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Written by Carol Adrienne
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Sunday, 18 December 2005 |
Robert just told me that the new changes to credit card laws go
into effect next month. What this means is that instead of your
minimum payment being interest plus $15, it will be interest plus 1 %
of your outstanding balance. The average credit card balance for
Americans is $10,000. The average minimum payment will go
from $210 to $280.
I am mentioning this because you may not be getting much information from the press or from your bank on this., so be prepared.
The good news on this change, however, means that a person will
actually save a huge amount of money in the long run by paying back the
higher minimum. For example (I used Robert's online calculator at
the hyperlink below) to find out how much a person who owes $10,000
will save by paying the higher minimum.
At the old rate, $10,000 would be paid off in nine years with payments of $210 at a total cost of $21,630.
With the new rate, $10,000 would be paid off in less than 5 years at a total cost of $15,960--a savings of $5,670!
If you want to visit Robert's site here is the
hyperlink:
http://www.intrepid.com/~robertl/loan-pricer1.html |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 November 2008 )
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Written by Carol Adrienne
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Sunday, 18 December 2005 |
I just got my house insulated two days ago. They come and make
holes in the outside walls and pump in insulation. I had
insulation inserted into the floors and caulked the drafty spots in the
stairs. Already the house feels warmer and quieter.
The next day the headlines were noting the big surge in natural gas prices at PG & E.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 November 2008 )
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Written by Carol Adrienne
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Sunday, 18 December 2005 |
Last week in Lake Tahoe, Gunther and Anders went out to the lake front
to fly Anders' new kite. The kite got caught in the branches of
not one, but two trees. It was too high for Gunther to
reach. Nearby two bystanders gave their opinion.
The first man's idea was to drop the string and let it float away, but
that didn't work. The second man--an older guy with the sort of
time-weathered look of someone who lives out of his car, was eating a
can of Pringles potato chips. "If I had my old twelve-guage
shot-gun," he said, "I would blow the string off the kite. Thing
had a barrel the size of this can," and he waved the Pringles
container. Gunther mentioned that he didn't think shooting it out
of the tree was the best way to go. Just then a truck with a man
and his son drove by, and the Pringles guy flagged down the
truck. It turns out that the driver of the truck was a cable TV
installer and had a very large extension ladder on the top of his
truck. He was happy to put it on the tree (made him look good to
his little boy, too) and he easily reached up to retrieve the kite.
Sounds like a children's story, doesn't it? |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 November 2008 )
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Written by Carol Adrienne
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Sunday, 18 December 2005 |
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Last Saturday I went to my brother's wedding. He's been single
for nine years. He is a very organized and focused person (a
triple Virgo) and had made a list of more than 31 qualities he was
looking for in a woman. He found her! Their vows were very
sweet, and the minister made a point of mentioning how Jerry had found
in Patti every single thing he was asking for. They are both 61
and are very much in love. They met on match.com but found out
they lived very close to each other and even attended the same
churches, but had never met. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 November 2008 )
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Written by Carol Adrienne
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Sunday, 18 December 2005 |
Last Sunday, when we were at Tyler's house, we went for a test drive in
his new Scion. It's a small car made by Toyota, and it get 38
miles to the gallon. I'd never seen one before. It is cute
and drives well. I was thinking maybe it's time to get a new car
with better mileage. I have a 1996 Nissan Maxima.
That night, Robert and I saw on TV a special on 60 Minutes talking
about the new generation that makes up 30% of the US population. They
are the offspring of the Baby Boomers, and are anywhere from 10 to
grammar school age.
Marketers are studying them as a huge consumer market--and calling them
variously, The Echo Boomers or the Millennials. The program
showed them being interviewed in a marketing focus group--asking them
questions about who they are, and what their values are. Born to
parents who really valued children and tried to give them every
advantage and self-confidence boosting upbringing, they are now getting
ready to enter the adult job market and life. They are not
rebellious ("We love our parents.") and they are not competitive ("I
have a row of trophies from kindergarten on up, just for being in the
class. ") They are more interested in fitting into to their
group. They buy by word of mouth, so marketers are not trying to
reach them by television. They are plugged into the Internet and
buy on buzz. 60 Minutes showed an example of this. The
product they chose was the Scion! This is the car they are hoping
to sell to the young people.
I will be out of the office until Friday. I'm going to Lake Tahoe with Gunther, Eliza, Anders, and August.
Talk to you later.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 November 2008 )
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Written by Carol Adrienne
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Sunday, 18 December 2005 |
We went to Zenobia and Tyler's house yesterday in Oakland--for a barbeque. It
was much sunnier there than my house in El Cerrito! They've been slowly
remodeling their house and it's got such a beautiful, tropical feel to it. The
banana plants in the backyard are about 30 feet tall, and huge elephant ears
make it very lush. There is lots of bamboo. Zenobia had some great new green
plastic plates with banana leaves on them, and knives and forks with plastic
bamboo handles. "Mervyn's [department store] on clearance!" she told me
proudly, "I only buy things on clearance." She has such a good eye for finding
good stuff. She finally has a comfortable couch and two big chairs. I've known
her (we're like sisters) since 1970, and this is the first time she's finally
had a good place to sit down!
Tyler (he just turned 62) had prostate
cancer with such high medical bills, he was forced to come out of retirement.
Thank God, he decided to go back to being a butcher after 26 years. He's in the
Union now with full medical benefits. But even better than that, he's got a
whole new life. He is naturally gifted at talking to people, so he's out front
at the meat case greeting customers.
He's becoming like a super-star at
the various markets. Now the top stores are asking specifically for him. His
mission is help each customer select the right cut and make sure he or she
knows how to cook it--"I want you to have a great experience cooking meat," he
says, "and not a disaster. If you spend a lot of money on meat, you do not want
to deal with disappointment and giving your steak to your dog. You cannot
afford the emotional pain of burning it!" His enthusiasm is wonderful to see.
I think he should be on the Foodnetwork as a celebrity chef! He's got the
personality for it. The chefs on that food channel are all so suited to what
they are doing--you can tell that they just love what they do. It makes you
want to watch them. Actually, his daughter is Aisha Tyler, who went from
studying environmentalism at Dartmouth to becoming a celebrity herself on
network TV. She had her own show, Talk Soup. and appeared on the last few
episdoes of Friends, 24, and CSI. She was also featured in InStyle magazine.
She's tall and gorgeous and very funny--and also a foodie!
Robert cooked
the ribs and chicken perfectly by cooking them slowly and turning up the heat at
the end. We like to pre-simmer the ribs for 2 1/2 hours before putting them on
the grill with barbeque sauce.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 November 2008 )
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Written by Carol Adrienne
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Sunday, 18 December 2005 |
Last night I was visiting my son and daughter-in-law, Gunther and Eliza
across the street. My grandson, Anders, who is 3 1/2 years old was
listening as we talked about the problems with the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina. Gunther explained to him that people had to
leave their homes and were having an awful time because they didn't
have food or water or toilets, and they couldn't go back to their
houses.
Anders thought for a moment and said, "What can we do?"
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 November 2008 )
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Written by Carol Adrienne
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Wednesday, 31 August 2005 |
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Synchronicities are always happening. For example, my friend Fumiko and
I went to the bookstore yesterday to buy a guidebook for Thailand,
where we are going after the seminars in Japan. While browsing, another
customer started talking to us, and gave us lots of good tips about
Thailand. Later that day, my son, Gunther, gave me two of his
guidebooks, so by the end of one day, I had lots of new info about
Thailand! Remember to speak to people in stores and public places where
there may be some connection waiting to happen! Of course, I expect you
to be discerning, too, but do be open. You just never know. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 November 2008 )
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Written by Carol Adrienne
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Saturday, 27 August 2005 |
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Today I have a new blog capacity. It's a beautiful day! |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 November 2008 )
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Written by Carol Adrienne
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Saturday, 27 August 2005 |
I'm working on the schedule for Mt. Shasta. This is going to be a wonderful tour.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 November 2008 )
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