danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

I’m not going to go Ted Kaczynski here, but I cannot fail to notice the ways technology has caused me immense frustration over the course of the last year.  In 2008, I had to buy a new television to replace one I had purchased less than two years before; I had to buy a new computer to replace another that failed in data-losing fashion; and I experienced a months-long plumbing nightmare.

My new HDTV is the greatest thing ever, and thanks to the good folks at Quality Plumbing, the drain is clear, so that horror has ended.  But no sooner had the water begun flowing than more trouble has come along to take the place of the old.  This weekend, after being at work all afternoon for back-to-back beg-a-thon shifts, I arrived home to find the house exceptionally warm.  The air conditioner was blowing hot air.  Thanks to help I received in the past from the Clays–who had a similar problem–I knew the culprit was a bad capacitor, and I did replace it today at minimal cost.  But, that’s just the beginning.

Miriam began complaining recently that the laptop–my expensive replacement for the old computer that failed so horribly–was behaving oddly.  For instance, when she would turn it on, the screen would be blank.  Not having experienced it myself, I couldn’t guess the cause.  By Sunday morning, however, it happened to me.  Indeed, after starting Windows, the screen would go blank and stay blank.  Sara told me that that is precisely what her HP laptop did to her less than a year after she bought it.  This computer is less than ten months old, so it is still under warranty, and, if it’s going to break, now’s the best time, being the holiday between spring and summer classes.  But, hell fire, what is the world coming to that we cannot make a product that lasts more than a couple years any more?

I’ll confess my share of the blame: I have allowed myself to become captive to the power and convience of computers.  Indeed, I use a computer every day for many important tasks.  Consequently, when I have this sort of problem, it’s a cripling predicament.  I spent an hour and a half on the phone this morning with HP technical support (not being jerked around – it just took a long time to run some diagnostic tests), and now I will be without my laptop for two weeks.

I’m not planning on going off the grid, but sometimes I’m tempted.

Filed under: Rantings, Technology on May 4th, 2009 | No Comments »

Things are steadily improving around here.

The toilet nightmare which began on the 23rd seems to have ended.  Early that Tuesday morning I awoke to an overflowing commode.  Tuesday is my long day; my first class begins at 8:3o AM, and my last class ends at 7:00PM.  But I went to Lowe’s that morning at seven o’clock in the morning, stopped at Walgreen’s to get some medicine for the ailing Mrs. Hill, and did my best to repair the toilet before school.  But I ran out of time before I needed to leave.  I took a brutal midterm in the afternoon, and was preparing to head to my evening class when Miriam told me they were sending her to the hospital because her symptoms suggested possible appendicitis.  It wasn’t, thank goodness, and my professor was understanding when I wrote to him later.  But the toilet defeated me that night.  And when I reached the point of maximum frustration–when I stood in the doorway of my bathroom, staring at that filthy sewer hole in the floor with the roaches crawling out–I was on the verge of tears.

It was emasculating to have to call a plumber, and I worked all day Wednesday, so it was Thursday afternoon before anyone could come out.

Meanwhile, we spent Wednesday night at Sweetwater Branch Inn, in the charming 1895 McKenzie House.  The Giovanna Room was delightful, and Cornelia, who makes the breakfast the bed comes with, was very sweet.  In spite of the horrible circumstances, I still had a nice time, and would like to go back some day.

Sara was nice enough to offer to wait for the plumber for me, and he was a nice guy, too.  I was going to have him repair the rusted out cast iron flange the toilet gets bolted to, but he told me I could do it myself and save hundreds.  He told me what I needed to buy, I went to Home Depot, bought it, and had the toilet together by the time Miriam got home from work.  All was well.  Until this past Thursday night.

Thursday night, following a brutal midterm in my Early U.S. Novels course, I took a long shower, and was just beginning to mentally transition into spring break.  After I got out of the shower I flushed the toilet, and it happened again.  The plumber came back out on Friday afternoon, but I missed a chance to go to the beach with Sara.  I’ve talked to both my neighbors, and they, too, have experienced the same problem.  I am going to call GRU on Monday and have them install a clean out by the street, so if I have another blockage I might be able to clear it myself with a rented auger.  I put the toilet in place, caulked it really well, and, as of Saturday night it is doing its job.

And Miriam’s all better.

Filed under: House, Rantings, School on March 8th, 2009 | No Comments »

On NPR this morning, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor said, “the default rate on mortgages that have been modified thus far is very high”.  This statement caught my attention because, first, I have been saying for quite a while that getting people out of ARMs and into 30-year fixed-rate loans is the best way to prevent foreclosures, and, second, it is intentionally misleading.

Last week I read about two people in south Florida who had their mortgages modified.  One woman’s interest rate dropped 11% when her terms were changed.  Another man saw no change in his monthly payment because the bank added so many fees and penalties.  She kept her house; he went into foreclosure after all.

Rep. Cantor is right that the default rate on modified mortgages is high, but only if your definition of “modified” is very broad:

“It’s becoming more and more clear to us that if you do real modifications the default rate is significantly lower”, said Tom Miller, the attorney general of Iowa, who has led a group of state officials pushing the industry to modify more loans. “They shouldn’t be called modifications if people pay more or approximately the same”.

The facts are that genuine modifications keep 75% of borrowers in their homes, and allow them to stay current.  If the “modifications” Rep. Cantor criticizes fail, it’s because they aren’t modifications at all.

Filed under: Current Events, Politics, Rantings on February 25th, 2009 | No Comments »

Things right now are going very badly for me.  Here is a short list, in no particular order:

• I have no working toilet in my house.
• I have several exams and papers due this week.
• My poor wife has been injured or sick for several weeks and I am powerless to make her feel any better.
• My email seems to work only around 50% of the time.
• Cox Cable switched from the national PBS high-definition feed to the local one, and now I don’t get the same programs; other programs I like show at different times; the signal looks much worse; and I will now have to endure the frequent pledge drives, which the national feed doesn’t carry.
• I still haven’t got my motorized bicycle running.
• I changed guitar strings a few weeks ago, and now my Telecaster won’t stay in tune with itself.
• My guitar makes an annoying buzzing sound because the outlet my amplifier is plugged into isn’t grounded.
• I cannot stop eating Girl Scout Cookies and I feel guilty.
• I have a million chores to do around the house and very little time to do them.
• I have to read hundreds of pages for school, and I am not up to the task.
• I am very tired, and it’s only nine o’clock in the morning.
• When I am at school, I cannot concentrate on what my professors are saying, because I am thinking about one or more of the above.

Filed under: Health, House, Rantings, School on February 25th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

First, Dick Cheney is human garbage.  He just told Jim Lehrer that he doesn’t believe that the public disapproves of his actions and performance as vice president.  When reminded of his historically low approval ratings, he said something to the effect that that’s not what he’s hearing from people.  No kidding!  Imagine that: Dick Cheney–the man who disappears from the public eye for long stretches; gives few interviews, especially to legitimate news organizations; spends a considerable amount of time in a bunker–doesn’t realize that an enormous majority of Americans think he bears considerable personal responsibility for much of the United States’ present difficulties.  Cheney, lest we forget, has been wrong about almost every single thing that has happened in the past eight years.  He would probably still tell you that there are weapons of mass destruction, and that Iraq really was in the last throes of the insurgency in 2005.

Second, what is wrong with this Timothy Geithner guy?  If you’re just some regular dude, I can understand being confused about what has and hasn’t been withheld from your paycheck.  But this guy is supposed to be running the Treasury Department?  I think an awareness of your personal tax liability should be among the minimum qualifications to hold that job.  Meanwhile, it seems the common denominator amongst all rich and powerful wankers is undocumented household employees.  Two tips:

1. If you’re rich enough to hire household help, you’re rich enough to hire a U.S. citizen.  Don’t be so cheap.
2. President-elect Obama should drop this guy.  There’re better people out there.

Filed under: Politics, Rantings on January 14th, 2009 | No Comments »