Monday, December 16, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
In The News...
...and the last two sentences are the most important ones.
Based on the GSEs’ loan purchases in Q3 2013, FHFA expects the announced changes to the g-fee structure to produce an overall average g-fee increase of approximately 11 basis points, which represents an average increase of 14 basis points on a typical 30-year mortgage and 4 basis points on a 15-year mortgage.
*Watt at FHFA Count Revive 40 Year Mortgages-Analyst
*How to Approach Retirement Catch-Up:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/approach-retirement-catch-170402394.html
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Thanksgiving 2013
It feels like the longest short week ever. So much to do and so little time. I ran around town last weekend with my list of things to buy before the big cooking day tomorrow, Thursday. People who don't know or live in the US... Thanksgiving is a feast, a meal to share with family and friends of supposedly traditional foodstuffs the Pilgrims consumed in celebration of life in the new world after their 1st year.
stuffing ( go go Mrs. Cubbinson's traditional variety. I make it with extra poultry seasoning. Yum.)
cranberry sauce (sometimes sauce, sometimes gel. I like mine with bits of tangerine in it. It's a sweet/sour juxtaposition my taste buds go nuts over against the stuffing's savory contrast.)
turkey gravy (Cambell's makes it with no dairy, thank you)
yams (I usually omit yams, but this year I felt like having them. I'll serve them with brown sugar, cinnamon and margarine.)
roasted carrots (in olive oil with rosemary. I already bought a rosemary plant and killed it. So sad.)
scalloped potatoes (specifically for Stephen because I don't consume dairy)
Brown Irish Soda Bread (making this recipe for the first time this year instead of going the easy route buying brown and serve pull-a-part rolls)
spiced pumpkin & carrot cake (because it's a must to have pumpkin flavored something at Thanksgiving.)
Recipes for the Brown Irish Soda Bread and Spiced Pumpkin and Carrot Cake can be found on my recipe website My Red Recipe Book .
This Year's Menu:
Roasted turkey breast (because it's not worth getting a skinny bird. There's hardly any meat on them!)stuffing ( go go Mrs. Cubbinson's traditional variety. I make it with extra poultry seasoning. Yum.)
cranberry sauce (sometimes sauce, sometimes gel. I like mine with bits of tangerine in it. It's a sweet/sour juxtaposition my taste buds go nuts over against the stuffing's savory contrast.)
turkey gravy (Cambell's makes it with no dairy, thank you)
yams (I usually omit yams, but this year I felt like having them. I'll serve them with brown sugar, cinnamon and margarine.)
roasted carrots (in olive oil with rosemary. I already bought a rosemary plant and killed it. So sad.)
scalloped potatoes (specifically for Stephen because I don't consume dairy)
Brown Irish Soda Bread (making this recipe for the first time this year instead of going the easy route buying brown and serve pull-a-part rolls)
spiced pumpkin & carrot cake (because it's a must to have pumpkin flavored something at Thanksgiving.)
Recipes for the Brown Irish Soda Bread and Spiced Pumpkin and Carrot Cake can be found on my recipe website My Red Recipe Book .
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
In the News:
Note: Many FNMA employees were either laid-off due to office consolidation or took early retirement in 2008 before the credit crunch took hold on October.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Aunt Flo's Visit
Let's just say I wasn't a happy little camper this morning when I woke up to clean-up a bloody mess. I thought this BS menses business was OVER. June 2012 was the last one. And it's been a month since I took that high dose of vitamin D that made every muscle in me feel sore. I'm so irritated. And kaiser won't cover the ortho evra patches. FU kaiser. I'm just going to collect my B12shots and go to the next insurance carrier offered at work.
And even more info on Vitamin D:
http://thehealthyelements.com/vitamin-d-the-period-vitamin/
http://www.vitamindsociety.org/
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/
http://www.bulletproofexec.com/bulletproof-your-sleep-with-vitamin-d/
And even more info on Vitamin D:
http://thehealthyelements.com/vitamin-d-the-period-vitamin/
http://www.vitamindsociety.org/
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/
http://www.bulletproofexec.com/bulletproof-your-sleep-with-vitamin-d/
Thursday, September 26, 2013
JPMorgan's Dimon, Justice Department discuss huge deal
http://news.yahoo.com/jpmorgans-dimon-talks-11-bn-doj-deal-source-150756131.html
Thursday, September 19, 2013
I gotta what? The good, the bad, and the ugly of having a vitamin D deficiency.
The last time I went to Kaiser, my doctor ordered some blood tests that weren't the standard ones I usually get when they check for iron, b12, white and red blood cell counts and the results are in. My doctor said I was vitamin D deficient. I'm not surprised. I'm pale and always have been. I go to work when before sunrise and come home after sunset. And if I don't leave the office for lunch, I'm hardly in the sun at all.
So he and/or his counterpart prescribed 50,000 IU and I read up on it and thought that at that level, it would be too much of a shock to my system, so I got 10,000 IU at The Vitamin Shoppe on Monday and had to read up on how to take it again because the doctors never seem to know. Vitamin D is a fat soluble one that should be taken with food, so for the past three days, I've taken it with my lunch since I don't eat breakfast.
For example, when I told my doctor that I worried about osteoporosis because I maintain a dairy-free diet due to Crohn's Disease diagnosed in 1985, he said to "take caltrate two times a day". This, in part, is right, but it's also wrong.
1. You can only take one pill per dose
2. Taking calcium gives you gas
3. Taking the enzyme found in "Beano" helps a great deal in combating the gas.
So I also started to take one Caltrate plus D chewables in the morning (preceded by two Beano) and at night along with my one Centrum chewable in the morning.
And yesterday at lunchtime, after talking to my gf at work about the general all-over muscle ache I thought was associated to the Vitamin D, my body decided to go into excessive urination mode. What is this all about??? And now I'm on the internet again trying to figure out the good, the bad and the ugly of it all. And I left my doctor a message about these new issues.
The good news is that adding calcium back into my diet, even in the form of supplements, has further lessened the effects of Crohn's Disease as long as I continue to restrict my diet of those foods that trigger an acute attack.
More on vitamin D:
From 2010, 5 Things You Need to Know about Vitamin D
"The IOM recommends that, in practically all individuals, the average blood levels of vitamin D be at least 20 mg per milliliter for good bone health. According to Dr. Kovaks, people who have a problem absorbing the vitamin may need to take 2,000 IUs a day to achieve the recommended blood levels.
So he and/or his counterpart prescribed 50,000 IU and I read up on it and thought that at that level, it would be too much of a shock to my system, so I got 10,000 IU at The Vitamin Shoppe on Monday and had to read up on how to take it again because the doctors never seem to know. Vitamin D is a fat soluble one that should be taken with food, so for the past three days, I've taken it with my lunch since I don't eat breakfast.
For example, when I told my doctor that I worried about osteoporosis because I maintain a dairy-free diet due to Crohn's Disease diagnosed in 1985, he said to "take caltrate two times a day". This, in part, is right, but it's also wrong.
1. You can only take one pill per dose
2. Taking calcium gives you gas
3. Taking the enzyme found in "Beano" helps a great deal in combating the gas.
So I also started to take one Caltrate plus D chewables in the morning (preceded by two Beano) and at night along with my one Centrum chewable in the morning.
And yesterday at lunchtime, after talking to my gf at work about the general all-over muscle ache I thought was associated to the Vitamin D, my body decided to go into excessive urination mode. What is this all about??? And now I'm on the internet again trying to figure out the good, the bad and the ugly of it all. And I left my doctor a message about these new issues.
The good news is that adding calcium back into my diet, even in the form of supplements, has further lessened the effects of Crohn's Disease as long as I continue to restrict my diet of those foods that trigger an acute attack.
More on vitamin D:
From 2010, 5 Things You Need to Know about Vitamin D
"The IOM recommends that, in practically all individuals, the average blood levels of vitamin D be at least 20 mg per milliliter for good bone health. According to Dr. Kovaks, people who have a problem absorbing the vitamin may need to take 2,000 IUs a day to achieve the recommended blood levels.
But can you take too much? According to the IOM report, very high levels of vitamin D (above 10,000 IUs per day) are known to cause kidney and tissue damage, and there is some evidence that lower levels have risks. But anything below 4,000 IUs per day is considered safe.
The bottom line: every person is different, and you should talk to your doctor about the need for vitamin supplements."
Saturday, September 14, 2013
The house, the home, the condo falls down, kinda.
It's been 12 years since my hot water heater went out the last time. It happened on Sept. 11, 2001. Yes, that specific day. I took the day off of work, so at home I was forced to watch the tragedy unfold on TV with all that was happening at the WTC and PA and with a plumber in my dining room.
So earlier this year, I had gotten sick of my leaky toilet ( in my small bathroom and it was so bad that it tore up the wall) and went to Pacific Sales on Labor Day weekend and bought two new TOTO low flow one piece commodes for $800. Then I hired a plumber for $1,000 for the install. The weight of the units were 99 lbs each and I just don't have the strength do the install because I'm a petite woman. And I didn't know what the condition was under the commodes was going to be like, so I thought hiring a professional was a good idea.
Then guess what? My hot water heater went out again, 12 years ago, it was $1,000. This time, it was $1,400 to replace.
My condo hasn't been the same since. I had to move all of the IKEA HUSAR cabinets away from the dining room walls in order to give the plumber enough room to work. Then I recognized that I have been putting off a full paint job on my dining room. Right now, it's actually three tones of white. And it would look so much better being just one color.
I finally installed the rubber moulding in the main bathroom. So now I have the bathroom walls to rehab with plaster and three rooms to paint.
So earlier this year, I had gotten sick of my leaky toilet ( in my small bathroom and it was so bad that it tore up the wall) and went to Pacific Sales on Labor Day weekend and bought two new TOTO low flow one piece commodes for $800. Then I hired a plumber for $1,000 for the install. The weight of the units were 99 lbs each and I just don't have the strength do the install because I'm a petite woman. And I didn't know what the condition was under the commodes was going to be like, so I thought hiring a professional was a good idea.
Then guess what? My hot water heater went out again, 12 years ago, it was $1,000. This time, it was $1,400 to replace.
My condo hasn't been the same since. I had to move all of the IKEA HUSAR cabinets away from the dining room walls in order to give the plumber enough room to work. Then I recognized that I have been putting off a full paint job on my dining room. Right now, it's actually three tones of white. And it would look so much better being just one color.
I finally installed the rubber moulding in the main bathroom. So now I have the bathroom walls to rehab with plaster and three rooms to paint.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Back in the financial sector...
http://www.occ.gov/topics/consumer-protection/foreclosure-prevention/correcting-foreclosure-practices.html
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08232013_mortgage_servicing_cfpb.asp
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08212013_oig_gses_fhfa.asp
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/10261295/Goldman-Sachs-Signs-of-a-slow-recovery-in-the-eurozone.html
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08232013_mortgage_servicing_cfpb.asp
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08212013_oig_gses_fhfa.asp
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/10261295/Goldman-Sachs-Signs-of-a-slow-recovery-in-the-eurozone.html
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Buying a Feeling of Closeness or The Stuff We Leave Behind When We Die
So my cousin Tina posts this photo of a bunch of random jewelry...
... but there is this golden heart with the letter "J" inside of it, so I know it's from my Aunt Jane. And I bought it. Best $25 I ever spent?
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