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| Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 | | 12:43 pm |
Mortgage: mental math made simple
I just refinanced my house, which has lead to a few math-related conversations with friends and family. Here's a simple way to figure out how much money you save by paying extra money on your mortgage. First, realize that unless you're paying extra insurance for borrowing over 80%, your mortgage payment remains the same for the full 30 years of your loan. However, as you probably know, at the beginning of the mortgage you are paying very little towards principal and a LOT towards interest - but as time goes on, the split shifts, and you end up paying all principal and no interest in the last month. The formula is complex and there are plenty of online calculators to figure it for you, but in most cases you ought to be able to find out, wherever you are in your mortgage, how much of your monthly payment is going towards principal, and how much is going towards interest. The amount going towards the principal every month is the important amount. If you pay that much extra towards the principal, you effectively chop the last month off the end of your loan. Because if you pay that smaller amount now, you avoid paying all that interest on it over the next 30 years. This also means that paying a little bit of money now saves you a lot of money later. Let's take my loan. According to the amortization tables, right now at the beginning of my loan, 1/4 of each payment is going towards principal, which leaves the remaining 3/4 as interest. Let's say that I pay an extra 1/4 mortgage payment and specify that it goes towards the principal. What happens? Let's see: --that amount is deducted from my loan balance (principal) --I never have to pay interest on that money, since I just payed it back How much did I just save on interest? Well, I effectively paid 1/4 of a mortgage payment in order to skip my very last mortgage payment, saving me 3/4 of a mortgage payment. Likewise, if I were right now to pay an *Entire* month's mortgage extra, that'd be the same as paying about 4 months of principal. That would, in turn, chop 4 months off your mortgage term, for the price of 1 month. And that, I'd say, sounds worth it. | | 11:36 am |
Jobliness!
I've been studying Cisco stuff for a while, and studying up for job interviews that my company is setting me up on for various contract openings. Today: 0900: Interview begins 0935: Interview concludes, with standard "Our people will talk to your people" 1045: "My people" get the thumbs-up note from "Their people" .... I didn't know it was legal for a federal contractor to make a decision that fast. SWEET! Close to home, interesting work that I won't get bored with, and with a boss that has got my back - on a contract that has several more years to go. This is going to be good. | | Sunday, July 5th, 2009 | | 12:35 am |
My long weekend: Hard labor!
Friday I had off, like many folks did. I spent all day Friday and Saturday helping K and k replace the deck at their place: a 6'x16'6" deck cantilevered out the back of the house, so old and badly maintained by the person who lived there before that the top half of many boards was mostly mulch, not so much wood. Friday we demolished the entire old deck surface, cutting with a sawzall approximately midway between each joist, which broke the old decking up into ~2' sections. This often sent a huge shower of mulch down upon the person doing the sawing (perched upon a ladder below the deck, since standing on the deck was NOT an option). Other hands removed the old nails from the top sides of the joists, and we then added a whole bunch new joists. See, the existing deck was built with joists on 2' centers, but K got this snazzy recycled plastic decking material, which is kind of floppity and needs a joist every foot. So, we took the deck from 9 joists to 17, and celebrated with dinner. Saturday we installed the decking-mounting system, this long series of 22"-long metal strips that screwed into the joists and, later, into the decking from below so that no screw heads marred the face of the decking from above. This took a LONG time to install, because most drills or electric screwdrivers fit between joists on 1' centers. We did, however, eventually get it done. We also cut all the decking to appropriate lengths: lots of 20' pieces cut down to 16'6" and then a bunch that were shorter for the smaller, oddly-shaped part of the deck and fitting around the fireplace. Only one piece needed anything "tricky", and that went perfectly on the first try. Once three people had calculated the inter-course (insert your own joke here) spacing and all arrived at different answers, we cut spacers and decided they were juuuust right. Then came the slightly faster process of attaching the decking to the screwing system - again, not the fastest ativity in the world, especially since by this point everyone was kind of tired. I probably attached about 1/4 of the deck, other helping hands did the rest. I also removed the old top of the railing and cut plasticky decking material for the new handrail replacemnt. All in all a rather productive weekend. Exhilareted'night and sleep well! | | Thursday, June 25th, 2009 | | 11:47 am |
| | 10:31 am |
| | Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 | | 3:18 pm |
Native American Powwow this weekend
Hey all, This Sunday I'm planning to head out to the Silver Phoenix Indian Trading Post's annual Powwow in Quicksburg, VA. For those of you who live near me, that's about 2.5 hours away, if you drive the speed limit. If you've never been to a powwow, there will be: lots of drumming, traditional dancing, Native American ceremonial dance regalia of about a dozen different types, a few kinds of really good food (Frybread tacos among them) and a large number of Native American craftsmen and vendors selling beautiful work, the likes of which you won't find in many other places. I plan to leave around 9am, which will get me there a little before noon, which is about when things get started. I'll head home probably around when they take their dinner break, ~6pm, or earlier if the heat is just too much. I can offer rides to up to 3 people, if there are people interested in coming along. If you're interested, or have any other questions, let me know! | | Monday, June 22nd, 2009 | | 1:22 am |
The Language of Nursing
The Language of Nursing
| Acute Pain |
Hysterical Patient |
| Barium |
What to do when treatment fails |
| Bedpan |
Bad romantic review |
| Benign |
What 8 year olds do next |
| CAT Scan |
Doggie hunting technique |
| Cardiac |
Obsessed poker player |
| Chronic Pain |
Obnoxious doctor |
| Cribbage |
Pediatrics ward |
| Deadline |
Autopsy backlog |
| Defeat |
De smelliest part of de job |
| Influenza |
Mafia political payoffs |
| Kidney |
Portion of child most likely to need bandage |
| Mammogram |
Telegram from mom |
| Orderly |
Condition of ward during slow shift |
| Outpatient |
Unconscious person |
| Pelvis |
Popular 50’s singer |
| Platelet |
Doll house furniture |
| Private Room |
Loose underwear |
| Red Count |
Commie vampire |
| Resident |
Junkmail addressee |
| Sanitorium |
Janitor’s closet |
| Stable Condition |
Hay Fever |
| Sternum |
What bums drink |
| Tumor |
Bar order |
| Vital signs |
“Authorized Personnel Only” “CAFETERIA” “Radiation Hazard” “Exit” |
| White Count |
Anemic vampire |
| X-ray |
Special gun that only works on former spouse |
| | Friday, June 19th, 2009 | | 4:45 pm |
| | 3:23 pm |
If there is one person or more on your friends list who makes your world a better place just because they exist, and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the Internet, then post this same sentence in your journal. Current Mood:  grateful | | Thursday, June 18th, 2009 | | 1:11 pm |
| | Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | | 3:28 pm |
Cisco: The Journey Continues
So I got my CCNA (YAAY! And thank you to all of you whose wonderful congratulations I have received - you all are fantastic!) and my company has been busy submitting me for a bunch of computer networking positions - none of which are materializing at any kind of speed. So. Back to school. Everything wants a heavy background in network security. My Cisco instructor, however, suggested that rather than specializing in a CCNA-Security (one exam),I first take the next level of professional development, the CCNP (4 exams, two of which can be combined for an alternate path of 3 exams). He says that in learning the CCNP I will learn much of the CCNA-Security subject matter, and that after the CCNP, a CCNA-Security will come much more easily. So now, I have to pick one of the exams, and start studying for it. My choices are: - ISCW: Implementing Secured Converged Wide Area Networks
- BCMSN: Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks
- BSCI: Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks
- ONT: Optimizing Converged Cisco Networks
I'm leaning towards the second or third ones to begin with. They're the ones that can be taken as one exam. We'll see how things go... | | Friday, June 12th, 2009 | | 2:06 pm |
PSA: Why they hate you
If they hate you because you're beautiful, they don't hate you because you're beautiful. It's that they're not happy that they *aren't* beautiful. Remember that. | | Monday, June 8th, 2009 | | 3:29 am |
| | Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 | | 2:01 pm |
Electricity is scary shit
Parents... if you have kids that are in the least bit curious about electricity, and will understand the lesson in this video, PLEASE show it to them. I don't ever want this to happen to someone that I know, because they honestly didn't know better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxy3-v7hsXEI'm not embedding this video, because a lot of people will find it upsetting. It's a young teenager walking on top of an electric train that is standing still at a station. And for some reason, he decides to reach for the power line suspended over the train - carrying, I think, 26,000 volts - and in a brief instant and a burst of flame, his life is extinguished. He's dead for at least a second before he hits the ground. Yes. This is a video of someone accidentally electrocuting himself. He dies. Parts of him are on fire. Smoke pours out of his hair (what there is of it) and clothes, in quantities that seem unreal. This isn't funny, and this isn't theatre. So I repeat... parents, please show this to your kids. Make sure they know why you're such a fanatic about then never, ever sticking anything in the electrical socket: If they don't die the way this kid did, it's by pure luck. While you're at at, remember to have the same talks with your kids about drugs, alcohol, smoking, and safe sex. These are your duties as a parent. If you freaked out about letting your kid go to daycare, but fail to have these conversations with your child, you deserve a swift kick in the ass. *steps off soap box* | | Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 | | 1:58 am |
Quote of the Evening:
*His friends leave in a raucous, rowdy cloud of cacophony* Me: You have such dull friends. Him: I don't even want to know about your friends. You all get together to play Bridge. Me: You should see us when we play Strip Bridge! Him: How does that work? Me: We haven't worked that out yet. So we just strip, and then play bridge. Current Mood: amused | | Saturday, May 30th, 2009 | | 2:04 am |
The price we pay for user-friendliness...
Today I was at Value Village, one of my favorite thrift stores from back when I was in college. Back in the electronics section was a 4-port Linksys router for $7 - which I would have bought had the power adapter been part of it, but it was not around. Just curious, I went to BestBuy's website and looked the same item up: $60! So, Used is indeed the way to go. (no shock there). A few ietms further down the page, I saw a 24-port Linksys switch for $311. Now, Linksys is the brand-name for Cisco's consumer line - folks who will NEVER program their own switch, just want everything plug-and-play. But Just for fun, I went to one of my favorite websites, CablesAndKits.com and looked up a similar 24-port 10/100 switch: $50 (Used but refurbished & under warrantee) ...so for the less-versatile version, which has the same capacity and would also be plug-and-play straight out of the box, you pay 6x as much? I'm so mystified... | | Thursday, May 28th, 2009 | | 12:15 am |
A friend is selling a bike
...and he asked if I wanted to buy it.  Poll #1406936 I could. Should I?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: AllShould I get the bike? Note: no actual decision making will be based solely on this. But I want to know what you think. | | Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 | | 1:45 pm |
CCNA: Check!
Third time, it appears, really is the charm. After studying a good portion of my posterior off in the last half-week, I just took the second Cisco exam (again) and this time, I kicked its ass. Passing score is an 825 on a scale from 300 to 1000, and I got a 904. Or really, that's a passing grade of 525/700 (=75%), and I got a 604/700 (=86%). WOOHOO! I declare the rest of the day to be MINE. Hi, Ho, Silver! Current Mood: accomplished | | Thursday, May 21st, 2009 | | 1:45 pm |
Well, f$ck
Missed passing the Cisco ICND2 exam *again*. My partial score in the one category I sucked at last time went *down*, despite the extra 4 days of studying - however, scores in two other categories increased. Yay? Silver lining? Please? So. more studying, and then YET ANOTHER attempt on Wednesday of next week. I know that 80% of folks who attempt this test fail it. But after doing so well at the ICND1 exam (passed it with flying colors on the first attempt), I figured that the second half wouldn't be this killer. EDIT: I just noticed that the passing threshold for the second exam is higher than for the first exam. In fact, were it the same as the first exam's, either of my attempts would have been passing scores! Never occurred to me that the might be different. At least it's no illusion that the second exam is harder than the first! | | Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 | | 12:53 am |
What do you want to do?
What do you want to do right now? What idea have you got that's burning you up to do, and is in the works - or you want it to be in the works - or if you only had the time/money/etc., it'd be in the works? Remodeling a room in your house? Gearing up your car? Going on a vacation? Learning an instrument? A language? Changing careers? Having a kid? Will it ever happen? do you have a plan? Or is it jsut something you hope to some day be able to do, but you have no idea when? |
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