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September 30, 2008
On Markets
Yesterday, the Dow was down 777. The 30-year treasury bond yield was 4.13% .
Today, the Dow was up 485 and the 30-year treasury bond yield was 4.31%.
It seems that while everyone was panicking yesterday and bailing out of the equity markets into treasury bonds. The excess demand drove up the price of the bonds (and therefore drove down the yield), I took a rare window of opportunity to convert our 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage into a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. At a rate BELOW our current rate, which we secured in a significantly better economic environment. Clever boy!
While making dinner last night, I turned on CNN to see what the talking heads were saying. "The credit markets are frozen!". Etc, etc, etc. Really? Why then, did it seem that the credit market for our mortgage was open? Not just a little bit, but I got five ... FIVE! very competitive quotes.
I think the media is playing a dangerous and potentially hazardous role in reporting the "crisis". Sure, there are lots of people who are in, or facing, foreclosure. But here's where I get a little crazy. These people should never have bought a house, and the banks should never have lent them the money! Is there no self discipline in this country?
OMG, I just sounded like Lou Dobbs.
Posted by dave at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2008
Global Warming
Last night was the annual meeting for our condominium, for which I have served as President for the past year. I did not seek re-election, for a number of reasons that I may go into in the coming weeks. One of the reasons is that you just cannot please everyone all the time, and New Yorkers are notoriously demanding, cranky, impatient and opinionated.
A few months ago, the board was approached by a production company to film a public service announcement from our roof. We had previously allowed ABC to do some stills of the exterior of the building for Lucy Liu's office in Cashmere Mafia, for which the condo association was paid handsomely.
When this new request came in, and they informed us that the public service announcement was for global warming, I recommended to the board that we allow the filming and not charge them for the use of our space. It would be our way of contributing to a very important cause on behalf of the residents.
The initiative was met with great criticism by the residents. How dare the board make such a unilateral decision without consulting the residents (which would obviously have been impractical)! I stood up to the criticism, and said that the board would not have supported a public service announcement regarding pro-life, the NRA, gay rights or whatever else, no matter how strongly we might have felt about it. Global warming is simply not one of those issues.
The filming went ahead, and the residents calmed down.
Here is the ad that was filmed from our roof
And I daresay that I am extremely proud that we stuck to our guns and contributed to the making of this ad. It is excellent.
Posted by dave at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2008
Hanna, Ike and 5D
On a sailboat, I have an irrational fear of lightening and hurricanes. I fear neither on land, but at sea, it is quite another thing. I don't recall all the names, but several hurricanes chased us up the eastern seaboard on Platina in the summer of 2005. And this summer on Prana, we have had a lot of lightening, and managed, with some good luck, to avoid all of it.
Hanna blew through Long Island Sound yesterday. We decided to be on the boat. (Embrace your fears.) She cast things in an incredibly paultry grey in the early morning, with no wind. By 2pm, the winds picked up from the east, the skies thickened, and the rain started. She dumped more than 2 inches of rain. The winds were forecasted to gust to 55 knots, but we guess the most we saw was 30.
At the same time, Chis and I, bundled in our foul weather gear, barbequed steaks in the driving rain. As we embraced the weather, and Mother Nature's unpredictability, clogged terrace drains in one of the penthouses at our condominium in New York backed up, overflowed, and damaged several apartments in the building. Being on the condo board, the emails and voicemails started shortly after midnight.
At the same time, Ike was bearing down on the Turks & Caicos Islands, the Bahamas and Haiti. South Caicos, a place where we checked email at the beauty salon three years ago (and where Chis had to fix the computer in order to use it), they have estimated that every house has been damaged, and all boats were swept away. As a fishing village, the very livelihood of this community has come sharply to a halt. Ike now threatens the beautiful old historic buildings of Old Havana, and the homes of many Cubans. 48 people in Haiti lost their lives because of the flooding.
One of the voicemails I received in the middle of the night was from an owner who had not yet witnessed the damage to his apartment, declared it a "disaster scenario", and expressed concern over the mold and mildew that would eventually "poison" his family.
I breathed deeply, thanked the gods that Chis and I were safe and unharmed, and pondered the families in the south being hammered by Ike, the lives lost. I witnessed the "disaster scenario" in apartment 5D today. In the grand scheme of things, hardly a disaster.
We all have to remember from time to time, that indeed there are people in the world who suffer far more than we do. In the grand scheme of things, nothing threatens our very existence at this moment, and if it did, it would be a bus that runs me down while I cross Sixth Avenue. Or a lightening bolt that strikes Prana's mast while we are sailing. There is no great conspiracy that made the terrace drains overflow, to damage so many apartments, to cause "disaster", and, as a result, "poison" anyone's existence.
Life is short. Life is precious. Life is beautiful.
Posted by dave at 07:07 PM | Comments (0)
September 03, 2008
Labo(u)r Day Weekend
Our dear friends, David and Alex, decided to visit for the long weekend. After a couple of days in the city, they took the train to Oyster Bay on Long Island, where we met them at the train station. We had picked up a mooring in the harbour, favouring the launch service rather than 4 adults with bags in our 8-foot inflatable dinghy.
We had two brilliant days of sailing. First on Sunday out to Port Jefferson, where we dropped anchor off the beach and had a barbeque on the boat. Then on Monday from Port Jefferson back to Stamford. Both days with plenty of north wind making our journeys quick and invigorating. Here are some pics from the weekend.
Posted by dave at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)
September 02, 2008
Hurricane Hanna
Some Hanna-related news that won't make your local news channel or paper... [The Nassau Guardian]
"Schedule adjustments over the next two days are:
Tuesday, September 2
Carnival's Miracle is expected in the port at Nassau, as the ship has been diverted from its normal route.
Carnival's Inspiration has canceled for a sea day.
Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas and Carnival's Sensation are expected to maintain their calls at Nassau.
Disney Wonder is still scheduled to call at Nassau as previously indicated.
Regal Empress has canceled its call at Nassau.
Wednesday, September 3
Sovereign of the Seas and the Disney Magic are expected to call at Nassau as scheduled.
Norwegian Sky and Spirit have canceled calls at Nassau.
Carnival's Miracle has requested a stop at Grand Bahama.
NCL Sky has canceled all voyages to Grand Bahama. (Note: NCL has canceled its voyages on Sky for the mid week thus far to Freeport, Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay. Voyages on the Spirit have also been canceled.)"
Posted by dave at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)