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We’re engaged! December 16, 2007

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More Craigslist Stuff February 15, 2007

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Here’s more stuff that I’m selling/giving away because of my upcoming move.

Like A Giddy Schoolboy February 14, 2007

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The boss emailed and said that we can work from home today because of today’s weather. Sweet!

Selling Stuff January 31, 2007

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Since I’m moving soon, I’m selling off some of my wares. Let me know if you want something.

Show me ‘em pearly whites January 19, 2007

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Can you spot a fake smile from a genuine one? This is a sweet test. The test consists of twenty five-second videos of people smiling. And you guess if the smile is real or fake. I thought I would get less than half of them right. But I ended up scoring 15/20. At the end of the test, you can read about how you can differentiate between the two. Let me know what you think.

Traditional vs. Roth Myth? January 15, 2007

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In separate conversations, my roommate, my coworker, and I have been discussing the benefits and drawbacks of Traditional and Roth IRAs. As a little refresher, Traditional IRAs use pre-tax contributions and Roth IRAs use post-tax contributions. So, the money you put in a Traditional is not taxed when you put it in, but is taxed when you take it out. The Roth is vice versa - taxed in, but not out.

For years, I thought that the Roth won hands down. The Traditional taxes all the growth in your account, while the Roth grows tax-free. But the thing I didn’t account is that a $4000 contribution to a Traditional is equivalent to a $3000 contribution to a Roth (say the tax rate is 25%).

If you do the math, it looks like both the Traditional and Roth are equivalent, saying the tax rate stays the same. Is this right? The Roth still seems the better option because it guards you against being taxed in a higher tax bracket. Plus, it allows you to put in a little bit more money since it’s with post-tax contributions.

Can anyone else shed some light on this? Is this correct?

If you want to play with the numbers - ira.ods - ira.xls

REI Garage Sale January 14, 2007

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This morning, I got up early for a Sunday morning and headed over to REI in the hopes of finding deals on clothing. Today marks their semi-annual (I think) garage sale where they have huge discounts on returned items. I had never been to one and my naïveté quickly showed through.

Getting there at 10:30, thirty minutes after the store opened, I received a ticket. Maybe they’re having some sort of raffle? I thought. No. That was the number to get to the back of the store where they were having the garage sale. Because of the huge volume of people, they were letting only so many go back. My number was 923, about 500 people behind the next in line.

So, any hope of bargains were quickly dashed. I shuffled over to a support group of other late-coming friends in the sleeping bag section. It’s good to know you’re not alone.

And miles to go before I sleep December 22, 2006

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The days become longer starting today!

Claudia still limping along November 19, 2006

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Claudia is the name of my ‘96 Mercury Sable. Apart from the dent on the trunk, bike grease smeared across the back seat, the car is still chugging along at 163,000 miles. A couple of months ago, my headlights stopped working all of a sudden. A cop in Bloomfield pulled me over around midnight one evening to tell me this. Thankfully, he let me go. The next day, another cop pulled me over, and this time he realized my inspection stickers were outdated. Again, he let me go which continues my lifelong streak of never receiving a ticket. Judging by my car and my appearance, I think he surmised that I was a broke college student.

Shortly thereafter, my coworker and I diagnosed that the multifunction switch on my steering column was bad. With great eagnerness, I bought a used switch from a junkyard and replaced it. This meant removing the bottom cover to my steering column which meant removing the ignition lock cylinder (the place where you insert the key). And ever since then, my car has stopped working.

A couple days ago, I towed it to Walter’s Automotive in East Liberty. This place came as a recommendation from three different friends and I can’t stop talking about the shop. It’s a small place with one garage and sparse parking. Waiting around to talk to him could leave your head spinning because of the incessant phone calls and continuous parking and reparking as cars are shifted in and out.

But, it’s worth the wait. Tim, the guy who runs the place, is honest and fun to deal with. He has many stories of working with cars, owning rental properties, and Pittsburgh in general. He looked at my car and diagnosed that it was the passive anti theft system, which basically shuts down the ignition system when it’s been tampered with. Only a dealer can correct this problem. So he gave me a good contact at a dealer whom I’m presently dealing with and didn’t charge me a dime for his time. He’s definitely the guy I’m going to work with from now on. Check him out if you’re in the Pittsburgh area.

Paint the walls with bowels of folly November 1, 2006

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Friday is closing day. The last bit of my sale preparation was wrapped up yesterday with my choice of home insurance. So Friday is when I’ll receive the keys and start the improvements. Money sink, here we come.

The two things discovered in my home inspection that will need to be addressed soon are the basement and the attic. The basement has some moisture coming in one of the walls from a gas piping job some years back. I’m planning to seal it, fix a drippy spigot in the utility sink, and if needed, put a dehumidifier down there. I’m going to attempt to do at least some of the work.

And the attic has some knob and tube wiring present. Thankfully, all the other electric is up to date and broken up in three different boxes for the three units. My cousin recommeded that I upgrade it. So this will most likely be something that I’ll have to contract out. The seller and I negotiated some money for these updates to take place.

As far as my unit goes, I plan to paint my walls, redo the flooring, and put in a different kitchen. I’m not sure how long my unit has been vacant, but it’s pretty run down compared to the other units. My hope is to have friends with any remote sense of design or style over to my place this weekend for some color consulting. Anyone want to help? Let me know.