Friday, October 19, 2007

Switching online savings accounts

HSBC is sending me emails about how they're planting trees if I give them money but I'd rather they just stop dropping the rate on my savings account (now at 4.5% APY). So I moved over the bulk of my savings to everybody's favorite out-of-control subprime lender, Countrywide, for 5.5% (on balances over $10k). Countrywide definitely feels less customer friendly, I agreed to some term saying they could hold all my money for 7 days even after telling them in writing to transfer it. Their privacy policy is a frothy bowl of diarrhea, make sure you call them at 1-866-605-3467 to opt out. (I'm still FDIC insured up to $100K if they fail.)

Friday, October 5, 2007

DC trip highlights

Sitting on the Navy Memorial steps and having a old guy rant to everyone that "It's not physically possible for a vice-president to be this corrupt!" and then turning his attention only on me. It was doubly awkward because I was pretending to read.

Eating Ethiopian food for the first time.

U.S. customs doesn't like it when you try to enter the country when you're single and unemployed with a California license plate, Arizona driver's license and you live in Minnesota. Canadian customs was nicer than my own country even when I tried to enter Canada with a can of mace (accidentally, I forgot I had this with me).

Driving through Canada and listening to angry French rap. Thinking that the Canadian government was subsidizing gas in Canada because the price was about $1.08 and considering moving to Canada because of this (but this was liters, doh!)

The older couple gawking at me on some random sideroad in Canada as I was waking up in my car.

Being amazed at how many police escorts protesters in the Capitol got. I'm glad that I live here and not Myanmar.

Crying at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, even though I never lost anyone in the Vietnam war. (So much respect for Maya Lin for standing tough while they called her gook!)

This overly cute panda and this fine example of the perils of free speech.

Sitting by Kenneth from Kenya on the DC Metro and chatting about their 3 party political system. It seems like there are more people from African countries here compared even to a melting pot like LA.







My route:

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