Life and living

It is so easy these days to consume information – there’s of course the older mediums of books and newspapers; as well as movies, radio and tv; and now the newer internet-enabled delivery of this type of content – blogs instead of magazines, podcasts instead of talk radio, youtube instead of movies (or streaming feature length films instead of heading to the video store or theater), digital cable with the hundreds of channels instead of a few over-the-air.

But as the access to consume this content has gotten easier, so too has the access to produce it.  Digital cameras, still or video (although the differentiators between those devises are disappearing more and more every day) along with FaceBook or other sharing sites make it possible for anyone to easily publish imagery to share.  Sharing written content is even easier to do (though that doesn’t speak to the need to have something meaningful to say..)

And so I often find myself sitting down to watch tv, read something on the computer, etc., wondering whether I shouldn’t spend more time contributing.  As I read blog posts or view photos that others have created, I wonder whether I shouldn’t be spending that time creating my own work to share, rather than simply consuming others’ work.  Which is not to say that there’s not value in consuming what others have created – there’s a lot to be learned out there – it’s more just a recognition that at some point, you’ve consumed enough and it’s time to give back.

I guess these thoughts are stronger now, as I’ve got this backlog of photos that I want to get around to posting, as well as a few thoughts that I’ve been stirring around with writing about.  That plus the ‘season of giving’ and all makes me think about what it means to give instead of take.

But it’s more than that – I also think about what FaceBook or Twitter means to me – and what I like about those services – and inevitably it comes down to people who take the time to produce – whether it’s thoughts, photos, videos – or even sharing a link to a funny or topical piece that someone else has created – it’s when others are generating content for me to consume, that’s when I appreciate those services.  Which inspires me to be one of the people who creates value in those communities, rather than one who just checks in and reads what others have produced for them.

This past month as I’ve been preoccupied with lots of other ‘off-line’ activities I haven’t produced much and I’ve found myself consuming more.  But as I’ve said, I’ve got a backlog that I hope to share in the coming weeks.  If only I could get through all of my podcast listening and blog reading..

Well, I’m back home and done (finally!) with thanksgiving turkey (though there’s a lot of soup in the freezer) and so now it’s back to reality. Time to find a new job and prepare for the coming of another year.

I’ve got a lot of photos that I need to upload .. but it’s going to take me a while.  I’ve got a lot of processing to do – trying to winnow the digital pile down to a meaningful amount that people will find interesting.

And even thought the holidays are once again upon us, I still need to spend some time on the job search.  The savings can only last so long, after all.

Yesterday i was doing a little product research on something I wanted to buy.  I looked at a couple of the reliable online sites to understand the models out there and the general pricing.

Then, while at lunch, I visited a nearby store that sold the product at 150% of the online price.  Needless to say, I didn’t buy it.

Returning back online, I found an online retailer with a brick & mortar location here in San Francisco with a great price.  So after work I made my way over to the store only to find that their price was too at the 50% markup.  What gives?

I talked to one of the sales reps at the store who informed me that they couldn’t match the online price (the registers would blow up was the phrasing he chose) but that I should remember that online charges shipping (and since they have a local presence, sales tax too).

I went home and bought it online.

I don’t understand a company that won’t:

1. have consistent pricing.  OK, fine, I get that it costs money to have that item on display in San Francisco instead of in a warehouse in Nevada (or wherever) so I understand that you need to charge a markup so..
2. meet internet pricing when asked – at least for the savvy shopper, allow for some flexibility in pricing at the register.  If not, at the very least..
3. have a reasonable markup for the convenience.  Charge a reasonable (10%) markup for the convenience of walking out of the store right then and there with the product instead of having to wait for UPS.

The idea that this store wanted to charge me 50% more for that convenience was ridiculous.

With more and more information literally at peoples’ fingertips (think iphone) the idea that you can count on the un-informed shopper stumbling into your shop and unknowingly spending a 50% markup has got to be short-lived.

Doesn’t it?

I’ve had the opportunity a few times where I’ve taken time off between jobs.  I am a HUGE fan of this and I can’t speak highly enough about it.  One of the things that amazed me, though, was people who would ask:

“What do you do with your time?”

These people would admit that were it them, they’d go stir crazy.

This is not something that I’ve suffered.  I find that there are so many things calling for my attention.  In fact, while gainfully employed I often find it hard to make the time to pursue the many activities that I enjoy.

I’ve been making an effort recently to spend more time working on some photo projects, including my weekly photo postings.  The main purpose of this effort is to make sure I’m spending more time examining the photos I’m taking (I’ve taken) in order to improve future images.  I figured, I should be able to spend at least a little time each week on this.  It’s just 1 photo per week, after all.

And yet, I’m amazed at how difficult it’s been.  And so it’s with some amazement that I look at others and what they’re able to get done.  Recently, I’ve been checking in on a photo blog where the author, Dustin Diaz, produces 1 photograph to post PER DAY.  And these are highly-stylized, photos with lighting setups and accompanying tech notes and everything.  I am just amazed that he is able to find the time each and every day to put towards this effort (this in addition to holding down a job, relationship and even pet ownership, from what I can gather).

I’ll admit that some of the photos end up being quite similar and you might fault him for that but remember: each of those photos is going to take a couple of hours (including planning, set up, shooting, tear down, post processing, posting, describing, and then dealing with the comments, etc.,) so one can’t fault him too much for falling back to a similar setup.  Besides, it’s not like there’s a lot of time left in the day for pre-planning these thing and coming up with more differentiated setups.

Over the coming months, where I spend my time is going to be something I’m more consciously thinking about.  I feel like I’m already pretty decent at minimizing time spent on less-important stuff, it’s just that I’ve got to re-draw the line, lopping more stuff into the less-important column.

I’ve finally gotten around to uploading some photos from this summer.

There are a few new albums that I’ve posted, including photos from Michigan, Tahoe and our Idaho road trip.

You can see the photos here:

June trip to Michigan

A collection of photos from the Nichols Arboretum

Some Dylan photos from a hike around Tahoe Donner

And finally, an album of pics from our road trip to Idaho

enjoy!

I’ve lived in my apartment for 4 1/2 years now and recently, things have started to get a little more crowded (filed under girlfriend, cross-referenced with dog).  Actually, there are many apartments in my building with a larger occupancy than mine (including the upstairs neighbors – 2 adults & 2 kids) so it’s not all that bad – at all.

But, being Americans, it’s in our nature to covet more.

I decided to just see what our options are, and to contact my real estate agent who helped me with my current place and I was really shocked by the change in the landscape.

Now, I know all about what’s been going on in the world for the last year, so it’s not that this comes out of the blue.  What I didn’t appreciate was how much it changed the whole dynamics of home buying.  See, when I bought my apartment, I was able to do so with a very sketchy loan scenario in many ways:

• I was qualified for way more than what I ended up paying for my place.  Ultimately I decided on what I thought was a much more reasonable price point than what my lenders were willing to give me.
• I put only 5% of the purchase price down; using a home equity loan to cover another 15% (thus avoiding the need to pay any mortgage insurance)
• I got a 7-year ARM loan (opting again for a more conservative route: I was originally offered a 1, 3 or 5 year fixed time frame but I decided I wanted a little more security)
• I got an interest-only loan, meaning that during those 7 fixed years, I would only have to pay the accruing interest on the loan, and not any principal.

In many ways I played it much safer than what was being offered – I took the 7 year ARM, I bought a cheaper place, and importantly, I’ve always made larger payments than called for, refusing to pay only the interest portion of my loan.

So while I figured things would have tightened up in the past couple of years, I underestimated by just how much.

Talking to my real estate agent (and followed up by my mortgage broker) the scenario today is much more straightforward: put 20% down.  Anything less requires mortgage insurance.

Wow.  That’s a lot of up-front payment, especially here in San Francisco.

I was expecting the disappearance of the interest-only loans.  I was expecting tighter standards of credit worthiness.  I was expecting more realistic alignment of loan amount to income.  Each of these I was prepared for.

What I wasn’t expecting was a big hunk of cash being needed.

I see where this makes sense: this puts a LOT more risk into the hands of the borrowers.  If my apartment were worth 500,000 (it’s not), that would mean that when I bought, I would have had to put out 25,000 as a down payment.  If I default on my loan and walk, I’m out 25000.  With 20% down, that number changes to 100,000 – something I’d be a lot less likely to walk away from (and if I did, I’d feel a much worse sting).  Also, if the bank were forced to sell that property at a loss, there’s a much smaller risk that they’d lose significant value – since they’d be able to sell it at 80% of its value without losing a cent (since I would have already lost the first 20% of value).

This makes total sense from an industry that’s reeling from too much risk exposure.  But it’s really tough for folks like me who hadn’t really thought about the need to save up a 20% down payment.  It also really hurts sellers (or potential sellers) who won’t benefit from the same number of potential buyers.  No wonder we’re just not seeing that many for sales these days.

So, a little furniture rearranging, maybe a little paint here and there, and my apartment should be good for a little while longer.