Does Wal-Mart sell wall stuff?
Jessica Simpson
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Quote of the day
My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?
Charles M. Schulz
Halloween
Tomorrow Wednesday, October 31st, it is Halloween. This is a very important day for the Americans. We'll be trick or treating with Naomi, Skyler and Zane. A lot of pics will follow tomorrow. We don't have a day off but in 3 weeks it is Thanksgiving and then we'll have 2 days off.
PS: To remember the dead, in Mexico they all go to the cemetary and have a big party on their grave. This lasts past midnight, pretty scary.
Shanti and Co in Disneyland
You can make the pics go faster by pressing the + button on the bottom left hand side.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Opened a Custodial account for Naomi
We have opened a custodial account for Naomi. This is an account where the content belongs to her but the account will be managed by an adult. We make the investment decisions, the money will be available to her when she turns 18.
I have made the first deposit and invested it into this fund: Merk Hard Currency Fund. It is fund that invests in NON dollar denominated bonds and saving accounts. Foreign currencies: euro - swiss franc - canadian dollar - ... .
It is a similar account to our accounts which means that a free European wire transfer to a German account will put money into the US account. A euro amount will be transferred to USD with an 0.2% exchange rate cost which is the lowest we could find.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Quote of the day
I'd love to buy another home now but am stuck with the over inflated one we bought a year and half ago.
forum: 85239.com
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Housing, expect at least a 0.25% rate cut from the FED
Another Horror Story: Pulte Homes (=one of the biggest builders in the USA)
10/26/2007 11:10 AM
A month ago I went on national television and said not to buy real estate, that you would lose money.
Wednesday night Pulte (PHM - commentary - Cramer's Take) confirmed that thesis. There isn't an area in the country that is doing well. It's just that some areas are doing more poorly than others.
That conference call Thursday morning was another unreal number. During something like that, you sit there and think of the positives: didn't lose as much as they thought, cutting home prices and in some areas you sell more.
But you also think about how it doesn't matter how low you go in others, particularly the dreaded Inland Empire, which I talk about ad nauseam because it has surpassed Fort Myers, Fla., as the worst area in the country; no sense of bottom anywhere, and areas they thought had bottomed just dropped again. How about the fact that each month was worse and that having a down payment on a $300,000 home is now beyond the reach of many Americans?
I listen to this stuff and I see the price of corn and the price of oil and I think, "This is what is trumping relief from the Fed?" I listen and I think, "Does President Bush bother to hear any of this stuff?"
It is so bad. So dreadful. Now, you know my view: Few of these companies survive or thrive and they can't be owned for anything other than 100 basis points worth of cuts and short squeezes.
Meanwhile, they are still building houses, houses they can't sell. It never ends. Sure, they have cut back, but they aren't cutting back in a way that will come near denting inventory in this environment. They can't control themselves; they have to build to monetize the land.
Go read the transcript of that conference call. You will come away shaken. Just shaken.
Jim Cramer
Quote of the day
Over the last three months we have seen a rolling collapse of speculative debt and real estate across half the global economy, yet friends still come over to my desk at the Telegraph, with that maddening look of commiseration on their faces, and jab: “so when is the sky going to fall then, eh”?
Well, excuse me. The sky has fallen.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Quote of the day
"When a man you like switches from what he said a year ago, or 4 years ago, he is a broad-minded person who has courage enough to change his mind with changing conditions. When a man you don't like does it, he is a liar who has broken his promises."
Franklin P. Adams
$ 2 400 000 000 000
2.4 TRILLION dollars is quite a big number for that war, so far away from home. With an opponent that can't even launch a rocket if he would wanted to.
U.S. CBO estimates $2.4 trillion long-term war costs
This one is from a year ago (THIS is a MUST SEE, very very funny)
Peter Schiff vs Dumb Guy Realtor IQ 70 with no econ 101 class
mild correction lol, "artificial lending standards" lol
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Post for my team members of TTC Temse
I browsed the official site of the vttl and saw we didn't have any fines just yet, so that means Guy is still in charge of the secretary work :-)I checked out the results from teams and players on the web. Most of the teams are in the top half so we are doing very well this year. As I am now officially "transferred" to PTTC, I still feel like a TTC Temse member of course. You wouldn't expect me to find the personalities of a Kurt or a John or a Hugo here. But it seems they play everywhere :-) Except we don't have beer and showers here. The Phoenix table tennis club/players were very helfull the first few sessions. So there is still hope for you guys, if you want to transfer to a different club, maybe I can arrange something for you. Some negatives of playing here: the 45 minute drive, the waiting for your turn can take 30 minutes, no showers, no beer and no bar.
Enjoy:
Enjoy:
Quote of the day
Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults.
Socrates
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Mozart at work
Anecdote: When he was 12 he played his first matches in the highest Swedish table tennis leaugue. The first person he beat was Dennis Petterson, his comments regarding his loss:" How can you beat someone you can't even see..." Waldner was 1m40 at that time.
Extreme achievement: He won every tournament on earth but his biggest achievement was probably reaching the semi finals of the Olympic Games in 2004. He was 39 years old ...
3rd Table tennis visit
Last week I went to PTTC (Phoenix Table Tennis club) on a Wednesday. The drive was a lot more relaxing than the first time. It is a 45 minute drive, and especially the last part when you drive into Phoenix is ... . You don't want to enter the wrong neighbourhood there :-)
Played about 8 matches, won 7 and lost a 3-2 ( last match). That is the second time I don't win the last match. Doing nothing to lift my heart rate is finally ringing a bell signal. I will try to ride my bike at least twice a week and play table tennis once a week.
Yesterday, Monday I played again in downtown Phoenix. Won 6 games, no losses.( all 3-0, 1 with 3-2) I didn't try the "famous" king table yet, don't want to play there when I am not 100%. This was only the third time I played here after a 6 month break. It will take at least 5 sessions to play on a decent level, in a few weeks I will try and play on the kings table lol.
I saw Panno Dok (2059, number 8 in Arizona) playing there against Zagula Adam(1960, number 16 in Arizona). Look forward to play a top 10 player of a place that is 10 times bigger than Belgium.
Quote of the day
I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals. I'm a vegetarian because I hate plants.
A. Whitney Brown
Naomi's English
Naomi is really funny at this time, she talks some king of weird Englutch. She combines English and Dutch words in the same sentence.
for example:
Wanneer school was done heb ik getalked met Jaden.
Jaden haar hair was gecut.
Real funny.
Her English is a lot better than we had expected and she likes her school. The U.S. education is on a BUSO/BLO/BSO level so everything will be fine.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Quote of the day
Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.
Aristotle
New link SUPERSIZE ME
This is a new link where you can view "supersize me", click on the lower part of the page "watch film now"(100 minutes).
It is the closest way to get an idea of the food and health habbits here, without living here...
It was one of the most exciting documentaries I ever saw.
Summary: (from wikipedia)Super Size Me is an Academy Award-nominated 2004 documentary film, directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. It follows a 30-day time period (February 2003) during which Spurlock subsists entirely on food and items purchased exclusively from McDonald's, and the film documents this lifestyle's drastic effects on Spurlock's physical and psychological well-being and explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit. During the filming, Spurlock dined at McDonald's restaurants three times per day, sampling every item on the chain's menu at least once. He consumed an average of 5,000 calories (the equivalent of 9.26 Big Macs) per day during the experiment.
Before launching this experiment, Spurlock, age 32 at the time the movie was filmed in 2003, ate a varied diet but always ate vegan evening meals to appease his girlfriend (she is a vegan chef), was healthy and slim, and stood 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) tall with a body weight of 185.5 lb (84.1 kg). After thirty days, he gained 24.5 lb (11.1 kg), a 13% body mass increase, and his Body Mass Index rose from 23.2 (within the 'healthy' range of 19-25) to 27 ('overweight'). He also experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and liver damage. It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose the weight he gained.
The stated driving factor for Spurlock's investigation was the increasing spread of obesity throughout U.S. society, which the Surgeon General has declared "epidemic," and the corresponding lawsuit brought against McDonald's on behalf of two overweight girls, who, it was alleged, became obese as a result of eating McDonald's food. Spurlock points out that although the lawsuit against McDonald's failed (and subsequently many state legislatures have legislated against products liability actions against producers and distributors of "fast food"), much of the same criticism leveled against the tobacco companies applies to fast food franchises, although it could be argued that fast food is not physiologically addictive in the same sense as nicotine.
Before launching this experiment, Spurlock, age 32 at the time the movie was filmed in 2003, ate a varied diet but always ate vegan evening meals to appease his girlfriend (she is a vegan chef), was healthy and slim, and stood 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) tall with a body weight of 185.5 lb (84.1 kg). After thirty days, he gained 24.5 lb (11.1 kg), a 13% body mass increase, and his Body Mass Index rose from 23.2 (within the 'healthy' range of 19-25) to 27 ('overweight'). He also experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and liver damage. It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose the weight he gained.
The stated driving factor for Spurlock's investigation was the increasing spread of obesity throughout U.S. society, which the Surgeon General has declared "epidemic," and the corresponding lawsuit brought against McDonald's on behalf of two overweight girls, who, it was alleged, became obese as a result of eating McDonald's food. Spurlock points out that although the lawsuit against McDonald's failed (and subsequently many state legislatures have legislated against products liability actions against producers and distributors of "fast food"), much of the same criticism leveled against the tobacco companies applies to fast food franchises, although it could be argued that fast food is not physiologically addictive in the same sense as nicotine.
Belgium: The eternal welfare state
This article can only be found in Dutch but it was one example how the low-life people/Walloons abuse the system: LINK.Serge Regnier aka the bull of Marcinelle, has 27 kids with 3 wifes. None of the family members work (4 adults) but the family receives over $11000 welfare from the government PER MONTH. ($5600 child support, $4500 welfare because they don't work, $1000 disability welfare).
No wonder taxes are 50%+ in Belgium?
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Pics from our backyard (Saturday morning)
We have an orange tree in our backyard:
We bought a tomato tree: 
The first harvest:
Toschi hypnotizing the camera:
The first harvest:Lisa's spices:
Toschi with our bird feeder:
Ramses enjoying the Arizona climate:
Toschi with our bird feeder:Ramses enjoying the Arizona climate:
Toschi hypnotizing the camera:
Another Friday, another teacher party at our home
This was the last course, pie that friends brought over. This pic was taken after the home coming game at around 10:30.Our family and the Supersize me culture
The movie supersize me is of course a generalisation of the fastfood culture. It is not what every American does, a lot of Americans eat and live healthy. How do we handle the "supersize me"?
We mostly eat out too but we don't drink soda, we don't visit fastfood hamburger shops, we don't eat pizza and we eat mostly "European size" meals.
We eat out 4 times a week because Lisa finishes her work at 6:00. We eat at either Subway (sandwiches), Quiznos (soup + sandwiches), Panda Express or Taco Bell.
In the fastfood restaurants they don't have orange juice...go figure. So we either take our bottles with us and don't order drinks or we take plain water.
Our favorite place is Quiznos, where we eat at least twice a week. Our normal order consists of 1 salade, 1 big sandwich and 1 soup, for the three of us.
We have never visited Mc Donalds or Burger King during these last 3 months.
Saturday or Sunday we go shopping in Phoenix, we always eat at Sweet Tomatoes. It is an all you can eat vegetable buffet, price is $7.5 per person. They also have many soups and some desserts.
When we have something to celebrate we go out and eat at the Red Lobster.
PS: It looks like the "Supersize me" link doesn't work anymore, it worked 2 days ago, I will try to find a new one.
Greenspan sees dramatic drop in Chinese stocks
LINKFormer U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Wednesday he feared a "dramatic contraction" in Chinese stocks but said the global economy may be able to shrug off a drop in asset prices.
"It is clearly unsustainable," he said "There's going to be a dramatic contraction at some point."
The main Shanghai index has nearly tripled in past year and is up 56 percent so far in 2007.
The main Shanghai index has nearly tripled in past year and is up 56 percent so far in 2007.
I already mentioned the unsustainable rise and overheating of the Chinese stockmarket and economy here.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Supersize me
If you want to have any idea about the eating habbits of the average American, I urge you to view the movie Supersize me. This is a link to the documentary/movie. It is unbelievable at first sight, it seems out of this world but we have been here for almost 3 months and we can only confirm what is in the movie. Story: 1 person tries a diet of only Mac Donalds for 30 days. During the movie they add a lot of extra health information and they add interviews. Hilarious!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Oil breaks through 90 dollars a barrel and what does Bush do..
as to be expected he "warns of World War III if Iran goes nuclear"
US President George W. Bush said Wednesday that he had warned world leaders they must prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons "if you're interested in avoiding World War III.""We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," Bush said at a White House press conference after Russia cautioned against military action against Tehran's suspect atomic program."So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," said Bush.
Post
On Friday my parents sent me a package using the Belgian postal service. I received that package on Wednesday, WaaW that's fast.Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Quote of the day
Answer us this, Mr. Paulson. How do you propose to encourage liquid lending markets while simultaneously relieving overstretched homebuyers of their contractual obligations to the (regrettably) lousy ARMs they took out in order to buy those overpriced McMansions?Someone's gotta pay. And if it's not going to be the debtors leaving the homes, and if it's not going to be Hank's buddies on Wall Street, who does that leave?Us. The responsible majority of Americans. Remember us? The people who didn't go out and do stupid things with our money?
Seth Jason
The Motley Fool
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Quote of the day
"Only Ron Paul has been criticizing the Federal Reserve's legal counterfeiting, which is responsible for the housing bubble, the widening income gap in the United States and the accelerating decline of the dollar in foreign markets. In short, all the GOP candidates (except Ron Paul) by their silence support debasement of the dollar. "
USA Daily
How does our street look like?
As you notice, cars are not allowed to be parked on the street at any time. How much can home prices drop in the USA
Let's take a look at one of my favorite graphs: "home price/rent" RATIO.
The rent ratio is now around 27, it has always been around 14-18, so a price drop of 40% would be a return to the mean.No seperate mailbox in front of your door
If you live in a community, you don't have a mailbox in front of your home. All mailboxes of one (or more) streets are combined and this is a picture for our street:
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