tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post763278058256209320..comments2024-03-26T13:46:42.738-05:00Comments on 4 Quarters, 10 Dimes: A New Lease on Our LivesDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-59915703878772608092013-04-01T09:48:05.409-05:002013-04-01T09:48:05.409-05:00Kim is an Inorganiker, actually - her dissertation...Kim is an Inorganiker, actually - her dissertation was on iron chemistry. But yes, optimizing does seem to be an occupational hazard.<br /><br />I should write a post about the distinct mindset gap between scientists and liberal arts folks such as myself. I'll call it, "Can, Should, Must."Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-83180145311228500202013-04-01T08:48:55.995-05:002013-04-01T08:48:55.995-05:00Oh yes, while the budget belongs to my wife, all l...Oh yes, while the budget belongs to my wife, all long term financial decisions belong to me. "You have the MBA, you deal with it, she says".<br /><br />Being chemists, we are <i>both</i> optimizers, though. It's an occupational hazard. See, a *good* experimental yield in a synthesis is ~40%. The more you opimize the little things, the less often you have to run the damn reaction. And when you get to work after grad school, the money per rxn becomes an issue, too. We probably have it worse than Kim, since neither one of us are Organikers, and we never wanted to run the reactions in the first place (we got into chemistry so we could play with lasers, not cook :D). John the Scientisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03467337009577733553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-40814524960037521212013-04-01T08:43:29.079-05:002013-04-01T08:43:29.079-05:00I look at it this way. By getting into a rut and n...I look at it this way. By getting into a rut and not refinancing when interest rates drop by more than 1.5%, you are simply paying for the yachts of the yahoos who ran the economy into the ground last time (and the few times before that).<br /><br />That thought is usually enough to get me up off my keister to deal with the red tape. We've been just a hair over 4% on our note for some time now. I think i refinanced in 2004 or 2005.<br /><br />We also dropped to a 15 year note on that lower interest, so the payments came out the same on a shorter time frame, but the paper is now through our credit union. They do not sell their mortgages. After our first mortgage was sold 5 times in 3 years, I said "enough of that crap" - especially when the last time it was sold we were not notified, and when we sent the check to the wrong place we were charged interest for late payment. That took over a month to get straightened out. I will never again use a bank or a mortgage company to finance a house. John the Scientisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03467337009577733553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-2525103776551405782013-03-28T13:40:20.049-05:002013-03-28T13:40:20.049-05:00Possibly. Though I understand that the shiny new ...Possibly. Though I understand that the shiny new easy refinance is largely due to a federal program called HARP, which is available to all of the mortgage companies.<br /><br />We had to get our forms notarized at our bank, which had had our mortgage before they sold it to the current company. There was a certain amount of oddity about that, I think. :)Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-76208191589910705382013-03-28T12:28:37.380-05:002013-03-28T12:28:37.380-05:00I think we have the same mortgage company, and the...I think we have the same mortgage company, and the same shiny new easy refinance.Phialahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05604909119508288912noreply@blogger.com