ET's Info-Stew

Please excuse this rant on banks. I listen to a daytime radio personality named Clark Howard who talks all about personal finance. He calls them "Super monster mega banks" and says they have "customer no-service". I'm so tired of them.

Today I got two letters in the mail, one from US Bank, the holder of our first mortgage, and TCF Bank, the holder of our HELOC. The letter from US Bank said that I owe the insurance company for the first year insurance premium. So I called the "customer no-service" and asked them what the deal was. He said "You paid your first year's premium at closing."

About a week ago we ran the dishwasher and noticed a puddle of water at the base. We didn't know for sure it was the dishwasher until this morning when Jenny ran a load through and the puddle started forming again. I was thinking "Great, now we're going to have to buy a new dishwasher."

The Ford is no more. The insurance adjuster said it was a total loss. I asked her if it was borderline and she said it was actually an "obvious total loss". When she ran the numbers the cash value of the car is nearly $12K, and since we have a $500 deductible and $5,500 left on the loan, that means we'll be getting a $6,000 check to help pay for the next car.

Driving home from work today Jenny got caught in an extremely heavy downpour, hydroplaned the Ford Explorer, and spun off the freeway. The car struck a on-ramp light pole on the rear driver's side door, doing significant damage to the car. But the most important thing is that Jenny is okay. She has a skin burn from the seat belt, and her neck and back are sore. But she doesn't require medical attention. The second most important thing is that there were no other vehicles involved, so nobody else is hurt.

I don't know if I'll ever be another best man, but if so I want to have a good speech of advice ready.

You two have found your perfect match and I'm so happy that you've tied the knot. Marriage is the biggest step two people take together, making a commitment that lasts for the rest of your lives. I've been so fortunate to have been happily married to my wife and best friend for N years. And over those years I've learned a lot about what it takes to maintain a happy marriage. I'd like to impart some advice for you both.

When most people get married, they stand up at an altar in a church to make a promise with God that is supposed to last until death. Perhaps for some there really isn't a symbolic religious tie, thus there is no basis for a true life-long commitment. For others, there may be an initial life-long commitment, but the evolution of a marriage causes that commitment to lose value. I've unfortunately seen the marriages of two young couples dissolve within less than five years of making the vows. Is there something missing from 20 somethings' knowledge about marriage?

We went to the movies on Friday with Liz and Cy to go see the new Batman movie. When we got out of the theater it was evident that it had just rained. When we got home we were surprised to hear, through the garage door, our fire alarms blaring! Afraid of what we might find, I carefully opened the door...but there was no indication of a fire. We checked the whole house, including the crawlspace and attic, but there was not sign of a fire.

On Thursday I was going to take off a half-day from work to go to the Colorado DMV with Jenny to get our cars registered and our driver's licenses. Just as we were ready to leave, Jenny realize that she had no idea where her keys were. She hadn't driven in a couple days, and she had been many places since then. We did a thorough house search, asked Liz and Cy if the keys were at their house or in their car, and Jenny called the places she had been, but nobody had found her keys.

The last blog entry seemed like a long time ago, and so much has happened. We got in to Liz and Cy's house at about 5pm on Monday. One Tuesday, we did our closing, pulled the truck in, and unloaded everything into the garage. In the last ten days we've slowly been settling in to our house. We're about 75% unpacked. We still have a handful of boxes in the living room and a lot of miscellaneous stuff in the garage. I won't be satisfied until everything is in a smart place. Fortunately there should be plenty of room to put stuff.

Yesterday Jenny and I, with tremendous help from Dad, Mark (my brother) and his fiance Heather, loaded up our 16 foot Penske rental moving truck for our move to Colorado. It turns out we had way more stuff than we expected and the truck ended up being fully loaded nearly top to bottom. We didn't have any appliances and didn't have much furniture (bed, TV stand, nightstand, two side tables), so the bulk was just household stuff. After lunch we finished off packing the truck and did our apartment walk through.