Peon's Place

Yesterday while driving home from work, I heard on the radio the need for more TSA Air Marshals. They provided a place to apply, etc, which I didn’t really pay attention to at the time. However reading up on random news today, I find this rather comical: Did Kim Kardashian ID an air marshal? Yeah.. supposedly it’s okay for you to walk up to an anonymous crowd-blending individual and ask if they are a United States Air Marshal, and they are okay to reply back that they are indeed. Does this make me feel safer? Not entirely.

You can find more information regarding how to become a federal air marshal, or just go to the main site: http://www.tsa.gov. Just remember their slogan, “Your Safety Is Our Priority”.

The eighth-seeded Swiss team earned the right to play the No. 1 Americans by beating Belarus 3-2 in a shootout on Tuesday. Fortunately for the young American team, Switzerland has already lost to the Americans 3-1 last week. The best part is, assuming the we beat the Swiss team again, we will not be forced to face Canada, Russia, or Sweden until the final gold-medal game.

Go Team USA! This game is being streamed live on NBColympics.com.

This was originally posted by me  November 1, 2007 on MySpace, but I found it classic enough to want to share again. ;)

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“So the drippy faucet”, I thought to myself at 7 am this morning as
I can’t go back to sleep for my alarm to faithfully awaken me at 8, “has
finally gotten to me.”

You see, being that I don’t pay the water bill (HOA covered) I hadn’t
been too concerned with it. Putting cost into something that’s not costing
me anything is well.. heh, throwing money down the drain, literally.

(read more)

So in the case that you have been hiding under a rock the past several weeks, or are fortunate to be the “proud” owner of a credit card (or three..), federal laws have been passed to change the way credit card companies do business with their customers.. ie: you.

A story on CNN reminds you to be cautious of the ways that these companies are going to start charging you; creative new ways that are legal within the new ruleset. Personally, I have received in the past two weeks mailings from two of my companies stating that they will lower my interest rate if I pay off a certain percentage of the card, up to and including my APR being reduced to 6% if I pay off a lump sum of 30% right now. My payments would then be drastically lowered for the next six months. However what they don’t tell you is that your finance rate is going to start being a variable rate.

Kohl’s (a card which I already have paid off), for example, sent me a letter describing that my account agreement was being appended to, and my interest rate therefore going and changing to a variable rate, which is not something I am happy with. I opened a Dell account for a laptop purchase (in which I intend to pay off my portion of the bill when I receive it), but the starting APR is over 29% – which is rather ridiculous. These are some of the new ways that credit card companies are looking to work around the CARD Act that goes into effect this Monday (March 1, 2010) and still produce incredible yearly revenues.

Buyer, beware!

To love and win is the best thing. To love and lose, the next best.

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863)