Monthly Archives: October 2007

Today is our HR area to receive brand spanking new office furniture.  The old chairs and all workstations were 5 years old.  I suppose management received too many complains from its employees about ergonomic chairs and workstations.  The chair I received from Facilities has adjustable seat depth lever and also for the arms, too, plus a back lumbar adjustment.  The big, big boss has those leather ones with really luxury seat. 

Our former neighbor is getting rid of his wet bar in his basement.  He wants to know if we are interested with those bar stools that he bought when he built the bar.  I have to say NO to it because those stools look so old and worn out.  I like those that are made of metal and they swivel, with a nice back to lean back.  If not, it will be hard to sit on tall chairs without the back which gives me a backache.

Justin will be graduating May of next year.  Graduation is May 27th and graduation party is on the 30th.  Her mom called us and told us two weeks ago.  We thought of going a day early and enjoy a Texas bed and breakfast in San Antonio.  I am actually looking foward to our trip to Texas next May, however, we need to cancel it because if SD is giving birth during the week of the 27th, we are staying here.

Christmas is about 2 months away.  There are Christmas decorations in every mall I went to this afternoon.  I am looking into some christmas gift ideas for SD and her BF.  I want to make it special this two are such a great pair.  Maybe what I should do is get a baby picture of both of them and have them on a photo canvas as a Christmas gift cum house warming gift!

SD is cleaning up her apartment for their move to their new home.  I found a box sitting in the entryway closet not too heavy, and it was not sealed.  I asked her what is inside, she told me there are the trophies she received from her days playing softball for JM Highschool.  She was with the softball team since her junior days.  I remember seeing her picture in the papers, too.  The father was real proud of her.

Since I’m doing so much shopping for my coming trip, I’m thinking of getting some bathroom decor for my sister, or my mom.  It would be nice if I can buy some and bring along with me, however, most of those items are quite heavy and it takes up space in the luggage.  Some examples of what I’m looking at are tissue box  holders, and toothbrush holder.  Well, maybe I might have to look into getting some for my bathroom.

DB’s PC is running super slow these days and  we are wondering is it needs more RAM.  He is looking at some IBM memory cards to upgrade the RAM.  Since he started his classes for his “project”, his PC has a very good workout.  There are always something to download from his classes, and there are 4 programs that he uploaded to his hard drive.  I think if he upgrades it now, he won’t be complaining too much every week.

After the episode of our bankruptcy few years ago, we never thought we will be able to apply for credit cards.   Both our credit scores were so bad, it was practically down to the 200s.  We received a lot of credit card applications promoting the 0% APR balance transfers.  We went to a seminar for folks like us 3 months after.  The program encouraged bankruptors to apply for secured credit cards to rebuild our credit history.  Not all banks offer secured credit cards, though.  Another type of application we need to avoid are those credit cards with cash back progams.  This is a reward program that offers cash back or rebate incentives and it usually requires a good credit standing for approval.

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SD and BF bought a Saturn Ion recently with the understanding that SD’s mom will pay for the car insurance.  Her mom made a deal with her: it’s either mom for the car insurance, and the money from SD’s bonds will be cashed out for the new car downpayment, or mom pay for downpayment and SD will take care of the insurance.  SD chose the first option.  Of course being the Becca Biatch she is, she said she changed her mind don’t feel like paying for her insurance anymore.  Very lovely of the mom. 

Anyway, DB and I were able to bundle our home insurance, and SD’s insurance into one package with our insurance agent.  This agent totally did a wonderful job, and even asked if we need travel insurance for our trip.  This is call great customer service.

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Trying to refinance our home is not coming along that that well for us.  We want to obtain a secured homeowner loan from our local bank, which is fairly easy, and that was according to the representative.  However, because of our current mortgage which is an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loan with a fixed rate for two years.  It’s not exactly two years yet, but we need to refinance as soon as possible to bring our monthly payments down.  In order to refinance with a lower interest rate, we need to pay a penalty to get away from the ARM.  So far the bank is still working on it.

If we are in the UK, The Thrifty Scot has over 200 secured loans for us to choose.  All banks are the same across the globe.  They will check for credit score/history, employment, and financial standings. 

Thrifty Scot’s personal loans are also available if we need it for purchasing a car, for example.  They have 500 different plans for us to pick.  But there is a kicker to these types of loans.  Personal loans are usually unsecured loans, that means, if we have bad credit, we probably will not get approved.  I’m lucky when I applied for a personal loan through my credit union, I was approved right away, however, the credit union had to use my Monte Carlo as a collateral.