I’ve paid SO much more than this in student loans over the last six and a half years!

Sometime towards the end of January/early February, my roommate told me that he finally received a call back for a job that he’s been waiting to hear from for several years. He said that if he passed the different qualification rounds (he did and there was never a question on whether he would) and the agency offered him a position (which was and remains likely), then he would have to move out at some point in the middle of May.

Just like any sane person, I reacted to this news by weighing my future housing options. Through this process, I realized very quickly that my options for selecting a living situation in 2013 are much different than they were 5 or 10 years ago. Today, I don’t really need a roommate to pay for the too-high rent required for the three bedroom, two and a half bath townhouse that I currently live in. However, only having to pay half of the rent and half of the utilities obviously makes my financial life easier and I can’t complain about the roommates that I’ve had over the years – they’ve all been great with paying their share of the costs. And they’ve been good guys, too.

However, I’ve gotten a bit older and what I’ll accept for living space today is different than what I would have accepted 5 or 10 years ago. For example, I could very easily continue life as a renter and move into a less expensive condo or apartment that is much closer to the beaches and the bars that I go to (on those rare occasions when I actually go out to the beach or bar). But not only would continuing to be a single renter be a poor use of my income, living in those areas is not really where I want to be at this point in my life. Granted, “those areas” are only minutes from where I live now, but as a guy with an aggravating commute I’d rather be as close to the main highways as possible. The area that I live in right now is less than a mile from the Garden State Parkway and less than 5 minutes to other major highways in the area. It’s nice to have that type of access to main highways.

I’ve quickly gotten off topic here. The point of this entry is to provide a brief student loan update! I’m in an awkward position right now with my students loans. For the first time in years, I haven’t made any extra, excessive payments to the USED / MOHELA loan because I’ve been saving my money to buy a new home. Of course, as you might imagine there are two aggravating items that I have to report on about this situation.

First, I have $17 thousand still outstanding on my student loans. What is aggravating about the outstanding balance is that I have the entire amount (and then some) sitting in a savings account right now. Why not use the money in the savings account to pay off the balance of the loans, you ask? Simple. I’m saving those funds to buy a house. Just like the detour I had to take last year when my Honda Civic crapped out and I bought a brand new Ford Escape, I’ve been presented with a situation that requires me to change my financial goals.

Second, between principal payments and interest over the last nearly 7 years that I’ve been repaying my students loans, I’ve given private entities like NJHESAA and MOHELA and government agencies like the USED some $104 thousand in principal payments and some $35 thousand in interest payments for a combined nearly $140 thousand no longer in my possession. Just to give you a perspective on how that type of repayment has had a lasting, real impact on my life – the $140 thousand from the repayment could have easily combined with the $17 thousand that I’m sitting on to allow me to buy the condo that I’m considering purchasing – with absolutely no mortgage.

No mortgage.

Of course, that’s not the situation that I’m in and that’s not the way my financial life has progressed. And I’m not mad… Am I aggravated about it all sometimes? Yes. But definitely not mad. In fact, I’m grateful that I’ve been able to position myself such that I can buy a home at 32 years old when there are so many people in my generation that just aren’t able to do so yet. And the path that I’ve taken to get here will allow me to decorate the walls in my soon-to-exist-home-office with various degrees and professional commendations. Not such a bad outcome, really. Does buying a home mean that my plan to retire my student loan debt by this summer is going to change? Yes. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to push that repayment plan out a little bit longer. But pushing the repayment plan out a little bit longer because I’m buying a home isn’t so bad!

So instead of reading about how I retired my student loan debt in the summer of 2013 you’re probably going to have to wait a few extra months – possibly a full year – to read that update. In any event… stay tuned!

Look, we all know that there is corruption inherent in the government. What we do not know is if the system that corrupts the politicians or if it is the politicians that corrupt the system. After going through this book, I don’t think that I’m any closer to answering that question than I was before reading it, but I do think that I am convinced more now than I ever of one thing…

I’m registered as an independent voter due, in part, because I don’t want the Republican or Democratic parties in New Jersey to think that they can always bank on my vote. Well, after reading The Soprano State, I am convinced that staying on the rolls as an independent voter is the right thing to do in the Garden State. Why, you ask? Simple. Backroom deals and the utter waste of taxpayer dollars has been perpetuated by both political parties in this state.

The Soprano State goes in depth on many of the political backroom deals that drive the voters in this state crazy. But what I really liked was when I went to The Soprano State‘s website and noticed that the authors have added, free of charge, updates on more political garbage that you can only expect to find in the Garden State. Here is a sampling from the book’s website:

New Jersey’s long-suffering taxpayers deserve better. Newly sworn-in Gov. Chris Christie said it took him two hours to learn that instead of a $500 million surplus, he was inheriting a $1 billion revenue deficit for the budget year ending June 30. The kicker is that Gov. Corzine, also in his last week, sent by wire transfer $121 million in special municipal aid to five cities. Add that to the news that in his final week, Corzine transferred $1 million to the Legislature. Most of the money, $800,000, went to the Democratic controlled Assembly where salary accounts had been overspent in 2009. This kind of behavior is what cost the Democrats the governor’s seat.
– Michael Symons, Asbury Park Press, Jan. 24 and Jan. 20, 2010

Lee Solomon stepped down from a county judgeship to become president of the Board of Public Utilities. Solomon has worn a lot of hats over the years: assemblyman, Camden County freeholder, county prosecutor, and first deputy U.S. attorney. The Soprano State (chapters 5,6 and 7) does not have warm and fuzzy things to say about Solomon. But this is his chance to make a difference, to end globetrotting at the BPU, to scrutinize its bank accounts, its audits and its files and to hold people accountable. It’s time to give citizens of New Jersey some confidence in the board that regulates utilities. Seems like a judge and a prosecutor would be the perfect person to do it. We shall all see if Solomon fits the bill.
– Bob Ingle, Asbury Park Press, Jan. 22, 2010

Don Norcross, brother of South Jersey political boss George Norcross, has leapfrogged into a state Senate seat. When Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts decided to depart, Norcross got his Assembly seat. As soon as Norcross was sworn in, he was tapped for the Senate seat left vacant by the departure of Sen. Dana Redd, who became mayor of Camden. Don Norcross said he’d draw from the experiences and advice of Roberts and new Senate President Steve Sweeney. The message to taxpayers: nothing is going to change.
– Jeremy Rosen, Courier-Post, Jan. 19, 2010
– Bob Ingle, Asbury Park Press, Jan. 18, 2010

Ahhh…nothing like wasting taxpayer dollars to help your family and friends get ahead in New Jersey, huh? If you’re interested in learning more about the politics of New Jersey, then I suggest reading this book. From my perspective, I think that The Soprano State is required reading for all New Jerseyans.

First of all, did you know that May is Arthritis Awareness Month? There are over 300,000 children affected with juvenile arthritis in the United States alone – and some of them you would never know are suffering. For some the pain is private, with symptoms lasting for years before they receive the official diagnosis. Other kids have to drive hours to see their pediatric rheumatologist since there are such limited numbers across the country.

Kelly was diagnosed at 2 years old while other kids featured in this book were in their teens. Learning from her personal pain and struggle, Kelly wanted to make her book one that kids would want to read. She wanted to give kids an up-to-date resource guide that put familiar faces with the disease. Featured with Kelly are Allyson Shapiro – a reality TV star, Amanda White – a champion figure skater, and Shaun-Marie Robbins – a new mother who is having difficulty doing everyday mommy tasks.

On May 3rd and May 17, the NJ Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation is holding their annual Arthritis Walk across New Jersey. Kelly is the Public Relations Chair for the Princeton event and will be on hand to meet walkers and supporters. If you can, consider taking some time out of your day and supporting the Arthritis Foundation and meeting Kelly in Princeton!

Justin: I wanna read about Adolf Hitler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe: Go get Mein Kampf

Justin: But I don’t speak Spanish

Joe: Exactly…

Justin: You wouldn’t deny a request from one of your most loyal visitors, would you?

Joe: I’ll put it in for a future entry

Justin: Define future entry…. as it relates to New Jersey law

Joe: Something before the end of the month

Justin: Hmmmmmm….. I’ll allow it. You’ve got some good leads already. That family has been in the news twice in the last month. Once for the bakery not writing “Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler” on his cake and then now for the kids being taken from the parents

Joe: We’ve been following it here in NJ

Justin: It’s kind of like pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control b/c of their beliefs…. except on a much smaller scale

Joe: Kinda – it’s a little bit different in that one act perpetuates the largest mass murderer in modern times and the other act perpetuates a religious belief.

Justin: Yeah. But the central question is: Does the worker have a right to deny the customer something they are ‘entitled’ to? (for lack of a better word)

Joe: Who said they’re entitled to it? Shop-Rite is a privately held company and they denied a client a service – they have a right to do that.

Justin: Well, the customers think they are entitled

Joe: The customers are wrong.

Justin: What I wanna know is why the family couldn’t write it themselves on the cake, lol, it guarantees satisfaction and it’s cheaper! We did it all the time when we were younger

Joe: Because they wanted the media attention

Justin: Yeah, and now the kids have been taken, but the NJCPS said children are never removed unless the have been abused in some manner

Joe: They probably have been abused. If you’re fucked up enough to name your kid Adolf Hitler, you’re probably fucked up enough to stick a finger where it doesn’t belong.

Justin: LOL

Justin: WRITE THAT!

There you go – a conversation about one of the most messed up families on the entire East Coast!

Anyway, I bring this up because I saw the results of the poll on the Daily Record website a few days ago. Here are the results in their entirety as printed in the Daily Record:

TRENTON — U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie hasn’t said whether he’ll run for governor, but he’d start such a race slightly trailing Gov. Jon S. Corzine, according to results of a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Corzine is favored 42 percent to 36 percent among 2,020 registered voters in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup against Christie. Much of the advantage results from the state’s overwhelming Democratic edge in voter registration, as Christie holds a 38 percent to 32 percent edge among independents.

The two had been tied in polls conducted in August and September. The new poll was done from Nov. 12 to Nov. 17, culminating on the day Christie announced he will resign his post on Dec. 1 — news that sparked talk of a long-anticipated gubernatorial run.

The poll also showed New Jersey disapproves of Corzine’s job performance by a 46 percent to 43 margin and say he doesn’t deserve to be re-elected by a 51 percent to 37 percent margin.

Those numbers are poor but improving, Quinnipiac pollster Clay F. Richards said.

“The long coattails of Barack Obama have reached down into New Jersey and helped Gov. Jon Corzine’s re-election prospects, at least for now,” Richards said.

The poll showed few voters are aware of Christie, despite his nearly seven years as the state’s top federal prosecutor. Seventy percent of respondents said they have not heard enough about Christie to have an opinion about him, compared with 11 percent who aren’t aware enough of the state’s governor.

“That will change as we move along and we get a race,” Richards said.

The poll’s margin of error was 2.2 percent.

I find it interesting that there is no mention of how these votes breakout demographically or geographically. For example, I was asked about my ethnic background as well as what type of area I live in – suburban, rural, or urban. Having studied polling and the ways that pollsters can manipulate the results of such questions, I’m surprised that there is no breakdown of percentage of voters located in urban areas who are pro-Corzine or pro-Christie vs. percentage of voters in suburban or rural areas.

Hmmm…trying to hide the gigantic gap in the number of urban Republicans and suburban and rural Democrats maybe? Everyone in the state knows that Democrats win in New Jersey because the heavily urban areas are so highly populated and are so firmly in the Democratic column that it’s not worth the money to campaign in those areas. I just wish that a respected polling group like Quinnipiac University would sort of put that information out there in the public domain as part of the results of their survey. Why not add a line stating, “As has usually been the case in New Jersey, of the 2,020 registered voters who were polled, 85% of them were located in urban areas. Of these voters, 95% identified as Democratic voters.”

We all know it’s true – just looking for some more truth and full disclosure in the media.

Thank God I have an independent mind of my own to make up my own decisions! The amount of bias in the media these days is scary.

Anyway, if you really want to declare a winner last night it might have to be Tom Brokaw. Talk about a guy who managed to annoy almost everyone watching by being the only one who was doing his job correctly! That’s got to be a tough position for someone to be in – the straight man between two candidates for Presidents. And was it just me or did Brokaw look extremely white, pale, and aged?

All in all the debate was more bore than anything else. Neither of these candidates is going to put themselves out there and make a major statement during the debates, though McCain almost did with his statement regarding the Treasury buying up all of the bad mortgage debt out there. I am not a fan of this at all – nor am I a fan of this ridiculous bailout (which has so far led to the market falling further).

The real shame of our times is that neither McCain nor Obama have what it takes to fix the economy, yet these are the two choices that we are given. Third party anyone?

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This man’s compensation is disgusting, but not uncommon. Think of all of the professional athletes who get paid millions to play games. There are people all over our society that are overpaid. The difference with this guy at WaMu, though, is that his job is to protect the investments of his investors (i.e. those who have a financial relationship with his bank). This man failed. I don’t care if he only had the job for 17 days. He failed.

And he’s getting $20 million for failing? Where can I sign up for that job?!?

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Phelps is a remarkable athlete and I’m glad that he’s on our team. America will likely gear itself up to throw a grotesque amount of praise and adoration on Phelps when he returns home and this is (for once) a situation where it is greatly deserved. This guy makes us all proud. Good work…now keep winning those medals!

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…you won’t find a plastic straw or cup in any of Ted’s Montana Grills’ 55 casual dining restaurants. The straws are made from biodegradable paper. The menus are printed on 100% recycled paper. Even the cups are cornstarch.

Cornstarch cups and paper straws? I’m not sold on those ideas just yet.

Anyway, if you get the opportunity try to read this entire article. There are some interesting tidbits in there about the cost of energy for restaurants and the cost of wasted energy for the entire restaurant business. Also, the article talks about some other eco-friendly moves that some food servicers are undertaking. I thought it was an interesting read – I think you will, too.

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This is an interesting post to me because Milloy’s article quotes a British judge who has ruled some of Al Gore’s findings as unscientific. In other words, the judge says there is no science to back up some – not all, but some – of Gore’s claims. There is no discussion of where the judge got his doctorate in environmental science, though…

Later in the article, some legitimate incorrect assertions are detailed and I think those are all known to the public at this point (the wrong date being given for a cigarette advertisement, 2005 NOT being the hottest year on record, there not being a cure for polio, etc). But those are all somewhat moot points (except the one about 2005 not being the hottest year on record – that’s an exaggeration of the truth).

In any event, I fail to see how a judge has the standing to make such decisions. This may be more politics than anything else. Of course, this is all taking place across the pond, so I don’t care about it too much, but I thought some of you folks may find it interesting.

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