Only the Good Memes

Thursday, 9 October

3x Thursday: 10/09/y2k+8: Music & Pirates
1. Do you like iTunes? Why/why not? What do you think of the iTunes store maybe going away? Does it matter to you? Why/why not?

I like the iTunes program, it is a very good organiser and tool. I do not use the iTunes store. Why should I pay $1 a song when there are other avenues available? I rip all of my CDs and I do buy music online. I won't reveal what site I go to. But they are very reliable and I have used them very often. They also have a lot of hard-to-find tunes, which is great for me.

2. How do you get your music these days (torrents, iTunes, Amazon, record store, other)? What's your prefered method of media (mp3s, cd, vinyl)? Why?

As usual, I've jumped the gun. See my answer above. Overall I prefer CDs, because then I have a back up source. That means a lot to me. I have lost music and been crushed by it.

3. Do you play any Rock Band or Guitar Hero? What do you think of downloadable content? More specifically, what do you think of downloading entire albums to play when you've already bought the CD in the past?

Uh, no, I don't play Guitar Hero or Rock Band. What are those? And sometimes I do download whole albums, having forgotten I have the CD or knowing the CD is damaged. What do I think of downloadable content? Well, I suppose I would say... "It's a beautiful thing."

Friday, 10 October

Four for Friday

Q1 - Cutting Back: The rising price of consumer goods is driving shoppers from all lifestyles to use coupons for food, beauty aids and pharmacy products at an increasing rate, according to some of the country's largest purveyors of manufacturers' coupons. Has the current state of the U.S. economy forced you to take a second look at your spending habits? If so, are there any areas in particular where you are consciously cutting back?

Has the current economy changed my spending... in some ways, yes. But not in a big obvious way... I doubt I will ever be a coupon clipper. I was able to do it when I had a really poor income; what makes anyone think I'd do it now? I think the only way it has changed me is being a little more gasoline conscious. I shop at the grocery store exactly as I always have. I go in, grab what I need and get out. I don't price compare, I don't agonise, I just get what I like and that is it. Today I went to the store and picked up ham, bologna, rye bread (looking at the sugar content and not the cost), a bag of Smarties (for my two rolls a day), six boxes of the Crystral Light sugar free raspberry lemonade mix and skim milk. I did want cereal but forgot it. Duh. What did I pay for it? Heck if I know. I knew when the machine gave me a total. And I knew I had the funds to cover it. That is all I ever need to know.

I didn't say you should take any tips from me about managing money!

Q2 - Installment vs. Lump Sum: A winner of a $42 million lottery in Michigan may do something almost unheard of: receive the money in installments rather than getting smaller, one-time cash payment. The unnamed winner of the October 3 jackpot told state lottery officials she would be taking the annuity (lottery winners typically take a lump-sum payment with plans to invest it, but confidence in the stock market has dropped with the current financial crisis). If you won a $42 million lottery tomorrow, would you take the money in installments or one lump sum?

I have thought about this. I will admit that I haven't rethought it at all since that time, and not based on current stock market trends. I don't think my thinking would be any different. I would take it as one lump-sum, spend a fraction of it on myself, pay off what debt I have, and invest the rest. There are other investment vehicles than the stock market. I would invest it, though and carefully. The lump-sum payout in this case is still the better answer for me.

Q3 - Worries: Just prior to Congress' passing and the president's signing of the Treasury bailout legislation on Oct. 3, the percentage of Americans saying they worried about money the previous day hit a new high for the year at 48%. Since that time, worry has declined, with the percentage of Americans worried about money falling to 39% in Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Oct. 4-6 and 42% from Oct. 5-7. Are you worried about money (asked differently, do your current worries have anything to do with money)?

Well, I am not worried about myself or Luis. Where I am stupid with money, Luis is not. But I am not high maintenance. I have my car, paid off. Our house is closer to paid off than not. His income and job security is very high, and so is mine. We are not in need of spending much, and while we did scrap plans to renovate the two bathrooms, we are going to make repairs without worrying over the cost. We have gone more green and that is a huge savings.

But I do worry about the base population. There will be a lot of other people falling into that black hole of financial loss. There is house I pass ever day with a silver Acura CL in the driveway and I always thought it looked as though the house were just built (but it may be that it was a normal ranch house or something and the owners turned it into the square brick travesty it is now. A few days ago I passed it and it had a sign on the lawn: OWNED BY BANK... oooohhhhh, oh, my. Not good.

Q4 - Fund That Cause: Billionaire investor and businessman Warren Buffett is again the richest American, deposing Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, after Forbes magazine recalculated the fortunes of some of the 400 wealthiest Americans. If you could compel Buffett to give away 50% of his $58 Billion net worth for a single cause, to what cause would the money go?

Good lord. Half of $48 billion dollars? Well, not into this ridiculous plan called the Economic Bailout. But I think a sum like that should go into a number of things, and none of it into a race track. I really don't have an answer for this. How about the humourous, self-serving answer? Let charity begin in the home: mine! I would take one million of that and be very, very happy.

Saturday, 11 October

Saturday 9: Return to Sender

1. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?

Mmmm. A month ago, maybe a bit less. I love writing.

2. Can you change the oil on a car?

I was when I had my 1977 Chevy Camaro. Now I couldn't even tell you where the oil pan is located.

3. Name three things you have on you at all times.

I always have my iPod, my camera and a book. Always.

4. What’s your life motto?

He who dies with the most money is still dead.

5. What’s a word that you say a lot?

Seriously?

6. What were you doing at midnight last night?

Sleeping!

7. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?

Oy vey...

8. Who is your worst enemy?

Me. I am my own worst enemy.

9. What does your watch look like?

I love my watch. It has a black band; a large, wide face with silver markers; numbers at midnight, three, six and nine; a second hand and a small digital display at the bottom. The digital read out is in international time. The face lights up to show everything if the lighting conditions are poor. The second hand is there for me to take pulse readings. The digital display lets me tell time. I do actually know how to tell time, but I misread the dials without numbers all the time.

Saturday Six: Episode #235

This week, there’s a movie-related quiz. Lights…camera…action!

1. What’s the last movie you watched in the theater?

Hmmm. Let me think... I don't go to the movies that often, but I can never recall what I've just seen... I think it was Swing Vote, and I loved it. It was a good movie.

2. How much is absolutely too much to pay for seeing a movie in a theater at night?

Uh, nothing. We usually go to the matinee, first thing, around 1000. I don't want to be in the theater during date night. No way. So it is around $6.50 to do this in the morning. The concessions, however, are where they get you.

3. Other than popcorn and a drink, what concession item are you most likely to buy in a movie theater?

Usually the pretzel bites, but very often I bring contraband to the movies. I'm not a believer in this kind of thing. I can get anything they have, and at far less. While the theaters may not like it that people bring in food, they cannot search my bag and I don't bring in loud things.

4. Take the quiz: In What Genre Should You Be A Movie Star?

The meme would not come up, so I guess I'll never know what genre I should be in as a star. But I would say something that is fun but not stupid. Although I would be in The Fifth Element.

5. What was the last movie you watched at home?

Bee Movie. I like it.

6. Would you have paid to watch this film in a movie theater when it originally came out?

I would have except that people take their kids to see animated movies and there is no showing any more that is safe from having kids in the audience. It is heinous. There should be one showing per day that is "child-free" for those of us who want to strangle the kids and their ineffective parents!