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Where I’ve Been – Travel Brain
46 cities in 11 countriesAsiaSouth Korea: SeoulThailand: BangkokThailand: Chiang MaiEuropeBelgium: BrusselsFrance: Le HavreFrance: NiceFrance: ParisGermany: BerlinGermany: DresdenGermany: ErlangenGermany: Frankfurt am MainGermany: HardheimGermany: MarktheidenfeldGermany: MunichGermany: NurnbergGermany: TauberbischofsheimGermany: WertheimHoly See (Vatican City): Vatican CityItaly: RomeItaly: VeniceLuxembourg: LuxembourgNetherlands: AmsterdamUnited Kingdom: LondonNorth AmericaUnited States: Ann ArborUnited States: AnnistonUnited States: AustinUnited States: CelinaUnited States: CherokeeUnited States: ClevelandUnited States: ColumbusUnited States: GettysburgUnited States: JasperUnited States: MandanUnited States: MetairieUnited States: MiamiUnited States: NashvilleUnited States: New OrleansUnited States: Oil CityUnited States: PittsburghUnited States: RedmondUnited States: RestonUnited States: San FranciscoUnited States: San JoseUnited States: SeattleUnited States: ShermanUnited States: Washington
Is It Time?
My brother got me started using a Palm device back in 1998. I bought a Palm III that fall, and have owned a IIIc, a Vx, a m515 and most recently a T|X that I’ve had for almost 5 years. I like the Palm platform. The T|X does everything I need it to do. Some things could be better, but it’s a good device.
But the IR died about two years ago. Cable connection went next, about 8-10 months ago. I could still Hotsync using wi-fi, but that seems to have died today. Tried a Soft Reset, and a System Reset, and no joy. I think it’s time to replace it. A repair attempt would cost
The question is, replace it with what? A refurbed T|X from PalmDr is $213 plus shipping. A refurbed 32G Touch is $259 with free shipping, and a 1-year warranty. Heck, an 8G is only $149. That’s very tempting. I can’t afford a data plan without a job, or I’d go ahead and get the iPhone.
But there are rumors of a new Touch coming out in the next couple of months. That would trigger a price drop on the old ones. Hmm. What to do?
I Dispute The Validity Of The Debt
Saxon Mortgage Services and Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC are both stupid. And clueless.
Yes, I know they’re both companies, and so technically can’t be stupid, but their systems and employees are both stupid and clueless. When they can’t figure out that they’ve made an error, and instead push it off on the homeowner, they’re moronic.
Try to follow along. Ocwen can’t.
In January 2007, we bought a house in Grove City. Saxon Mortgage Services made the loans. We actually had to do two loans – hereafter called the Big Loan (for about $250k) and the Little Loan (for a little less than $50k).
In January 2008, I was laid off from my manufacturing job. Such is life. We had some savings, and made our loan payments just fine for the next couple of months. Ironically, when we called Saxon Mortgage Services to explain out situation, they said they couldn’t help us, because we didn’t have enough income. Well, yes. That’s why we were calling you in the first place.
In July, I asked the trust officer in charge of my trust to start making loan payments for me, and they did. They sent a single check to Saxon Mortgage Services with both loan numbers written on the check. For August, September, and October, everything was fine. Both loans were paid appropriately.
In October 2009, Saxon Mortgage Services sold our loans to Ocwen Loan Servicing. Interestingly, when I saw who was getting the loan, I Googled Ocwen Loan Servicing, and in the first 15 results, saw 5 hits to company websites, 3 or 4 to news articles, and 5 or 6 to complaint/scam/ripoff boards complaining about the lack of service from Ocwen Loan Servicing. That wasn’t exactly confidence-inspiring.
When Saxon Mortgage Services processed the last payment they got, they applied the entire amount of the check to the Little Loan. I don’t know why. Maybe they thought they were doing someone a favor. Maybe they thought the Little Loan had an inferiority complex. Whatever. Saxon Mortgage Services screwed up posting the payments.
When Ocwen Loan Servicing got the loans, they said “Oh, Big Loan is a month behind. And Little Loan is three months ahead. Well, we’ll just let the owner know that he’s a month behind, and we’re sure he’ll clear it up.” The day I got the first statements from Ocwen Loan Servicing, I pointed out the apparent error. I explained that my trust fund had been making payments, and that those payments hadn’t changed, so there was no way for me to be behind on payments. They said they couldn’t see back beyond October, because all of the paperwork involved with transferring the loan hadn’t be processed, but Ocwen Loan Servicing assured me that everything would be cleared up once all the paperwork had been processed.
Any guesses on what happened?
For the last five months, Ocwen Loan Servicing has called me almost daily to ask when I can make the payments to bring Big Loan up to date. Every now and then, I’ve gotten a call from one rep, while I’m talking to another rep! Every time they call (and I actually break down and answer), I explain the whole situation to them. I’ve probably explained it to a dozen different CSRs. I doubt any of them have made any notes on my case, because every time I ask them, they say they have no information on any problems. I’ve lost my temper several times. It hasn’t been pretty.
Last week, I sent a 20-page packet of information and history to Ocwen Loan Servicing’s Research Department. Sent it Certified Mail, return receipt requested. The day I got that receipt back, I got a certified letter from Ocwen, notifying me that they say I’m in default on the loan.
In case Ocwen Loan Servicing hasn’t figured it out yet, I dispute the validity of the debt. I am NOT in default. Saxon Mortgage Services made an error in October 2009, and failed to correct it. I’ve notified Ocwen Loan Servicing multiple times of that error, and pointed out that I can’t fix it from my end. They have refused to correct the error.
I’ll send out another certified letter today, explaining in clear terms yet again that Saxon Mortgage Services, and Ocwen Loan Servicing is aware of the error, and that I’m not in default on my loan, but I’m not really hopeful that things will get cleared up without legal action. I’m not hopeful. Anyone know a good attorney?
Tinkering Again
Yes, I’m tinkering with Adsense again. Since February 2007. I’ve managed to earn a grand total of $15.68 through Adsense. Granted, for part of that time, I haven’t had ads running. I’m not kidding myself; I know what the traffic is like here. But I figure I might be able to make a little bit of money towards hosting expenses and such. We’ll see.
A Good Idea Then, But Now?
In 1923, Plimmon H. Dudley, an engineer who worked for the New York Central Rail, left over $150,000 to Yale to establish the the Dudley Professorship of Railroad Engineering. His desire was that the professorship continue his research into railway safety, particularly as it applied to the development and improvement of designs of rails, roadbeds and crossties. That was all well and good in 1923. But eventually, rail’s luster dimmed, and the chair sat empty for 70 years. Yale finally realized that the 1923′s steam engines were destined to be replaced by magnetic levitation trains, and in 2002, seated a professor.
Many other schools are facing similar dilemmas in dealing with quirky endowments. This NY Times article discusses it in more detail.
It was an interesting piece to me as my wife and I created an endowment a few years ago to benefit our church. We made no special conditions on the endowment, other than to create a chain of succession should our congregation or district go away. But it’s interesting to see what others have done with endowments.
Was it Cigna’s fault?
Quite a lot of discussion today about Natalee Sarkisyan. I’m sorry for her family’s loss. My mother-in-law received a heart transplant about eight years ago, so I know something of the rollercoaster ride they’ve been on lately.
But I wonder if all of their anger is properly directed? Everyone is pointing fingers at Cigna right now, saying things like Cigna “maliciously killed her,” or “there’s no reason that the doctors’ judgment should be overrided (sic) by a bean counter sitting there in an insurance office.”
As I read more about the story, I grow less and less ready to hang Cigna out to dry. This article makes me question the timeline.
The Sarkisyan family claims that Cigna first agreed to the liver transplant surgery and had secured a match weeks ago. After the teen, who was battling leukemia, received a bone marrow transplant from her brother, however, she suffered a lung infection, and the insurer backed away from what it felt had become too risky a procedure.
OK, is “weeks ago” more than the 9 days between the 11 Dec letter and her death? The whole timeline just isn’t making sense to me. Did the lung infection cause the liver failure? Or did that infection make Cigna see other issues? I’m reading that doctors had coverage and the go-ahead at some point, and had a viable organ at some point, but somewhere along the line, they lost coverage. Then what happened to that viable organ? Was it lost? Did other patients get it? And if the doctors were so certain that the transplant would work, then why didn’t they go ahead with the surgery, and work out payment details later? FWIW, the average cost of a liver transplant is about $450k.
As one poster said at Global Affairs, there is plenty of blame to go around; I’m not sure Cigna deserves as much as they’re getting. They’re an easy target, because they’re the big evil corporation. But maybe they’re not as evil on this one as everyone wants them to be.
Wordbook Testing
Since I’m on Facebook now, and have this blog (plus a LiveJournal blog of sorts), I wanted a way to integrate everything. There’s a nice LiveJournal application on Facebook, that links those two pretty easily.
I’ve installed Wordbook now, to link this WordPress blog with Facebook. This is just my test post to make sure they’re linked.
The Silence is Broken
(Cue creaking door sound)
/me pauses, looking around and brushing away a few cobwebs.
It’s ironic, I suppose, that the first post I make after such a long silence is about a dead mime.
No, really.
Marcel Marceau passed away Sunday, at the age of 84. I knew he was a great entertainer, but I had no idea about what he did during the Holocaust.
He apparently had no last words. I understand he went…quietly. But wait…what if he isn’t really dead and now he has to do that “trapped in a box” thing for real?
I know. Go to my room.
Now I’ve done it
Yes, I’ve signed up with AdSense. Not trying to make a lot of money; I know what the traffic is like here. But maybe I can make back my hosting fees, or something like that.
Firearms and Politics
If you were a member of the FAP list hosted at world.std.com, and you’ve given up on it, or been shut out, or whatever, head over to firearmspolitics.info. CD Tavares and Henry Schaffer have set up that domain to host a new version of the list.
Veterans Day
I’m a bit disappointed in my inability to come up with anything special or original to say about the 11th day of the 11th month. I’m always humbled when I consider the sacrifices so many have made to give me what I’ve got today.
Our World War II veterans dying at a rate of 1100 per day. Korean War vets are in their 70′s and 80′s, and we’re losing them, and their memories, all too quickly.
I’m posting a piece I got via email several years ago. I think it bears repeating, especially now, as our country is at war, and facing an internal acrimony that concerns many. After the essay, there’s a great short video I found on Google.
Read, watch, and consider the veterans in your life. You might not even know how there are.
Earn This
A wave of patriotism swept through this land of ours nearly 60 years ago. Nobody under the age of 50, myself included, really knows what it was like to live in America at that time. Americans were united in purpose in a way that this country hasn’t seen since. Children collected tin cans, rubber and paper. Women planted Victory Gardens, saved fat, and hung service flags in their windows. Men were called to become soldiers.
They were called from their lives as farmers, accountants, carpenters, doctors, and all professions. The rich and the poor alike were called away from their homes, their jobs, their families and their friends to take an oath to defend the Constitution. To leave behind everything, and swear to God to defend something that many of them had never read before. This meant training to become soldiers, and being a soldier means that you are trained to kill. Good men, reluctant men, were told that they would be shipped to Europe, or North Africa, or to the middle of the Pacific Ocean; to fight and to kill the enemy of the Constitution, the enemy of Freedom. To fight against tyranny.
It is said that, “All of them gave some, and some of them gave all.” There are 9,386 of the men who gave all, buried in a cemetery at St. Laurent-sur-Mer. This cemetery is located on a bluff, overlooking a beach in Normandy, France; which, in June of 1944 was known, simply, as Omaha.
It is in this cemetery that a recent film makes its start. Saving Private Ryan is a story about a squad of Rangers who are ordered to penetrate enemy lines to locate and retrieve a soldier named Ryan. This soldier had three brothers who, unbeknownst to him, were all killed in action and it was determined that the last Ryan should be returned home, lest his mother lose all her sons in the war.
So eight rangers risk their lives for one man. One man that their commanders decided was more important than any one of them. Needless to say, not all of them are thrilled with the prospect of piercing the enemy’s line to bring back just one man. These men had sworn an oath though, and so they went. Reluctant warriors.
As it is in war, it is also in war movies, not everyone in the squad survives to the end. When one of the rangers is hit with enemy fire, he motions Ryan over to him. He says two very important words to him. Two words, before he dies.
“Earn this.”
In that moment, that soldier became every Veteran speaking to every American. “Earn what we all fought for and what many of us died for. Think of us often. Remember our names. Do not forget us.” And that is the request of all the young men who have died in all the wars  from Normandy to the Cho-sin Reservoir. From Da Nang to the Gulf. From Somalia to Kosovo.
“Earn this.”
I have since realized that my own free and bountiful life has been baptized in the blood of the soldiers of World War II, and of all other wars. I have realized that the 9,386 men buried at St. Laurent, though a fraction of the total that died, did for me in a very real way, what those Rangers did for Ryan. I have realized that the men who fought, and lived, and came home and are living out their lives right now did the same… For me. Perhaps I owe all of them an accounting of how well I’ve lived, of whether I’ve earned what they’ve bequeathed to me and the world.
I struggle today, wondering if I can ever make the equation balance. Deep down I know that there is nothing that I can ever do to earn what they did for me. There is no accounting, to balance the equation of even one man dying… for me, let alone… thousands.
But it is worthwhile to try.
How do we even begin to give an accounting? We begin by remembering. Remembering the fallen soldier who never returned. Remembering those that did return, scarred and scared, and different somehow.
Then we must be thankful. We must express our thanks to those men and women who fought against tyranny so that we may be free. Don’t assume that they know the world is thankful. Do your part, tell a Veteran today that you are thankful for the sacrifices that they made, on the altar of freedom.
Finally, we must let our light shine. You know the children’s song, “This little light of mine.” Well that is also what we need to do to begin to “earn this.” Don’t hold back any action that is good. No matter how small and insignificant it may seem, do it. Edmund Burke once said that, “All that is required for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.” The gift that we have all received from our Veterans is Freedom, and the cost of Freedom is eternal vigilance. We must guard and protect this rare and costly gift. We must be vigilant, we must not allow evil to triumph easily. A small bit of good now may prevent a great evil later.
On Veteran’s Day, on Memorial Day, and everyday, this is what we all need to do, to “earn this.” Remember; Give Thanks; and Let Our Light Shine. Remember all the men and women who gave their lives for us. Give thanks to all the men and women still with us, who gave of themselves when it was required. And finally, don’t let the torch go out. Keep the light of the torch that they passed to us burning brightly by adding just a little of our own light to it.
These are the things that we all need to do as Americans; so that we may continue to enjoy Freedom, Liberty and Justice for All.
© 2001 by David J. Miller All Rights Reserved. Permission to freely distribute is granted by the author.
david-j-miller@usa.net
Raven’s Beak on Flickr
