Rambles

I'm sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings with my post about the Cubs. I'm not retracting it, since I still felt the emotions I wrote about, but in hindsight I might have been a bit more diplomatic, even if it was all in fun.

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In the latest issue of People (Newman cover, NKOTB two-page spread inside) Jon and Kate Gosselin, parents of twins AND sextuplets and stars of Jon and Kate plus Eight, say that they want to adopt another child.

I'm all for kids and the more the merrier, but the eight in their show's title includes at least one little girl who is bitter and jealous of her six newsworthy siblings (aka the YaYa of the bunch). Adding another child to the mix won't diminish those feelings and I think that's something they need to consider.

Or they could tell me and everyone else to F off and do what they want. Fine by me.

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For the record, once again, I am not interested in endorsing anyone for that congressional seat. I don't like Moore and almost anyone's an improvement, but I just wanted to make people aware of an additional option on the ballot.

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Regarding that congressional race, you'll notice one of the 'issues' listed on Sebring's website is term limits for politicians. Generally I'm against term limits. I don't want to go into the rationale here, as it can get longwinded, but an easy answer is: you want them out, vote them out.

Rather, my point is to bring up my continued exasperation with the arguement that our political forefather were men who took up the yoke of leadership as an obligation to their country and then discarded it, as 'proper', to go back to a 'normal' life.

What crap. Washington, for all the fanfare over his self-determined two term limit, was a leader in the employ of either Great Britain or the Colonies/US during a huge chunk of his life. John Quincy Adams served as President and then had a lengthly career in the House. Lincoln spent much of his adult life either in office or in the quest to be in office. Face facts: most of the great figures in our nation's history have devoted their lives to one office or another. 

I don't thinkthere's anything wrong with that, in and of itself. Even if you disagree, at the very least stop using those figures as a misguided ideal when pitching term limits.

End of rant.

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I was just watching a show on HGTV, Property Virgins I think, and the featured young couple was dismayed when their lender refused to give them a loan without an additional downpayment on the $500,000 home they wanted. They promptly got a loan on their terms from another lender. The male half of the couple made a point of bragging about the new lender and how 'experience in this business really pays off'.

Ladies and gentlemen, while this couple may be financially solvent to their dying day, may I present to you a perfect example of how the mortgage crisis came to pass .You're 24-25 and want to buy a half million dollar home. You don't qualify under the terms you were hoping to get. Instead of backing off and considering the wisdom of stretching your finances, you go and find a yahoo who will hand the money out without concern for your ability to pay.

The pot calling the kettle black, I know. Back in 2006 there was no reason in the world for someone to hand over house keys to me, not while I was still in the midst of repairing some credit miscues.

The bubble worked in my favor, and I acknowledge that fact. I wouldn't go back in time and tell them 'no thanks', but I can still point out the foolishness of the lenders that pulled the trigger.

And apparently they were fools - they went under six months ago.

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Why did Ty Pennington become so popular? I've been watching old Trading Spaces episodes and in every one in which he appears he's gruff, behind schedule, and taking shortcuts on his projects. I know he's considered 'cute' - he's not - but is that really enough to have overcome his faults?

I guess so, eh?