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You are here: Home / Open Threads / The Official I Suck at Going Galt

The Official I Suck at Going Galt

by John Cole|  December 3, 201010:03 pm| 106 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I guess I just recharge my batteries faster than most…

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Reader Interactions

106Comments

  1. 1.

    Svensker

    December 3, 2010 at 10:05 pm

    Awww, you’re so cute when you’re mad.

  2. 2.

    arguingwithsignposts

    December 3, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    feature, not a bug, cole.

  3. 3.

    kdaug

    December 3, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    We love you too, big guy.

  4. 4.

    robertdsc-PowerBook

    December 3, 2010 at 10:08 pm

    How is Tunch?

  5. 5.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 3, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    You just figured this out now?

  6. 6.

    eemom

    December 3, 2010 at 10:10 pm

    no worries John…..we all totally believed that THIS time would be different from all the other ones when you “went Galt” and posted 77 new posts in the ensuing 5 hours…….but we’ll get over it.

  7. 7.

    lamh32

    December 3, 2010 at 10:11 pm

    Dude u r such a drama queen u “go galt” like once a week, but u just can’t quit us. What’s that line in The Godfather about getting out but always being pulled back in. That is u.

  8. 8.

    General Stuck

    December 3, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    confusion is normal

    it makes you alive

  9. 9.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 3, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    Do you have a gulch? Maybe you can’t do it without a gulch.

  10. 10.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    December 3, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    No, you are the perfect example of going Galt.

    No matter what anyone says about their going Galt, it’ll never happen.

  11. 11.

    freelancer

    December 3, 2010 at 10:14 pm

    to commenter THE, this post is for you.

  12. 12.

    lamh32

    December 3, 2010 at 10:14 pm

    Me, the last coupla days have been kinda tough, it gets that way when ur half way to broke like I am.

    But, I got out of the house and I saw Burlesque tonite with Cher & X-Tina.  It was good.  Ur inner drag queen will love it!

    And damn can X-Tina sing!  Cher’s good too.  Who am I kidding, Cher “Gypsys Tramps & Thieves can sang het ass off too

  13. 13.

    General Stuck

    December 3, 2010 at 10:17 pm

    A little advice boss, that I know you won’t take. STOP READING LIBERAL BLOGS, politico, MSNBC, etc…../ There used to be things to learn in those places, there isn’t anymore.

  14. 14.

    stuckinred

    December 3, 2010 at 10:17 pm

    KIckoff! Go Illini!

  15. 15.

    The Dangerman

    December 3, 2010 at 10:19 pm

    Tesla wants to talk to you.

  16. 16.

    jeffreyw

    December 3, 2010 at 10:21 pm

    Thread needs more kitteh.

  17. 17.

    THE

    December 3, 2010 at 10:29 pm

    @freelancer:

    Wow. thanks freelancer.
    Another suitable piece of music might be:
    I love my dog (as much as I love you) by Cat Stevens.

  18. 18.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 3, 2010 at 10:29 pm

    If Cole isn’t sipping good malt
    And relaxing, it isn’t OUR fault!
    He said he was leaving,
    But that was deceiving.
    He just sucks when he tries to go Galt.

  19. 19.

    bobbyp

    December 3, 2010 at 10:31 pm

    You think going Galt is easy?

  20. 20.

    jeffreyw

    December 3, 2010 at 10:36 pm

    @stuckinred: Mrs J sez a poor cocker spaniel was brought in to the shelter yesterday, late. She called and said she would be late, the dog was a grooming emergency, dirty, matted, flea ridden. They spent 3 hours clipping and bathing the poor boy. She said he only yelped once-when they were trying to cut tar balls out of his feet. Every time one of his new pals came close he licked their face with some enthusiasm. They got 3 pounds of hair off him. He now goes by the name “Wally”, because he was found in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

    Wally

  21. 21.

    kdaug

    December 3, 2010 at 10:40 pm

    @The Dangerman: Stop that. It’s just rude, frankly.

    Would you dangle a piece of tasty steak in front of a puppy, just out of reach?

  22. 22.

    You Don't Say

    December 3, 2010 at 10:42 pm

    @jeffreyw: Wally is one handsome fella. I hope he finds a new home soon.

  23. 23.

    The Dangerman

    December 3, 2010 at 10:44 pm

    @jeffreyw:

    Wally looks like a keeper. I’m in SoCal, else I’d be looking at him.

    DangerDog has a bit of a ring to it.

  24. 24.

    burnspbesq

    December 3, 2010 at 10:45 pm

    Duke-Butler tomorrow, a rare appearance on teevee by my undergrad school’s hockey team on Sunday. And a buttload of work. A full weekend.

    In anticipation of a college football thread tomorrow, Go ‘Cocks!

  25. 25.

    General Stuck

    December 3, 2010 at 10:46 pm

    Well shit, my computer chair just broke and I fell down.

    It’s always somethin’, and I loved that chair like baby jeevus.

  26. 26.

    burnspbesq

    December 3, 2010 at 10:48 pm

    Question for the congregation.

    I got a notice from my bank the other day that they were applying the penalty interest rate to my Visa card, because I was all of two days late with a payment that was approximately 6.5x the minimum.

    I called them and asked them to reconsider. They refused. I wrote a check for entire balance, cut up the card, and have set the wheels in motion to close all my accounts and refinance both the mortgage and the HELOC.

    Am I over-reacting?

  27. 27.

    jeffreyw

    December 3, 2010 at 10:48 pm

    @The Dangerman: Danger Dog! Sounds like a Saturday morning cartoon super hero. lol

  28. 28.

    burnspbesq

    December 3, 2010 at 10:48 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Two words for ya, General sir.

    Used Aeron.

  29. 29.

    jeffreyw

    December 3, 2010 at 10:49 pm

    @burnspbesq:
    No

  30. 30.

    The Dangerman

    December 3, 2010 at 10:49 pm

    @kdaug:

    Would you dangle a piece of tasty steak in front of a puppy, just out of reach?

    If a Tesla is just out of reach, are you:

    a) Single (upon review, not necessarily a firm requirement)

    and

    b) Female (will have to hold firm with that one)

    Then again, I’m 6′ 7″ and doubt I would be able to fit. I has a sad about cool cars and crappy comfort.

  31. 31.

    parsimon

    December 3, 2010 at 10:50 pm

    @burnspbesq: Yes?

  32. 32.

    S. cerevisiae

    December 3, 2010 at 10:52 pm

    @jeffreyw: I love spaniels and he looks lonesome. I wish I was in a place to take a dog but right now it’s impossible. I hope he finds a good home.

  33. 33.

    Davis X. Machina

    December 3, 2010 at 10:52 pm

    @burnspbesq: Duke? Ice hockey?

    Years ago I saw the ACC ice hockey finals. Matignon or Catholic Memorial or BC High would have skated either team off the ice.

  34. 34.

    WyldPirate

    December 3, 2010 at 10:55 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    No. Fuck the banks. They are blood sucking mongrels.

  35. 35.

    burnspbesq

    December 3, 2010 at 10:57 pm

    @Davis X. Machina:

    My undergrad degree is from Union College.

    Hockey’s a club sport in the ACC. It’s no different in lax: think that Michigan or Chapman, which played in the MCLA final the last two years, could give ANY D1 team, even Jacksonville or Mercer, a game?

  36. 36.

    General Stuck

    December 3, 2010 at 10:58 pm

    Am I over-reacting?

    nope, I only have a visa debit card now, and wouldn’t get another credit card for love nor money, or at least generous offer of either.

  37. 37.

    S. cerevisiae

    December 3, 2010 at 11:01 pm

    In other college hockey news, my Bulldogs got beat by Denver in overtime – hope they can come back tomorrow. Thank god for internet radio streams.

  38. 38.

    Crusty Dem

    December 3, 2010 at 11:02 pm

    @eemom:

    Exactly, when John says “Screw all this, I’m out”, you can expect no fewer than 4 posts in the next 2 hours. If he got fed up more regularly, there’d be no room for the other FPers.

  39. 39.

    kdaug

    December 3, 2010 at 11:04 pm

    @The Dangerman:

    Eh. Try:

    A) Paid-for vehicles in the driveway, and

    B) Unwillingness to pay the “first-adopter” premium

    It is the way things are going, and competition will drive the costs down. Just not in the market right now.

    But when I am, the cars will be cheaper, the infrastructure more ubiquitous, and availability more widespread.

    In the interim, I’m going to drool over a Roadster.

  40. 40.

    Davis X. Machina

    December 3, 2010 at 11:04 pm

    @burnspbesq: I thought a lot of the NY schools, like RPI, Clarkson, St. Lawrence, tended to be DIII-everything-but-D1-hockey?

  41. 41.

    fucen tarmal

    December 3, 2010 at 11:05 pm

    @freelancer:

    wrong that i thought of woody allen when reading that?

  42. 42.

    General Stuck

    December 3, 2010 at 11:07 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Kentucky plays the Tarheels tomorrow , your two fav teams :-)

  43. 43.

    jeffreyw

    December 3, 2010 at 11:07 pm

    @S. cerevisiae:
    I think he’ll be fine. The shelter has a relationship with a pro grooming outfit, in due time they’ll take him by there and get the ragged smoothed out.

  44. 44.

    Suffern ACE

    December 3, 2010 at 11:08 pm

    @burnspbesq: I am assuming you are refinancing the mortgage and the HELOC because they are with the same bank as you had the card. I would think carefully about that if you have good terms. I’d rather use the cash that I’d use for refinancing fees to pay down the HELOC unless I could obtain better terms. You can also hurt them by paying them back early…

  45. 45.

    BonnyAnne

    December 3, 2010 at 11:09 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    No. Penalty interest rates on credit cards are insanely high and punative.

    And let ’em know, at every step of the closing-your-accounts process, exactly why you are doing so. Send letters to higher ups, if you like.

    (and consider a credit union, if you are leaving a bank…)

  46. 46.

    burnspbesq

    December 3, 2010 at 11:09 pm

    @Davis X. Machina:

    Yup. Fucking RPI, Union, St. Lawrence, RIT, and Clarkson all fit that description. I think that describes a couple of other D1 hockey schools, maybe Mercyhurst, maybe Alabama-Huntsville.

    Johns Hopkins is D1in lax and D3 everything else.

    There may be a couple of public schools in Pennsylvania that are D1 in wrestling and D3 in everything else.

  47. 47.

    The Dangerman

    December 3, 2010 at 11:10 pm

    @kdaug:

    B) Unwillingness to pay the “first-adopter” premium

    As a software guy, never buy first release.

    I may take an early plunge with an EV, but it won’t be something where I would worry about getting jacked if I went to LA. I’m thinking Triac (since they are headquartered just up the road). Of course, I still have a fit concern, but … oh, well, not much I can do there.

  48. 48.

    burnspbesq

    December 3, 2010 at 11:11 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Kentucky plays the Tarheels tomorrow , your two fav teams

    Is it really a requirement that one team win?

  49. 49.

    Ross Hershberger

    December 3, 2010 at 11:12 pm

    Day started out all ‘Frakk this. I quit,” then improved.
    Oddly, things started looking up as soon as I backed away from the computer and was no longer subjected to the anguished wailing about the MC tax break impending screwup.
    There’s a message there, and it’s not written in invisible ink.

  50. 50.

    Ruckus

    December 3, 2010 at 11:14 pm

    @burnspbesq:
    Not in the fucking least.
    I seem to remember that you have stated previously that you are not hurting for money, you paid more than they asked for, for the sake of argument I’m going to assume that this hasn’t happened to you before or if it has is extremely rare, so what the hell is their problem? It’s that they don’t care about you, your history, or anything other than your money. And I’ll bet they consider it their money. All of it. They are just letting you look at it occasionally. And letting you fondle it even less occasionally. They change the rules at their whim and always massively in their favor. They charge huge penalties for any transgression no matter the size or situation. Considering the interest they pay I’m almost ready to put all my money under my mattress.

  51. 51.

    Ross Hershberger

    December 3, 2010 at 11:15 pm

    Best value in any technology is 1 to 2 generations behind the curve. Let the trendies winnow out the wins and fails, then benefit from their work.
    Especially in anything new and complex.
    And unless lifespan or obsolescence is a significant factor, buy used and let someone else take the depreciation hit.

  52. 52.

    burnspbesq

    December 3, 2010 at 11:16 pm

    @Suffern ACE:

    We have plenty of equity, even in the current market (we’ve been in this house so long that our mortgage payments are two-thirds principal), so I think we can knock the weighted average rate on the mortgage and the HELOC down about 50 basis points. That should knock the total payment down by at least $700/mo, which will all go straight into the 529 account, against the possibility that the kid has a great audition next year and gets into NYU.

  53. 53.

    S. cerevisiae

    December 3, 2010 at 11:17 pm

    @Davis X. Machina: Not just out east, a lot of the smaller WCHA schools are D-1 only in hockey.

  54. 54.

    freelancer

    December 3, 2010 at 11:20 pm

    @fucen tarmal:

    wrong that i thought of woody allen when reading that?

    The heart wants what it wants.

  55. 55.

    burnspbesq

    December 3, 2010 at 11:22 pm

    @Ruckus:

    I probably should have paid off the card a long time ago. Carrying a balance on a credit card, even at 8-9 percent, doesn’t make much sense when you’re only earning 1 percent on your money market account. I am a procrastinator by nature, but the cavalier attitude of the person I spoke to on the phone put me over the edge and into action.

  56. 56.

    Teri

    December 3, 2010 at 11:22 pm

    @burnspbesq: find a credit union, local in your area. The money stays local, depending on credit union charter, they can’t make a profit so fees etc are reasonable. (No I don’t work for a credit union but haven’t used a bank since the late 80’s)@General Stuck: I feel for you. You just get it broken in when the wheels fall off. Right now, hubby stubbornly sits in an one armed chair despite the fact their is a brand new chair right next to him. It just doesn’t feel right. Good luck finding one to fit you just right. Sometimes it takes a while.

  57. 57.

    Ross Hershberger

    December 3, 2010 at 11:34 pm

    I was CU member for years. Belonged to a really big one in Dearborn that had a large Ford membership. But they screwed up 2 car loans and a CD, all right in a row. I lost confidence & started doing business with the Chase branch next door. Much more professional despite being, technically, evil.

  58. 58.

    Mark S.

    December 3, 2010 at 11:35 pm

    Some conservative website asked 1,000 wingnuts to name their three favorite commentators. The result was basically the Fox News lineup, but I found this analysis quite funny:

    Worryingly, columnists often regarded as among the most thoughtful conservatives did not fare well. David Brooks of the New York Times only mustered a mention from 1.3% of the panel (14 people). Ross Douthat, also at the NYT, won just four votes and Mike Gerson, Washington Post writer and former speechwriter to President Bush, gets just three mentions.

  59. 59.

    jeffreyw

    December 3, 2010 at 11:36 pm

    @General Stuck: This is where I’m at, General. Computer desk?? Laptop, man, get a laptop.

  60. 60.

    jcricket

    December 3, 2010 at 11:36 pm

    On the continiuing good news front, Spain is busy “calming” the markets.

    Hey Markets – FUCK YOU.

    Believe me, I’ve got a 401k worth probably less than I’ve been putting into it since 1997, and I’d hate a market crash for my parents (even though they’re mostly bonds now) – but enough is FUCKING ENOUGH.

    Calming the markets by fucking your people over is stupid. It’s basically like throwing a steak to the pitbulls who are attacking you. Sure, they’ll chew that up, but then minutes later they’re still coming for you.

    I hate the world.

  61. 61.

    Martin

    December 3, 2010 at 11:37 pm

    @General Stuck:

    It’s always somethin’, and I loved that chair like baby jeevus.

    Dude, you’re not supposed to do that while sitting on any baby, let alone baby Jesus. That’s like gotta-notify-the-neighbors-when-you-move-in bad.

  62. 62.

    Morbo

    December 3, 2010 at 11:41 pm

    Lion Stout is delicious. That is all.

  63. 63.

    JAHILL10

    December 3, 2010 at 11:44 pm

    @Morbo: So is Bailey’s n coffee. They help me cultivate a zen attitude when facing the news of the day…

  64. 64.

    bago

    December 3, 2010 at 11:45 pm

    @Ross Hershberger: Thats why it’s good to have a healthy upper middle class. They fund the development after the research.

  65. 65.

    Shertzy

    December 3, 2010 at 11:50 pm

    Wow, what’s Sal from Mad Men doing in that ad?!

  66. 66.

    MikeJ

    December 3, 2010 at 11:54 pm

    Merry xmas.

    And have a nice Chaka Khan.

  67. 67.

    Ailuridae

    December 3, 2010 at 11:56 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    No, but I would have secured a better deal on a new card before leaving.

    Wait, this is your actual bank where you have checking, saving, mortgage etc? I’d walk all my business out of there (assuming you have options etc)

  68. 68.

    Martin

    December 3, 2010 at 11:57 pm

    @burnspbesq: Not really.

    I agree with Teri. Find a good credit union. I’ve never paid a fee to a bank in my life outside of reasonable things like cashiers checks.

    I wouldn’t do the mortgage, unless its non-conforming. My conforming mortgage seems to get repurchased every few months, so you have no control over who holds it anyway.

    And yes, never, ever carry a balance on a credit card unless you need to pay for necessary medical procedures or bail for the kid or something really important like that.

  69. 69.

    Ailuridae

    December 3, 2010 at 11:57 pm

    @General Stuck:

    What do you do when you travel and need to rent a car? I’m asking because I keep a credit card for no other reason

  70. 70.

    Ailuridae

    December 4, 2010 at 12:02 am

    @The Dangerman:

    As a software guy, never buy first release.

    In a previous life I was a network guy but still live by a lot of those old maxims. To wit, I just installed Windows 7 on my work rig, after completely refusinng to entertain Vista. The only reason was worry that I might soon get locked out of games and that I picked up 12GB of DDR3 on a black friday deal. Before I switched to the Google Suite I was still rocking Office 2003 as well. Saves me a whole lot of hassle.

  71. 71.

    burnspbesq

    December 4, 2010 at 12:04 am

    @Ailuridae:

    I’d walk all my business out of there

    That’s the plan.

  72. 72.

    Ailuridae

    December 4, 2010 at 12:04 am

    This isn’t a progressive policy matter by any stretch but Harry Reid could make me impossibly happy if he somehow got this through.

    Reid pushes for bill to allow for online gambling

    One time, please?

  73. 73.

    Ailuridae

    December 4, 2010 at 12:08 am

    @burnspbesq:

    Somebody put together a list of good banks recently (it is in a pdf somewhere on my desktop). Some are local and several regional.

    I bank with TCF here in Chicago for a couple of reasons:

    1) from a social justice perspective they don’t use Chexsystems
    2) They never securitized a mortgage.
    3) They are open every day of the year 8-7 except Xmas or Easter (I always forget which)

  74. 74.

    burnspbesq

    December 4, 2010 at 12:08 am

    @Ailuridae:

    No, but I would have secured a better deal on a new card before leaving.

    I can use AmEx for everything. Having to pay in full every month will impose some spending discipline (I hope). The big holiday spend is already behind us (trip to Portland for the Duke-Oregon basketball game last weekend soaked up pretty much the whole Santa Budget).

  75. 75.

    General Stuck

    December 4, 2010 at 12:12 am

    @Ailuridae:

    I don’t do much traveling anymore, so no need to rent a car. But a Visa debit card is accepted just like a credit card would be, in most situations. It is just connected to you checking account is all. And if you don’t feel comfortable with that, I believe they have throw away Visa cards now, where you purchase them with 10 or twelve bucks, and load them up with cash to use for a trip. I don’t know if car renters will accept these though, since they are pre paid. And they are renewable as well. It’s a bit inconvenient, but worth it in my opinion. The last credit card I had, I was late for a single payment, that was actually mailed in in time to be on time, but apparently, their processing time was a day or two late, and the fuckers dropped the hammer on me, with late fees, and raised interest rate to 29 percent, I think, and when I couldn’t get them to fix it, I got stubborn and refused to send the next payment in, and everything went to shit after that. I finally settled with them and payed it off with not a lot of extra fees, but it just isn’t worth it to me to risk going thru that again.

  76. 76.

    Bnut

    December 4, 2010 at 12:13 am

    Looked into New Zealand work visas today. With the backlog it’s about two years, so I’ll submit mine soon for the 2012 backup.

  77. 77.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    December 4, 2010 at 12:37 am

    You can’t quit us, Cole!

    @burnspbesq: No. Overreacting would involve physical assault or vandalism. Maybe.

  78. 78.

    JWL

    December 4, 2010 at 12:49 am

    Off topic: How does anyone, possessing the semblance of an intact soul, object to those in need of food stamps?

  79. 79.

    SIA

    December 4, 2010 at 12:56 am

    I actually saw a “Who is John Galt” bumper sticker today. All this time I thought you guys were joking.

    Also, in the middle of Dekalb Cty GA, a store with a sign, “Jesus Saves, Obama Spends”. That’s some heavy duty hatred and can’t be too good for commerce in this neck of the woods.

    Teh stupid. It burns.

  80. 80.

    slag

    December 4, 2010 at 12:57 am

    Here’s a question since Cole recently mentioned again that he was trying to shed a few lbs. Has anyone else tried the Steve Ward Diet?

    I did it on myself simply as an experiment (yes, I do things like that) and ended up losing about 9 lbs during the first 9 weeks of the experiment. N of 1, but I found the results intriguing. I didn’t even go all the way with it since, when I was above the line, I just cut back a little–didn’t go all low-cal foods. I set my goal to be 8 lbs in 10 weeks (since those were the dimensions of my graph paper) and ended up exceeding it. I’m wondering if anyone else has tried it and had similar results. I was quite surprised by it, myself. And after having measured myself for the last two months afterward, I’m finding I’m not gaining any of the weight back, which is fine I think. It really is very odd.

    Now that I sound like an infomercial…

    @Mark S.: No surprise there. They’ve created the ultimate Perpetual Wingnut Machine.

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne

    December 4, 2010 at 12:58 am

    @burnspbesq:

    No. At least you didn’t end up like a friend of mine, who stood in the lobby of a Bank of America and shrieked at the top of her lungs, “My money would be safer in a mattress than it is with you people!”

    Keep a close eye on that credit card, though. Sometimes reps will “forget” to cancel it because banks just love to sneak more late fees onto it so they can sock you with a few more bills before you go.

  82. 82.

    Nick

    December 4, 2010 at 12:59 am

    @JWL:

    How does anyone, possessing the semblance of an intact soul, object to those in need of food stamps?

    I ask that question every time I hear my family talk during a holiday.

  83. 83.

    S. cerevisiae

    December 4, 2010 at 12:59 am

    @SIA: I saw a much better bumper sticker in Canada back in the eighties: Jesus Saves, but Gretzky scores on the rebound.

  84. 84.

    SIA

    December 4, 2010 at 1:01 am

    @S. cerevisiae: Ha! (Those crazy canucks)

  85. 85.

    General Stuck

    December 4, 2010 at 1:02 am

    Freedom cheap in Oklahoma

    After Oklahoma voters approved a referendum that bars judges from using Islamic religious or international law, a Muslim resident of Oklahoma, Muneer Awad, filed a lawsuit asking that the judge stop certification of “State Question 755.” “Mr. Awad testified in court that the amendment was impossible to enforce, since the concept of Shariah law varies from person to person,” writes James McKinley Jr. in The New York Times, and “he asserted the law might make it impossible for the courts to enforce his own last will and testament, since it requests he be buried according to Islamic principles.” Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange recently issued a permanent injunction, writing that the referendum may be unconstitutional, as “throughout the course of our country’s history, the will of the ‘majority’ has on occasion conflicted with the constitutional rights of individuals.”

    Now, Judge Miles-LaGrange has become the next target of Oklahoma’s Religious Right groups and the “Save our State” campaign. Tom Vineyard, pastor of the Windsor Hills Baptist Church, became so livid that he changed his church’s sign to read: “Judge LaGrange’s ruling endorses Islamic crimes against humanity. Call for her impeachment.” Using standard right-wing attack lines, Vineyard said “the judge is legislating from the bench in prohibiting the citizens of Oklahoma from instituting the law that we voted on.”

    “crimes against humanity” no doubt the wanker was a Bush man.

  86. 86.

    Dollared

    December 4, 2010 at 1:03 am

    @cerevisiae

    Minnesota-Duluth bulldogs? I’m a lapsed fan, but they made every visit to Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis a complete pleasure in the 80s. They useta wax those Gophers, during the Bret Hull days.

  87. 87.

    Martin

    December 4, 2010 at 1:06 am

    @Mnemosyne: Huh. My wife once stood in the lobby of a BofA shrieking at the top of her lungs. Not about the safety of her money, but because they put a double hold on a cashiers check which caused her to bounce checks all around town. Oh, yeah, I think at least one was to pay for her wedding dress. So, kind of a sensitive spot.

    They handed her an extra $100 for the trouble. That wound up just pissing her off more.

  88. 88.

    Martin

    December 4, 2010 at 1:14 am

    @General Stuck: I say we take off, and nuke the state from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

  89. 89.

    fucen tarmal

    December 4, 2010 at 1:21 am

    @burnspbesq:

    how do people do this…every year we all make solemn vows that the gifts and the nonsense wouldn’t even be what it was about, even if we observed the religion of our births…

    some food, some wine…

    but every year the santa budget seems to expand without our conscious consent. its like military procurement and rdte.

  90. 90.

    Mnemosyne

    December 4, 2010 at 1:22 am

    @Martin:

    Oh, it’s a common reaction to the idiocies of B of A. My favorite (or “favorite”) story was a guy who deposited a $2,000.00 check at the ATM only to have it malfunction and record it as a withdrawal. And it took him three months of screaming at B of A on the phone to convince them that you can’t get $2K out of a goddamned ATM and they needed to stop bouncing his checks.

  91. 91.

    S. cerevisiae

    December 4, 2010 at 1:23 am

    @Dollared: They had some awesome teams back then. The triple-overtime loss in the national championship game against Bowling Green was such a heartbreak. I have an authentic Brett Hull UMD jersey I got off e-bay a few years ago. His number #29 has been retired by UMD and he still holds the school hat trick record (set in only two years).

  92. 92.

    Yutsano

    December 4, 2010 at 1:31 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    Oh, it’s a common reaction to the idiocies of B of A.

    Heh. I get to see just how amazingly evil they are. If you get issued a bank levy from the IRS, B of A smacks you with a $100 fee. No appeal, no warning, regardless of current balance. And folks think what I do is evil.

  93. 93.

    Martin

    December 4, 2010 at 1:35 am

    @fucen tarmal: My wife and I have a bit of a developed process. Any expenditure requires one day of deliberation for each $50 from the day it is considered to the day it is executed. We don’t need to consult the other, it’s like a cooling-off period for any impulse we have.

    Not only does it kill a lot of compulsive buying urges, but it’s caused us to be much better at planning ahead, and gives time to shop around, etc. proportionate to the size of the purchase.

    There are exceptions to this of course (necessities, etc.) and there are opportunities that encourage us to move faster but for the most part it works very well.

  94. 94.

    Yutsano

    December 4, 2010 at 1:42 am

    @Martin: For me, honestly, when gift buying, all that matters is the recipient’s appreciation for the gift. Last year I bought my SIL a $100 gift card from a fabric store. She’s an amateur seamstress. She was ecstatic. Odds are I’ll be hauling my butt to the Seachickens store downtown and taking care of my brothers soon. I always get my dad a historical book, though I might look into getting him a DVD of Bollywood crime dramas. I’m choosing not to ask how he got hooked on those. Once you tailor it like that, you find really fast price tag is irrelevant, and the $20 gift that is highly regarded is tons better than the $500 that will get taken back on Boxing Day.

  95. 95.

    Darkrose

    December 4, 2010 at 1:46 am

    @General Stuck: The problem I ran into using a debit card to rent cars this summer was that they slap a $300-$500 hold on your account on top of the rental fee. This may not be a problem for you, but especially since I get paid monthly, by the end of the month it’s all I can do to keep a positive balance.

  96. 96.

    Darkrose

    December 4, 2010 at 1:56 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    Keep a close eye on that credit card, though. Sometimes reps will “forget” to cancel it because banks just love to sneak more late fees onto it so they can sock you with a few more bills before you go.

    That’s what happened to me. It’s a long, boring story, but the short version was that I cancelled my card with what was then MBNA–only they didn’t cancel some insurance policy that I’d mistakenly agreed to in order to get some clown off the phone. So during the four years that I was making payments, my balance was going up because of the insurance charge every month. I didn’t figure it out until I’d paid what I thought I owed, and B of A told me I owed another $16k.

    I refused, and they proceeded to hound me for several months. I talked to about six different people, all of whom promised to call back with an update, and never did. Finally, I took advantage of one of the best UC benefits and used my legal insurance to hire a lawyer. He fired off a letter to B of A asking them to validate the debt.

    They never did. Instead, they sold the debt to a collection agency. My lawyer asked them for validation, and six months later, they sold the debt to someone else without replying. This has been going on for over six years; at this point, I’m just waiting another 10 months for the statute of limitations to run out.

  97. 97.

    ruemara

    December 4, 2010 at 2:05 am

    @burnspbesq:

    No. This has been today’s episode of SATSQ.

  98. 98.

    Ailuridae

    December 4, 2010 at 3:46 am

    @slag:

    Slow carb, slow carb slow carb.

    But the Steve Ward piece reminds me of that awesome site the AutoDesk founder made – Hacking my way to a better weight or something similar.

  99. 99.

    Dollared

    December 4, 2010 at 4:27 am

    S. Cerevisiae,

    You are bringing a tear to my eye. One of the best days/nights of my life was watching UMD take apart UM in a WCHA playoff. It was 3-0 within the first 12 minutes of the first period, and before the period was over two guys from Duluth had poached seats behind us in the UM student section (I had season tickets but was dressed all in red, if you know what I mean), and one of the Duluth guys broke the nose of the whiny passive-aggressive UM student who had plagued me and my buddy all season.

    His explanation? “Hey, it’s the first period. I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to sit and listen to this whining for another two fucking hours.” And we nice Wisconsin boys had sat through the entire season listening to that twerp.

    Range logic. It brings a tear to your eyes. Where I live now, you have to go find a Canadian for such clear thinking.

    Are you in Duluth?

  100. 100.

    Xenos

    December 4, 2010 at 5:53 am

    @Martin: I once saw BOA take deposit of a certified check for $30,000 from a local bank. The held the funds for 27 days. I checked with the local bank, and the funds cleared within 48 hours.

    Don’t ever do business with the bastards, in any form.

  101. 101.

    Carol

    December 4, 2010 at 7:39 am

    @burnspbesq: No.

    The interest and terms these days on a credit card would make a loan shark blush. 24% APR?

    When I paid off my two credit cards and took the tax hit, I realized that nothing the credit card gave me was superior to what a debit card/prepaid card could give me, and I didn’t have to deal with a monthly balance. Even once I pay off this last credit line, I plan to just use prepaid-put enough of a balance on it for emergencies and put it away.

    One Reagan-era policy that could jumpstart the economy quickly would be to restore the deduction on credit card interest. The tax break alone might encourage a bit of spending, not to mention the refunds that people could collect immediately.

  102. 102.

    DecidedFenceSitter

    December 4, 2010 at 9:17 am

    I still use a credit card but that’s because it is safer for online purchases, if the card gets stolen the card company is generally on the hook for everything past 50 bucks, on a debit card? Well you’ll get your money back, eventually.

    So I just make sure I can pay it off every month and I don’t worry about the APR rates.

  103. 103.

    Cain

    December 4, 2010 at 9:23 am

    @Martin:

    And yes, never, ever carry a balance on a credit card unless you need to pay for necessary medical procedures or bail for the kid or something really important like that.

    Absolutely. I have gotten away with every late payment fee I suspect because I do that. Also I’ve been using the same credit card for the past 14 years. I’m a gold customer they will not fuck with me.

    cain

  104. 104.

    Kevin K.

    December 4, 2010 at 11:38 am

    John, I’m available for private lessons if you need help with this problem again.

  105. 105.

    slag

    December 4, 2010 at 2:30 pm

    @Ailuridae:

    Slow carb, slow carb slow carb.

    Damn. I don’t even know what this means. Will have to look it up.

    As for The Hacker’s Diet, I had never heard of that before either. It looks interesting, but I’d never put the work into doing it (knowing me). The thing that intrigued me about the Steve Ward thing was its simplicity. I had all the tools I needed in the house–graph paper and a scale (or, in my case, Wii Fit); all the counting I needed done was done by the scale; my only job was to weigh myself and put a dot on the graph paper and just remember throughout the day where my dot was in relation to my line. It was almost too easy, so I’m trying to find out if anyone else has tried it before I start recommending it to people. Curious if my experience was an outlier.

  106. 106.

    S. cerevisiae

    December 4, 2010 at 3:56 pm

    @Dollared: No, I’m currently out in Oregon going to grad school (better late than never-Go Beavs!) but I’m from the North Shore and grew up watching the Dogs. I even attended UMD for a couple of years right before the eighties glory. Now I have to get my hockey fix through internet radio.

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