Did Santa stopped by your house last night? Were you good or naughty this year? 
Archive for December, 2007
Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 25th, 2007HSBC drops interest rates to 4.25%
Monday, December 24th, 2007So HSBC has dropped its interest rate for their internet savings from 4.5% to 4.25%.
The time has come to switch banks again. I’ve already been looking coz 4.5% is low but 4.25% will push me to action.
So far, the contenders are….
1) E-trade - 5.05%
2) Countrywide - 5.30%
Yes, Countrywide has the higher interest rate but I’m not sure how their online technology is… Easy online access and good website functionality are all very important points to me.
So, I’m leaning towards E-trade….
Outrageous story of the week…
Friday, December 21st, 2007Read this piece of news online this week and I still can’t believe it….
52-year-old Deborah Shank is permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair after an accient with a tractor-trailer 7 years ago. Her husband, Jim, and three sons, sued the trucking company involved and won a $700,000 settlement.
After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust, to be used for Deborah Shank’s care.
Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Deborah’s former employer, Wal-Mart Stores.
Two years ago, Walmart’s health plan sued the Shanks for the $470,000 it had spent on her medical care.
“A federal judge ruled last year in Wal-Mart’s favor (why?!!!!), backed by an appeals-court decision in August (why?!!!!).
Now, Deborah’s family has to rely on Medicaid and her Social Security payments to keep up her round-the-clock care.”
“I don’t understand why they need to do this,” says Jim Shank on a recent visit to the nursing home, between shifts as a maintenance worker and running a tanning salon. “This girl needs the money more than they do.”
“The reason is a clause in Wal-Mart’s health plan that Deborah Shank didn’t notice when she started stocking shelves at a nearby store eight years ago. Like most company health plans, Wal-Mart’s reserves the right to recoup the medical expenses it paid for someone’s treatment if the person also collects damages in an injury suit.”
Whoa….all current, past and future employees of Walmart, take note!
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year has given employers a clearer legal map to suing employees and winning.
“Sharon Weber, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, declined to discuss the details of the Shanks’ case, but she said the company was obliged to act in the interest of the health benefits of its employees as a whole. “While the case involves a tragic situation, our responsibility is to follow the provisions of the (company health) plan which governs the health benefits of our associates,” she said.”
This is shocking. Tragic for the family…
$470k is pocket change to a company that makes billions a year. They didn’t have to do this. But they did it anyway.
I hardly ever go to Walmart and I’m even more resolved now not to. Tell a friend, don’t support Walmart.
Inflation and us
Saturday, December 15th, 2007The stock market tanked yet again yesterday, this time spurred by news that inflation is rising.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.8% last month, the biggest increase since Sept2005.
Energy prices rose by 5.7%.
Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, rose by 0.3% as the cost of clothing, airline tickets and prescription drugs all took big jumps.
I went to pick up shirts from the drycleaning yesterday and I noticed that she was charging an extra 25 cents per shirt now. I asked her about the increase and she says “the rent has increased, everything has increased!”.
So that was a 20% increase.
I used to be able to buy grapes at $1.99/lb but these days, they’re ranging from $2.79/lb (40% increase) to $4.99/lb (150%) at Safeway.
Last year at this time, it cost about $28 to fill up my car and when I filled up last week it was $38 (36% increase). I still have the same car by the way.
I also received the bill for our p.o.box yesterday and it was $56 for a year. I didn’t really think twice about it until I looked up our Quicken records. Last year, it was only $40 for the whole year. This is a 40% increase!
Let’s not forget health insurance. I was paying $86/mth in Jan and Feb 2007 but starting March 2007, it was increased to $104/mth (21% increase).
Unfortunately, we all know that our salaries most certainly do not increase by 20%, 30% or 40% a year!
What does this mean for us?
Expenses are increasing, but incomes are not…so I’ll have to find ways to reduce expenses. Find cheaper places to buy things, buy less, use less and find ways to make more money!
Air City ended 12/10/07
Tuesday, December 11th, 2007Air City, the Korean drama set in Incheon International Airport, has ended….and I’m quite disappointed.
It took me a few episodes to warm up to it but I really enjoyed it after that. I really liked the relationship between Kim Jisung and Han Dokyung.
They were both professionals who loved their jobs and most importantly, they were and acted like adults. If you’ve seen many Korean dramas, I think you’ll know what I mean.
Anyway, I really didn’t understand Kim Jisung’s hasty decision in the end. The next part is a spoiler for those that have not finished this series yet. Warning!!! Do not proceed if you don’t want to know!
So, Kim Jisung finds out that his ex-girlfriend has cancer, he breaks down and what does he do next?
Just hours prior to him finding out, on that same day, he had proposed to Han Dokyung and told his boss that he was not going to obey orders and go undercover in Moscow.
He forgets all that and goes off to training. Next thing we know, he’s leaving for Moscow and doesn’t even tell anyone.
What is the reasoning for his actions?!
Anyway, I found that a letdown. How can a professional, supposedly a CIA agent, (known as NIS in Korea, I guess - National Intelligent Service) act in this hasty, childish manner?
By the way, I think they should have casted a “bulkier” actor as Kim Jisung. He’s way too skinny for a CIA agent and some of the fighting scenes I found to be hilarious.
The series also did not tie up the loose-ends of Han Dokyung’s sister and Mr Min. There was a brief mention at the end but no conclusion.
It doesn’t have to be a happy ending to be a good series, I agree, but the ending just felt rushed and silly.
Dae Jo Young programming change
Saturday, December 8th, 2007Yesterday, while watching Dae Jo Young, a notice came scrolling across the bottom of the screen.
Dae Jo Young will only be shown on Mondays and Tuesdays starting Dec 10th, 2007. What?! Why?!
No reason was given and no replacement series was annouced either.
So I went to the AZN site and there was a poster that said “36 new episodes added to the popular series” and that Dae Jo Young will be shown only on Mondays and Tuesdays starting next week.
I prodded the site a bit more and found that a series called “Love Truly” will be shown on Wed, Thurs and Friday starting next week…I think. AZN’s site is not very reliable so we’ll have to see what happens next week.
With 36 more episodes of Dae Jo Young and only shown twice a week, it’ll take another 18 weeks to complete the series!
argh….just when you think you’ll finally see some closure, it’s going to take another 4.5 months to know what happens in the end.