Give Me Some Credit...

I've been really frustrated by credit cards lately. Who hasn't right? I paid off my first credit card and what happens? My credit limit is lowered. I am paying off my other credit card, and as I do, my credit limit is lowered again, thereby affecting my credit score negatively.

All of this is the card issuers response to the upcoming CARD Act of 2009, taking affect February 22, 2010. CARD stands for Credit Card Accountability, Responsiblity and Disclosure Act, passed by the House and signed by President Obama in 2009.

Overall, the Act is incredibly beneficial to the borrower. The underlying feeling is that, generally, the borrower is stupid and needs some restrictions on them in order to make good financial decisions and this is true. Exhibit A is Annie Tegner who got her first credit card her last year in college, scratch that, last MONTH of college and proceeded to charge a new digital camera, trip to Vancouver Island, and bigger bed for her first, new apartment. Enough about her, I hear she's moved on to bigger and better things...

Basically what the CARD Act will do is not allow any borrowers to be issued cards under the age of 21 (w/out a cosigner, or a security deposit, or proof of income to pay the debts). It will also stop lenders from being able to charge certain fees, such as overlimit fees, late payment fees etc. and will require them to have a grace period for credit card payments.

In response to this upcoming change, credit card companies lowered available limits, changed fixed rate APRs to Variable APRs and have sent MANY letters labeled "Important Changes to Your Online Legal Agreement".

The best route to take is to be AWARE of the changes, and more importantly, see what you want to opt-in on and opt-out of. One major change is overlimit fees. A borrower must opt-in to be allowed to go over their credit card limit on a payment, and will be charged the hefty-fee that credit card companies already charge. If you do not opt-in, your payment will just be declined. Its up to you to decide which is better, be allowed to go over what you have and pay the fee for it? Or say no to the purchase and save money in the long run? Sounds like a come-to-Jesus conversation is in order.

This is a great article about ways to defend yourself during this time:

10 Ways to Play it Smart Under New Credit Card Law

Given the fact that much of what we work towards in life is based on a little credit score number that hangs over our head, its highly important to take all of these changes into consideration on a personal level. I would even advise for you to call your credit card company or others on or after February 22nd, get a real person on the phone on your team, and find out what other rates they can offer you, and what the new terms are.

Don't we all want the Centurion Card one day?

Ramblings

Have you ever experienced something, and then held your breath in anticipation of the emotion that should follow?

And then begun to wonder at yourself, when the anticipated emotion doesn't follow?

You then question why you are not feeling what you thought you would feel and what you were told you would feel?

So then do you make yourself feel it because the anticipated feelings are determining what you actually feel, instead of feeling what in all reality you just feel?

Is this self-fulfilling emotion?

When you are in this state, if you have been, do you wonder if maybe you have a get out of jail free card, someway around the anticipated emotion?

Or can you think differently about the thing, instead of what you were told you would think about it?

What is the option if you are to be fully you?

To be. In the moment. Stay in Truth.

An Open Letter of Utter Admiration

Dear Cafe Regulars,

You greet me each morning with a smile (or not, depending upon your reliance of uppers) and my heart usually melts. You ask me for something that I can deliver. I am able to provide this with skill, precision and beauty and as I pass it to you, I see your genuine thankfulness for the change it brings. I can literally make your heart race. You must go on to your busy day, but the exchange we engaged in will forever, for that day, be a moment etched into time. You will tell others about me and encourage them to meet me. They will, in fact, know you have seen me by your expression and by what is in your grip as you enter your office, home, park, school, mall, church, etc. What I provide will carry you through whatever turmoil comes your way. At least, as I've said, for today.

What you do not realize is that I NEED YOU AS MUCH AS YOU NEED ME. In my new world, which is at times disconnected and seemingly isolated, I need to see your shining face regularly. You make me feel like I am important. You remember me, almost by default. You often return my how's it going with another how's it going. Sometimes, you leave me something extra, just to show me how much you appreciate me too. Other times, I feel like you flirt with me a little, which is obviously always a good feeling. It doesn't even matter who you are when you flirt with me, it just feels good. I need you older gentleman. You remind me of an old professor I had and your kind eyes make me feel wise just by looking in them. I need you, general public, working in regular office jobs for the last 20 years. You prove to me that you can still keep your personality and humor among the hum-drum of a settled life. I need you classy suit woman who is warm and kind to show me that I can be a boss and be beauty. I need you woman who never smiles so I can greet the challenge of getting one, JUST ONE, cracked out of the corners of your tight-lipped mouth. I need you old man who never speaks and when you do, it is the kindest honey to drip from a mouth - you remind me of my Grandpa and what it means to be in my family. And I need you, cute cute cute guy in the regular routine, workin it daily at a non-profit, satisfied with your life and all present every morning to remind me that there might actually still be a little bit of romance in life.

On this media-proclaimed "romance week" my love is sent to you, fellow patroners of the sweet nectar beverage and lovers of its beauty. You mean more to me than you probably realize and my greeting to you is not conditioned and rehearsed. It is fueled by my desire and fostered by my devotion. May this love sink into your mouths, melt your insides and make your heart beat a little bit faster...

With Love,

Your Barista, Annie

Friday Nite Non-Lights

2 frustrating things:

1. My friend's tummy was not appreciating Vodka tonite and needed to be driven home. She also needed to be at work at 6:30 am. There was not one responsible person that could help me out on this dual car plight. These are the moments you want to have that clutch dude that can help you out and not make you feel like you just asked him to put a ring on your finger.

2. You walk into a bar. (this is not a joke). Counting Crows is playing and you feel alright (cause they your fave). A scenster bum-rushes the juke box and quickly puts on Dancing Queen by Abba, the scene-crowd goes wild and continues jabbering, licking tables and generally creating mayhem. This is not my town.

Thats all.

Rainy Days Movie Review

The last two nights were spent watching two different movies that were both depressing and surprisingly similar. The first movie was The Life Before Her Eyes with Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood. The story is 2 best friends in highschool where one is classically rebellious and the other, classically conversvative but they still manage to see beyond the behavior to each others' hearts. Together, they face the now-common tragedy of a school shooting. The story cuts to the rebellious friend, Diana, living a seemingly perfect life (played by Uma Thurman), but completely battling her guilt thoughts and perceptions of reality based on the pinnacle event she went through in highschool. The story cuts back in time over and over again, highlighting the girls' unique relationship, experiences that the younger Diana (Wood) had apart from the school shooting, and the other friend, Maureen's (played by Eva Amurri) love and strength. The story unravels quickly, through events and through the cinematography, almost creating an anxiety over the conclusion. There's no way it can be good. The story really plays on themes of guilt and conscience, with a scene of a professor stating that "the conscience is the mind of God and human nature" interacting.

The second film I watched was called Snow Angels The opening scene deals with a highschool football field and band practice being interrupted by gunshots ringing in the distance (ironically similar to The Life Before...). The reviews of this movie focused on human relationships and the need to connect, but I found it strikingly about guilt-driven behavior. Each character seemed to act out not based on what they really wanted, but in a sense, running from what was their reality. The main characted was Annie, played by Kate Beckinsale, who served at a Chinese restaurant in a random small town (side note: this film was further proof for me that staying in a small town is no bueno). The other relationships in the film spring from her coworkers at the Chinese restaurant. Annie is separated from her super-religious, alcoholic husband Glen, and having an affair with her coworker Barb's husband Nate. Glen is trying to get his life in order enough to be around their daughter Tara. Annie's coworker Arthur is a really cute highschool student who we have the pleasure of seeing fall in love with the wierd, new girl Lila. This relationship counteracts the failed adult relationships showcased in the movie as it springs from innocence, true friendship and first love. Through a series of events both tragic and consequential, the little town and its in-house relationships unravel to the point of an innocent child dying and the spiraling of emotions from that point forward. Without giving too much away, the guilt and anger that ensues from that tragedy leads to another death who's victim seems to feel deserving of, unable to alleviate their own guilt and sadness.

Thinking about these two movies in conjunction with each other, the trajectory of the stories had to end in death. The only way for each of these characters to get beyond the events of their lives was the taking of their own as their guilt-ridden conscience and outward relationships unraveled to a point of alienation, sadness, and anxiety. As I thought about it, although these movies were depressing in their conclusions, they poignantly highlighted our complete human inability to ultimately pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. It has me thinking about what we really are and can do apart from the grace of God. We can find a job, find a lover, find a home, find a social circle, basically live our lives by the bootstraps approach. But what about the events that occur inbetween these human choices? What of the things that are out of our control, the things that happen that are unfair, or tragic, or "wrong place, wrong time"? We can't protect our conscience and hearts from these things. We don't have control of that reality. It's the end of the road experiences, the things that make us think over and over again in our heads "what if I had just..." The gap between us and God is the grace and love He gives us, the forgiveness and purpose in a relationship with Him. I struggle slash can't stand religiosity, but I know that apart from a relationship with my Creator, I would ultimately end in death. In Hosea, God promises to heal my desertion of religion and to love me freely (14:4). I read that today and although I don't feel it, I believe it. It is the way for our conscience to be free.

Slice of the Pie

I just had a wonderfully relaxing weekend with an old friend from Bible school. Lisa just moved back to Vancouver, B.C. from Toronto after 2 years of dental hygienist school. She and her husband are starting up life again in downtown Van. She came down yesterday morning and we ate omelettes and talked and listened to music all afternoon. We then went to downtown Bellingham to Wasabes and had some decliciouso sushi. On to Boundary Bay for a glass of red (I went off my detox for this little treat. How often do you reconnect with an old friend?). Then we watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and ate stovetop popcorn just like my mom does. This morning we slept until ELEVEN (I can't believe it) then drank coffee in bed and listened to her pastor in Toronto's sermon. We got up for the day at 5pm and went and got more sushi and watched the sunset off a trail on Chuckanut Dr. It was amazing and so great.

It makes me sentimental and sad that regular life can't hold these times in it ALL the time. Maybe its where I'm at right now, maybe its the fact that Lisa is so sweet and soft and open but times like these are a slice of heaven. It brings me back to Bible school. That blessed year that I got to experience a very real human existence with people, God, nature, joy. I hold 2001 in my heart as a very sacred time. I could never go back to that exact place, my experiences and cynicism and intellect would never allow it. It was the isolated time to open my eyes to the Grand Narrative and understand who I am apart from my upbringing. So much has happened in the face of that since then. So many firsts, some positive, some negative. Pain and happiness and dreams and depression.

What I take from it is that there is a kind of community and sharing that can happen here and now. It is the practicing for a renewed heaven and earth, bathing ourselves in knowing the other and sharing our insides. Its not going to happen easily, or all the time, or even often in different seasons, but its something I can believe in and be open to. I want the softness back I held when I was there. While Lisa was here, an old friend stopped by that happened to be at Capernwray with us. Seeing him and Lisa at the same time reminded me of what we were. I don't know where he is at in his belief, but in the past we have had many conversations about the disillusion and doubt, but none as late, and the point from there to here was painfully clear to me when I saw him. I'm not one that likes to live in the past or hold people to what they were because I believe in change and growth, but the vulnerability I knew of him there reflected to me his heart to know God. If thats not held as a high value, at least as a desire, it can be buried in commitment, decisions, lifestyles, toys, entertainment, philosophies, people, relationships, career, education. I absolutely one hundred percent long for him to be what I knew because it encouraged me. God was real to him. These feelings come very inconvienently because I prefer not to care, or hurt, for someone of the opposite sex. So now I have to deal with that.

The whole pie will be amazing, and until then I will take a slice. Thank you Lisa.

Deep and wide, deep and wide,
theres a fountain flowing deep and wide.
Deep and wide, deep and wide,
theres a fountain flowing deep and wide.

Renter's Digest

As the oh-so-short summer slips into a long-drawn-out winter, there is a quick change that we see overnight. This change is affectionately called moving, and is everyone's worst nightmare, particularly renters.

Being a renter myself and now working in Property Management, I see the precarious position of living in a property that is putting (probably gourmet) food on someone elses table and allowing them to be snowbirds in the winter and gorge on Bellingham in the summer. Having no property myself to speak of, I am going to take this time to be on the side of the renter. Even though my fiduciary responsibility is to the property owner blah blah blah. THAT being said, I'd like to do a little contribution to renters everywhere and give you my checklist for protecting yourself and your precious assets: your security deposit.

At Move-In
1. That condition checklist is the most important document you will fill out this year. Its more important than your term paper and even more important than your marriage certificate. Go through each area of your new place and mark EVERY single THING you see that is not up to perfect standards, and use generic terms, but give a few specific examples. Try to take something that LOOKS like it could get worse, such as, a crack in the kitchen linoleum (will be a gap when you move out). Basically you are documenting what is going to be worn and torn, and anything that isn't solidly sealed, smooth, white, signed, delivered is important to put down.
2. As a part of your documentation, take pictures of big problem areas and turn them in to be on file with your condition checklist.

During Tenancy:
1. Report maintenance, particularly accumulating mold, water spots, something tearing etc. This communicates your own involvement and care of your residence.
2. Please, take some damn responsiblity if you were drunk one night and tried to balance yourself on your towel rack and it ripped out of the wall. Fix it if you can. Its actually kindof fun to google maintenance solutions and fix something yourself. Use your God-given mind in this area.
3. Keep it as cordial as possible with your property manager. Be the first to call, not your mom. Lemme tell you my dating pool has been severely cut down by all the mothers who call for their sons, AS IF THEY ARE ON THE LEASE. Get a life mamacita.


At Move-Out:
1. Clean everything really well. Imagine if you were moving in and you had to put your precious belongings on someone else's funk. I used to think this wasn't that big of a deal, but after seeing how 75% of people live, it IS a big deal. Obviously this is not such a big deal if your property management company gave you a crappy deal upon move in or has an automatic cleaning service written into the security deposit agreement.
Here are the main areas that are typically forgotten at move out, that will make a checklist go from clean to dirty in one fowl checkbox:
Under stove bottom drawer
under stove top and on the sides
top of the refrigerator
under the crisper drawer inside of refrigerator
baseboards and outlets
blinds
window tracks and
exhaust fans
2. When you receive your security deposit check back, ask for an itemized list of what you were charged for and if there is a question in your mind, talk to the property manager. It is important to challenge the gray areas, because inspections are done by the human eye and mistakes can be made (although, they are the professionals, and you DID live in that funk for a year no questions asked). Sometimes normal "wearin and tearin" needs to be deciphered against "negligence".

Hope this is helpful. I have people tell me how much they hate property management companies and I admit, its a hard business. But then I have even more people lie, yell, bitch, and be generally irresponsible with themselves and their affairs. Just be legit and communicative. And always always document. And remember, you don't catch any bees with vinegar.