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Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Kettlebell Training
Kettlebells are the latest trend with Hollywood fitness trainers.With good reason, they are very effective for quick fat loss.Here's a video of some lesser known, but no less effective exercises.
You are only limited by your imagination!!
You are only limited by your imagination!!
Friday, July 04, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Kiss Me Hardy
This year, in October, we celebrate the 203rd Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in which that Great National Hero, Admiral Horatio Nelson, took on, and beat our long-term adversaries, the snivelling Frenchies and their Spanish allies.But what would have been the case if the battle had taken place in October 2008 ?Picture the scene:...October 21st 2008 - Upper Poop-Deck - HMS Victory - 0700 hrsNelson: "Order the signal, Hardy."Hardy: "Aye, aye, sir."
N: "Hold on a minute, that's not what I dictated to the signals officer. What's the meaning of this?"
H: "Sorry sir"
N: (reading aloud) "England expects every person to do his or her duty, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious persuasion or disability. What gobbledegook is this?"
H: "Admiralty policy, I'm afraid sir. We're an equalopportunities employer now. We had the devil's own job getting 'England' past the censors, lest it be considered racist."
N: "Gadzooks, Hardy. Hand me my pipe and tobacco."
H: "Sorry sir, you're not allowed to smoke whilst on board ship. All naval vessels have been designated as smoke-free working environments."
N: "In that case, Hardy, break open the rum ration and we'll splice the main brace before the battle."
H: "The rum ration has been abolished, sir. It's all part of the Government's policy on Binge Drinking."
N: "Good heavens, Hardy. I suppose we'd better get on with it then. Full speed ahead."H: "I think you'll find there's a 4 knot speed limit in this stretch of water, sir."
N: "For fuck's sakes, man! We're on the verge of the greatest sea battle in history. We must advance with all speed. Send a man to the crow's nest."
H: "Not possible, sir."
N: "What??"
H: "Health and Safety have closed the crow's nest sir. No harnesses, and they say that the rope ladders do not meet current regulations. They won't let anyone up there until a proper scaffolding can be erected."
N: "Then get the ship's carpenter without delay."
H: "He's busy building a wheelchair access ramp to the fo'c'sle, sir."
N: "Wheelchair access ? I've never heard anything so absurd."
H: "Health and Safety again sir. We have to provide a barrier-free environment for the differently-abled"
N: "Differently-Abled? I've only got one eye and one arm, and I refuse to hear mention of the phrase. I didn't get to be an Admiral by playing the disability card."
H: "Actually, sir, you did. The Admiralty was under-represented in the areas of visual impairment and limb deficiency."
N: "Whatever next? Give me full sail, the salt spray beckons."
H: "A couple of problems there too, sir. H&S won't let the men up the rigging without harnesses and hard hats, and they don't want them breathing in too much salt - haven't you seen the adverts?"
N: " I never heard such infamy. Break out the cannons and tell the men to stand by to engage the enemy."
H: "The men are a bit worried about shooting at anyone, Admiral."
N: "What? This is mutiny!"
H: "No, it's not that, sir. It's just that they're afraid of being charged with murder if they actually kill anyone. There's a couple of Legal-Aid lawyers on board, watching everyone like hawks."
N: "How then are we to sink the Frenchies and the Spanish?"
H: "Actually, sir, we're not"N: "What??"H: "No sir. The French and the Spanish are our European partners now. And, according to the Common Fisheries Policy, we shouldn't even be in these waters. We could get hit with a claim for compensation."
N: Devil take it, Hardy. You must hate every Frenchy as you would hate the Devil himself."
H: "I wouldn't let the ship's diversity co-ordinator hear you say that, sir. You'll be up on a charge."
N: "You must consider every man an enemy who speaks ill of our King."
H: "Not any more, sir. We must all learn to be inclusive in this multicultural age. Now put on your Kevlar vest, sir. It's the rules, and it could save your life."
N: "Don't tell me, Health and Safety. Whatever happened to rum, sodomy and the lash?"
H: "As I explained, sir, rum is off the menu, and there's a ban on corporal punishment."
N: "What about sodomy?"
H: "I believe that it is now legal, sir."
N: "In that case, kiss me, Hardy."
N: "Hold on a minute, that's not what I dictated to the signals officer. What's the meaning of this?"
H: "Sorry sir"
N: (reading aloud) "England expects every person to do his or her duty, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious persuasion or disability. What gobbledegook is this?"
H: "Admiralty policy, I'm afraid sir. We're an equalopportunities employer now. We had the devil's own job getting 'England' past the censors, lest it be considered racist."
N: "Gadzooks, Hardy. Hand me my pipe and tobacco."
H: "Sorry sir, you're not allowed to smoke whilst on board ship. All naval vessels have been designated as smoke-free working environments."
N: "In that case, Hardy, break open the rum ration and we'll splice the main brace before the battle."
H: "The rum ration has been abolished, sir. It's all part of the Government's policy on Binge Drinking."
N: "Good heavens, Hardy. I suppose we'd better get on with it then. Full speed ahead."H: "I think you'll find there's a 4 knot speed limit in this stretch of water, sir."
N: "For fuck's sakes, man! We're on the verge of the greatest sea battle in history. We must advance with all speed. Send a man to the crow's nest."
H: "Not possible, sir."
N: "What??"
H: "Health and Safety have closed the crow's nest sir. No harnesses, and they say that the rope ladders do not meet current regulations. They won't let anyone up there until a proper scaffolding can be erected."
N: "Then get the ship's carpenter without delay."
H: "He's busy building a wheelchair access ramp to the fo'c'sle, sir."
N: "Wheelchair access ? I've never heard anything so absurd."
H: "Health and Safety again sir. We have to provide a barrier-free environment for the differently-abled"
N: "Differently-Abled? I've only got one eye and one arm, and I refuse to hear mention of the phrase. I didn't get to be an Admiral by playing the disability card."
H: "Actually, sir, you did. The Admiralty was under-represented in the areas of visual impairment and limb deficiency."
N: "Whatever next? Give me full sail, the salt spray beckons."
H: "A couple of problems there too, sir. H&S won't let the men up the rigging without harnesses and hard hats, and they don't want them breathing in too much salt - haven't you seen the adverts?"
N: " I never heard such infamy. Break out the cannons and tell the men to stand by to engage the enemy."
H: "The men are a bit worried about shooting at anyone, Admiral."
N: "What? This is mutiny!"
H: "No, it's not that, sir. It's just that they're afraid of being charged with murder if they actually kill anyone. There's a couple of Legal-Aid lawyers on board, watching everyone like hawks."
N: "How then are we to sink the Frenchies and the Spanish?"
H: "Actually, sir, we're not"N: "What??"H: "No sir. The French and the Spanish are our European partners now. And, according to the Common Fisheries Policy, we shouldn't even be in these waters. We could get hit with a claim for compensation."
N: Devil take it, Hardy. You must hate every Frenchy as you would hate the Devil himself."
H: "I wouldn't let the ship's diversity co-ordinator hear you say that, sir. You'll be up on a charge."
N: "You must consider every man an enemy who speaks ill of our King."
H: "Not any more, sir. We must all learn to be inclusive in this multicultural age. Now put on your Kevlar vest, sir. It's the rules, and it could save your life."
N: "Don't tell me, Health and Safety. Whatever happened to rum, sodomy and the lash?"
H: "As I explained, sir, rum is off the menu, and there's a ban on corporal punishment."
N: "What about sodomy?"
H: "I believe that it is now legal, sir."
N: "In that case, kiss me, Hardy."
Friday, March 28, 2008
Bruce Lee’s Top 7 Fundamentals for Getting Your Life in Shape
If you haven’t been living under a rock for the last 30 years I’m pretty sure you know who Bruce Lee was. 
If you have, then you may be interested to know that Lee was a very famous martial artist and actor who sparked the first big interest of Chinese martial arts in the West in the 60’s and 70’s.
But besides being an awesome fighter and iconic figure Lee also had some very useful things to say about life.
Here are 7 of my favourite fundamentals from Bruce Lee.
1. What are you really thinking about today?
“As you think, so shall you become.”
Perhaps the most basic statement of how we work. Think about what you are thinking today. What do those thoughts say about you? About your life? And how well do they really match your plans for your life and your image of yourself?
It’s easy to forget abut this simple statement in everyday life. It’s easy to be quite incongruent with what you think on an ordinary day compared to how you view yourself and your goals. A simple external reminder such as a post-it with this quote can be helpful to keep you and your thoughts on the right track. An brilliant and beautiful expansion on this thought can be found in James Allen’s As a man thinketh (that can be downloaded for free here).
2. Simplify.
“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”
If you want to improve your life then it’s tempting to want to add more. One problem with this may be that you don’t really have the time or energy to do more though. And so your efforts to improve become short-lived.
Adding more and more just creates more stress and anxiety. Removing clutter and activities, tasks and thoughts that are not so important frees up time and energy for you to do more of what you really want to do. And as the clutter in your outer world decreases the clutter in your inner world also has a tendency to decrease. This has the added benefit of making it easier to actually enjoy whatever you are doing even more while you are doing it.
Adding more thoughts and thinking things over for the 111:th time may create a sense of security. It’s also a good way to procrastinate and to avoid taking that leap you know you should take. And the more you think, the harder it gets to act. Perhaps because you want to keep that comforting sense of security and avoid the risk of wrecking that feeling.
Thinking has its place. It can help you plan a somewhat realistic route to your goal and help you avoid future pitfalls. Overthinking is however just a habit that will help you waste a lot of time. It’s more useful to replace that habit with the habit of just doing it.
3. Learn about yourself in interactions.
“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.”
The one person that is the hardest to get to really know may be yourself. Studying yourself while you are alone may result in some insights. But it’s also likely to produce a lot of made up thought loops and doubts in your mind. A good way to really learn more about yourself is study yourself in interactions with other people. How people react and act in these interaction can over time teach you a lot. And what you think and how you react can perhaps teach you even more.
What you see, feel and hear in other people may be a reflection of you. The things you learn by thinking this way may not always be pleasant, but they can be enlightening. They help you to see yourself and also how you may be fooling yourself. And these powerful insights can be very valuable for your personal growth. So, in interactions with others, try asking yourself: what is reflected?
4. Do not divide.
“Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.”
This is a very useful and powerful thought. It is also one that obviously is hard to live by. Why? I believe it’s because the ego loves to divide and find ways to “add more” to itself. It want’s to feel better than someone else. Or more clever. Or prettier. Or cooler. Or wiser.
How can you overcome this way of thinking and feeling?
To me it seems to boil down to not identifying so much with your thoughts or feelings. That doesn’t mean that you stop thinking or feeling. It just means that you realize – and remember in your everyday life – that the thoughts and emotions are just things flowing through you.
You are not them though.
You are the consciousness observing them.
When you realize and remember this it enables you to control the thoughts and feelings instead of the other way around. It also enables you to not take your thoughts too seriously and actually laugh at them or ignore them when you feel that your ego is acting out. When you are not being so identified these things you become more inclined to include things, thoughts and people instead of excluding them. This creates a lot of inner and outer freedom and stillness. Instead of fear, a need to divide your world and a search for conflicts.
To learn more about this I would recommend Eckhart Tolle’s books and signing up for the 10 free and excellent webcasts - available both in video and audio form – that he’s doing with Oprah right now.
5. Avoid a dependency on validation from others.
“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”
“Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.”
The ego wants to add because it thinks it’s not enough. One way of doing that is by craving validation from others. We want to feel smart, pretty, successful and so on. And the validation makes you feel good for a while. But soon you need a new fix.
And the problem with being dependent on validation from other people is that you let other people control how you feel. This creates a rollercoaster of emotion in your life.
To find more emotional stability and to take control of how you feel you need to get your validation from to a more consistent source. Yourself. You can replace the expectations and validation of others by setting your own expectations and by validating yourself.
And so you validate yourself by thinking about how awesome you are. You don’t sell yourself short. You appreciate how far you have come and the positive things you have done. You appreciate your own value in the world. You set goals and you achieve those goals. This builds confidence in yourself and in your abilities. These things will help you to build a habit of inner validation.
Now, showing off. Why do we do that? To get validation from others. However, this need for validation often shines through and that is why a thing like bragging seldom works. Instead of seeing the cool and successful person you are trying to project people just see the insecure and needy person looking for validation. And your bragging falls flat.
6. Be proactive.
“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”
It’s easy to get locked into a reactive mindset. You just follow along with whatever is happening. You do what the people around you do. You react to whatever is going on.
And so you get lost in your circumstances. This way of thinking doesn’t feel too good. You tend to feel powerless and like you are just drifting along.
A more useful and pleasurable way of living is to be proactive. As Bruce says: to create opportunities despite the circumstances around you. This feels better and provides better results. But on the other hand it’s also more difficult. It’s easier to just drift along in the reactive stream of life. And if you want to be proactive then you may have to take the lead quite often. And that can be scary.
Still, living proactively is so much more rewarding and exciting.
7. Be you.
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”
Just being yourself is a hard thing to do. You may do it sometimes. And other times you may forget or fall back into old thought patterns. Or you may imitate someone else.
And that comes through too. And it may work.
But I believe that being the real you will work better. Because there the genuine you is shining through. Without incongruency, mixed messages or perhaps a sort of phoniness. It’s you to 100%. It’s you with not only your words but you with your voice tonality and body language – which some say is over 90% of communication - on the same wavelength as your words. It’s you coming through on all channels of communication.
So I’m not saying: “yeah man, you should just be yourself because it’s the right thing to do etc.” I’m saying that I think being your authentic self – the one where you do little dividing, the one that needs little validation from others, the one where your ego is not running the show and trying to get something from someone – will give you better results and more satisfaction in your day to day life because you are in alignment with yourself. And because people really like genuine and people really like authenticity.
Image by SabTomie.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Guest Blog: Fundamentals of Success
Basics/Fundamentalsby Jim Rohn
"Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.
There are no new fundamentals. You've got to be a little suspicious of someone who says, "I've got a new fundamental." That's like someone inviting you to tour a factory where they are manufacturing antiques.
Some things you have to do every day. Eating seven apples on Saturday night instead of one a day just isn't going to get the job done.
Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure."
20% down....
A fifth of 2008 has already passed.Are you on track with those New Years Resolutions? Are you on track with your goals?It's amazing how time passes so quickly.Don't waste a single second.If your goal is fat loss - start todayIf your goal is muscle building - start todayIf your goal is (insert anything here) - start TODAY !20% of this year is gone forever. Will you make changes TODAY or will another 20% pass, then another 20% -- and before you know it -- it's 2009.....Don't waste a single second. Start TODAY.
Basics/Fundamentalsby Jim Rohn
"Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.
There are no new fundamentals. You've got to be a little suspicious of someone who says, "I've got a new fundamental." That's like someone inviting you to tour a factory where they are manufacturing antiques.
Some things you have to do every day. Eating seven apples on Saturday night instead of one a day just isn't going to get the job done.
Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure."
20% down....
A fifth of 2008 has already passed.Are you on track with those New Years Resolutions? Are you on track with your goals?It's amazing how time passes so quickly.Don't waste a single second.If your goal is fat loss - start todayIf your goal is muscle building - start todayIf your goal is (insert anything here) - start TODAY !20% of this year is gone forever. Will you make changes TODAY or will another 20% pass, then another 20% -- and before you know it -- it's 2009.....Don't waste a single second. Start TODAY.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
100 Realities.
Guest Blog from Geoff Thomson
Know this: a small world, one that offers limitation as
staple, one that is circumvented by fear, one that has
guards of curtail at every exit is not reality - or should
I say it is reality, but just one of a hundred possible
realities.
A small reality is the product of a small under developed
mind.
And also know this: all monsters and mad-men and demons and
demigods and every demiurge, they come from the mind.
The weak body, the shit job, the poor wage and the putrid
future; they come from the mind too.
Bullies, bad men and ugly folk, trace them back and you
will find that they all stem from the mind.
The villain the vicious the vapid and the vainglorious, are
rotten apples that have fallen from the mind tree.
Depression comes from the mind.
So does the vanquished and the hemmed-in and the haggard.
The mind is responsible for all.
Don Juan Matus said that our reality is but a single room
in a house of a hundred rooms and with training we could
learn to access the other 99, in fact with training we
could actually get out of the house.
The 100 realties come from the mind.
The house comes from the mind.
The realities outside the house, they all come from the
mind.
But the mind is controlled by a gargoyle. The gargoyle is
called ego, and ego likes to feast on sense gluttony, it
spoils on food, drink, drugs, pornography, alcohol and
noise! And it thrives on limiting beliefs and doubt and
blame.
And small realities.
It likes small safe realities.
The ego comes from the mind.
So train the mind is the art of austerity and asceticism,
they are the anathema of ego, its harbinger of doom.
Foster perfect moderation, adopt self control and give
birth to integrity.
Build your foundation on famished ego, and build upon your
base large, expansive, palatial realties.
Once you control the mind you become the architect of all
that comes from the mind.
Because….everything comes from the mind.
Be well
Geoff Thompson.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Make your Blokes Valentine's Day
I know, I know: Valentine's Day is all about women, and deservedly so. Women absolutely have earned the flowers, the cards, the love notes, the sensual kisses, and everything else they have coming on that day, aside from the typical three-hour restaurant wait.
The focus should be on women (not maitre d's). But as long as guys are chauffering the love limo on that night of nights, maybe we could take a look at what they might like, as a kind of side trip on the way to destination You? Consider this his wish list for the day. And relax. No chocolate boxes, fading roses, or £5 Hallmark cards will be necessary! But he'd love it if you'd offer up...
Romance Lite. He knows he better come up with innovative ways to show his affection. Some guys will go with a flowery card, some will pile on the rose petals, and some will even pull out their guitars and write a sappy song (thanks for making the rest of us look bad, guys).
He's not asking you to do any of that for him, but if he arrives at the office on Thursday to find an e-mail waiting with five examples of why you dig him, or if he receives an instant-message that launches a day-long e-flirtation, or if you interrupt his morning with a caress across the phone lines, then you've begun foreplay before you even get together, and your night will be a whole lot hotter because of it.
A Thank You-In Early March. If your man goes full tilt on Valentine's Day-dinner, with candles, a table-side violinist, and a special dessert from the kitchen, you won't have much of an opportunity to launch your own romantic agenda. He's already planned the big show.
But you are free to demonstrate your appreciation in a number of ways, and one of the best is by planning a darn good time for the two of you a few weeks later. A woman who takes the lead (especially in response to the man doing so) is one of every guy's greatest turn-ons.A Surprise. If you're planning to buy each other presents, consider buying him some underwear. But here's the twist: Buy lingerie for you to wear, but make it a dainty little nothing you know he'll love to see you barely wearing.
Wrap it up and present it to him as his gift. When he opens it, tell him you're going to wear it out that night. That way, the lingerie becomes the wrapping, and you're the sexy present he'll get to open up later. That gesture, and the night of romantic expectation it sets up, will supercharge your evening together.
A Steak. If you want your favorite diet meal , go ahead and choose your favorite place. (Agree to eat really early or really late, or you'll still probably be waiting for your starters on Feb 15!) But your man would also appreciate it if he could order a 10-ounce steak, and if you would take a few bites.
Red meat is a building block for testosterone, which is a libido booster for both of you. Not that the effects are instantaneous, but the promise of more testosterone down the line can rev you both up right now. You'd be amazed how good nutrition can revitalize your sex life - check out this red-hot menu of arousal. Get a peek at what guys think of the holiday with this hilarious and helpful Valentine's Day Survival Guide.
The focus should be on women (not maitre d's). But as long as guys are chauffering the love limo on that night of nights, maybe we could take a look at what they might like, as a kind of side trip on the way to destination You? Consider this his wish list for the day. And relax. No chocolate boxes, fading roses, or £5 Hallmark cards will be necessary! But he'd love it if you'd offer up...
Romance Lite. He knows he better come up with innovative ways to show his affection. Some guys will go with a flowery card, some will pile on the rose petals, and some will even pull out their guitars and write a sappy song (thanks for making the rest of us look bad, guys).
He's not asking you to do any of that for him, but if he arrives at the office on Thursday to find an e-mail waiting with five examples of why you dig him, or if he receives an instant-message that launches a day-long e-flirtation, or if you interrupt his morning with a caress across the phone lines, then you've begun foreplay before you even get together, and your night will be a whole lot hotter because of it.
A Thank You-In Early March. If your man goes full tilt on Valentine's Day-dinner, with candles, a table-side violinist, and a special dessert from the kitchen, you won't have much of an opportunity to launch your own romantic agenda. He's already planned the big show.
But you are free to demonstrate your appreciation in a number of ways, and one of the best is by planning a darn good time for the two of you a few weeks later. A woman who takes the lead (especially in response to the man doing so) is one of every guy's greatest turn-ons.A Surprise. If you're planning to buy each other presents, consider buying him some underwear. But here's the twist: Buy lingerie for you to wear, but make it a dainty little nothing you know he'll love to see you barely wearing.
Wrap it up and present it to him as his gift. When he opens it, tell him you're going to wear it out that night. That way, the lingerie becomes the wrapping, and you're the sexy present he'll get to open up later. That gesture, and the night of romantic expectation it sets up, will supercharge your evening together.
A Steak. If you want your favorite diet meal , go ahead and choose your favorite place. (Agree to eat really early or really late, or you'll still probably be waiting for your starters on Feb 15!) But your man would also appreciate it if he could order a 10-ounce steak, and if you would take a few bites.
Red meat is a building block for testosterone, which is a libido booster for both of you. Not that the effects are instantaneous, but the promise of more testosterone down the line can rev you both up right now. You'd be amazed how good nutrition can revitalize your sex life - check out this red-hot menu of arousal. Get a peek at what guys think of the holiday with this hilarious and helpful Valentine's Day Survival Guide.
Friday, February 01, 2008
A sound financial lesson
I have just read this on the motley fool website.It should be essential reading for everyone
How To Spend Less And Have More!
Read and absorb the lesson, it will change the way you think about money.
How To Spend Less And Have More!
Read and absorb the lesson, it will change the way you think about money.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Common Sense?
Read this on the productivity 501 blog
Struck a cord, particularly in these turbulent financial times!!
(note I have slightly abridged the opening statement)
Help Me Understand the Subprime Mess
I don’t understand the subprime mess. I mean I understand the idea that if you try to loan a bunch of people money who are likely to default (bad credit, poor financial skills, etc.), then you have a high chance of them … well, defaulting. That part makes sense, but the way it is causing problems for banks doesn’t make sense to me.
So lets skip the whole part of the subprime mess where lenders gave loans to people who really shouldn’t have qualified for it at discounted rates that are now starting to reflect the true risk of their loan and triggering a bunch of foreclosures. That part I understand. That is the part we hear about.
Here are the two things I don’t understand:
Why does this matter to the banks that bought up the mortgages?
Where are all the cheap houses that are being foreclosed on?
So starting with the first question: Why is this hurting banks? Recently, Etrade sold several billion dollars worth of mortgages to Citadel for 28 cents on the dollar. That is a pretty steep discount and is supposed to reflect the fact that Citadel assumes that 72% of the original investment will just evaporate. What I don’t understand is why the liability is on Etrade (and now Citadel’s) shoulders. Every mortgage I’ve every had required mortgage insurance until I owned at least 20% equity. So either these were homes selling for $80,000 that they somehow got to appraise for $100,000 and thus didn’t not require mortgage insurance, these were special loans that didn’t require insurance, or the mortgage insurance is somehow packaged into the loan (which would make the mortgage insurance thing seem like even more of a rip off).
If mortgage insurance is involved then there should be a bunch of insurance companies getting into trouble instead of the banks that purchased the mortgages. More importantly, if the mortgages use the houses as collateral, then why does the bank think no one would be willing to pay more than 1/3rd of what the house last sold for? This brings me to my second question.
Second question: Where are all the cheap houses? For banks to start unloading their mortgage investments for less than 1/3rd of their face value they have to really be losing money. Keep in mind that the banks aren’t dealing with just one loan, they are dealing with thousands of loans. For a bank to say, “We have 1,000 mortgages for $100,000 each and for each of these loans we only expect to be able to collect $28,000.” is a pretty big step. That would mean that after the bank forecloses they are only able to recover $28,000 from a $100,000 house. Take into consideration that there are some people that won’t default and that means the average foreclosure will value a $100,000 house at less than $28,000.
So where are these homes? I can’t find anyone selling houses for that type of discount. Detroit has a bunch of run down houses for sale in the $30,000 range, but those weren’t ever $100,000 homes. I haven’t seen any real estate market in any part of the country where people are only will to pay no more than 1/3rd of the price a home went for in the last 4 or 5 years.
So what am I missing? Can anyone shed some light on my confusion? If banks are losing as much money as they say they are then someone should be getting a really good deal on houses. Is this happening in your part of the country?
Struck a cord, particularly in these turbulent financial times!!
(note I have slightly abridged the opening statement)
Help Me Understand the Subprime Mess
I don’t understand the subprime mess. I mean I understand the idea that if you try to loan a bunch of people money who are likely to default (bad credit, poor financial skills, etc.), then you have a high chance of them … well, defaulting. That part makes sense, but the way it is causing problems for banks doesn’t make sense to me.
So lets skip the whole part of the subprime mess where lenders gave loans to people who really shouldn’t have qualified for it at discounted rates that are now starting to reflect the true risk of their loan and triggering a bunch of foreclosures. That part I understand. That is the part we hear about.
Here are the two things I don’t understand:
Why does this matter to the banks that bought up the mortgages?
Where are all the cheap houses that are being foreclosed on?
So starting with the first question: Why is this hurting banks? Recently, Etrade sold several billion dollars worth of mortgages to Citadel for 28 cents on the dollar. That is a pretty steep discount and is supposed to reflect the fact that Citadel assumes that 72% of the original investment will just evaporate. What I don’t understand is why the liability is on Etrade (and now Citadel’s) shoulders. Every mortgage I’ve every had required mortgage insurance until I owned at least 20% equity. So either these were homes selling for $80,000 that they somehow got to appraise for $100,000 and thus didn’t not require mortgage insurance, these were special loans that didn’t require insurance, or the mortgage insurance is somehow packaged into the loan (which would make the mortgage insurance thing seem like even more of a rip off).
If mortgage insurance is involved then there should be a bunch of insurance companies getting into trouble instead of the banks that purchased the mortgages. More importantly, if the mortgages use the houses as collateral, then why does the bank think no one would be willing to pay more than 1/3rd of what the house last sold for? This brings me to my second question.
Second question: Where are all the cheap houses? For banks to start unloading their mortgage investments for less than 1/3rd of their face value they have to really be losing money. Keep in mind that the banks aren’t dealing with just one loan, they are dealing with thousands of loans. For a bank to say, “We have 1,000 mortgages for $100,000 each and for each of these loans we only expect to be able to collect $28,000.” is a pretty big step. That would mean that after the bank forecloses they are only able to recover $28,000 from a $100,000 house. Take into consideration that there are some people that won’t default and that means the average foreclosure will value a $100,000 house at less than $28,000.
So where are these homes? I can’t find anyone selling houses for that type of discount. Detroit has a bunch of run down houses for sale in the $30,000 range, but those weren’t ever $100,000 homes. I haven’t seen any real estate market in any part of the country where people are only will to pay no more than 1/3rd of the price a home went for in the last 4 or 5 years.
So what am I missing? Can anyone shed some light on my confusion? If banks are losing as much money as they say they are then someone should be getting a really good deal on houses. Is this happening in your part of the country?
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Free Multi media blogging course
I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.
It covers:
- The best blogging techniques.
- How to get traffic to your blog.
- How to turn your blog into money.
I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Insurance Claim Latest
In the interest of fairness, and balanced reporting, I am happy to report that my insurance claim is being settled to the satisfaction of all concerned. I feel that if I didn't keep calling the claims department, I would probably still be waiting, but maybe Norwich union can look at how they contact people.The main thing is if you promise to call someone within 48 hours CALL THEM!! Don't make it as they have to chase you.
On another note:
I have an outstanding gripe with a magazine subscription offer, which I am still waiting for a gift to be sent to me as a thank you.Again I was told that someone would contact me within 2 days, which was a week ago.I am ready to name and shame, let's see what happens tomorrow!!
Now just so you don't think I am a moaning Git- here's some alternate definitions to some common words- enjoy
ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.
BEAUTY PARLOUR: A place where women curl up and dye.
CANNIBAL: Someone who is fed up with people.
CHICKENS: The only creatures you eat before they are born and after they are dead.
COMMITTEE: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.
DUST: Mud with the juice squeezed out.
EGOTIST: Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.
GOSSIP: A person who will never tell a lie if the truth will do more damage.
HANDKERCHIEF: Cold Storage.
INFLATION: Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.
MOSQUITO: An insect that makes you like flies better.
RAISIN: Grape with a sunburn.
SECRET: Something you tell to one person at a time.
TOOTHACHE: The pain that drives you to extraction.
TOMORROW: One of the greatest labour saving devices of today.
YAWN: An honest opinion openly expressed.
WRINKLES: Something other people have. You have character lines.
And Have you ever wondered:
When an agnostic dies, do they go to the "great perhaps"?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Do you think Houdini ever locked his keys in his car?
Can atheists get insurance for acts of God?
If procrastinators had a club would they ever have a meeting?
If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?
Have you ever wondered why just one letter makes all
the difference between here and there?
Isn't it strange that the same people who laugh at
fortune tellers take economists seriously?
If genetic scientists crossed a chicken with a zebra
would they get a four legged chicken with it's own barcode?
If practice makes perfect, and nobody's perfect, why practice?
Why is there always one in every crowd?
If all the world is a stage, where does the audience sit?
Is it possible to have deja-vu and amnesia at the same time?
How do you know when it's time to tune your bagpipes?
On another note:
I have an outstanding gripe with a magazine subscription offer, which I am still waiting for a gift to be sent to me as a thank you.Again I was told that someone would contact me within 2 days, which was a week ago.I am ready to name and shame, let's see what happens tomorrow!!
Now just so you don't think I am a moaning Git- here's some alternate definitions to some common words- enjoy
ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.
BEAUTY PARLOUR: A place where women curl up and dye.
CANNIBAL: Someone who is fed up with people.
CHICKENS: The only creatures you eat before they are born and after they are dead.
COMMITTEE: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.
DUST: Mud with the juice squeezed out.
EGOTIST: Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.
GOSSIP: A person who will never tell a lie if the truth will do more damage.
HANDKERCHIEF: Cold Storage.
INFLATION: Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.
MOSQUITO: An insect that makes you like flies better.
RAISIN: Grape with a sunburn.
SECRET: Something you tell to one person at a time.
TOOTHACHE: The pain that drives you to extraction.
TOMORROW: One of the greatest labour saving devices of today.
YAWN: An honest opinion openly expressed.
WRINKLES: Something other people have. You have character lines.
And Have you ever wondered:
When an agnostic dies, do they go to the "great perhaps"?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Do you think Houdini ever locked his keys in his car?
Can atheists get insurance for acts of God?
If procrastinators had a club would they ever have a meeting?
If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?
Have you ever wondered why just one letter makes all
the difference between here and there?
Isn't it strange that the same people who laugh at
fortune tellers take economists seriously?
If genetic scientists crossed a chicken with a zebra
would they get a four legged chicken with it's own barcode?
If practice makes perfect, and nobody's perfect, why practice?
Why is there always one in every crowd?
If all the world is a stage, where does the audience sit?
Is it possible to have deja-vu and amnesia at the same time?
How do you know when it's time to tune your bagpipes?
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Ironic
Recieved this from my sister in law today, it gave me a smile, see what you think
Many thanks to all those who have sent me emails this past year........
I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat manure in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.
I now scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.
I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.
In fact all my money is gone but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program...
Or, I'll receive it from t he senior bank clerk in Nigeria who wants to split $7 million with me for pretending to be a long lost relative of a customer who died intestate.
I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.
I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.
Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.
Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca-Cola because it can remove toilet stains.
I no longer buy petrol without taking a man along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm filling up.
And I dont go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to d ial a number and I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore and Uzbekistan
Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my bum.
And thanks to your great advice, I can't even pick up the £5.00 I found dropped in the car park because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.
If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00pm this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbour’s ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician.
By the way....a South American scientist after a lengthy study has discovered that people with low IQ who have infrequent sexual activity always read their e-mails with their hand on the mouse.
Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.
Many thanks to all those who have sent me emails this past year........
I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat manure in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.
I now scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.
I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.
In fact all my money is gone but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program...
Or, I'll receive it from t he senior bank clerk in Nigeria who wants to split $7 million with me for pretending to be a long lost relative of a customer who died intestate.
I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.
I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.
Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.
Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca-Cola because it can remove toilet stains.
I no longer buy petrol without taking a man along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm filling up.
And I dont go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to d ial a number and I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore and Uzbekistan
Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my bum.
And thanks to your great advice, I can't even pick up the £5.00 I found dropped in the car park because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.
If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00pm this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbour’s ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician.
By the way....a South American scientist after a lengthy study has discovered that people with low IQ who have infrequent sexual activity always read their e-mails with their hand on the mouse.
Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.
Friday, January 04, 2008
This is the best nutrition advice you will ever get.
Happy New Year. Here's a timely bit of advice!
This made a lot of sense to me. If you would like to find out more go to Josh Hillis's Blog
Stop looking at different diets
They aren't very different anyway.
If you consume less calories and higher quality food, you'll lean up. That is THE diet.
Everything else is just someone's unique expression of those concepts.
Or it's marketing B.S.
Either way, all you need to know is that you should consume less calories and higher quality food.
Your ultimate super advanced bonus diet tips: Drink more water and get more sleep.
Don't try a new diet this year.
Keep a food log.
Grade your food log on quantity and quality.
Stop buying diet books, start collecting cookbooks.
Eating Clean Cookbook.
Elimination Diet Cookbook
Eating For Life Cookbook
Start eating the meals that are in the books.
Pay careful attention to portion size.
This made a lot of sense to me. If you would like to find out more go to Josh Hillis's Blog
Stop looking at different diets
They aren't very different anyway.
If you consume less calories and higher quality food, you'll lean up. That is THE diet.
Everything else is just someone's unique expression of those concepts.
Or it's marketing B.S.
Either way, all you need to know is that you should consume less calories and higher quality food.
Your ultimate super advanced bonus diet tips: Drink more water and get more sleep.
Don't try a new diet this year.
Keep a food log.
Grade your food log on quantity and quality.
Stop buying diet books, start collecting cookbooks.
Eating Clean Cookbook.
Elimination Diet Cookbook
Eating For Life Cookbook
Start eating the meals that are in the books.
Pay careful attention to portion size.
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