thoughts Archive

2

The Banks must be Stopped!

By
Xnuiem
– February 18, 2009Posted in: ramblings, shopping, thoughts

As we all know, the economy is in the dump with no relief in sight.  In fact, it is only getting worse as we sink more and more closely to the dreaded “d” word, depression.

My wife and I have several credit cards like most Americans.  We pay our bills on time, always paying above minimums.  We shop to get the good rates and favorable terms, that is until recently.

In the last ~60 days, we have received several notifications that our interest rates are increasing and/or our credit lines are decreasing.  We have good credit, never missed a payment, always pay above minimum, and yet, even on cards we do not have a balance we are seeing our rates moved from fixed single digit rates to double digit variable rates.

A couple of the cards claim that they ran our credit and that is the reason for the increase of rates and decrease of credit line.  However, our credit score is higher now than it was when we were issued the card, so that reason is completely bogus.

Closing the account is not a viable option since that hurts our credit score.

This irresponsible behavior, tightening of credit without cause is only going to further the economic crisis.  We are, without cause, being charged more for the same credit.  It is like a double inflation.  Credit costs more, the dollar is worth less, and yet, without credit and a strong dollar, the American economy will never recover.

Credit companies must be held responsible for their actions.  Consumers need more options for recourse when adverse actions are taken without notice or explanation against their accounts.  Closing the account isn’t feasible since it hurts the credit score of the consumer.

Either this behavior is stopped, or the economy will continue to falter.  When faced with higher interest rates for no reason, and lower credit terms, do you honestly think the consumers will be willing to spend any rebates or refunds?  Of course not, we will be too busy trying to pay down our increasing debt load despite no spending or reckless actions on our part.

Write your representation now!

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PHPX Takeover Request

By
Xnuiem
– January 22, 2009Posted in: programming, thoughts, website

Well, it has been about a year since I officially stopped working on PHPX.  And last week someone came forward and asked to take over the project.  It has been a very interesting thought process on this since it is a lot more complex than I originally thought it would be.

First, there is the problem moving trademarks and copyrights.  PHPX is a trademark, PHPX is also a 501(c) non-profit dedicated to the distribution of free and quality software in order to better facilitate communication between communities of people in a virtual environment.  Sounds all official doesn’t it?  Well, sadly, it is.

I want to give over PHPX for someone that cares about it to develop it, but I am not really sure how to disentangle myself from all the legal stuff that goes along with it.  Perhaps I should just fork it and let them take over that.

What do you think?

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2

Happy New Year!

By
Xnuiem
– January 1, 2009Posted in: ramblings, thoughts

I hope everyone survived 2008 ok.  God knows the stock market, banks, airlines, and a lot of other people didn’t.  I am looking forward to a new year, a new job, more great times with my family, and of course, surprises that are just part of life.

So, with that in mind, enjoy the New Year, and check back soon!

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Job Hunting

By
Xnuiem
– December 23, 2008Posted in: programming, thoughts

For those of you that didn’t know, I am officially looking for a job.  Yes, I have left Caris.  I wasn’t there too long, sadly, but I suppose it was time to move along.  I learned a few things, have some more experience, and paid the bills, what more do you need from a job?

So, although it is the worst time of year in a horrible economy to be looking, I am looking for a job.  The typical, Application Development Manager or Project Manager position, really not further east than Irving with a few exceptions.

And to Caris, well not the company, but the people there, to my friends, I will miss working with you, it was fun and great building PathConnect together and watching it grow and make the customers’ day.  I will remeber the experiences and enjoy looking back.  Good luck in all that you do in the future.

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Dont’ Mess with Mother Nature

By
Xnuiem
– July 24, 2008Posted in: photos, thoughts

All this talk lately about being “Green” is just crazy.  Why did it have to become trendy in order for everyone to start being at least a little environmentally conscious?  We all live here, there are finite amounts of everything ranging from corn to water to cows.  In fact, the only thing that seems to be fairly infinite is the ability of the human species to breed and take over more resources.

Nature, by definition, lives in balance with itself.  It understands supply and demand better than Wall Street.  If there is a lot of rain, the antelope are abundant, and then there are more lions until the populations stabilize, or another factor comes in like a grass fire that kills off a lot of food for the antelope, then the lions starve and their population dwindles.  It’s a whole Circle of Life type of thing.  There are only two organisms on Earth that do not really follow this law:  humans and viruses.  Both reproduce out of balance with their surroundings and are willing and capable of destroying their very habitat (and eventually themselves).

Jess and I have always been pretty “green”, because, we respect Mother Nature, and so should you:

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Hot Chocolate

By
jessica
– February 23, 2008Posted in: thoughts

A cousin of mine sent this to me and while I’ve heard it before it’s still a good point.

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.
During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups – porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: “Notice that all the nice looking; expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you’re drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.

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Home

By
jessica
– January 18, 2008Posted in: links, thoughts

http://www.unityfortworth.org/

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Words of Wisdom

By
jessica
– December 29, 2007Posted in: thoughts

Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons because, to them, you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

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Best Stark Trek Line Ever!

By
Xnuiem
– November 4, 2007Posted in: thoughts

Jess and I really loved Star Trek:Deep Space Nine. It is dark, the characters are flawed, and of course..there is Garak and his little nuggets of complete wisdom:

Garak: “Why is it no-one ever believes me, even when I’m telling the truth?”

Julian: “Have you ever heard the story of the boy who cried wolf?”

Garak: “No!”

Julian: “It’s a children’s story. A young shepard gets loney while tending his flock. He cries ‘Wolf!’ and the townspeople come rushing to his aid. When they discover there is no wolf, he claims he scared the wolf off, and they congratulate him for his bravery.”

Garak: “What a clever boy!”

Julian: “There’s more. The boy did the same thing the next day, and the day after, and the day after. And on the next day, when a wolf really did come, the townspeople didn’t come. They’d gotten tired of his lying. The wolf ate all the sheep and the little boy.”

Garak: “Isn’t that a bit gruesome for a children’s story?”

Julian: “The moral is that if you lie all the time, people won’t believe you even if you’re telling the truth.”

Garak: “Are you sure that’s the moral?”

Julian: “Of course. What else could it be?”

Garak, leaving: “Never tell the same lie twice.”

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Things I’ve learned

By
jessica
– September 26, 2007Posted in: missy moo, thoughts

There are 24 hours in a day.

There is something about a clean diaper that triggers a pee/poo reflex.

Breast milk is liquid gold.

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