Dememod

Just a quickie.

I’ve said before that, when using the Demekin, you have to be careful of your horizons. This being a fisheye camera that’s really tiny, it’s easy to get your horizons off.  To mitigate this, I bought an el cheapo level and doubletaped it to the top of the camera with the viewfinder as an added anchor point.

Easiest mod in the world. Total cost, 50 cents.

Yeah I am quite proud of it, of my balletheel collection It is quite large but also interesting and this thoug balletheels definitely are not my favorite shoe style… except for alberto heels maybe, but about those more soon! – so here glimpses of some of my balletheels in use; if you want to show your balletheels, write me! Most convenient for me is embeding of a youtube clip like here (thank you for uploading!) or pictures in .jpg

And for the beginning, just showing a very simple but very effective Balletheel modification from the picture used in the avatar of this blog – Here with tuxedo vintage style legwarmers from legavenue. (c) light-fetish.de

This is my first post here, and I’d like to start off with a review of the 1:28th scale 370Z from Radioshack.

Quality/Attention to Detail:
First off, I’m quite impressed with the recent pickup in quality that Radioshack’s been doing. The 370 is molded just right, and the details are there along with correct proportions. I particularly like the detail molded into the 370Z Touring wheel replicas.

Performance:
Straight out of the box, it’s a pretty zippy car. It’s got a nice off-the line and decent top-end, though it could be a little faster. the steeri needs a little bit of trim adjustment from the box, but after that, it’s smooth and neutral. At speed and in corners, the 370 is pretty well planted and will only step its rear out to kill your run if you get on the throttle too fast in the corner. Braking is pretty decent and progressive, though not very powerful. The rubber mirrors are a nice touch too, as in your speed runs, hitting the barriers is inevitable, and the mirrors take the most beating. With rubber, it flexes instead of snapping like older generation mirrors did.

Durability:
It’s a durable thing. it’s been dropped on the ground, attacked by my dog, and slammed into walls, but it’s still running strong. Along with its tough carrying case, it can go wherever you want it.

Problems:
There’s quite a lot of wheel wobble, and the lug nuts crack real easily when over-torqued. The ride height is a little bit on the high side too.

The fix:
Ball bearings: These run around 20 dollars for standard ABEC-5 bearings all the way up to 50 dollars for ceramic-steel hybrid bearings. The eliminate much of the wheel wobble for more consistent handling.
Suspension: I’d recommend buying the suspension and steering upgrade from Radioshack if you can find it. It has 3 sets of springs: soft, medium, and hard. Playing around with them, you can find a balance that favors your driving style. There are also three different tierods: 1.5, 3.0, and 4.5 degrees of toe in. These let you tune the steering characteristics to your taste. This costs about 16 dollars.
Motor: the standard motor has plenty of zip, but not quite enough to satisfy. The stage 2 motor upgrade from Radioshack doesn’t exactly satisfy either, but the gear ratios will be useful. Personally, I recommend an Atomic Stock BB or something that tops out around 30,000 to 35,000 rpm. This will probably run you about 16 for the Stage 2 and another 20 for the aftermarket motor.
Lugnuts: the stock ones suck, so while you’re at Radioshack, grab a bag of 2/56 steel hex nuts for around 2 bucks.
All Wheel Drive: This is one very effective upgrade. runs about 16 dollars, and gives you a 4WD 370z. That means easier to control, more grip, keeps its composure, and better handling all around. If you wrap scotch tape strips around your tires so they’re slippery, you can also pull sweeping drifts with a bit of practice. Some companies will make drift tires which require you to shave off the ridge on the stock xmod rim to fit the tires on, but they drift very consistently, and can be used onconcrete unlike scotch tape. The drift tire sets will cost anywhere from 4 dollars to 10 dollars depending on where you get them from. Foam tires are also very grippy on concrete, but tend to get ripped up really easily. They run about 5 dollars a set and need to be mounted and balanced correctly.

Pictures:
I was having a bit of fun with my sister’s Digital SLR.

Ich habe vor 4 Wochen einen netten kleinen Vollverstärker von Musical Fidelity erworben. Dieser kleine Engländer ist rund 10 Jahre alt und es sollte an der Zeit sein, ihn frisch zu machen. Bevor ich das anging, hörte ich mir den E1 erst einmal einige Tage an. Verglichen mit einem Technics SU-V660 klang der Musical Fidelity dynamischer, erschien weniger gebremst und spielte mit mehr Räumlichkeit und Rhythmus. Nach einigen Tagen, die ich mir nahm, um mich an den Klang des Musical Fidelity zu gewöhnen, ging ich die erste Frischzellenkur an.  Die erste Modifikation betraf alle Kondensatoren. Musical Fidelity hat hier durschnittliche Standardware von Nichicon verbaut. Typen mit normalen ESR Werten und in 85°C Ausführung. Ich entschloß mich alle Kondensatoren gegen 105°C Ultra low ESR Typen zu tauschen. Zuerst tauschte ich die beiden originalen 10000µF/35V/85°C Kondensatoren gegen 10000µF/50V/105°C Typen von Jianghai. Danach kamen alle kleineren Kondensatoren an die Reihe. Hier verbaute ich die Ultra low ESR 50V b.z.w. 63V (105°C) Typen. Zusätzlich bekamen alle Kondensatoren Bypass-Kondensatoren parallel verpasst. Hier kamen WIMA MKP Folienkondensatoren zum Einsatz.

Weiter ging es mit der Verdopplung der Netzteilkondensatoren von 20000µF auf 40000µF. Hierzu musste ich Löcher für die Kondensatoranschlüsse der beiden Zusatzelkos in die Platine bohren, was sauber zu bewerkstelligen war. Die beiden zusätzlichen Kondensatoren habe ich einfach mit dem ersten Paar zusammengeschlossen. Das 2. Kondensatorenpaar besteht aus einem anderen Typ der Firma Richey mit Sitz in Nashville, Tennessee USA. Grund für diesen “Typen-Mix” sind technische und klangliche Gründe. Optisch wäre es vielleicht schöner gewesen, wenn die 4 Becher gleich aussehen würden, aber um die Optik ging es in diesem Fall nicht. Was am Ende zählt ist nur der technische und klangliche Aspekt.

Da nun die Arbeit mit allen Kondensatoren erledigt war, konnte es an anderen Stellen weiter gehen.

Mir fiel auf, dass Musical Fidelity die Kabel, welche von der Platine zu den Lautsprecherklemmen führen, angelötet hatte. Problematisch hierbei war, dass die Klemmen für Schraubmontage und nicht für Lötung ausgelegt sind. Die Materialoberfläche ist nicht sehr gut zum Anlöten von Kabeln geeignet. Das zeigte sich, als ich nur leicht an einem der angelöteten Kabeln zog. Es löste sich komplett mit dem Löttropfen von der Klemme. Wahrscheinlich war hier zusätzlich die Temperatur der Lötung zu gering. Das Lötzinn konnte daher keine richtige Verbindung mit der  Klemme herstellen und platzte einfach sauber davon ab.

Ich löste die übrigen Lötstellen und stellte fest, dass auch diese mangelhaften Kontakt zum Material hatten. Die Lötstellen an sich sahen sauber und glänzend aus, hafteten jedoch nicht ausreichend. Ich entschied mich dazu, die Kabel nicht mehr an die Klemmen zu löten, sondern sie mit vergoldeten Gabelschuhen zu versehen und bombenfest mit Kontermuttern zu verschrauben. Das hält nun bombenfest.

Die nächste Stufe der Modifikation wurde in der Signalverbindung von den Vorverstärkerstufen zum Lautstärkepoti gezündet. Hier verwendete Musical Fidelity ein sehr dünnes, abgeschirmtes Kabel, welches unten an der Lötseite der Platine geführt wurde. Dieses Kabel ersetzte ich durch ein dickeres Koaxialkabel und verlegte dieses weiter weg von den Baugruppen des Netzteiles.

Das original verbaute billige 50KOhm Lautstärkepoti in offener Bauweise ersetzte ich mit einem hochwertigen, gekapselten ALPS Poti (Das Blaue). Da mir der Regelbereich des

Originalpotis zu grob war, wählte ich das ALPS als 100KOHM Ausführung. Jetzt habe ich einen feineren Regelbereich und die Haptik des ALPS beim Drehen ist sowieso legendär.

Der nächste Schritt war das Gehäuse des Musical Fidelity E1 selbst. Hier versah ich innen den Gehäusedeckel, den Boden, die Seitenwände und die Rückwand mit Bitumenplatten. Diese sind sehr leicht in der Verarbeitung und sorgen nun dafür, dass das Gehäuse schwerer und resonanzberuhigt ist. Klanglich macht das keine Unterschiede, aber die Anfassqualität des Verstärkers erhöht sich ungemein.

Netzseitig habe ich nichts verändert, außer das ich den Anschlusspunkt des Schutzleiters verlegte. Im Original wurden lackierte Gewinde und Muttern zur Befestigung verwendet, was sicher zu keinem optimalen Kontakt führte. Ich verlegte den Anschluss des Schutzleiters an eine andere Stelle mit optimalem Kontakt.

Evtl. werde ich noch den originalen Ringkerntransformator gegen einen größeren mit 300VA tauschen, was ich dann natürlich auch mit Bild und Text dokumentieren werde.

Resümee:

Klanglich haben diese Modifikationen immens viel gebracht. Das gesamte Wiedergabespektrum hat sich erweitert. Klanglich also von allem mehr als vorher. Klarere Höhen, sauberere Mitten, strafferer und schwärzerer Bassbereich. Sehr erstaunt war ich über die Räumliche Abbildung des Musical Fidelity nach diesem Umbau. Schon im Original löste er sehr schön auf und verwöhnte mit einer sehr ausladenden Bühne. Was aber nach dem Umbau geboten wird ist wirklich mit Worten sehr schwer zu beschreiben. Am ehesten kann man dies mit mehr Echtheit, mehr Livehaftigkeit beschreiben. Auch bei Zimmerlautstärke ist jedes Schallereignis im richtigen Verhältnis vorhanden. Die Autorität der Wiedergabe ist atemberaubend.

Ich spreche hier von einem kleinen Vollverstärker mit irgendwas um 30 Watt pro Kanal an 8 Ohm, aber er klingt fast wie ein ausgewachsener Accuphase, Krell, oder McIntosh. Die ungebremste Dynamik, die explosionsartige „aus-dem-nichts“ entstehende Wiedergabe und Geschwindigkeit beeindrucken. Was vorher irgendwie mit Ankündigung kam, kommt jetzt ansatzlos mit aller Wucht, Geschwindigkeit und Kontrolle. Natürlich haben Verstärkerboliden a la Accuphase, Krell, McIntosh u.s.w. mehr Leistung und können lauter, aber wenn man diese und den kleinen modifizierten Musical Fidelity mit gleicher Lautstärke an technisch durchschnittlich anspruchsvollen Lautsprechern vergleichen würde, dann täte man sich sicher schwer, sie zu unterscheiden. Man spürt seine ungebremste Dynamik selbst in leisen Musikpassagen.

Auch sehr auffällig ist das mehr an Luft um einzelne Instrumente herum. Beispielsweise die Oboe d’ amore in Bachs Oboenkonzert BWV 1055 (MDG) steht genau fokussiert und atmend, in realer Größe im Klangbild. Das ist nur eines von vielen Beispielen, die eine Aufnahme zum Leben erweckt.

To be continued…

I have a few moments so I thought I’d do a little update.  Things are still awesome with D   Last night he said I could call him my boyfriend so yay!!

Got my tragus pierced today.  WOOT!! I am LOVING IT! Granted I forgot I had it and scratched by my ear and totally nailed it with my knuckle LOL I am also wanting an “industrial.”  In my other ear.  It’s the one that’s the bar through the top of the ear, has 2 holes.  Prolly get that after tax returns.  I actually expected it to hurt a lot more than it did.

That’s about the extent of what I had to say LOL Hope you all are having a safe and happy holiday season!!

Hello, The attorney Brian Corey and I've dealt with foreclosures and mortgage changes throughout South Florida for hundreds of customers. In what is here today to speak to you about you, how I can help you or you can help yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQlIV-jPjOo&hl=en

MYTH 

Kudos to investigative journalist Kevin Hall with McClatchy Newspapers for inserting himself into the so called “loan modification” process and exposing the farce that is being perpetrated on the American public in the article below. Why is this happening? Pretty simple, two reasons, first the fact is that in almost all cases where you have a mortgage that has been securitized, you the homeowner or you the lawyer representing the homeowner are not dealing with a party that has authority to modify the loan and second they NEED a default. One of the many missions of this site is exposing the truth, hence the name “Livinglies.” The reality is that they, the “pretender lender,” know the debt is unenforceable, the real party in interest is unidentifiable in most cases, and the title to the property has a cloud on it. So what do they REALLY need:

1. They need new paperwork and they need new signatures on something they can represent as your affirmation of the debt….to THEM… not the party that actually funded your loan who may be damaged by a default or even the party still on the deed or mortgage at the county recorders office. 
2. They need you to waive any rights and claims you could assert because the “real lender”  or “real party in interest” and/or various parties in the chain of securitization assumed liablity for those claims you could assert as the notes flowed up the chain.
3. Here’s the biggie, they have insurance in the event of default, they can’t collect on the insurance, credit default swaps, PMI, etc.  in the event of modification.

Insurers have a habit of including exclusions into policies of all types and credit default insurance policies are not different. Here is a little sample of a PMI exclusion:

“Notwithstanding any other provision of this Policy, the coverage extended to any Loan by a Certificate of Insurance may be terminated at the Company’s sole discretion, immediately andwithout notice, if, with respect to such Loan, the Insured shall permit or agree to any of thefollowing without prior written consent of the Company: (1) Any material change or modification of the terms of the Loan including, but not limited to, the borrowed amount, interest rate, term or amortization schedule, excepting such modifications as may be specifically provided for in theLoan documents, and permitted without further approval or consent of the Insured.“*

*Radian Guaranty Master Policy, Condition 4.C, at Master_Policy

So who is the “insured”? Well, the bondholders who put up the money that was actually used to fund your loan, reality is they are the only other party other than you that has been damaged in this whole mortage meltdown. Every other party between you and them was an intermediary, who made a killing, and had no capital at risk. The truth, there is no incentive or reason to modify your loan. In order to collect on the insurance they need a default, not a modification.

Why do you think they want you to use the “fax” to resend them your “modification” paperwork for the umpteenth time? So they can “lose” it again. If they allowed you to scan and email it to them or send it Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested you would have evidence that a) they received it b) who received it and c) when they received it. Then all of a sudden you have a timeline, then all of a sudden someone has to be accountable and explain why they received your information 3 months ago and you haven’t heard “boo” since…

They know that 60% of these “modifications” are back in default within a year so they need to clear the deck to foreclose when that happens. Meantime, with regard to these “trial” modifications, the paperwork I have seen explictly says that the payments will NOT be credited to your loan account but will be placed in a “suspense” account until after the trial modification period is done. Now, if you fail to complete the trial period or when the “trial” period is completed and you did comply, but they tell you they cannot approve your for a modification…who do you spose keeps that money sitting in the suspense account?

Bottomline folks, even if you are “working with your servicer on a loan modification” you need to consult a competent attorney, don’t wait until the wolf is at the door to start looking for one.

If you are a competent attorney, practicing in this area and not on our list of “Lawyers that Get It” we want to hear from you.

Homeowners Often Rejected Under Obama Plan

Noticed on a piece of porn spam just before I deleted it: a reference to amateur tits. You can find many hits for the expression, and also for amateur knockers and amateur boobs. There are a fair number for professional tits (but many fewer for professional knockers and professional boobs, because these expressions have other uses not referring to breasts — referring instead to people who habitually “knock” other people and their work and to people who habitually behave like idiots).

The first analytic question here is whether amateur and professional in these expressions are adjectives or nouns (or, possibly, adjectives in some uses and nouns in others). In either case, the expressions are composites of the form

modifier M + head noun N

and their semantic interpretation isn’t the default.

For composites in general, the default is (letting X‘ stand for the denotation of the expression X) for (M + N)’ to be a subset of N‘, that is, for the composite to be subsective, or hyponymic (a Christmas cookie is a cookie, a big cookie is a cookie). But non-subsective composites, of several types, abound. (For instance, I’ve posted on Language Log a couple of times about one type, resembloid composites, in which (M + N)’ merely resembles N‘ in some relevant way; see here and here.)

For Adj + N composites, the default relationship R between Adj and N is predication: a big dog is a dog that is big. Such cases involve predicating adjectives. But there are several types of non-predicating adjectives, some of which I’ve posted about — for instance, contiguous country, here, and regional country, here.

For N1 + N2 composites, there is also a question about the relationship R between N1‘ and N2‘. The default is for R to be one of a small set of relations (predication, possession, location, containment, material, etc.). But new composites can be created on the spot, in which R can be exquisitely specific or can have additional content beyond the default R. Language Log has had a series of postings on non-default Rs, starting with Geoff Pullum’s entertaining canoe wife posting.

Back to amateur tits and the like (from here on I’ll let this one example stand for the set). There is a noun amateur (as in “They are amateurs”) and an adjective amateur (as in “This is all so amateur”), so in the composite amateur tits it could go either way. However, both sorts of composites would be subsective: amateur tits, on either understanding, are tits.

So the complexity of amateur tits lies in the relationship R between M and N.

When M is N, R is default relationship of possession: ‘tits of, belonging to, an amateur’ (where the noun refers to ‘a person who engages in a pursuit … on an unpaid basis’ (NOAD2)),

When M is Adj, R is certainly non-default, non-predicating: amateur tits are not tits that are amateur (where the adjective refers to ‘engaging in or engaged in without payment; nonprofessional’ (NOAD2)). Instead, the amateur participant in the scene is not the tits, but the woman who bears them. That is, the property of amateurishness has been transferred, or displaced, from the woman to her breasts. This is an instance of the figure of speech known as hypallage, which I’ve posted on several times, in particular here (with, among other examples, free-range mayonnaise) and here (focusing on distracted driving).

My first instinct was to treat amateur tits as having the adjective tits in a hypallage. But the noun analysis (with amateur related to tits by the possession relationship) is also possible. In fact, it’s very hard to find evidence that clearly bears on the choice between these analyses, so for the moment I’m leaving the question open.

Mortgage loan modification has become quite common these days. Earlier most lending institutions did not offer such services, but due to the present economic turmoil they are providing such options. The government is also taking steps to provide relief and ease the burden. If your situation demands you to go in for a loan modification procedure it is important that you know the requirements for the same. You can also opt for a reputed legal firm like Premier Consumer Group who provides assistance regarding mortgage. Premier Consumer Group is a US based legal services firm that offers various solutions to prevent foreclosure. This reputed firm has also been featured in news channels like Forbes.com and Fox News, among others.

What are the services that can benefit debtors?

Some of the services which can greatly benefit debtors include:

• Total Reinstatement
• Forbearance Plan
• Refinance
• Partial Claim Program
• Loan Modification
• Repayment Plan
• Shortsale/Preforeclosure Sale
• Bankruptcy

All of these services are offered by Premier Consumer Group.

How to get a mortgage loan modified?
For mortgage modification, firstly you have to communicate to your lender that you are unable to pay your monthly installments and apply for a loan modification. The lender will look into your appeal and ask for proof of your current financial status which is preventing you from paying the installments. You have to provide them a letter of hardship which will explain in detail how you have reached such a situation. There could be a variety of reasons which has led to this condition such as severe pay cuts, demise of co-borrower, serious illness, divorce, and death of family member or any other unforeseen expenditure, etc.

Once the loan modification appeal has been sanctioned, you can look forward to a new structure of payments and loan payment conditions. The lending institution will also ask for proof of your current income so that they can confirm your ability to pay the modified loan amount. It is also recommended that you do not miss out on paying your modified loan installments in order to avoid foreclosure.

The lending institutions have become more lenient and are offering modification deals to help clients out of this situation. They have also been instructed by the government to waive certain charges and penalties while providing loan modification. These financial institutions are also in a state of problem since they are not very eager to go through a process of foreclosure. A foreclosure can be expensive and does not benefit the lender much. With such a market condition, even employed people are not very eager to purchase any property; hence the lender will have a tough time selling off the property.

Conclusion
You can go through the loan modification process with relative ease by choosing a reliable and experienced loan modification firm like Premier Consumer Group to help you out. Such institutions have the expertise to advise you about the suitable type of loan modification and also assist you with the necessary steps to get it approved. If you want to be free of the hassles of loan modification, you can hire professional services to get it done. Premier Consumer Group also offers other useful services like tax reassessment.

Have you been having sleepless nights over your current mortgage loan? Does it seem that you may not be able to pay up on time and have to face a foreclosure? Relax. The solution to your woes lies in loan restructuring. US based legal firm Premier Consumer Group will help you to plan and execute the proceedings effectively. Loan restructuring or loan modification is a situation where the homeowners enter into a new agreement with the lender to change the terms of the loan so that the borrower may not end up with a foreclosure. This is ideal for homeowners who have a low credit score and are unable to get a refinance sanctioned. There are various other benefits of a loan modification. They are:

Avoiding Foreclosure – one of the primary reasons for loan modification is the homeowner facing a foreclosure. A foreclosure can help in stabilizing the financial status of the borrower. It is also beneficial to the lender since foreclosure is an expensive procedure and involves considerable hassle.

Credit score – loan modification is required when the homeowner is facing a foreclosure. A foreclosure also means that the credit score of the borrower will be affected very badly. It is strongly recommended that a foreclosure is avoided at all costs. Premier Consumer Group can help with this scenario.

Lower payments – once the loan modification procedure is complete, the home owner can also look forward to a restructured amount of payment. The modified amount of debt installment is usually fixed at thirty five to forty per cent of the monthly income of the home owner. This ensures that the homeowner is in a position to pay for his other expenditures along with the loan. The payment structure is modified in such a manner that the interest rates are lowered and the duration is increased.

Lenders benefit – in case of a foreclosure, the lender also loses out since it is an expensive procedure and he is unable to recover the cost of the home loan too. When a loan restructuring happens, the lender can also be relieved that he will get regular payments for a longer period of time.

Helps economy – loan restructuring helps avoid foreclosure. Foreclosure can be very bad for the borrower, lender, as well as the entire economy. Premier Consumer Group can take charge here, providing solutions acceptable for both the lender and the debtor.

Conclusion
Premier Consumer Group combines their expertise in real estate and negotiation skills to provide a wide variety of solutions to avoid home foreclosure. These services include total reinstatement, repayment plan, forbearance plan, loan modification, Partial Claim Program, refinancing, shortsale / preforeclosure sale, and bankruptcy proceedings. Premier Consumer Group has been featured in top news channels like Fox News and MSNBC for their outstanding services. Other services provided by the company include tax reassessment and reduction of property taxes as a result.

Here’s a cool product I recently found very helpful for vintage Gibson acoustic guitars with the adjustable bridge. These guitars originally came with either a wooden saddle (one of Gibson’s brilliant ideas, from the 60’s) or ceramic. I much prefer the sound of the ceramic version, because it gives a brighter sound, much like a traditional bone saddle, and it doesn’t wear as easily as the wood version. Unfortunately, finding and purchasing a vintage ceramic replacement can be very difficult and quite pricey. I’ve seen people ask way too much for these. Some owners choose to completely remove the adjustable bridge system, fill in the entire original slot with rosewood and install a stable saddle in its place. I’ve never been a fan of doing this to otherwise perfectly original instruments. I’m very opinionated about being good stewards of vintage instruments.

GIBSON WOOD SADDLE circa 1960's

GIBSON CERAMIC SADDLE circa 1960's

Recently, my good friend Bruce brought in a 1968 Gibson B-45 12 String (see 1st photo) for a fret re-crown. He was excited to have newly acquired this cool old Gibson, but because this guitar also has a trapeze tailpiece, instead of bridge pins, to secure the strings, the sound was quite dull, combined with the wood saddle. Imagine the disappointment. Enter new product…

Graph Tech "TUSQ" replacement for Gibson adjustable bridge

The folks at Graph Tech; mostly famous for graphite replacement saddles for electric guitars and “TUSQ” material for acoustic guitars, have created a great alternative to the pricey, and elusive, ceramic saddle. It is made with their “TUSQ” material and costs only $12.95. We went with it and the results are quite impressive. I am now keeping them in stock, so let me know if you need one installed!

1968 Gibson B-45 12 String with "TUSQ" replacement saddle

Read Mandelman Matters for a practical defense of principal reductions instead of foreclosure:
http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2009/12/the-care-bair-%e2%80%93-fdic%e2%80%99s-sheila-bair-wants-principal-reductions-from-banks-with-loss-sharing-agreements/

Here’s a teaser quote:

“My neighbor isn’t costing me money by having their principal reduced, they’re saving me from having to lose money. They’re not taking money out of my pocket by having their principal reduced, they’re stopping the market from taking money out of my pocket. When my neighbor’s principal gets reduced, I’m the one getting the gift.

In fact, if the bank refuses to grant a principal reduction, and instead decides to foreclose and sell the home at auction, the new sales price will bring down the value of all the other homes on the block.

In fact… the ONLY way I’m not going to lose a good chunk of my home’s value in this scenario is if the bank will reduces the principal balance my neighbor owes on his or her mortgage. Remember, I own the equity… the bank owns the property.

Of course, I realize that the people who are opposed to helping those they consider irresponsible homeowners are upset and would like to see those people punished for wanting a nice house to live in.

I suppose they think that the irresponsible people should have seen that the credit ratings agencies were about to improperly rate bonds, that Wall Street investment bankers would then sell the improperly rated bonds to investor groups all over the world, and that the result would be the total decimation of the secondary mortgage market, which would make it impossible to get credit for anything essentially overnight. (But if they do, then they’re nuttier than a fruitcake.)

I suppose it should have been abundantly clear that housing prices were about to be cut in half over 18 months… after all, everyone else saw all of that coming.

And please don’t bring up some outrageous one-of-a-kind example of an unemployed 22 year-old who loaded up on beachfront investment properties financed with nothing down, stated income, spring-loaded adjustable rate loans… because that’s not what we’re talking about here and you know it.”

Also from Mandelman, read this piece:

http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2009/12/a-time-for-good-judgement-the-jury-is-in-and-we-need-judges-to-modify-the-way-banks-behave-2/

Okay, just read his whole blog, all right?

The U S Treasury Department announced their plan to speed up the short sale process of homes and other loan modifications on November 30, 2009 to help the rising foreclosures across the country.

The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program offers financial incentive for completing a short sale and deed in lieu transactions.

Short Sales are favored over foreclosure because the recovery is typically much better than under foreclosure and it helps to preserve the borrower’s credit rating.

To Qualify for this program:

The property must be the homeowner’s principal residence.
he home owner must be delinquent on the mortgage or close to defaulting.
The loan was made before Jan. 1 this year and is less than $729,750
The borrowers total monthly mortgage payment must exceed 31% of their before-tax income

The New Rules Verses the Old:

This is a step forward in the Short Sale market. This will give buyers less time to wait for lender approval from the time they sign the contract and make Short Sales more attractive to potential buyers.

Strict Deadlines
Standardized Paperwork
$1000 to mortgage servicing companies for administrative costs
$1500.00 relocation expense to the seller for selling their home for less than the amount of their mortgage
Up to $3000 towards paying subordinate lien holder to release their lien.
A minimum of 90 days up to 1 year to market and sell the property will be allowed
No foreclosure may occur during the marketing period specified in the short sale agreement.
For participating in Foreclosure Alternatives the Mortgage service’s may not charge fees to borrowers
Mortgage service’s may not lower real estate agent commissions after an offer has been received

Borrowers who complete a short sale under the program must be “fully released” from future liability for the debt, according to the guidelines.

What does this mean for you?

Right now I know “NOW MORE THAN EVER BEFORE THIS IS THE BEST TIME TO BEING DOING SHORT SALES!:

This is a win, win, win situation all around.

Homeowners and Banks are being helped out.
Investors and Agents have the opportunity now more than ever to make a fortune right now in Short Sales.

How would you like to be cashing in on this? You can!
Come spend 3 days in Orlando, Fl January 29-31, 2010 at my 3 Days Live Short Sale Training Event and you’ll never look back.
Find out how to make your fortune right Here!

How would you like to be cashing in on this? You can!
Come spend 3 days in Orlando, Fl January 29-31, 2010 at my 3 Days Live Short Sale Training Event and you’ll never look back.
Find out how Right Here!To Your Success,

We managed to score, what we believe to be, the original dozer blade. However, only the blade.
Meaning we had no mounting system for the blade itself.

Originally the blade was raised and lowered by means of a hand crank. But, it’s 2009, we can do better than that!
Besides, there was an obvious flaw in the original design as the cable loop for the crank had bowed down part of the frame work on the nose of the Boondocker. The weight of lifting the blade was obviously too much for it, as you can see in the photo below.

We purchased a winch and after some measuring and planning we purchased the steel needed to fabricate a mounting system for the blade.

Toby,  having been a professional welder at his previous job,  did all the steel work for the mounting system.

The nose piece of the Boondocker itself is merely a panel made out of mild steel. Which is by no means strong enough to support the weight of the winch.
That being said the nose needed to be reinforced to handle the weight of both the winch and the blade itself once it was raised.
This required removal of the nose panel and some tricky work around the front wheel.  (I’ll include some detailed photos of this process soon)

Mounting the winch on the nose also proved to be a challenge in that the nose is slanted.
This meant that an arm with a pully was needed to extend in front of the winch so that the cable would pull the blade up as opposed to backward.

Much of this process required some guess work, as none of us working on this project are engineers by any means.

The winch and the nose reinforcement were all done without altering the look much.

The entire system is also made to be quickly removed and un-hooked.

The end result is such:

Currently our objective for this project is as follows.
Obviously, this is all subject to change as we gather information and ideas come to fruition.

• Gather information
  Currently, there seems to be very little information on this.
  We’ve managed to dig up scans of an old brochure for this (which I’ll post soon) – However, as for the year of manufacturing, model distinction, number of models manufactured, patent information & manuals, information seems to be slim.
  Finding out exactly how rare this is would be nice.

• Rebuild
  Our plan, as of right now,  is to refurbish and rebuild as needed. We are by no means set on restoring this to it’s original condition. However, we have no intentions of altering it beyond possible recognition.
  This process includes fixing anything that may be broken and restoring the body and the electrical system. Also, the engine currently seems to run fine, however, this may still need work as the project progresses.

• Modification
  This is going to include adding things that will make use and function easier and more comfortable from the original design.
  Possible examples are:
  • A solid removable cab
  • Efficient heating system
  • New seating design
  • Removable mower deck
  • Various safety features
  • Various instrument panels – such as a speedometer, odometer, fuel gauge, hour meter, ect..
  • Efficient Electrical system
  • External and internal lighting system, including headlights, dome lights, brake lights and running lights

Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) — Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair may ask lenders to cut the principal on as much as $45 billion in mortgages acquired from seized banks, expanding her bid to aid homeowners as unemployment rises.

The FDIC, which has taken over 124 failed banks this year, may seek to have lenders that sign loss-sharing agreements when acquiring the assets do more than cut interest rates or defer the loan’s principal, Bair said today in an interview at Bloomberg’s Washington office.

“We’re looking now at whether we should provide some further loss sharing for principal write downs,” Bair said. “Now you’re in a situation where even the good mortgages are going bad because people are losing their jobs. So you have other factors now driving mortgage distress.”

Bair, 55, is stepping up her effort to prevent U.S. home foreclosures, using the agency’s relationship with lenders to make change. She has pressed mortgage-servicing companies to modify loan terms for struggling borrowers and unsuccessfully lobbied last year to have the Treasury Department use the Troubled Asset Relief Program to curb foreclosures.

The FDIC set up a foreclosure-relief program last year at IndyMac Federal Bank, a failed California mortgage lender, to be a model for the banking industry. The program, using a combination of interest-rate reductions, term or amortization extensions and principal forbearance, led to agreements to modify about a third of IndyMac’s eligible loans.

Rising Unemployment

In September, Bair urged banks that are sharing losses with her agency to temporarily reduce mortgage payments for out-of- work borrowers. U.S. unemployment soared to a 26-year high of 10.2 percent in November.

The agency now is considering whether lenders that acquire banks should share a larger portion of the losses on loans whose principal is cut and whether the FDIC will recover the additional subsidy through reduced foreclosure rates.

“I think we’re going to gain by reducing re-default rates or delinquencies with people walking away,” Bair said. “We’ll obviously lose by providing loss-share for principal writedowns.”

Under the average loss-sharing agreement, the FDIC pays as much as 80 percent of losses on a residential mortgage up to a set threshold, with the acquiring bank absorbing 20 percent. Any losses exceeding the threshold are reimbursed at 95 percent of the losses booked by the acquirer.

$80 Billion

The FDIC has loss-sharing agreements on $109.1 billion of failed-bank assets, including $44.7 billion for single-family home loans, spokesman Andrew Gray said.

“For the acquiring banks, it’s great because now they get more protection for the assets that they’re picking up and they have more flexibility in dealing with the problems,” John Douglas, who leads the bank regulatory practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in New York and is a former FDIC attorney, said in a telephone interview.

Principal reductions will help borrowers who are “underwater” on their payment-option adjustable-rate mortgages, whose principal expands over time, said Julia Gordon, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending.

“In order to make those loans affordable and give those homeowners a reason to stay rather than walk away, principal reduction is going to be key,” Gordon said.

The U.S. Treasury Department plans to pressure lenders to complete modifying home loans to troubled borrowers under a $75 billion program. Almost 651,000 loan revisions had been started through the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program as of October, up from 487,080 as of September, according to the Treasury.

The Washington-based FDIC insures deposits at 8,099 institutions with $13.2 trillion in assets. The agency is charged with dismantling failed banks and manages an insurance fund it uses to reimburse customers for deposits of as much as $250,000 when a lender collapses.

So, we’ve settled on a Long Wheel Base (LWB), Mid-Roof Ford Transit as our camper van, and we think we’ve found the one to buy. Now comes the tricky part: working out how to fit it out as a camper!

We’ve had so many ideas as to how to plan the layout – deciding exactly what we want to include. We’re trying to decide at the moment whether we want to do a proper built-in shower/toilet compartment, or just store the toilet and have an outdoor shower. We’re putting off making the decision until we actually have the van, and can walk around and get a feel for the size and living space we would have.

So far, we need to buy/consider:

• toilet/shower
• where to install the gas bottle and cooker
• where to install water/wastewater tanks – how big also
• water heater and pump?
• electricity – having 2 batteries or more
• lights
• sinks and showerhead and taps
• bed/couch design, including matresses/seat covers
• table design
• storage – where and what style
• 2- or 3-way fridge
• are we taking the Esky too?
• curtains/mozzie net installation
• getting window put into the van
• flooring and walls – do we panel it?
• I’m sure there’s more but I just can’t think of it right now!!!

So, there is a hell of a lot to consider and plan for – but our aim this week is just to buy the van and go from there. Once we move out of our house in the next week or two, we’ll be able to start working on the van full-time.

Oh yeah – we’re also in the process of choosing and buying a shipping container to keep at my parent’s place to store all our stuff in. Whew!

If you’ve got any suggestions for the van – throw them our way please!

https://www.hmpadmin.com/portal/docs/news/hampupdate113009.pdf

Wow. Honestly, as I am writing this I am attached to the auto-dialer. I still haven’t gotten a deal. I have to wiggle Francisco’s purchase through somehow because they need a proof of funds letter for the short sale. I have been jumping through so many hoops and I haven’t been putting any money in my account. I hate being negative Nancy but if when I am having a hard time I don’t express the reality of this situation, the documentary of this experience won’t be worth reading or watching.

I am on the phone with a client. She is behind on her mortgage and she isn’t making any money and for some reason she thinks she can get refinanced. I have spoken with so many ridiculous and lost people today that are afraid of the solution that can actually help them. It is crazy. One man I spoke with has two daughters, he’s retired, he isn’t late on his mortgage but as soon as he is through the last of his savings he will be. He is about to get a pay cut and between that and not having any savings he is going to lose his house. It is clear as day. He says he wants to talk to HUD. The people at HUD I’m sure are wonderful people. But I already know that they aren’t going to help him at all. So they are going to tell him he can’t qualify for anything until he is late on his payment. Then three or four months will pass and he’ll get turned down by the mortgage company. Awesome. Then he will be saying all this garbage about how horrible things are when he could have just listened to me in the first place and not have dealt with any of this. I could lower his payment, protect his house from foreclosure, and make it so he’s not paying his mortgage for the next few months. But Cool. I still haven’t gotten any deals, I have made a ton of calls and I’m frustrated because I am speaking with people who are scared, and they only act in fear, procrastination, and stupid excuses. If you are reading this and are having problems with your mortgage, call me. I can help. I am with a company whose lawyer has been around since 1982 and isn’t about to jeopardize his license for the amount of money we ask for to get it done. We can’t even take deals that don’t fit into the criteria. But you need someone who is going to look out for your best interests and actually represent you against the bank. The bank is like an insurance company. The only difference is that an insurance company expects to give you money when they are supposed to. The bank doesn’t because you signed a mortgage with foreclosure clauses and everything else and their job is to collect on that note for their investor. So they are going to manipulate you in any way possible to get you to pay on that. And believe me, there are many ways that they can manipulate you. It is actually a science. That means that not all modification companies are scams. That means you can do some research and actually get help and come out in a much better situation than you were in. You can email me or comment and ask for help and I will be happy to assist you.

In other news…

I went to the Apple store today and spoke with the store manager. It was actually an incredible conversation because I am going to begin to do a made it on Mac Seminar which is awesome. They are going to put the blog on their website, I will have a built in audience, I will be doing public speaking, and everything will start to go. So it gave me an idea. I am going to contact marketing at Apple and tell them that I will go around doing the Made it on Mac at all the stores and I will hold that and show people how to make money with their iphone, ipod nano, and Macbook and doing it all on the road and unplugged. Pretty awesome. I just have to do that once a week to get things really going.

So that’s cool.

Last night I did a pretty awesome but short show on Blogtalkradio.   I put the RSS feed for it on the side.  Gotta check it out!

Take a listen.

Recording with modified microphone and (of course!) the clothes peg.

A light shower last night inclined me to attempt another recording of the rainwater tank in the backyard.  The recently modified microphone proved ideal for a quick set-up.  An edit of the recording (two excerpts separated by a 1-second pause) is available to download below:

Rainwater Tank Vol.2 07-11-09, (2:13), 320 kbps

There are 9,657  homeowners in Colorado participating in the federal government’s  trial modification program,  shows a government report released obtained by InsideRealEstateNews.com.