Getting penalized for being competent

September 28, 2016July 24, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Well that’s bullshit: program funded by $110 million federal dollars will provide up to $50,000 of relief to homeowners stuck in underwater mortgages; under specific conditions, none of which demonstrate the ability to be financially responsible much less competent at all

There’s no sugar-coating it, my home’s been underwater for the better part of, since I’ve lived in it. The house was purchased in 2004, the value of the home rose a little bit for each of the first three years, and then the housing bubble popped, and the values of homes sunk faster than Yahoo stock. My life was in a way different place back in the day, but I remember getting the first letter that stated that my home no longer had any equity that could be borrowed from, and as far as I know, that hasn’t recovered, even to this very day.

Needless to say, I’ve become very attuned to the concept of underwater mortgages throughout the years, and I should feel fortunate that my household has been in the minority of most underwater homeowners, and that we’ve always been able to pay the bills every month, and have been able to maintain good standing with all home expenditures throughout the years. We’re actually getting to the point where the mortgage is practically whittled down to where we might be able to even hit a break-even point, with the underwater estimates.

At this point, a push is a win, and Jen and I can brush ourselves off from this failed gamble and figure out the next steps in our lives.

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Things that made me think Europe is overrated

September 21, 2016July 24, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

One thing that lots of people do that I think is a little obnoxious, is thinking that the way things are done in America are all flawed, and that they are undoubtedly and unmistakably better in other parts of the world like Europe or Asia. I’m not going to pretend that America does everything right, but spending lengthy times abroad is an easy way to make comparisons, and discover that America sure gets a lot of things pretty damn right, and often.

European airports. I challenge any person who loves to bitch about how chaotic, hectic and for whatever reason that doesn’t imply veiled racism “difficult” Atlanta Hartsfield-Latoya Jackson Intergalactic Nail Emporium and Hot Wings Shack Airport, to spend a day waiting for a flight in a European airport.

Including last year, my frame of reference includes airports in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin and Milan, and all of them suck, compared to Atlanta Airport. And it might be home to me, but Atlanta Airport is far from the best airport in the United States.

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(Forced) Changing perspective

September 19, 2016July 24, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Lately, I’ve been feeling the financial crunch of a lot of expenses and debt that I’m accruing, on my own accord, and it’s admittedly got me feeling a little more anxious than I would typically prefer to feel on a regular basis. Typically, I like to live my life a quarter mile at a time with fairly substantial cushions, so when I fret over money, it’s not necessarily always because I have no safety net, it’s because my safety net is growing uncomfortably small. No safety net would probably have a way different tone; probably even discernable through my choice of words.

But as stated, this current round of fretting is really nobody’s doing but my own; I didn’t really have to schedule two, two-week vacations, two weeks apart from one another. I don’t have to go to Disney, or Worlds. There are a lot of things that I’m doing that aren’t really necessary to the survival of life, but things that I want to do, feel that I should do, and will try to have few regrets doing on account of how much they’re costing me. Easier written than done.

I’ve been trying to tell myself that things are going to be fine, and in all likelihood, they will be. It’s just a lot of my savings will be pretty depleted, and I’ll have a tremendous balance on my credit card when it’s all said and done. I can’t speak for the future, but I’ll probably be back to, or remain anxious about such circumstances then, but I’m trying my best to keep my wits about me until we get to that point.

And when it rains, it tends to pour, but in an odd twist of irony, it’s through such downpour do I kind of find a little bit of perspective that, kind of helps, in spite of the poorly timed, certainly unwanted $600 expense.

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How quickly we forget

September 19, 2016July 24, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Sigh: fear of gas shortage amidst Alabama pipeline leak, causes Metro Atlanta to go into a gas hoarding panic

I like the people bitching about the cost of a fill-up hitting $33. Did they not live here in the ancient time of 2009?

The state of Georgia was put into a state of emergency because there pretty much was no gas, on account of a hurricane or something. Gas was at $4+ a gallon, and provided you could find a station that had gas, they were often times a $40 limit, which in most cars, would not equate to a full tank of gas.

And then we have people complaining about $33 to get 17 gallons now. How quickly we forget perspective and live in the present.

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The Gwinnett Braves have bad attendance? YOU DON’T SAY

August 30, 2016July 23, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

About as easy to predict as rain in Florida – the Gwinnett Braves suffer average attendance drop for the fourth straight year

Sometimes I wonder at what point will people see beyond all the rah-rah rhetoric about how the Atlanta Braves and all their owned affiliates are good for economies, communities and are actually burdens and ballasts to towns that weren’t exactly unanimously ecstatic about their presences? Will a player have to kill someone? I mean, Braves players have been busted in various forms of domestic abuse, and nobody seems to sour on the organization. The organization has fleeced pretty much every small town in which their minor league affiliates exist in, as well as the future home of the big club. When will people realize that baseball isn’t just America’s Pasttime, but also a cold, calculated, greedy, money-grubbing business that often acts like a leech on the places they invade?

But anyway, about as sure as the sun rises in the morning, the Gwinnett Braves are struggling to draw people to their ballpark. I mean, who would have thought a minor league ballpark that’s barely 60 miles away from the major league parent, with ticket costs equivalent to major league prices and has a staunch no-outside food policy unlike the parent, would suffer weak attendance numbers? I mean, who wouldn’t want to see Sean Kazmar instead of Freddie Freeman, or whenever a superstar visiting player like Clayton Kershaw or Andrew McCutchen comes to Turner Field?

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Player B is a greedy asshole

August 11, 2016July 22, 2020 ~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Baseball legalese is a funny thing. If a player under a contract declares retirement, they immediately forfeit the remainders of owed money on the contract. However if a player under a contract declares that they are not physically capable of playing baseball any further, but not actually using the terminology “retirement,” then technically, the team(s) responsible for the contract are still obligated to continue paying their financial obligations.

Player A declares retirement, despite having one year and $12 million dollars left on his contract. His team is absolved of having to pay $12 million dollars, upon finalization of retirement.

Player B holds a press conference to let the world know that he is physically incapable of playing baseball any further. His contract has 4+ years remaining on it, at an estimated annual salary of $24 million dollars, per year. As he has not officially declared himself retired, the contract is legally obligated to continue to be paid out until it expires or retirement is declared.

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