Birthday

Went to see Rize with Erin last night. I can't dance like that. Too white. Erin also gave me a teddy bear (my first teddy bear ever) which she insists is named Philbeart. Also a bag of homemade cookies! Did y'all know my first word was cookie? It's true.

I didn't grope Erin though. I really need to work on this dirty old man thing.

Addendum to house buying

An Addendum to my entry on the housing bubble. One of the things that will pop the bubble is a rise in interest rates. The Fed has been raising short term interest rates, but long term interest rates have actually been falling. Since last year when the Fed started raising interest rates (now at 3.25% I think, it start last summer at 1%), long term rates on treasury bills have actually dropped from 4.5% to 4.1%. Why is that? It's the same reason your T.V. is so cheap. The Chinese government props up its currency by buying treasury bills. This keeps their goods cheaper in the U.S. market by keeping the exchange rate fixed. There's a big push by some in the media and some in Congress to pressure China into allowing its currency to float. They want to do this so that our goods are more competitive in China. If they succeed, import prices will rise. So not only will your T.V. be more expensive, but you will also have higher interest rates on your house cause the Chinese government won't be buying the treasury bills. Then watch housing prices fall as people try to get out.

Vacation

I am on vacation next week. Have no plans to travel. Never found anyone who could afford to go anywhere and who had time with whom I could arrange anything. But I need a vacation before I get burnt enough to get fired. Originally, I planned on having a Do Nothing weekend next weekend, but my grandparents will be using the cabin, so that's off. I may still go out there and help him paint, as he's none to firm anymore.

So what am I gonna do? I dunno. Maybe I'll take an overnight trip or something. Might head to Moscow to sign the paperwork to sell my house. That might be done by mail though. Probably I'll get a lot of reading done.

Current pencilled in plans are: Friday, club, as always. Saturday: hiking? Sunday: hang with friends. Sometime next week: coffee or food with Kim.