money out to other people at 6% (even if after some of those loans are paid down early or default the bank only gets 5% on average) - yay profit. Sounds nice and simple however it's a bit more complicated than that.
The loans that the bank creates can then be bundled and traded as mortgage backed securities - basically banks bet between themselves and other trading houses on how much of the full value+interest of the loan portfolio they'll get back based on the riskiness of the group of mortgages - 30 year fixed conforming loans are low risk, something like a 3 year ARM is on the risky side.
If the economy slows down people may choose not to buy a house or may be laid off and not be able to pay their mortgage. The result of that is lowered values on those mortgage backed securities. If the properties are foreclosed on, the end result of the bank sale may be far less than the value of the loan. Each individual loss may average under $100k, but after a few thousand, or few million, of those small losses it adds up to a fairly large loss of value. The holders of those securities may find themselves in need of lots of cash to cover the difference. Recently Countrywide, Carlyle Capital, and a few others, are companies that forgot that there had to be sufficient cash to cover that possibility and ran into trouble.
Also involved in the 'where the money comes from' is the Fed, and the value of the dollar. But it's quitting time.
More thoughts to follow...
For all the reasons given in the news for why the US economy is in trouble, here is my attempt (as someone who has er, just over a year of business class experience) at summarizing what's happening. I may miss things, but hope to explain the basics somewhat correctly.
- The home value question.
Are home prices simply supply vs. demand?
This seems to be a local issue and not a national one - if the economy in a city is strong then it is a desirable place to live and home values will be higher than an economically depressed city (i.e. Detroit). However there seem to be national forces at work here as well: value of the dollar and the availability of credit. Basically - where does the money come from for people to mortgage a home, and how much is that money worth.
Mortgage market problems - what's the deal?
Pretty much anyone that buys a home does so with a mortgage. So the bank gives you money to buy a house, and expects that you'll pay it back with interest over some period of time. Assume you have a fixed rate mortgage at 6% - the bank then generally knows what payment to expect and when it will receive it. This is pretty predictable. (mortgage prepayments and defaults being the risk, however the riskiness is tied to how much interest they charge to make it worth their risk)
The issue at work here is where does the money come from that the bank loans you. People deposit money in savings accounts or CD's - so the bank pays them say 3% for their reduced liquidity and then loan that money out to other people at 6% (even if after some of those loans are paid down early or default the bank only gets 5% on average) - yay profit. Sounds nice and simple however it's a bit more complicated than that.
The loans that the bank creates can then be bundled and traded as mortgage backed securities - basically banks bet between themselves and other trading houses on how much of the full value+interest of the loan portfolio they'll get back based on the riskiness of the group of mortgages - 30 year fixed conforming loans are low risk, something like a 3 year ARM is on the risky side.
If the economy slows down people may choose not to buy a house or may be laid off and not be able to pay their mortgage. The result of that is lowered values on those mortgage backed securities. If the properties are foreclosed on, the end result of the bank sale may be far less than the value of the loan. Each individual loss may average under $100k, but after a few thousand, or few million, of those small losses it adds up to a fairly large loss of value. The holders of those securities may find themselves in need of lots of cash to cover the difference. Recently Countrywide, Carlyle Capital, and a few others, are companies that forgot that there had to be sufficient cash to cover that possibility and ran into trouble.
Also involved in the 'where the money comes from' is the Fed, and the value of the dollar. But it's quitting time.
More thoughts to follow...
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Updates
Had some visitors over the weekend - Tim, Sarah and John were in town before Tim ships out to various ports around the world. So Allison and I put together a standard weekend in the city for them - beer, more beer, and lots of walking around to see the sights. Went well - dinner at Etta's was good - well executed fresh seafood - if less experimental than the other restaurants in that family.
This week/weekend should be quieter - need to finish up taxes and grad school prep stuff.
In other news - I'm finally mostly stable under 200lbs. Granted 198/9 isn't much different statistically from 202/3, but it's a trend in the correct direction. There's something to this fresh food and lots of walking lifestyle after all.
This week/weekend should be quieter - need to finish up taxes and grad school prep stuff.
In other news - I'm finally mostly stable under 200lbs. Granted 198/9 isn't much different statistically from 202/3, but it's a trend in the correct direction. There's something to this fresh food and lots of walking lifestyle after all.
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