Eighty Years (or so) To The Big Zero

I just go back from a week long trip in the Great Smoky Mountains.

I was one of three adult chaperones for a school function with 12 students (6 boys, 6 girls). Overall it was a very good week (lost ten pounds, got poison oak on the insides of of my ankles and calfs. Weird, I don’t know how I got those). Saw some amazing mountains, streams, and forests. I’ll put up some pictures later. Remind me if I forget, I’m still kinda in a fog, because now that I’m back:

– Must finish up two final exams for my semester today and tomorrow.

– Move my bank from the hacked bank to my new local bank (set up direct deposit, get visa/debt card, etc.) (Did I mention I got hacked again two days after getting my new credit card? I’m switching banks and filed a identity alert on my national profile with the three credit card reporting agencies. Equifax, Transnation, and the other one. Twice they got me, second time for $2000 in UPS shipping and Craigslist charges, and there is absolutely nothing to be done for it. The banks won’t give me any details, and since the charges were pending and didn’t actually process they have no details about where, when, or who used them. This is complete bullshit! I can’t believe there is no information on these transactions. What details are stored with the charges while they are pending? Come on people. Why are we letting these criminals get away with this? )

– Do all the laundry in the house and de-flea the entire home. Major flea issue occurred while I was away and now I’m covered in fleas. My legs look like they were sprinkled with pepper when I go into the back room. Ack!

– Straighten up a little bit before MerryMaid comes out on Thursday to give me an estimate on what it’ll cost to come out on a bi-monthly basis. (This house really needs to be cleaned and I’m just too pulled and unmotivated to do it right now. Once it’s clean for a couple months perhaps I’ll cancel the service.)

– Monthly credit card bills are due…. WAIT!

Nope. Don’t have to do that anymore. I’m credit card debt free. All my credit cards are paid off in full with no balance or pending transactions! Very happy about that, it’s been a long time coming. Will never fall into that hole again.

So while I’m still in the mountains mentally, I’m slowly returning to the “normal” routine  of life and work, which starts tomorrow (Monday 4May09).  Ugh. Should take another week and I’ll be good to go.

A Whole New You, The Credit Trap, Thinking out loud

and read this post. This is posted (with permission) from a website with a very encouraging (to me at least) alternative to the current state of affairs.

It should be noted that I spent four years in the USMC. I have voted republican and democratic and libertarian in past elections. I think we should execute violent repeat offenders within a month not years/decades after being found guilty, healthcare should be free for everyone, everyone should spend one or two years after highschool in some sort of community service program for their city, state, country, or region, and everyone should own a gun and be taught how to use it.

I have lived in many different places in the US and overseas and have gotten to know many different peoples and societies.

Yet through all this, something has continually grown in me, whispering ever louder a tremor of concern that indeed things are not the way they should be, that something, somehow is fundamentally flawed in our system, in our lives, and the way we treat each other is not the way it should be. Yet I look to leaders (around the World) for guidance and still see the same old sound bites: selfishness, hate, ignorance and policies based on the ideology of dead languages and dead ideas.

It’s interesting to note one of the core ways to change society (as mentioned below) is through education of its people. I know that at least here in the US, we seem to be going backwards in this arena. Intentional or not the state of education is slipping backward and the product (educated citizens) is becoming more and more diluted with unthinking ideas and an inablity to rationally form opinions for itself. Swayed by buzz words, and single issue platforms, the people of America are losing the battle with unhindered, constructive education as politicians continually speak from their mouth, “It’s all for the children and schools.” and cut education funding with their hands. Why do parents, who should be DEMANDING better schools, get shut down or ignored? Why do they keep voting in the same people? Why do they get distracted? Perhaps they are working too hard keeping down a job, perhaps they themselves are products of the system and aren’t properly raising their children because they are thinking of their own needs over all others, perhaps there is a general lack of concern because even when they do speak, they never get heard and nothing changes? Perhaps sacrifice is only a word? Perhaps we’re all just tired? Perhaps that’s how it’s suppose to be? Perhaps it’s intentional?

I’m not saying the below is the greatest solution, or the only one, (certainly better than the “final solution” for sure) but it’s definately worth reading and thinking on. The points ring true on many levels for me. Maybe they will for you as well.

The Goal
The Means is the End:

We intend to restore the fundamental necessities and environmental awareness of the species through the advocation of the most current understandings of who and what we truly are, coupled with how science, nature and technology (rather than religion, politics and money) hold the keys to our personal growth, not only as individual human beings, but as a civilization, both structurally and spiritually. The central insights of this awareness is the recognition of the Emergent and Symbiotic elements of natural law and how aligning with these understandings as the bedrock of our personal and social institutions, life on earth can and will flourish into a system which will continuously grow in a positive way, where negative social consequences, such as social stratification, war, biases, elitism and criminal activity will be constantly reduced and, idealistically, eventually become nonexistent within the spectrum of human behavior itself.

This possibility is, of course, very difficult for most humans to consider, for we have been conditioned by society to think that crime, corruption and dishonesty is “the way it is” and that there will always be people who want to abuse, hurt and take advantage of others. Religion is the largest promoter of this propaganda, for the “us and them” or “good and evil” mentality promotes this false assumption.

The reality is that we live in a society that produces Scarcity. The consequence of this scarcity is that human beings must behave in self preserving ways, even if it means they have to cheat and steal in order to get what they want. Our research has concluded that Scarcity is one of the most fundamental causes of aberrant human behavior, while also leading to complex forms of neurosis in other ways. A statistical look at drug addiction, crime and incarceration statistics, finds that poverty and unhealthy social conditions comprise the life experience of those who engage in such behavior.

Human beings are not good or bad… they are running, forever changing compositions of the life experience(s) that influences them. The “quality” of a human being ( if there was such a thing ) is directly related to the upbringing and thus belief systems they have been conditioned into.

This simple reality has been grossly overlooked and today people primitively think that competition, greed and corruption are “hardwired” elements of human behavior and, in turn, we must have prisons, police and hence a hierarchy of differential control in order for society to deal with these “tendencies”. This is totally illogical and false.

The bottom line is that in order to change things for the better fundamentally, you must begin to address root causes. Our current society’s system of “punishment” is outmoded, inhumane, and unproductive. When a serial killer is caught, most people jump up and down and scream for the death of that person. This is backwards. A truly sane society, which understands what we are and how our value systems are created, would take the individual and learn the reasons behind his or her violent actions. This information would then go to a research department which considers how to stop such conditions from occurring through education.

It is time to stop the patchwork. It is time to begin a new social approach which is updated to present day knowledge. Sadly, society today is still largely based on outmoded, superstitious dispositions and resolutions.

It is also important to point out that there are no utopias or endings. All evidence points to perpetual change on all levels. In turn, it is our personal actions everyday of our lives that mold and perpetuate the social systems we have in place. Yet, paradoxically, it is also our environmental influences which create our perspectives and hence world views. Therefore, true change will come not only from adjusting your personal understandings and decisions, but equally from changing the social structures that influence these understandings and decisions.

The elite power systems are little affected in the long run by traditional protest and political movements. We must move beyond these ‘establishment rebellions’ and work with a tool much more powerful:
We will stop supporting the system, while constantly advocating knowledge, peace, unity and compassion. We cannot “fight the system”. Hate, anger and the ‘war’ mentality are failed means for change, for they perpetuate the same tools the corrupt, established power systems use to maintain control to begin with.

The Distortion and Paralysis:

When we understand that all systems are Emergent and constantly in a state of evolution, along with the reality that we are all Symbiotically connected to nature and each other in the most simple yet profound ways, forcing the realization that our personal integrity is only as high as the integrity of the rest of society, we then see how twisted and backwards our social establishments are and how their perpetuation is largely the cause of the social instability in society. For example, the Monetary System has been long deemed a positive force in society due to its claim to produce incentive and progress. In actuality, the monetary system has become a vehicle for division and totalitarian control.

It is the ultimate form of “Divide and Conquer” for at its very core are the assumptions that (1) We must fight each other in order to survive. (2) Humans must have this reward “Incentive” to do anything meaningful.

As far as Number 1 (We must fight each other in order to survive.), this characteristic of ‘competition’ in the system guarantees corruption in society on every level, for the basis is “us against them”. Many argue that the “free market system” is good… but it is corrupt in the modern day due to bad policies, favoritism, bailouts, etc. They assume that if a “pure” free market was allowed to flourish then it would be okay. This is false, for what you are seeing today IS the Free market at work, with all its differential advantage and corruption. No laws will ever stop the insider trading, collusion, monopoly, labor abuse, pollution, planned obsolescence or the like… this is what the competition based system produces without fail, for it is based on the premise of taking advantage of others for profit. Period.  (Steagus here: I have always said the worst thing about our health approach, anywhere, is the very lives of people are reduced to profitablity. The life of a person is only as important as the size of their bank account. This is fundamentally wrong and speaks to many “accepted truths” of the way we live our lives that if corrected would change society for the better.)

We must begin to transition out of these oppressive ideals and move towards a system which is “designed” to support human beings… not force them to fight in order to survive. As far as Number 2, (Humans must have this reward “Incentive” to do anything meaningful.) this is just a sad and an incredibly negative perspective of the human being in general. To assume that a person must be “structurally motivated” or hence “forced” into doing anything, is just absurd. Think back to when you were a child and had no idea what money even was. You played, were curious and did many things… why? Because you wanted to. However, as time goes on in our system, that natural curiosity and self-motivation is stripped away from people, as they are forced to conform to the specialized, compartmentalized, nearly predefined labor system in order to survive. This, in turn, often creates a natural rebellion within the person due to the forced obligation, and this is how we came up with “leisure” and “work” separations. The laziness assumed to exist by the monetary system proponents (who claim it produces incentive) do not recognize this. In a true society, people would follow their natural inclinations and work to contribute to society not because they are “paid” for it, but because they have a greater awareness which recognizes that contributing to society helps them just as much as everyone else. This is the heightened state of awareness we hope to communicate. Your reward for contributing to society is the well being of that society… which, in turn, furthers your well being.

Now, putting things into perspective, it is important to understand that our world is currently run, undeniably, by a small group of dominant men in high positions of those institutions which are most dominant in society- Business and Finance. The establishment of government is in tandem with the influence and power of corporations and banks. The life blood is money, which is, in fact, an illusion that now has little relevance to society and serves as a tool for manipulation and division along a kind of social organization that guarantees elitism, crime, war and social stratification.

Simultaneously, individuals are taught that being “correct” is what creates their value as human beings. This state of being “correct” is directly related to the prevailing values of society itself. Therefore, those who accept and support the social system’s views are considered “normal”, while those who disagree are considered “abnormal” or even “subversive”. Whether it is the dogma of a unique social tradition, or the alignment with a worldwide establishment religion, the basis is the same: Intellectual Materialism.

As we realize that knowledge and hence our institutions are always evolving, we see that any belief system which claims to “know” anything, without allowing for dispute, is a failed perspective. Religion, with its foundation in faith, is the king of this distortion, as it claims to know something definitively about the most complex and elusive origins of human kind, and this simply is not possible in an emergent universe.
That being said, it is then realized that equally as dangerous as the Establishment Power Structures, are the people who have been conditioned to completely accept the static understandings put forth by these systems… therefore becoming: “Self Appointed Guardians of the Status Quo”. This applies to every system, especially political, financial and religious systems. Since people’s identities become associated with the doctrines of a Country, Religion or Business ethic, it often becomes very difficult for a person to change, for his or her identity has become combined with the ideologies which have been imposed upon them.

Therefore, they perpetuate the doctrine of the institution, simply to maintain their personal integrity, as they see it.

We must break this cycle, for it paralyses our growth not only as individuals, but as a society.

The Truth and Transition
Once we understand that the integrity of our personal existences are directly related to the integrity of the earth, life and all other human beings, we then have our path predefined for us. In turn, once we realize that it is science, technology and hence human creativity which creates progress in our lives, we are then able to recognize what our true priorities are for social and personal growth and progress. These points denoted, we can then see that Religion, Politics and the Money/Competition based Labor system are outdated modes of social operation, which must now be addressed and outgrown. Our avocation is to achieve a social system which operates without money or politics, while allowing superstition to work itself out as education flourishes. It isn’t the right of any person to tell another what to believe, for no human has a full understanding of anything. However, if we pay attention to the natural processes of life, we then see how we can align with nature and thus our path becomes more clear.

For example, many people are worried about population growth on the planet, while very spooky comments by despotic figures like Henry Kissinger claim that some kind of “reduction” is needed. This is, of course, very scary. However, the real question remains: Is population growth really that bad? The answer is that from a scientific perspective the earth can handle many, many times more people if need be, once high technology is harnessed. 70% of our planet is water and cities in the sea ( one of many projects by Jacque Fresco ) are the next step. In turn, education about life operations will inform people as to the ramifications of their reproductive interests and population growth will naturally slow as people begin to realize how they are related to the planet and its carrying capacity.

In fact, the only true “government” that can possibly exist is the earth and its resources. From there, all possibilities can be assessed. This is why an intellectual unification of all countries is needed, for the most important information we as a species can have is a full, highly detailed assessment of what we have on this planet. Just as you would examine the land and resources of an acre of land to see what you could do or grow on it, this is what needs to happen with the planet in order to optimize what we are capable of as a species, resource wise.

Of course, many who consider the ideas presented above will often ask: “How can we do this considering the distorted value systems which are currently in operation.? How do we make such a move or transition?” This is, of course, the most difficult question. The answer: We have to start somewhere. There are many things that can be done by a single person or community that can begin to shape this vision. The most important step is education.

Thank you for your help.
 
Quote
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality”.
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
 
Quote
“We must become the change we want to see in the world”.
-Mohandas Gandhi.

http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/

©Limited Copyright 2008-2009 The Zeitgeist Movement
We allow/encourage respectful duplication of this information

The Credit Trap, Thinking out loud

My credit card got hacked and someone tried to use it for a purchase of $1.01 from Tires X.

Fortunately, for some reason I still don’t understand, the computers at the bank saw this transaction and since it wasn’t from Publix, Wal-Mart, or X-Mart (the only stores I frequent) they put a flag on my card.

So I’m in training (learning some SharePoint 2007) and go to lunch with one of my co-workers. Swipe the card and declined. What!? I say, confused and concerned as the line at Atlanta Bread Company gets very quiet. (I also go to this store, and now I’m being looked down upon like… like… I’m one of those people! Argh! I almost shunned myself at that moment.)

But I pulled out my Black American Express and everyone immediately showed respect. (Don’t tell anyone but it’s a regular Amx card I just painted it black to impress the ladies.)

Back at training I go online and check my bank account - BLING! - all my money is there. Nothing missing. Hmmm… this is weird.

Later that day, I’m at Lowes (I sometimes shop here also.) and this really cute women is ringing me up and we’re chatting and the banter is flowing so I swipe my card to pay when suddenly _DENIED!

She looks at me like I have a huge herpies zit on my lip. (It was a razor cut!) But the damage is done, I’m a dead beat.

I call the bank. They answer in two rings, no voice system. Real person on the phone. Awesome!

Escalate to the Super Manager and they say the card was flagged for suspicious charges. We’re cancelling your current card and sending you a new one.

Great. So why didn’t you also send me an email telling me the card was going to be declined and I needed to call before I lost social points among my co-workers and complete strangers in town? Huh? Why?

That would have been nice but they didn’t. Still I am happy they put the jinx on the card as soon as a charge for Seattle showed up without warning. That was cool. I hope they catch the criminals and shot them in the head. No warning. Bam! Emeril has spoken.

In the mean time this gives me an opportunity to flash my black plastic. Wait… wouldn’t that attract identify thieves even more?

The Credit Trap

Satan. - Nope.
Religion. - Close but still nope.
Greed. - That’s even closer but it’s a sympton not the cause.
Money. - Well not entirely.
Profit. - Ding! Ding! Ding!

I have ranted before on this blog about corporations and social ills caused by the intentional divisions of people through wealth, status, race, religion and the like. They are all tools for social manipulation.

Never have I seen this laid out so clearly than in the movie I just watched:

Zeitgeist: Addendum.
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/dloads.htm

UPDATE: (If you don’t have a bittorrent client*, here is the google video version of the film in its entirety.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7065205277695921912
But make sure you have juice on your notebook and time as it’s 2 hours long but worth every minute.)

Yes, it is from the same people who created the first Zeitgeist movie that was broken into three parts: Religion, 911 stuff, and Money System. All good stuff if perhaps a little reaching on the 911 events, but still worth watching for the content of the Religion and Money parts.

But Addendum is trained like a razor light - a laser if you will - on the root causes of the world we live in today. And better yet it proposes a solution. A solution already seen by Gene Roddenberry and so many other writers and creative thinkers in the world who have millions upon millons of fans who thirst for a better world but are stuck.

I encourage everyone to go to the above link and download this movie. It’s free. Or if you have some coin it’s $5 dollars. Yeah, $5 bucks for a two hour movie. A one hour movie from the history channel is $30 dollars and doesn’t contain half the revelations as laid out in the above.

The main thrust of this movie is that all these social problems we have: crime, energy, medicine, education, the list goes on, can be solved today, with current technology.

The road block is “What’s the profit in it?” Unless there is profit there is no progress. What a sad and disturbing way to live.

We need a global sense of altruism. We need a radical change in our group think. One that embraces the potential enhancements of our lives and our species rather than our bank accounts. One that replaces superstitions and dogma with reason and education.

Not everything in this movie is straight forward and getting through the first half may be hard for some, since it’s about the financial system and how our governments create money out of nothing, but once you understand that and see the rest you may never be the same.

Crazy talk, I know. But sometimes the crazy people are the only sane ones left in a society. (Ask Galileo, Ghandi, Socrates, Martin Luther King, and countless others who dared to question the established status quo.)
Steagus

*(utorrent (http://www.utorrent.com/) is a small bittorrent client that does not have spyware or malware or viruses. It’s also FREE. I was able to download the torrent version of the above movie in just over an hour and watched it later.)

The Credit Trap, Thinking out loud

I’m unemployed.

I woke up this morning around 9:30 am and nothing changed. The world did not end. My head was cloudy from sleep but within minutes it all came back. I didn’t have to go to work. Really. I wasn’t required to drive into town and do anything. Except for the mortgage, student loans, credit cards, utilities, car loan, gas, food, there’s no reason to look for another job.

Wierd, though. I’m still not here yet.

Didn’t get up in time to mow the lawn but did clean the kitchen and bathrooms for the house appraiser today. Not any regular cleaning either, but a medium mid-level deep clean. When I get the appraisal back and I get some of these boxes out of here, I’ll go in and get a barracks style cleaning on the rooms - toothbrush and all. I was underwhelmed by the appaiser. My cleaning efforts meant nothing. I was expecting a white glove, or at least them to touch the shiney smooth surface of my stainless sink. Or the ultra clean walls of the shower. He looked around, nodded his head a lot and took pictures. Inside I was screaming, check out the reflection in that steel! Look at that white porcelain! See how clean it is? Look, I’m wiping this toilet down with a slice of white bread. See how clean it comes up? It’s ok, you can eat it, honest! Eat it! Ok, ok, I’ll take a bite first just to show you.

Head nod.

It’s a lot of money and I just didn’t see a lot of value in it. I’m hoping the 13 page document I get from them will justify the cost and help the realtor and myself set a fair and decent price. Or it’ll determine that I shouldn’t sell and I’m going to be here for a while. We’ll see.

I have an interview for that City Job next week. Looking forward to that. I’m heading to Men’s Warehouse and getting a really nice shirt and tie. Have word that sport jacket would be *too* dressy for the interview and besides it’s very hot.

I added a new page to the right hand side called Ear Wig. It’s the music recommendations people submitted from a previous post. Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll pick some at random and give them a try.

Right now I’m going through the 400 page web application for FAFSA.edu.gov to get money for college. I’m on page 127.

Gotta get back to it.

PS(Saw this movie called Manderlay. It was good. It was shot like a play and took a bit to get into with that format but more than that the story was very interesting. Check it out.)

The Credit Trap, Thinking out loud

So I just purchased unlimited phone calls to any landline or cell phone in the United States for $5.90 for 3 months. No not $5.90 per month. $5.90 total for 3 months.

What! You exclaim with disbelief. The phones companies say long distance calls cost lots of money to make, and I know it’s true because I can see it on my bill each month. How is this done? You must be using a different infrastructure to make these calls. No way the existing wiring could handle such a load as cheap long distance.

Well actually it’s using much of the same infrastructure. It’s called the Internet and specifically it’s called Skype. So far the quality of the calls is better than the quality that I had on my cell phone with the one bar I got out here in the sticks. :-p

Looks like there’s some lying going on in the telecommunications world and the People are being taken for a ride.

Now I can call my family and friends long distance up to 10,000 minutes per month. Pretty much unlimited I would say. And since when I usually talk to them I’m at home there is no change in habit for me.

Oh, I can also install Skype on any computer and sign in and as long as there is high speed connection (becoming much more common and always available at work) I can make my calls from that computer. So it’s just not long distance it’s also local. Any number, cell or landline anywhere in the US and Canada (just in case I need a quick exit).

The Credit Trap, Thinking out loud

I posted a complete list of my dvd collection I have for sale under the Hawking My Wares page.

If interested post a comment with your email address and I’ll contact you directly. (I’ll then remove the comment so your email isn’t out there for the world to see.)

It’s a very select list and all titles are in excellent condition.

Time to clean house.

The Credit Trap

I picked up the guitar this evening for the first time in nearly a year. I missed it even though I was only able to play for about 45 minutes before my fingers were raw.

I made some extra money today which was much needed. And then I skidded my car on a dirt road going around a bend and screwed up the alignment. That should eat all the extra money I just made. :oops:  Karma I suppose.

I must have been a terrible banker type in a past life and now I’m paying for it. That’s fine I can deal with that but it would be nice that if you did have to pay for past mistakes/behaviors you could remember them so the lessons could have some context. That’s all I’m saying. Is that too much to ask?

UPDATE: I drove the car this morning and the shimmering has gone away (mostly). I’m thinking it was some mud under the rim. I’m gonna call the Toyota place and see if they can still take a look at it anyway, just to ensure I didn’t screw anything up. *cross fingers*

My foot is feeling much better today although it still hurts some. I don’t know what happened over the weekend but perhaps that drive and not walking on it - too much - helped it heal up some. I’m still going to the doctor because I want to make sure it’s not broken.It’s been hurting since last Sunday and for it to suddenly go away is kinda weird.

The Credit Trap, Thinking out loud

As an adult you are told that if you have a house you need certain things:

A lawn mower for the yard - even if that yard can be mowed by starting the engine and pushing it forward and side to side once or twice. (Talking to you Bro. )(At least he had Zoysa.

A couch in the living room for when friends visit. *crickets*

A washer and dryer. I totally agree with this one. You need this along with the next item.

A dish washer. (No I will not engage in this joke. There may be some eligible women reading. …. No! I don’t mean women are dish… stop talking. stop talking now. Move on. Move! Get back to the story.)

But then there is an assumed - A full size refrigerator.

What if you live alone and never fill up the fridge? Isn’t that a waste of energy? Isn’t that a strain on the machine? Why a full size fridge that’s rarely filled? And in my case it’s not even a full size unit. It’s 33 1/2 wide which is the lower end size of products they put into certain houses. You know houses like mine.

On Friday I woke up and went grocery shopping for Spring break time. On Saturday water was dripping out of freezer section. So last Saturday (30Mar08) my friend and I went to SAM’s Club to see what products they had. They had one full size fridge that came with it’s own crack compartment. It was very poor construction and reminded me of the fridge in that crack house in the movie the Golden Child. Remember when Eddie looked into that blood stew on the stove and then turned to check the fridge and decided better of it.

Then I saw this really neat stainless steel dorm room fridge. It had a small icebox in the top which meant no ice. I’d have to get an ice maker or another small compact freezer. I knew they sold those but just didn’t know where.So onto Sears. I found a really good refrigerator and was getting all the pricing but they didn’t go on sale until Sunday. I was ready to buy but wanted to see that since I was here today there’s no sense coming back tomorrow couldn’t they just give me the sale price now? It was $1590 and that was including the 5 year warrenty. On Sunday it would be 200 cheaper.

They said they couldn’t. I also started thinking about how this would hit my credit card. My new credit card that is dented not by much but this would hit it hard, and that I have another card with a similar balance and I’ve been working to slowly bring that one down as well for months nearly a year. I was having second thoughts.

We left.

Went to the Maytag store - out of business
Best Buy - had a unit (on sale) but wouldn’t arrive until Wednesday and was $1200.

All these refrigerators were huge and there was no guarantee that what happened to my current one wouldn’t happen to them. We headed home.

On the road I started thinking about that small fridge. It’ll at least hold me over until I could make a more informed decision. We went back to SAM’s and I got that fridge. Set it up and it worked great. But was small and on the floor. So I would have to get a small table or wire rack for it and put it in that space. Then I’d have to get a freezer and put it on top.

It was getting late and the party had already started. Oh remember we were invited to this party and they wanted eligible men there.

Got home did some research - found a great little freezer that would fit perfectly on the top of the compact fridge I purchased. It came with free shipping and was also on sale 10% off. Still needed a table or wire rack to put these on so would look tomorrow. But the new project was starting to take on a patchwork quality. But now for the party.

Went. Not a singe woman in the place. All couples. Children. Didn’t know anyone. Ate chicken. Scared off the woman and her man at our table and they moved.(Apparently Crown is the hard stuff.) Had some cake. Drank all the Crown in my flask and we left. (Good music though. They hired a band from North Carolina to play folk blue grass and that was cool.)

Sunday - disc golf (shot an +8) Did an awesome 60 maybe 70 foot putt from around a tree. I curved the disc and it floated back into the basket. It was very cool.

Went to Lowes - not a good selection. No freezers.
Home Depot - not a goo…. hold on. What is this? It’s a mini refrigerator with freezer built in. It’s not as big as a full size unit but much more roomer than the one I have now and it comes with the freezer on top. (I had already resigned myself to ice cub trays.) Hmmm… and the price is decent - $350 and has an additional 10% off.

Hmmm… thinking as I make my way through Wal-Mart and then Target looking for fridges and stands. Just to cover all bases.

Finally get home at 2pm. I call my friend and tell him the story and he recommends I contact SAM’s to see what I need to do to take back the mini fridge I already purchased. Especially considering the box is destroyed. I call. Not a problem, Sir, just bring it in. (It’s a part of Wal-Mart after-all.)

We take back the mini, go to Home Depot and spend an hour waiting for the floor person (who was really trying and very helpful) to locate a boxed version of the mini fridge. Oh here’s the fridge on the Home Depot website.) Finally found one in the back. Got the Machine to pull it down, wheeled it out, paid for it, was just about to put it in the truck and I realized it was Blanco. Not stainless steel. Blanco is white in case you didn’t know.

So I wheel it back and check with customer service to see if they have one that was SS. Their computers said they have four more that are SS. The same guy goes back and checks and those are also white. They were entered into the computer wrong. Meanwhile I’m chatting up this cute woman at the customer service desk while she’s on hold with the other store to see if they have the stainless steel version. Things are going well and she’s laughing at my jokes and then I notice her eyes drift and hold every so slightly on my lips.

Banter stopped. “Yes, Sir.”, “No, Sir.” returned, and she suddenly got busy with something on the computer screen. I don’t blame her but still … well I don’t blame is all. I suppose I’d do the same.

Anywho back to the story… and if you think this is a long story, just imagine living this event for 48 hours and we haven’t even gotten to Monday yet.

They had one at the other store. Went there, the woman was very direct and professional and busy. The store was closing in five minutes no time for chit-chat.

Paid for it. 349.99 plus tax $375. What?! Are you sure the discount was applied? The Casher was like, I don’t know. He called over for assistance. Some manager type came over and said “Yip. See that on the screen. Means it’s on sale.” and left.Thank you for shopping at home depot the store will close in 3, 2, 1.

Got home. Set it up and the moment you have been waiting for:

 As you can see it fits.

 This is everything I had in my other fridge minus a jar or two of pickles and some soy sauce. 

So that’s the story. Oh wait. Monday.

I get up Monday morning and I’m looking at this receipt and it occurs to me that the original price of the fridge was $359.00 and the receipt reads $349.00 That’s $10.00 off not 10% off. I knew this at the store but two independant people assured me it was correct. My ever so patient friend was waiting outside in the truck and I was anxious to get home.

But this pricing doesn’t seem right. So I call. I tell the entire story. “Sir, I’ll have to transfer you.”, I repeat the story. “Hmm… you’ll have to bring the receipt into the store.”

“Really. Can’t we just do this over the phone? I mean what if it’s not wrong? Can we just check to make sure there was a mistake first before I drive 45 minutes to the store?”

“Ok. Please hold.” pause, pause, pause, “Hello can I help you?”

I repeat the story again. “Oh, sir you’ll need to come in and bring the receipt with you.”

“No stop. That’s what the last person said, and I understand that but can you confirm there is a reason to come into the store? Can I give you the receipt numbers and you make sure that the error I think happened actually did happen?”

“Ok. But you’ll ….”

“Yes, I know.”

After some number swapping.

“Oh, yeah that cashier was new and had no idea what they were doing. You can come in and we’ll straighten it out.”

“Thank you.” But first I need to get some donuts.

Kidding. First I needed to go to my friends house and help him get the garden going. My first lesson in gardening was on Monday. I’ll have an entry about that, with pictures later.

So after a full five-six hours of gardening I get home, shower (skip the shave), and head out to Home Depot.

At the store it took five minutes and I saved $40 dollars. Total cost of the new fridge on my card: $337.66

I saved $1252.34 dollars.

Math is fun.

The money trail:

Sam’s purchase on credit card.
Sam’s refund back onto same card the next day.

Home Depot 1 purchase on credit card.
Home Depot 1 refund back onto same card within 30 minutes of purchase.

Home Depot 2 purchase on credit card 30 minutes after refund from Home Depot 1.

Home Depot 2 refund back onto same card next day.
Home Depot 2 purchase on credit card 1 minute after refund of purchase.

Cost of fridge to operate per year: $32

The Credit Trap, Thinking out loud

Bought groceries yesterday for spring break so I could stay home and not go anywhere unless I needed to.

Last night my refrigerator broke (again - four times in four years). No longer under warranty.

So do I spend 400-500 dollars to get it fixed knowing it’ll break again in another year or do I spend $1000-$2000 to get a new one?

I’m heading out to Sears today. This is also going on the the new Motiva Discover card. It’s really motivating.

For those keeping score at home:

Bed broke.
AC broke.
Car broke.
Computer broke.
Cat injuried.
Refrigerator broke.

Spirit? Bent but not broken.

I don’t think the financial aspects of this experiment are going to be successful. It’s something I’m just going to have to accept.

What is really annoying is this always happens. I get close to breaking even and series of events pull me back down. Happened in Dallas, happened in MD and now it’s happening again. Perhaps it’s poor decision making? But I’m not sure how. These things just don’t happen - they’re not suppose to happen - every five years or so. That’s whacked.  

Anywho… I’m still doing the exercises. Today I did a five mile hike around a lake that was really good. Still eating healthy-ish. And will start the sits and pushes tomorrow.

I’m going to a party today after I get my fridge installed - apparently they were looking for eligible men to go - so I was invited. Funny story. While I was in the shower today I cut my upper lip with the back side of the razor blade. (How do you cut yourself with the backside of a razor blade? I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention at the time. I was thinking about the pros and cons of new fridge versus paying for a repair.) I now have a large gash across my upper lip that was bleeding for nearly 30 minutes. Now it’s just a red sore - looks kinda like I have herpies or something. I’m still going to the party. I’m sure it’ll be great. Women like herpies right?

Well my friend should be here soon with his truck and we’ll be heading out to dig another hole in my credit line.

Take care everyone and I’ll take a picture of the new fridge when I get it in.

 

The Credit Trap, Thinking out loud