I'm not one to click on advertisements usually.  However, because of my vested interest in anything Google / YouTube, if I ever see something related in an advertisement, I am inclined to see what it's all about.

So I saw an ad for Bing.com - supposedly a site that you can search videos on.  I clicked.  I was taken to some poorly designed site (looked like from the year 2000) that just dumped a whole bunch of videos on a page.  Immediately, my Flash application in my browser displayed an error notification.  Immediately following, it crashed my entire Firefox session, and I lost everything I was working on.

Great job Microsoft (owner of Bing.com) - keep it up and you just might go bankrupt like everyone else.

Let's set the tone for this topic:

• I have been a customer of Bank of America's for 10 years
• I currently have 12... that's right, 12 accounts with Bank of America.
• I have perfect credit, 750+
• I have NEVER missed a single payment on any line of credit, revolving account, mortgage, etc... NEVER.
• My debt to income ratio is SIGNIFICANTLY lower than the national average.

Now, let's talk about banks, debt, and risk assessment.

I have a financial plan that includes paying off debt, creating financial sustainability, and building wealth.  The first part of the plan is to stop going into the red: done.  The next step is to build a safety net: done.  The third step is to pay off debt: half way done.  And the last step is to save and invest to build wealth.

More on step three:

The way I operate, is to save large amounts of money, then pay off large credit lines in one payment.  There are several reasons for doing it this way.  First and foremost: risk management.  I own several peices of Real Estate, and have a massive overhead to run my business.  So, it doesn't make sense to spend every penny I earn paying off a line of credit knowing that if I ever get in a bind, I would be spread too thin, and I would be completely screwed.  ESPECIALLY SINCE EVERY TIME I PAY DOWN A BALANCE, THE BANK LOWERS MY LINE OF CREDIT!

Accordingly, I just paid off a $21,000 line of credit all in one payment.  I specifically chose which line to pay off so that I could leverage the line of credit to consolidate other debts for organizational purposes, and to get better interest rates.  I then initiated two balance transfers to effect this for only HALF of the available balance.

Following, I get a call from the bank - they called to inform me that "We notice you have very large deposits going into your account, and good cash flow, however, you aren't making large enough payments against debt for us to consider transferring balances to the account."  I asked them, "Did you notice the $21,000 payment I just made?"  The lady on the phone replied, "Yes."  I then inquired, "So you don't consider $21,000 to be a large payment?"  She then proceeded to tell me how that didn't "count".  I informed her that clearly Bank of America assesses risk and performs business much differenyly than I do, and that I would remember this in the future when I am considering a financial instituion to fund my business.  So if I would have taken that $21,000 payment and spread it out over 12 months, apparently that would have COMPLETELY changed the situation.

It is important to note that in the in the last year, I have cut my debt by 60%.

Here's what gets me - The banks all complain that their customers are foreclosing, or going bankrupt, yet any attempt that we (the customers) make to get out of debt is NOT RECOMMENDED and is PUNISHABLE by your financial institution.  I am completely in awe, and really don't know what to do... other thank fleeing to the mountains and escaping society.

... and don't you forget it!

This has got to be one of the funniest comics I've ever seen... Windows ME totally sucked!

http://xkcd.com/323/

I got back into running - finally - 9 months after the Los Angeles Marathon.  I have good reason though for it taking so long.  I've been in transition of moving to New York.  It's a big change.  Further, it's freakin' cold here!  How the heck are you supposed to run outsite when it's below freezing?!  Well, I've been doing it, and it's actually REALLY great!  I think the cold air keeps your body cool which makes your entire system run more efficiently, ultimately enabling you to go further distances, and at faster speeds.  Really awesome...

I completed my first "big"run yesterday of 7.1 miles.  I basically did the entire perimeter of Central Park, and then some.  My time was 64 minutes, including waiting for stop lights and getting stuck behind pedestrians who aren't aware that when three people side by side, they take up the entire sidewalk - not bad speed - and I wasn't pushing hard.  I half-way rolled my ankle at the end because I made the mistake of running down Lexington Avenue on an early Saturday evening when EVERYBODY apparently goes shoppping at Bloomingdales - ugh, humans... it should be alright though.  All the people gave me road rage... you know, like when you are driving in traffic, and you just want to go faster.  So I ended up sprinting down Lex, REALLY FAST, it was rad to run fast and dodge all the humans.  Kind of like a video game.

Central Park has an amazing maze of trails and roads that runners can use.  It's great because you can take a different path every time, and the scenery is gorgeous.  Further, the paths are packed dirt which is definitely ideal for training.  And as always in New York, the runners are wearing gear that is the height of fashion.  Gotta love it.

New York Marathon, here I come!

To all you vegans out there, I've got to admit... I pity you...  When you have to eat things with names like "tofurkey meatloaf"... sad times.  Let's get real here.  I'm not the healthiest eater, but I think that we could all agree that there is a balance between vegan and carnivore that is the optimal diet for homo sapiens.  I don't know exactly where exactly that fulcrum lies, but I know that the optimal diet would definitely include protein from meats (a.k.a animal flesh), and I can't deny that I LOVE meat, so I think this works out in my favor.  As "they" say, "everything in moderation, including moderation".  Later - I'm off to the steak house.

So I landed in New York a few months ago on a visit to work with Google.  My now in-law put me up in his vacant apartment which really was vacant in that it was devoid of the common luxuries such as eating utensils.  I was hungry, as I get after flights since I don't care much for airplane food, even though the food on Virgin America is definitely a step up from other air lines... So I cruised around the corner and found Pax Food which seemed like a pretty wholesome place.  I got me a salad, and headed back to the apartment. 

To make this short - I sat down to eat, Pax forgot to give me utensils, so I mixed the salad and dressing with my hands and ate it with my hands much like I imagine our great ancestors, the barbarians in caves, would have done (I wonder what kind salad dressing they used?).  I felt surprisingly liberated from the confinements of modern societal etiquette, and suprisingly in-touch with our great ancestors.

Moral of the story - step out, try something new.  It seems to lead to getting more in touch with yourself.  Word.

So later, I got in touch with the guys who owns trysomethingnew.com - I though it would be a great idea to setup a site that created a community of people who were looking to try new things, who could share ideas, etc.  Then I got busy with all the other crazy ideas I have swimming in my head.  Stay tuned for their releases.

I've done my research, and it's Fancy Feast.

Get this - you know how in commercials for cat food, the food is always in a really nice crystal bowl of some sort?  Well, I've been told by a not-so-credible source, but credible nonetheless that the reason for this is because the number one purchaser of cat food is poor old people because it's the most cost effective way to eat.  I have no idea if that is true, but sad if it is.  We should really pay more attention to caring for the elderly.  After all, we are all going to be old some day, and I hope that I get good care then.  Dismal.

I don't remember exactly how I came across this term... I think I was looking at wedding stuff or something - don't ask me why.  Anyways, it's a strange word, and even used in context, it's hard to figure out what the heck the word means.  So here it is:  A gobo is a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

... and the link: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gobo

I recently found the most informative literature on caffeine that I have ever read.  I was "Googling" to try and figure out how many miligrams of caffeine are in a cup of coffee to compare it against energy drinks, and look what I found!... all sorts of surprising information on caffeine that concludes that in fact, caffeine is a drug.  Below are some exerps, but you should definitely read the whole article - for your own information:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~4david/caffeine.html

"Caffeine is the world's most popular drug"
think about it...

"Caffeine-caused tremor can reduce hand steadiness."
ya think?!

"The lowest known dose fatal to an adult has been 3,200 mg - administered intravenously by accident."
um... caffeine can kill you???? yes.