Ryan Byrd’s Ramblings

Yes, I got shocked by the electric fence as I was gathering the corn today. Tant pis!

Do you friends email you funny pics? If not, maybe they don’t like you? Maybe it’s time for new friends. Here are some awesome images for those who are now depressed:

Mitzi’s newest tricks include digging cavernous pits in our backyard and chewing anything made of wood. Mitzi was initially banished from the back porch because she in a termite-inspired rage, chewed up the sides of the backdoor. I bungee corded a large board to keep her off the deck, but she was not to be restrained. She gained one point by chewing up all the railings on the steps up to the porch.

Today I built a gate to keep her off the porch steps. So far, it has worked. +1 for me.

Whatcha got now, dog?!?

At Japanese Grill
Sitting too close to table
Whoosh! My face on fire.

thx, bobrox!

non nerds, please click here

The next time I hear anyone tell me they like AT&T, I will most certainly SLAP THEM SILLY!* And the word “them” in that last sentence doesn’t refer to AT&T, but to the annoying apologist who claims, “It’s not AT&T’s fault, it’s the iPhone, because it taxes their networks!“  AT&T’s slogan used to be “reach out and touch someone“, but they changed that recently because 1- it was creepy and 2- it’s completely untrue. My calls on AT&T are DROPPED DAILY. Let me be very clear: EVERY SINGLE DAY I have failed calls. I’m no doubt a master of hyperbole, but this assertion is true– the AT&T network is the worst I’ve ever had the misfortune of using. Even Cricket, that local carrier for felons and pregnant 16 year olds has better coverage.

Time for a comic:

* Not likely, I’m married and married men have lower testosterone levels. Plus, I’m old and couldn’t hurt a fly. Basically, I’m an obnoxious, loud-mouthed pacifist at this point.

You know what bugs me? I’ll tell you– bad science. What bugs me even more is when bad scientists trash talk others (let’s make fun of any one who believes in God, Mr Smarty Pants Richard Dawkins!)

Here are two examples:

1- Let’s measure really old stuff by radioactive decay. I’m not saying the earth is 6,000 years old. What I am saying is that it’s ludicrous for a scientist to claim the world is 4 bijillion years old by extrapolating radioactive decay numbers. I am not a scientist, but I do know that any measurements of radioactive decay must have been done in the last, say 150 years, any any numbers worth looking at, in only the last 20 years. I know, you are going to counter with “radioactive decay is CONSTANT, Ryan, didn’t you know?!?” No. I didn’t know and neither do you, ’cause breaking news from the FermiLab indicates that radioactive decay might not be constant at all.

2- The earth is heating up because we have temperature readings from the last 200 years*. Um, no we don’t. For the love people, where did thermometers come from in the 1800s? Edmund Scientific? People had to MAKE THEM themselves. How accurate do you think that process was? We’re claiming 1/2 of one degree increase and you’re going to talk to me about measurements made by homemade, mercury thermometers which likely have a error of measurement of greater than a degree?

And then we have food science/nutritionists who are constantly flip flopping (eat vitamins, no, don’t!, drink wine, drink coffee, caffeine is bad, fat is good, fat is bad, follow the food pyramid, drink gallons of water daily, milk is good, milk is bad, vegans rule!, vegans stink!,…)

UGGGHHHH!

* Dissolved CO2 is another thing

I bought my house a couple of years ago when I thought the market was at its lowest. THE JOKE WAS ON ME! The market continued to tumble and now I am (and probably you are too) upside down, that is, our house is worth much less than we owe on it. A pox be upon the heads of the sub-prime mortgage speculators!

I’m getting ahead of myself. The real downer is that the rates when I closed were pretty high– mine was at 6.375%. That’s a lot. Fortunately for us, federal interest rates are at record lows (Federal Discount Rate: 0.75%, Federal Funds Rate: 0.50%) and that means that honest companies will pass the savings to us! NPR recently reported that, “it’s a great time to refinance. Now, borrowers shouldn’t stop at the big lenders and assume that the rates that the top three lenders are offering them is all that’s out there, ’cause that’s certainly not true. There’s a plethora of other lenders, actually, that sometimes can provide much better rates. … Community banks, regional banks, credit unions, and independent mortgage brokers, actually. On average, what we saw in our research was that rates were lower at the regional lenders and independent mortgage brokers than they were at the top three lenders. And the top three lenders are Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.“

Did you get that?!? Chase, Wells Fargo and BOA are heavily profiting from the amazing interest rates without passing much of the savings to you and me, the lowly consumers. Let’s talk specifics: my loan was through BOA and when I inquired about refinancing, the best rate they could offer was 5.25, with nearly $3,000.00 in closing costs due at signing. Ughhhhh. I was about to fall into their web of deceit when Charlote Odebrecht of Axiom Financial dropped me a line. She was the mortgage consultant who the originally set up my mortgage, but this time she was back to SAVE THE DAY. What would Axiom do for me? How about 4.8% with NO closing costs. That’s awesome and that means I withdrew a bucketload from the karma bank, so it’s time to pay back. Do you have a cruddy mortgage interest rate? If so, call Charlote and refinance today!

Charlote Odebrecht
Mortgage Consultant
Mobile (801) 599-9132
charloteloans@gmail.com
Axiom Financial
www.charloteloans.blogspot.com

src: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129246670