Entries Tagged 'Life' ↓

Lately, one news story that has been really getting on my nerves is that of Laura Richardson, the Southern California congresswoman who defaulted on three separate homes repeatedly and most likely used her influence to take back a home that has already been sold. The investor that bought her home has filed a lawsuit against the congresswoman and Washington Mutual for illegally rescinding a proper sale. I hope the buyer James York wins because there was no possible way that the congresswoman didn’t know about the sale. She didn’t pay her mortgage for more than six months!! What did she think was supposed to happen? After the congresswoman’s mortgage troubles were publicized, more information came to light that she has a history of being a deadbeat and owed property taxes and many other debts. She took money out of her three homes to finance her campaigns, and made only a few payments on her Sacramento home. If debtors’ prisons were still in operation, this woman would be sitting in jail right now eating gruel . Instead, she is being treated to a fundraising party in her honor to help her with her debts. One thing that made me laugh and cry at the same time was that in this AP article she said “she is like any other American suffering in the mortgage crisis and wants to testify to Congress about her experience as lawmakers craft a foreclosure-prevention bill.” Right, she is just like any other American that buys three homes, pulls money out, stops paying the mortgage and property taxes, and then denies that she knew anything about an oncoming foreclosure. That is really believable and poignant!

Apparently, Laura Richardson is not the only representative with mortgage woes. A less publicized case is of state Senator Julia Boseman of North Carolina. She and her ex-partner Melissa Jarrell haven’t paid mortgage on their $1.3 million dollar mansion since August 1, 2007. In order to clean her own hands, Boseman has taken herself off the home’s deed without her ex-partner’s knowledge. The house is set to be auctioned, and I hope Boseman doesn’t use her political clout to take the house back like Laura Richardson did.

Finally, we have the bizarre story of Shirley Huntley, a state Senator from New York. She stopped paying her mortgage intentionally as an “experiment” to see if she gets proper notification from her bank. After four months of not paying her mortgage and facing foreclosure, she paid up everything plus legal fees to avoid foreclosure. According to the article, her “original mortgage in 1976 was $28,500. Three decades later, she owes $290,000 due to repeated borrowing against her home”. So did she really conduct an experiment or did she just try to cover up some financial trouble? Either way, at least this woman owned up to her debt and paid it off. The alarming thing is that she used her home as an ATM so that her initial debt ballooned to more than 10 times of its original size.

With representatives like these, I guess I understand why the housing bailout is so popular. Congressional rules do not prevent representatives from voting on issues that help themselves financially because it is hard to avoid, but is supporting financial irresponsibility really wise? Anyway, all members of Congress and the Senate are required to report their personal finances and you can see the reports at Open Secrets. I encourage all of you to take a look at your local politicians and see how responsible they are with their own money, because I believe a person really needs to get his or her own affairs in order before making laws that affect millions of other people.

Share This

Today I read an  article on the New York Times titled “Lure of Big Paycheck Tugs at Graduates Considering Public Service“.  The basic gist of it is that top colleges are trying to encourage students to enter non-profit sectors and take jobs in public service, but many students are burdened with huge loans that they have to pay off so a secure job with a fat paycheck is the path they end up taking.  I am not surprised at this at all, but here are some of my thoughts in working in public service.

Most people are idealistic when they are young and then get disillusioned later, but I think I am the opposite.  In highschool I knew people that were truly believed that they could change the world for the better, but I wasn’t one of them.  I knew that after college I wanted a high paying job, and I wanted to be financially secure. I know that sounds selfish, but I figured that I am just practical. I also said to my friends that I would never work as a teacher or work for the government.  Now after graduating and working for three years at fairly well-paying corporate jobs, I think my thoughts on public service has changed quite a bit.

First of all, I think America really has a shortage of great teachers.  Most of my immediate family members have been teachers and professors in China at one time or another, and I think my dad enjoyed it more than most people. So I know that it can be a very personally fulfilling job. Anyway, I think one of the main problems with finding quality teachers is definitely financial.  The starting salary for highschool teachers in the Bay Area is around $30000 to $50000 depending on the school district and credentials, but the new teacher might have a buttload of student debt to pay off.  Couple that with the extremely high cost of living here in the Bay Area, I don’t see how we could get good public school teachers.  Good science and math teachers are especially hard to find because people who study science and math could get much more lucrative jobs. I went to Albany High School and I had a bunch of excellent science and math teachers who graduated from UC Berkeley.  They are mostly retired now, but any one of them could have taken up a more lucrative job as an engineer. I had a physics teacher that almost completed his electrical engineering PhD at UC Berkeley, but decided to be a high school teacher, and he was a great teacher.  If we don’t have more public school teachers like them, then the next generation of children will suffer as a whole.  Anyway, I know of one classmate who gave up her lucrative job at a large web retailer to apply for Teach for America, and I hope she is still teaching.

Next, I think many young people do not realize how much of their souls they have to give up for that big paycheck at that corporate job.  There are plenty of high profit businesses that have less than ethical practices.  Additionally, many highpaying jobs require you to work to your bone.  There is also corruption in public service, but for the most part I don’t believe it is encouraged.  Granted, there are plenty of great jobs in the private industry, too, but in the article I read a lot of these Harvard students are going to hedge funds, which I think are mostly shady businesses because they have very little regulation or disclosure. Of course, a public service job might also be terribly boring, but if it’s a job that helps people and fulfills you, then it might not be as bad.

Finally, there are lots of perks in public service and non-profit jobs, too.  For example, I think government employees still get pension for the most part, and my mom will get her healthcare covered after she retires.  Sure, the pay might be  lower, but a perpetual pension is worth quite a bit. Additionally, non-profit organizations  usually give more time off than for-profit corporations so that is worth something.  Also, I feel that there is a bit more job security in non-profit and public corporations.  Someone told me once that the government never fires anyone.  There is quite a bit of bureaucracy involved, and so people stay in a job forever.

Right now both of my parents work for non-profits.  My dad really thinks he is changing the world through his work, and I think that’s pretty cool.  My mom just started at a state university after working in a for profit company for all of her career in America.  She is trying to adjust to all the bureaucracy and a huge pay cut, but I think in the end she will reap the rewards of paid health care and a small pension. Now with that said, lately I have thought about getting a non-profit job sometime in the future because now I do want to change the world  for the better somehow.  However, I think I would be happier to do the job for free when I am financially independent.  As much as I have warmed up to the concept of public service, I am still practical and selfish by nature.  So I guess I will just have to spend a few more years as a well compensated corporate cube dweller.

Share This

Today I read a rather refreshing article called “Casting off life’s cares” on the LA Times. Basically it tells the story of an ordained pastor named Dave Dixon who gave away pretty much all of his possessions and started to live on a boat and sing songs in a restaurant a few hours a week. His expenses are $565 per month, and he says that “time, not money, is the real commodity in life”. He says that his lifestyle is divinely inspired and “sees himself living out God’s message that faith and people, not possessions, are what is of true value.”

Interestingly enough, I wrote about Chinese proverbs today on Wise Bread and this article reflects the first proverb I wrote about, “an inch of time is worth an inch of gold; but it is hard to buy one inch of time with one inch of gold”. Time is definitely more precious than money, and Dave Dixon has that figured out.  Additionally, I think it’s great to see that someone realizes that you really don’t need much to survive in this world.  My friend the Retirement Hobo said that in South East Asia he was able to eat well on $1 a day, and $10000 is a good retirement fund there.  He might be exaggerating a bit, but I really think that if we are able to let go of a lot of luxury that we have we can live well on very little money.

I think it is awesome that this pastor Dixon seems to trust God so much with his lifestyle.  Though, it’s funny that the author of the article describes Dave as “quixotic” multiple times in the article. Obviously, some people might think that Dave is a fool for trusting God with his health and not having health insurance, but  apparently God provided for him when he had a kidney stone.  He may seem like a stupid bum living on a rickety boat, but I know so many people with huge houses that they slave over and complain about.  Can these people with so many more possessions than Dave Dixon say that they are really truly free and happy?  Dave said in the article, “my possessions made me work harder and stole my time”, and I agree with that sentiment.  We all have an extremely ephemeral existence on this earth, and for us to devote so much time and effort to acquire things we can’t bring with us to the next life is quite pointless.

Now, would I sell everything  and go live on a boat?  Probably not because I don’t like boats very much, but I wouldn’t mind living in a faraway city in Asia where rent is less than $100 a month.  I could even have a little piece of land where I can plant some tomatoes, peas, and corn, and raise a few chickens and ducks.  These are all things I had when I was a kid in China, and really that’s all I need to be happy.  It is a dream lifestyle that is so far removed  from my current daily grind in a glass tower, and maybe one day I can convince the hubby to go there.

Share This

My friend the Retirement Hobo sent me this email from Asia and he wanted me to share it with you all. For more of his writing, check out his blog, and this post about a magical mountain. One day soon I will retire. For now, I can only enjoy my friend’s travels vicariously through his writing.

Quick “whats happening” update, then elaborate and pointless commentary in 5…4…3…2…

Since Bali, I’ve been bouncing around from Java to Lombok to Nusa Tenaggra, to Bali, to Java. These are all islands in Indonesia with their own culture and beauty and I was able to do many cool things and meet many cool folks.

Some points of interest include walking through the valley of the shadow of death to stare into a live volcano, surfing the crazy waves of Bali, going mano-a-komodo with a dragon, learning the ropes to breathe underwater and becoming a certified diver then having my first independent dive turn into a search-and-rescue mission. I am currently in a cute Java suburb of starfruit trees, green mountains, while teaching English to a local school. I leave for Singapore tomorrow, much to the chagrin of many lovable 10 year old kids.

Love works in funny ways. When seeking love, you look so hard that you seem to almost deceive yourself into falling for anyone. But then one day it happens. You just fall and you fall hard and it moves so quickly and works so beautifully you don’t have time to sit back and think about how it happened and take it all in.

I haven’t fallen in love, but that is how I imagine it to work. But I have taken to diving in a similar manner. The moment I stepped into the ocean water, I knew I loved her. When my tank ran out of air, it tore me up to leave her. When I got a new tank, I was jumping as fast as I can into the water to see her. And when I was with her, it was so much and so much more. It was beauty that I did not know existed, and it was always changing. Every time I think I scratched the surface to unraveling her, a new world of discovery opens up. Every moment was excitement, looking at her, around her, and in her. Is this not love?

I am a traveler at heart. Traveling is leaving a piece of your soul wherever you go. It is experiencing new things at a break-neck pace. At least thats what I think, I think. That is why diving is so amazing for us travelers. Most of our blue planet is covered with ocean. Most of the ocean is untouched and unknown to humans. There are new things and soul-receptories at every meter and every liter of the ocean.

When I breathed for the first time underwater, I was stepping onto a new planet, I was becoming a new species. And by doing so, a million curious eyes turned to me and said, “Hello, mister!” Clown fish looked up from their oceanic vegetation and did their “Finding Nemo” impression. Giant Turtles majestically soared above my head. Schools of Napoleon wrasses, the size of my torso swam in circles around me. Sharks zigzag around darting back and forth, making my heart skip a beat. Even an octopus decided to wriggle around on the floor and change colors before my very eyes. Schools of tiny fish swam in perfect synchronization. Seahorses jumped around. Tunas that could feed an army of sushi enthusiasts. Titan Trigger Fish, Stonefish, Lionfish, Scorpion fish, Bumphead Parrotfish. And the colors, just so many colors.

It’s just a different world. On land, humankind is at its apex. We’re basically reduced to two levels in the food chain: hairless apes, and everyone else. It’s a thrill to see one wild animal, even if we have to search for days. On the ocean floor, every species seem to be dealt a new hand. Everyone is equal, and we swim side by side along the coral reefs. I just cannot emphasize how teeming with life the ocean is. And the landscape of reefs, sandy dunes, ship wrecks, overgrown with underwater flower, seaweed forests hazed over by shimmering currents in the water - wow. Land just sucks in comparison. Oh, why am I forced to breathe oxygen?

Just about everything fits so well. When you are underwater, it is a relaxing venture - in fact overexertion causes you to lose oxygen. You’re required to relax! And then eating a lunch of fresh seafood that we bought in a boat-to-boat fisherman exchange, discussing what you saw - what a perfect complement to a dive day. Divers who meet other divers are instant friends. It only makes sense. You are required to dive with a buddy for safety. So, diving forces you to relax and make a new friend. I cannot think of what else actually forces you to do such a thing.

The ocean is sweet. You are looking not just to the left and right of you but above and below you. It seems like you are flying like Superman over an underwater Metropolis. There’s just nothing wrong with it at all. Except that it’s so damn expensive and you risk getting lost at sea fighting off sharks and Komodo Dragons.

The End, until my next update.

Share This

Next month our lease on our apartment will be renewed. I’m pretty sure it won’t go up all that much since we are pretty good tenants. None of the neighbors have complained about us, either. Just out of my interest to know whether or not our rent is fair, I found some rental data for San Mateo County for the past seven years. I was sort of surprised by what I found.

As I have stated previously, we pay $1700 for a two bedroom two bathroom condo. The rent includes water, garbage, and cable TV. According the the historic data from San Mateo County, our rent is actually cheaper than the average rent for a two bedroom apartment in 2000! Here is a summary of the rent trends on a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment as recorded by the county and a timeline of recent history:

12/2000 - $1902 - The year of the dotcom boom and craziness. I was in highschool.
12/2001 - $1764 - The dotcom bubble popped and 9/11 happened in this year.
12/2002 - $1597 - Recession
12/2003 - $1478 - War broke out
12/2004 - $1421 - Valley beginning to recover, the hubby moves to San Mateo
12/2005 - $1449 - I moved to San Mateo
12/2006 - $1621 - Tech sector in full recovery, new startups and lotsa hiring
12/2007 - $1785 - We got married, moved to our present condo.
3/2008 - $1812 - Latest data available, rent prices trending up as more people are renting due to the ridiculous purchase prices. Jobs are still abundant.

So after looking at this data, I feel that our rent is pretty fair. Actually, I used a CPI calculator and found that $1902 in 2000 is actually worth $2381 today. So we are really getting a bargain and rent prices don’t always follow inflation. It is a bit alarming how much the rent jumped from 2005 to 2007, but I think as more foreclosures and cheap homes come onto the market the rental market can’t rise all that much. From what I have seen, there are actually quite a lot of 2 bedroom listings on Craigslist for under $1700 a month.

So if you are facing a rent increase, I encourage you to look up the fair market rent in your locale and see if it’s fair. If it’s too expensive then don’t be afraid to negotiate because even a month’s vacancy is very costly to a landlord and could wipe out all the gains he/she gets from raising your rent. Additionally, look for a cheaper alternative early if you know you can’t afford the increase. Oftentimes, there are individual homeowners who have held a home for many years and do not want to sell. In those cases you can get a very good deal as a renter.

Share This