命運是你家

This story came after the announcement of the chemistry Nobel prize winners this year. It reminds me of a Chinese proverb:

一命 二運 三風水, 四積陰德 五讀書

(1st: fate, 2nd luck, 3rd Fung Shui, 4th good deeds, 5th education)

May be the guy didn't try hard enough back then, or he wasn't desparate enough, or it's what we called destiny. It seems to me that, there is always someone fighting uphill battles all the time, no matter how much effort he puts in; while there is always someone flying with tail wind all the time when he didn't even ask for it.

The world is unfair, which gives me and my wife a topic for a continuous discussion.

Get a house for free by taking bullets...literally.

CNN reported an old woman shot herself, with an intention to commit suicide, when sheriff's deputies tried to evict her from her foreclosed home. Fannie Mae ended up forgiving the outstanding balance on her loan and giving her the house.

CNN report here.

Will people around the country start shooting themselves in hope of saving their home from foreclosure? Now, I have no idea what this housing crisis and economy breakdown is leading us to.

Dow + n = Down

Dow Jones index lost 777 points today, setting the new record high percentage drop in a single day since 1987. What does that mean? I think it means whoever pulled their money out of the stock market 6 months ago had a hell lot of luck.

It all started with a bunch of stupid home buyers, who were super optimistic about the housing market, but didn't have enough money to pay for a conventional mortgage. Then came a bunch of stupid bank people, who were also super optimistic about the housing market, and wanted to take advantage of those stupid home buyers. The results were a collection of ridiculously conditioned mortgages. There were 1% interest rate mortgage, which was way below the banks' cost of fund. There were also mortgages with monthly payment that were less than the amount of interest owed. So, stupid home buyers took these mortgages, and prayed everyday for their home prices to up 20% in 1 year. Then they would sell their homes, realized the profit, enjoyed a year of unrealistically low interest, and admire themselves for how smart they were. On the other hand, the banks were hoping that after the first year of the mortgage, they would up the interest from 1% to more like 10% (or more). Then they would either enjoy high interest payments from these buyers, or forfeit the home if the owners couldn't pay the high interest, and the banks could profit from the increase home price. At the end of the day, bank people thought they couldn't lose either way.

To me, it all sounds a little like messing with a margin account in stock market. You are betting on some future, unrealized profits that you are hoping to get in order to pay back the debt that you take right now.

Well, all are said and done now. And who would have imagined that a bunch of stupid home buyers and people from a few US banks could drag down the whole economy around the world.

de Young Museum

Recently went to the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. There is an exhibition of Dale Chihuly's glass art work going on right now. The pieces are amazing, and photos don't do them justice. The colors and the curvatures have to been in person.

Other than Chihuly's gallery, the museum has a lot of things on display. From contemporary paintings, to 18th~19th centuries costumes from New Guinea, to artifacts from the Mayan civilization dated back to 300 A.D.

Well worth the admission fee, and you can easily have 3~4 hours of enjoyment there.
More pic here.

Have been in traveling mode

Took a few days off in the past 2 weeks due to family members visiting. I drove 9 hours to take my parents to Las Vegas, then another 3 hours from Vegas to Grand Canyon West. We spent 3 days on that trip. I highly recommend the South Point Hotel in Vegas, where we stayed for 2 nights. It is new (opened in 2005), and it is cheap (I paid $50/night) because it is not on the strip. If you have a car, or if you are willing to take the shuttle, it is a very good value. Large rooms, all with flat panel TV on the wall. I drove to Vegas 8 years ago, but this time the driving seemed less tiresome and faster. Strange...

Then in the past few days my sis and her husband came and we went to several placed in the bay area. We visited the Monterey Aquarium for the first time. It's well worth the admission fee. It is amazing to see the jellyfish capable of bioluminescence.

Las Vegas...more pic









Grand Canyon West...more pic









Napa...more pic









Monterey Aquarium...more pic









Fisherman's Wharf Pier45...more pic