Thursday, May 26, 2011

This little piggy went to the housing market...

I was reading an article on Yahoo.com about foreclosures and then I began reading the comments people were making about the housing market.  MANY are strictly blaming the banks, which I think is wrong.  Yes, the banks are at fault, but shouldn't some of these people be to blame as well?  When the banks were fudging the applications, why didn't these people speak up and say "hey I think that's illegal." 
Granted, yes I would love a million dollar mansion with a gigantic swimming pool, big ass walk in closets which could probably double as rooms themselves, the stainless steel appliances, whirlpool tubs, eco friendly insulation...etc. and all the other stuff they show on HGTV...but if a loan officer were to say "You only qualify for a $200,000 loan.  Let's just say you make over $800,000 a year so you can get this home." I'd think something was up and contact the proper authorities.
And then there was this whole "flipping" trend; people would buy a cheap house, remodel it to have all the cool stuff they show on HGTV and then turn around and resell it for a profit within usually 6mos.-1yr.  They weren't building any equity and soon EVERYONE and their brother was flipping houses.  With the majority of houses having all the latest/trendiest luxuries buyers could pick and choose, making sellers more desperate.  The sellers of these houses that had been flipped must not have calculated that remodeling to such a drastic extent would drive their mortgage rates up along with taxes up. 
And of course let's not forget the trend of leveraging your house against(TV game show host voice) that brand new car! 
Instead of speaking up and contacting the authorities to begin with, people waited until a massive foreclosure crisis to begin complaining and finding a scapegoat.  I used to live in central Cali; I saw the housing market rise with all of it's trends.  Houses priced at $200,000-$300,000 made leaps to $600,000-$900,000 and then back down in a matter of a few months and then within a few weeks become rental properties. 
Now, I know that not EVERYONE joined in on the trends and allowed this to happen and to those of you who have built up equity thank you.  You are the real casualties in this mess. 
If anyone wishes to see the article go to http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Foreclosures-for-sale-Big-cnnm-2801454840.html  It mainly talks about the high foreclosure rates in Las Vegas and other parts of the US where foreclosures are the highest. 

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

I was out at the mall today and...

I was at Steamtown Mall today for their annual talent competition.  I enjoy singing and who knows maybe I'll cut an album and send it off, or win big on some reality show...for now it's a hobby and I'm pretty good.  I'm digressing...
I got at the venue about an hour early, sat down and started preparing and from the T-Mobile kiosk/booth thing I heard a couple of associates laughing, having a good time.  I looked up and one was pointing directly at me and was laughing.  I shrugged it off at first, but after about 10mins. it got difficult to ignore.  One guy was pointing at me, making rude comments about my weight.  After a few more minutes and deciding what to do I walked over and confronted the guy.  Of course he took the coward's way out and denied it and I had to walk away, otherwise I would have sucker punched him. 
The guy could've picked almost any other trait and I wouldn't have done anything...yes, I wear glasses, I have a big nose, my hair is massive, I'm short.  But I've never had someone make fun of my weight before.  That was a shock to me. 
I wouldn't consider myself skinny, or fat.  I'd say I'm about average; some days I retain water and I look in the mirror and say "Oh crap!" and other days I say "Damn!  I look good."  But this guy's comments struck me and I started questioning "Am I fat, do other people see me as fat?  Do I think I'm fat and am I alright with how I look?" 
I tried considering the source.  The guy who was making the rude comments must have outweighed me by at least 100-150LBs.  But still, the fact that someone would make fun of my weight filled me with an indescribable hurt. 
A few things about T-Mobile; they supposedly have the BEST customer service amongst wireless carriers.  My contract with AT&T will be up in about 3wks. and I was seriously considering taking my business to T-Mobile because I am a big fan of awesome customer service.  I work primarily in the service industry myself, so I appreciate awesome customer service.  But here's the difference: I would never make fun of a potential customer...at least not until I'm in the back room and everyone is complaining about the rude/obnoxious customers. 
T-Mobile just lost a potential customer. 

And now introducing myself is...myself.

I'm 25 years of age, currently unemployed(but looking).  I'm single and not really into the dating scene...I like being single most of the time.  I enjoy singing, horror movies, French, Hulu and Netflix.  In my spare time I love to read and sometimes I write.  My favorite book is Notre-Dame De Paris by Victor Hugo, or for you non-French speakers out there and for those of you too lazy to Google the title: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.(Please note: Lots of NDDP references will be in this blog.) 
If you've ever heard the song, White And Nerdy by Weird Al then you'd know that the song was written about me.  Yes, sarcasm is one of my favorite things! 
Eventually I plan on going back to school to get a teaching degree, a French degree and maybe minor in math.  But that is eventually, which comes right after the day after tomorrow, which is right after the 12th of Never and two days before Hell freezes over. 
Let's see...we've covered movies, books and goals now let's get to the good stuff!
Political view: Incredibly liberal/bordering on socialist.
Religion:  Against religion, but spiritual.
Music: Damn near anything.
I think that covers it for now.