Stung

Susie just forwarded me this news story. Apparently Sting is planning to come out with an album of 16th century lute music. Well that's just great. You know, him stealing my idea and all.

I don't know which is worse: that people will think I'm I poseur, or that they'll think I'm a Sting fan/wannabe.

In Sure Ants Paul Icy

This week, I met with our financial advisor (aka Mike Lallana) and submitted an application for life insurance, among other things. Life insurance has always been a bit of a strange concept for me, a bit creepy somehow. It's like you're betting a company $20 a month at 5000-to-1 odds that you'll die that month. And even if you do happen to "win," you can't exactly go on a spending spree and enjoy your winnings. So you play the "it's for piece of mind while you're alive" card, which I guess justifies spending $20 a month. I guess. I don't really like to think about it too much.

Even stranger is "whole" life insurance, which is some kind of weird life insurance/retirement plan crossbreed. Basically, it's way more expensive than regular old term life insurance, but it also carries with it a tax-exempt savings account that grows in value over time. And instead of ending after a specific term (like term life insurance), you keep it until it pays out (i.e., you die), or you pull all of the cash out. So, it's kind of like life insurance you can actually use while you're alive. So it's got that going for it. Plus, it starts paying you after you retire. Which is hella weird. Except you gotta figure that they've been investing your premiums all this time, and by the time they have to pay out anything, that money will be worth a whole lot less due to inflation. One million dollars ain't looking so hot in the year 2080. So, it's kind of a crapshoot.

Here endeth the lesson for today.

Much Ado About Nothing

Last weekend, Susie and I handed in a rental application for a two bedroom house in Bernal Heights. It had a nice little backyard that would have been great for grilling. The extra counter space in the kitchen would have been handy. The garage space would have meant additional scope for brewing and storage. And of course, the second bedroom would have been swell.

We didn't get it. Oh well. It was on a crummy little one-way side street that would have been a bit of pain to drive every day. And our current place is perfectly habitable now that Herschel is gone (although our new downstairs neighbors, who are Indian, I believe, have very loud speaking voices).

Please forgive any spelling or grammar errors; I had a margarita at lunch.