Did the Lockerbee Bomber get paid for the endorsement?Have a nice day!
Sam
Friday, August 21, 2009
WAS IT A MISTAKE?
Newspaper corrects 'Jackass' Keith Olbermann mixup
August 21, 2009 | 3:54 am
Thank goodness, The Times newspaper is the forthright, ethical institution that it is.
And when a mistake happens, it rushes to set the journalistic record straight with an honest repair.
Here is an actual correction from Page A4 of today's print edition:
FOR THE RECORD:TV listings: The Prime-Time TV grid in Thursday's Calendar section mistakenly listed MTV's "Jackass" show on the MSNBC cable schedule at 7 and 10 p.m. where instead MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" should have been listed.
It's not the Worst Mistake in the World.
But without this kind of correction, online too, a few thousand people might have tuned into MSNBC, the Obama administration's favorite cable channel, expecting to see a 'Jackass' show and instead they'd have found Keith Olbermann.
Worse, what if nobody noticed the difference?
-- Andrew Malcolm
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Have a nice day!
Sammy C.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
BEND OVER AMERICA!
How did we get in this economic crisis? Let's see. The banks loaned mortgage money to people who could not afford them. Mortgages were sold off by the banks to each other institutions and leveraged even more. Bad loans were bundled with a few good mortgages, like mine. and the house of cards collapsed. The government bailed out the banks to the tune of $700B. This is the only part of the stimulus packages that has seemed to work.(Bush's BTW) I believe it worked because many of the good banks and financial institutions are looking alive and well. Even though it was screwed up, it prevented the complete collapse of financial America. People like us who have always played by the rules are still being screwed by those who brought us the crisis in the first place.
And now the rest of the story. Let this serve as a heads up if you are going to be dealing Banks.
Doe and I are going to sell our house. Hopefully, the market will let us.
While we were having it inspected, we discovered we had water intrusion, mold and some rot problems. OMG. It is a disaster, but it can be fixed for only $100,000. WOWEE! Fortunately, our equity is about four times the amount needed. Our net worth is seven figures, 70% liquid and I still have a six figure income. Should be no problem, right? Wrong!
We went to Wells Fargo, our bank of twenty years. We met our personal banker (glorified teller with a desk) who job is to guide us through the process.
"How long will it take ?", I asked.
He told us three times on three different occasions, "About a week", he said.
A week went by and I asked what is happening. He would then get on the phone and talk to the loan Czars in Des Moines??? They always wanted more information. I had given them our tax return, which included three earnings history, I had already given the portfolio and the home value appraisal by Hennepin County.
The next week I went back, and they still had more questions that I think I had already given them. At one point they wanted the originals of my W-2s. I pointed out that the information was in my tax returns, as well as the fact that every check I have received in the last 20 years was direct deposited in their bank. It soon became obvious that our personal banker never found out what was happening by making a call to Iowa, unless I was sitting across the desk from him.
Finally, I had had it. I told them I would find someone else to give me a loan. A couple of days later before I went to another bank, I called my personal banker apologized and said maybe we could try again. I didn't want to burn a bridge because we still needed the loan. I had left this on his voice mail, and he emailed that we should try again and promised they would not want additional information. I then emailed him about the loan rate and also left him a voice mail to set up an appointment after I had tested the waters at another bank. I didn't hear from him for six days after the email and three days after the voice mail. Finally, he called. I asked why he had not gotten back to me. Oh, he was off for a couple of days.
I don't blame anyone for having days off, but in a service business to never check email and voice mail is just not acceptable in my world.
I went to M&I bank (regional mid size bank) and I had the loan approved within a week. They finally told me one of the problems was the income to debt ratio. This was the first time I had any indication what the criteria was. We only owed on our mortgage and cars (no credit card debt). My last years income was about $25,000 higher because I had taken the required amount from my IRA. It turns out the ratio would have been fine if I had taken money out of the IRA the previous two years because IRA withdrawals are counted as income.. So what they are telling me is, the money in my IRA is not good unless it has been withdrawn. HUH?
They could get me $80,000 immediately, but to get the $100,000, it would have to be approved higher up. The ladies at M&I got creatively busy. They came up with the idea of getting a$125,000 home equity loan and paying off the the car loans, which would improve the income to debt ratio. Go figure, give him $80,000 or $125,000, but not the $100,000 I asked for. However, paying off the car loans frees up $850/month cash flow, the loan is at the home equity rate of 4.5% instead of 7.1% and is tax deductible. Sounds good to me.
FUWF!
The loan will be paid off when the house is sold. I hope that works out quickly, I think we deserve a break after this horror story.
I think it is important to note that the old adage of you have to prove you don't need a loan to get a loan.
Another little warning.
We have a line of credit with Chase Bank, who doesn't even operate in Minnesota and never applied for.
We have over draft protection with Wells Fargo at $1.00 service charge a month, whether we use it or not. We didn't sign up for it, and then it got reported on a credit report that our service charge was over do.
Bank of America sent an email recommending we be sure to check your account for unauthorized payments regularly. We have never had an account with Bank of America.
Something is going on with the banks. Watch your stuff and take action, if you can. It is interesting you can't even find out where to complain.
I will continue to play by the rules, even if the banks don't
Samuel C. Arnold
Screwee!
And now the rest of the story. Let this serve as a heads up if you are going to be dealing Banks.
Doe and I are going to sell our house. Hopefully, the market will let us.
While we were having it inspected, we discovered we had water intrusion, mold and some rot problems. OMG. It is a disaster, but it can be fixed for only $100,000. WOWEE! Fortunately, our equity is about four times the amount needed. Our net worth is seven figures, 70% liquid and I still have a six figure income. Should be no problem, right? Wrong!
We went to Wells Fargo, our bank of twenty years. We met our personal banker (glorified teller with a desk) who job is to guide us through the process.
"How long will it take ?", I asked.
He told us three times on three different occasions, "About a week", he said.
A week went by and I asked what is happening. He would then get on the phone and talk to the loan Czars in Des Moines??? They always wanted more information. I had given them our tax return, which included three earnings history, I had already given the portfolio and the home value appraisal by Hennepin County.
The next week I went back, and they still had more questions that I think I had already given them. At one point they wanted the originals of my W-2s. I pointed out that the information was in my tax returns, as well as the fact that every check I have received in the last 20 years was direct deposited in their bank. It soon became obvious that our personal banker never found out what was happening by making a call to Iowa, unless I was sitting across the desk from him.
Finally, I had had it. I told them I would find someone else to give me a loan. A couple of days later before I went to another bank, I called my personal banker apologized and said maybe we could try again. I didn't want to burn a bridge because we still needed the loan. I had left this on his voice mail, and he emailed that we should try again and promised they would not want additional information. I then emailed him about the loan rate and also left him a voice mail to set up an appointment after I had tested the waters at another bank. I didn't hear from him for six days after the email and three days after the voice mail. Finally, he called. I asked why he had not gotten back to me. Oh, he was off for a couple of days.
I don't blame anyone for having days off, but in a service business to never check email and voice mail is just not acceptable in my world.
I went to M&I bank (regional mid size bank) and I had the loan approved within a week. They finally told me one of the problems was the income to debt ratio. This was the first time I had any indication what the criteria was. We only owed on our mortgage and cars (no credit card debt). My last years income was about $25,000 higher because I had taken the required amount from my IRA. It turns out the ratio would have been fine if I had taken money out of the IRA the previous two years because IRA withdrawals are counted as income.. So what they are telling me is, the money in my IRA is not good unless it has been withdrawn. HUH?
They could get me $80,000 immediately, but to get the $100,000, it would have to be approved higher up. The ladies at M&I got creatively busy. They came up with the idea of getting a$125,000 home equity loan and paying off the the car loans, which would improve the income to debt ratio. Go figure, give him $80,000 or $125,000, but not the $100,000 I asked for. However, paying off the car loans frees up $850/month cash flow, the loan is at the home equity rate of 4.5% instead of 7.1% and is tax deductible. Sounds good to me.
FUWF!
The loan will be paid off when the house is sold. I hope that works out quickly, I think we deserve a break after this horror story.
I think it is important to note that the old adage of you have to prove you don't need a loan to get a loan.
Another little warning.
We have a line of credit with Chase Bank, who doesn't even operate in Minnesota and never applied for.
We have over draft protection with Wells Fargo at $1.00 service charge a month, whether we use it or not. We didn't sign up for it, and then it got reported on a credit report that our service charge was over do.
Bank of America sent an email recommending we be sure to check your account for unauthorized payments regularly. We have never had an account with Bank of America.
Something is going on with the banks. Watch your stuff and take action, if you can. It is interesting you can't even find out where to complain.
I will continue to play by the rules, even if the banks don't
Samuel C. Arnold
Screwee!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
THE THINGS YOU LEARN WHEN SELLING A HOUSE!
Observation of the Day!
I was reading over our real estate disclosure statement and found an interesting disclosure law from our state legislature in action.
Methamphetamine Production Disclosure:
(A methamphettamine Production Disclosure is required by MN statute 152.075, Subd.2)
_____ Seller is not aware of any Methamphetamine production that has occurred on the property.
_____ Sell is aware that Methamphetamine production has occurred on the property.
Now why would anybody want to disclose this criminal act, whether there was or not. HUH??
Have a nice day!
Sam
Saturday, August 1, 2009
MARKETING FOR DUMMIES!
Observation of the Day!
After a couple of days the Cash for Clunkers blew up. This gives us all a reminder the government doesn't do anything very well.
I would like to teach a basic marketing lesson to the marketers at Government Motors. I have to relate it to the foodservice industry for comparison. In foodservice manufacturing and marketing we sell to a distributor, who sells to a foodservice operator. The manufacture is Government Motors, the dealer is the distributor and the guy with the clunker is the operator.
The operator is the target market, sometimes referred to as the end user. It worked just as designed, It created a clunker frenzy. The marketing manager says to himself, "Aren't I brilliant?" However, the devil is in the details. A promotion is never over 'til it's over.
One of the basic premises to any marketing program is that it must be easily understood by all levels of the market involved in its execution. The consumer understood easily that he or she was going to get a$4,500 deal on a car worth about $200 in trade in value. Even a dummy could understand that. Hence the rush to get the "deal", Success!
Now for the poor dealer who gave the deal to the customer, sends the paper work via the internet to Government Motors. First of all there was a set of instructions as to how to get their money back. It was 138 pages long. The actual submission form was 25 pages long. If there was one mistake, the rebate was rejected. The dealer would then have to correct and re-submit. It also takes a long time to transmit 25 pages of data. The computer system could not handle the load and crashed.
The fund set up by Congress was gone in a couple of days, or so they think. Actually at this point in time they don't know for sure, but Congress is ready to anti up more money. Minnesota dealers have as much as $3.5 mil outstanding. Some dealers luckily put a clause that the deal must go through with the government before the deal is final. However, the rules said the car must be made inoperable, so there is nothing to return, if needed, and if the consumer had $4,500 they might nor even be driving a clunker.
All clunkers are not created equal. A '91 Caravan with a 3.0 liter V6 engine and 3-speed 18mpg could qualify for a rebate. But a '91 Caravan with optional 4 speed transmission rated at 19mpg does not. A clunker must get 18mpg or below to qualify. Go figure? Aren't we for equality? The marketing genius must have has a bad experience with his '91 4-speed van.
This just in: Edmonds, the company that keeps track of all things auto, stated that they expected about 250,000 new units to be sold under the program. However, they would have probably sold 200,000 anyway. And if the buyer bought a used car it would add nothing to auto production numbers.
The government never seems to anticipate the unanticipated consequences.
One congressman said his State's chicken industry is also suffering and is proposing Cash for Cluckers. Was he kidding? Probably not.
NEXT UP: GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE.
Here comes the government man with the magic finger putting it where the sun don't shine!
Here comes the government man with the magic finger putting it where the sun don't shine!
I can hardly wait!
Have a nice day!
Samuel C. Arnold
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