Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
On Sat, Jan 28, 2012 at 7:15 PM, ss cybers...@gmail.com wrote: A fraught question, eh? :) Man's greatest invention? Agriculture Agriculture led to settlements and leisure. Leisure led to writing and art experiemnation and wheels. I thought of agriculture too ... but I would go a step further and say that the invention before agriculture was religion, which made people form groups of common ideology and work together and farm.
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
On Jan 29, 2012, at 7:21 AM, ashok _ wrote: On Sat, Jan 28, 2012 at 7:15 PM, ss cybers...@gmail.com wrote: A fraught question, eh? :) Man's greatest invention? Agriculture Agriculture led to settlements and leisure. Leisure led to writing and art experiemnation and wheels. I thought of agriculture too ... but I would go a step further and say that the invention before agriculture was religion, which made people form groups of common ideology and work together and farm. Old joke: Radio interviewer: And what would you say is man's greatest invention? Man on street: That's easy. The thermos. RI: The thermos? Why do you say that? MoS: Well, what you put in it is hot, it stays hot. What you put in it is cold, it stays cold. RI: What's so amazing about that? MoS: How do it know? regards, jrs P.S. In my house, my wife and I use the phrase how do it know? to express amazement, especially when some technology, such as a new DVD player, actually works when you set it up instead of not working for some unfathomable reason that makes you want to smash it to bits (before you give up, swallow your pride, and call the 800 help number and get connected to a very nice young woman in Bangalore named Jenny who has a very bad fake American accent, but who figures out how to get your DVD working.)
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
On 1/29/12 5:39 AM January 29, 2012, John Sundman wrote: Old joke: Radio interviewer: And what would you say is man's greatest invention? Man on street: That's easy. The thermos. RI: The thermos? Why do you say that? MoS: Well, what you put in it is hot, it stays hot. What you put in it is cold, it stays cold. RI: What's so amazing about that? MoS: How do it know? My grandmother (who is now 89) once told me that the greatest inventions of the 20th century were jello and dishwashing detergent. This was towards the end of the Apollo program, so I was mystified at her prosaic list. I could kind of understand the magic of jello, but dishwashing detergent? When she was a girl, all they had was homemade lye soap. When you were done washing the dishes, there was a ring of soap and dirt around the dishpan, and you had to scrub away this filthy mess when you were done with the dishes. She is also a big fan of other modern conveniences like indoor plumbing, central heating, the refrigerator, and the automatic washer. As a girl, they had to do their wash in two big boilers, over a fire in the front yard, using wash-paddles to wring clothes out. Then the clothes were hung to dry (they froze dry in the winter) and they had to be ironed to get the stiffness and the last of the dampness out. As I have gotten older, I have come to appreciate the sheer marvel of a number of prosaic inventions. The lowly screw, for example, that holds our world together. Some years ago, I realized that I would never have thought to wrap an inclined plane around a sharp cone and that the resulting item would become a very secure fastener. I am simply not smart enough to have invented the screw. This was a very humbling realization. So, in the contest of the greatest human invention of all time, I would like to offer SANITATION. The realization that disease is spread by filth and germs came relatively late to human beings. A huge amount of human suffering and death was caused by contaminated water, contact with human waste, and the presence of vermin disease vectors. Diseases of filth, such as typhus, have turned the tides of wars and caused epidemics that laid waste to cities and even continents. regards, jrs P.S. In my house, my wife and I use the phrase how do it know? to express amazement, especially when some technology, such as a new DVD player, actually works when you set it up instead of not working for some unfathomable reason that makes you want to smash it to bits (before you give up, swallow your pride, and call the 800 help number and get connected to a very nice young woman in Bangalore named Jenny who has a very bad fake American accent, but who figures out how to get your DVD working.) Wait. You have actually had success in recent years with a call to a support center? I no longer even try. If Google doesn't know the answer, it's time to send the thing back where it came from and get one that Google can understand. -- Heather Madrone (heat...@madrone.com) http://www.sunsplinter.blogspot.com Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love. - Martin Luther King
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
Three nights ago, for some reason, our 3-month-old DVD player stopped communicating with our television, into which it was plugged. The audio worked but the video didn't. After trying to figure out what was wrong and re-connecting cables and rebooting, etc, for fifteen minutes or so, I called the 800 number listed on a sticker on the machine and was soon connected to a nice woman, who, by her voice, seemed pretty young to me, who told me her name was Jenny. She had a peculiar accent, which to my non-linguistically-trained ears I would describe as 2 parts American Television, 2 parts Kate Middleton, and 6 parts Hindi. (I don't recall if I asked her if she was in Bangalore. I usually do, because the question interests me. I've probably asked this questions ten times, with yes being the answer 6 times, I can't talk about that being the answer twice, and a hangup/disconnect being the answer twice. After leading me through ten minutes of useless exercises (which I had already done) such as powering on and off, etc, Jenny said, Now, here's what we're going to do. Hold down the 'Stop' button for ten seconds. Sure enough, that worked, and within another minute my wife was watching her Jane Eyre DVD. (Why Jenny couldn't have listened to me when I told her I had already rebooted, etc, saved me ten minutes and just told me to hold down the stop button for ten seconds (thereby saving me ten minutes of time frustration) is not too hard to fathom. She's paid to follow a script, and she follows it. Facts don't concern her. (Nor should they, I guess, at the minimal wage she's presumably paid)). The best part of the whole encounter was when 'Jenny' helpfully and politely explained that the whole hold down the stop button for ten seconds business was explained on page 26 of the manual that shipped with the machine I had bought, so that if this problem ever came up again I could just turn to that instead of calling the help line. Regards, jrs On Jan 29, 2012, at 3:02 PM, Heather Madrone wrote: Wait. You have actually had success in recent years with a call to a support center?
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
The best part of the whole encounter was when 'Jenny' helpfully and politely explained that the whole hold down the stop button for ten seconds business was explained on page 26 of the manual that shipped with the machine I had bought, so that if this problem ever came up again I could just turn to that instead of calling the help line. When Heather takes to Google, she'd have a decidedly less polite forum post that simply says RTFM. :) -- Sumant Srivathsan http://sumants.blogspot.com
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
Let us put it this way. Bangalore or not, tech support does have to follow a script so you, and they, know for sure that troubleshooting step X was done. And yes, whatever it is, is usually documented in the manual or online -- srs (blackberry) -Original Message- From: John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com Sender: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus@lists.hserus.net Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:28:09 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Reply-To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention? Three nights ago, for some reason, our 3-month-old DVD player stopped communicating with our television, into which it was plugged. The audio worked but the video didn't. After trying to figure out what was wrong and re-connecting cables and rebooting, etc, for fifteen minutes or so, I called the 800 number listed on a sticker on the machine and was soon connected to a nice woman, who, by her voice, seemed pretty young to me, who told me her name was Jenny. She had a peculiar accent, which to my non-linguistically-trained ears I would describe as 2 parts American Television, 2 parts Kate Middleton, and 6 parts Hindi. (I don't recall if I asked her if she was in Bangalore. I usually do, because the question interests me. I've probably asked this questions ten times, with yes being the answer 6 times, I can't talk about that being the answer twice, and a hangup/disconnect being the answer twice. After leading me through ten minutes of useless exercises (which I had already done) such as powering on and off, etc, Jenny said, Now, here's what we're going to do. Hold down the 'Stop' button for ten seconds. Sure enough, that worked, and within another minute my wife was watching her Jane Eyre DVD. (Why Jenny couldn't have listened to me when I told her I had already rebooted, etc, saved me ten minutes and just told me to hold down the stop button for ten seconds (thereby saving me ten minutes of time frustration) is not too hard to fathom. She's paid to follow a script, and she follows it. Facts don't concern her. (Nor should they, I guess, at the minimal wage she's presumably paid)). The best part of the whole encounter was when 'Jenny' helpfully and politely explained that the whole hold down the stop button for ten seconds business was explained on page 26 of the manual that shipped with the machine I had bought, so that if this problem ever came up again I could just turn to that instead of calling the help line. Regards, jrs On Jan 29, 2012, at 3:02 PM, Heather Madrone wrote: Wait. You have actually had success in recent years with a call to a support center?
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
Gentle reminder, irony-wise, for those of you who have not yet internalized my resume: I've written about fifty manuals, hardware and software. I was manager of technical publications at Sun Microsystems for nine years, where I supervised a group of nearly fifty technical writers and was responsible for the production of a few hundred technical manuals each year. I've been manager of technical publications or information architecture of (depending on how you count) 3 or 4 Silicon Valley companies. I've ghostwritten books on how to manage software development. So as you can imagine, as a manager of technical publications I'm spent years in close working relationships with managers of technical support. My three children (now ages 31, 28, 23) all knew the meaning of RTFM before their fifth birthdays. In our household, we *always* RTFM. OR at any rate, *I* RTFM, unless it's past 10 PM, I'm tired, my wife is frustrated, and I was in the middle of doing something else when she reached her limit called me to come downstairs to help her. So yes, we always RTFM out of personal and professional pride. But we are fallible. And sometimes, !!surprise!! the manual sucks! And sometimes !!double-surprise!! technical support sucks. As a matter of policy, for whatever it may say about me, I'll deal with anybody on the other end of the line, whatever their accent, for help with a television or a video player or anything like that. But when it comes to my mortgage, I won't talk to anybody who isn't talking to me from an office in the continental USA. If I get somebody in India, I ask to be transferred to somebody in USA. I'm happy to put up with cultural friction-loss on matters of no real importance (like DVD players), but when it comes to my mortgage, I draw the line. jrs On Jan 29, 2012, at 9:44 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: Let us put it this way. Bangalore or not, tech support does have to follow a script so you, and they, know for sure that troubleshooting step X was done. And yes, whatever it is, is usually documented in the manual or online -- srs (blackberry) From: John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com Sender: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus@lists.hserus.net Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:28:09 -0500 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net ReplyTo: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention? Three nights ago, for some reason, our 3-month-old DVD player stopped communicating with our television, into which it was plugged. The audio worked but the video didn't. After trying to figure out what was wrong and re-connecting cables and rebooting, etc, for fifteen minutes or so, I called the 800 number listed on a sticker on the machine and was soon connected to a nice woman, who, by her voice, seemed pretty young to me, who told me her name was Jenny. She had a peculiar accent, which to my non-linguistically-trained ears I would describe as 2 parts American Television, 2 parts Kate Middleton, and 6 parts Hindi. (I don't recall if I asked her if she was in Bangalore. I usually do, because the question interests me. I've probably asked this questions ten times, with yes being the answer 6 times, I can't talk about that being the answer twice, and a hangup/disconnect being the answer twice. After leading me through ten minutes of useless exercises (which I had already done) such as powering on and off, etc, Jenny said, Now, here's what we're going to do. Hold down the 'Stop' button for ten seconds. Sure enough, that worked, and within another minute my wife was watching her Jane Eyre DVD. (Why Jenny couldn't have listened to me when I told her I had already rebooted, etc, saved me ten minutes and just told me to hold down the stop button for ten seconds (thereby saving me ten minutes of time frustration) is not too hard to fathom. She's paid to follow a script, and she follows it. Facts don't concern her. (Nor should they, I guess, at the minimal wage she's presumably paid)). The best part of the whole encounter was when 'Jenny' helpfully and politely explained that the whole hold down the stop button for ten seconds business was explained on page 26 of the manual that shipped with the machine I had bought, so that if this problem ever came up again I could just turn to that instead of calling the help line. Regards, jrs On Jan 29, 2012, at 3:02 PM, Heather Madrone wrote: Wait. You have actually had success in recent years with a call to a support center?
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
Let us just say that, living in india so that my phone tech support would invariably come from bangalore .. I don't care if my support comes from a call center stateside or in europe instead, for some things at least - like bank loans - I prefer to have clear verbal and written communication with the actual person that makes the decisions. This typically means driving over to my bank and meeting the bank manager and loan officer assigned to my case --Original Message-- From: Charles Haynes Sender: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus@lists.hserus.net To: silklist@lists.hserus.net ReplyTo: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention? Sent: Jan 30, 2012 08:56 On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 11:15 AM, John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com wrote: when it comes to my mortgage, I draw the line. Why? Seriously. Is it because telephone tech support from Bangalore is relatively low quality in all cases, and you're willing to put up with it for most things, but want high-quality technical support for your mortgage? Why is that? Is it because you understand the other things better and so are more confident you can identify the useful information from amongst the chaff, but are less confident in the case of mortgages, or something else? -- Charles -- srs (blackberry)
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
With my mortgage, the stakes are infinitely higher than with a DVD player or whatever. And the problems are more subtle. It's embarrassing to admit, but I've over the last few years I've teetered on the edge of foreclosure. I've come closer that I care to admit, or to remember, to having my house sold at auction. (Thank Fred Christ that's not my situation now. But having been there, I never want to go back, ever). Earlier in my life I've been homeless. In my experience, it's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very disconcerting to try to straighten out a matter of a payment that has been made but not properly credited to my account when the possible loss of my home is at stake, with a person who does not understand what I'm saying, whom I must struggle to understand, and who is not familiar with American place names, various forms of address, and so forth. When my home is on the line, I don't want to fuck around with somebody who doesn't understand me and who I don't understand just to save GMAC Mortgage Corporation a few dollars in tech support cost. Of course in theory somebody in Bangalore can understand the subtleties of a problem I'm trying to resolve and can help me resolve it. In my experience, that has never happened; in fact, the opposite has happened on at least four occasions. And, to the best of my ability to figure out what happened, the problem was not that the person in India was stupid or incompetent or ill-meaning or anything like that. He or she just didn't understand what I was trying to explain, and was powerless to do anything to help me. The problem was some combination of linguistic, cultural, and institutional. But in any event, in every case I was able to solve the problem by saying, I insist on talking to somebody based in the USA. Regards, On Jan 29, 2012, at 10:26 PM, Charles Haynes wrote: On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 11:15 AM, John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com wrote: when it comes to my mortgage, I draw the line. Why? Seriously. Is it because telephone tech support from Bangalore is relatively low quality in all cases, and you're willing to put up with it for most things, but want high-quality technical support for your mortgage? Why is that? Is it because you understand the other things better and so are more confident you can identify the useful information from amongst the chaff, but are less confident in the case of mortgages, or something else? -- Charles
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
Hi John It MAY be strategic to sell an asset that has depreciated in value far lower than the amount of outstanding loan you have on it Like buying a 400k home whose value has fallen to 200k, and buying a smaller apartment at closer to normal rates. In such markets it also makes sense to go debt free, 100 percent. -- srs (blackberry) -Original Message- From: John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com Sender: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus@lists.hserus.net Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:52:12 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Reply-To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention? With my mortgage, the stakes are infinitely higher than with a DVD player or whatever. And the problems are more subtle. It's embarrassing to admit, but I've over the last few years I've teetered on the edge of foreclosure. I've come closer that I care to admit, or to remember, to having my house sold at auction. (Thank Fred Christ that's not my situation now. But having been there, I never want to go back, ever). Earlier in my life I've been homeless. In my experience, it's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very disconcerting to try to straighten out a matter of a payment that has been made but not properly credited to my account when the possible loss of my home is at stake, with a person who does not understand what I'm saying, whom I must struggle to understand, and who is not familiar with American place names, various forms of address, and so forth. When my home is on the line, I don't want to fuck around with somebody who doesn't understand me and who I don't understand just to save GMAC Mortgage Corporation a few dollars in tech support cost. Of course in theory somebody in Bangalore can understand the subtleties of a problem I'm trying to resolve and can help me resolve it. In my experience, that has never happened; in fact, the opposite has happened on at least four occasions. And, to the best of my ability to figure out what happened, the problem was not that the person in India was stupid or incompetent or ill-meaning or anything like that. He or she just didn't understand what I was trying to explain, and was powerless to do anything to help me. The problem was some combination of linguistic, cultural, and institutional. But in any event, in every case I was able to solve the problem by saying, I insist on talking to somebody based in the USA. Regards, On Jan 29, 2012, at 10:26 PM, Charles Haynes wrote: On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 11:15 AM, John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com wrote: when it comes to my mortgage, I draw the line. Why? Seriously. Is it because telephone tech support from Bangalore is relatively low quality in all cases, and you're willing to put up with it for most things, but want high-quality technical support for your mortgage? Why is that? Is it because you understand the other things better and so are more confident you can identify the useful information from amongst the chaff, but are less confident in the case of mortgages, or something else? -- Charles
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
On Sunday 29 Jan 2012 5:51:08 pm ashok _ wrote: invention before agriculture was religion, That was the world's worst invention shiv
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
Hello Suresh, With all due respect, your comment seems at the least presumptuous, if not outright condescending. Do you think I have not considered such things as you suggest -- when, as I've said, I've lived with a virtual gun to my head? My situation is vastly more complicated that I care to elaborate here -- and indeed, contrariwise, I would not be surprised if your own personal life situation contains subtleties and complexities that I never could have imagined. So I guess what I'm saying is, I'm happy to get any friendly advice from any quarter, but maybe we can keep such things off list? I'm john@wetmachine. Regards, jrs On Jan 29, 2012, at 10:56 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: Hi John It MAY be strategic to sell an asset that has depreciated in value far lower than the amount of outstanding loan you have on it Like buying a 400k home whose value has fallen to 200k, and buying a smaller apartment at closer to normal rates. In such markets it also makes sense to go debt free, 100 percent.
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
Hi John This was actually well meant and I am sorry if you thought it condescending. Sometimes in finance cutting losses by exiting an investment of any sort is actually a good way to go. It may not be applicable in your case, I acknowledge. My personal experience has been in closing down some dud insurance + investment type policies to the tune of about 100k rupees annual premium that an agent had sold my wife years back, and replacing them with term life insurance plans -- srs (blackberry) -Original Message- From: John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com Sender: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus@lists.hserus.net Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:19:50 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Reply-To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention? Hello Suresh, With all due respect, your comment seems at the least presumptuous, if not outright condescending. Do you think I have not considered such things as you suggest -- when, as I've said, I've lived with a virtual gun to my head? My situation is vastly more complicated that I care to elaborate here -- and indeed, contrariwise, I would not be surprised if your own personal life situation contains subtleties and complexities that I never could have imagined. So I guess what I'm saying is, I'm happy to get any friendly advice from any quarter, but maybe we can keep such things off list? I'm john@wetmachine. Regards, jrs On Jan 29, 2012, at 10:56 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: Hi John It MAY be strategic to sell an asset that has depreciated in value far lower than the amount of outstanding loan you have on it Like buying a 400k home whose value has fallen to 200k, and buying a smaller apartment at closer to normal rates. In such markets it also makes sense to go debt free, 100 percent.
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
Suresh, Sorry if I responded too testily. I appreciate your good wishes. I'm sure I have a bit of a hair trigger, having received over the years people telling me my wife you should do this or your should do that when they have no idea what our actual circumstances are, why we have made the decisions we have made, what constraints we are under. I do understand that it's sometimes best to cut one's losses. In our case, it makes the most sense, insofar as we are able to judge, to hold on to what we have. Under the terms of our new mortgage, we're paying 2% interest, and that's locked in for the next several years. The highest it can go is 4.5%. If, a few years from now it seems that we should sell, we'll find some way to come to terms with that, I'm sure. Although we're not getting any younger, and the prospect is not enticing. Thanks for your clarification, jrs On Jan 29, 2012, at 11:28 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: Hi John This was actually well meant and I am sorry if you thought it condescending. Sometimes in finance cutting losses by exiting an investment of any sort is actually a good way to go. It may not be applicable in your case, I acknowledge. My personal experience has been in closing down some dud insurance + investment type policies to the tune of about 100k rupees annual premium that an agent had sold my wife years back, and replacing them with term life insurance plans -- srs (blackberry) -Original Message- From: John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com Sender: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus@lists.hserus.net Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:19:50 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Reply-To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention? Hello Suresh, With all due respect, your comment seems at the least presumptuous, if not outright condescending. Do you think I have not considered such things as you suggest -- when, as I've said, I've lived with a virtual gun to my head? My situation is vastly more complicated that I care to elaborate here -- and indeed, contrariwise, I would not be surprised if your own personal life situation contains subtleties and complexities that I never could have imagined. So I guess what I'm saying is, I'm happy to get any friendly advice from any quarter, but maybe we can keep such things off list? I'm john@wetmachine. Regards, jrs On Jan 29, 2012, at 10:56 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: Hi John It MAY be strategic to sell an asset that has depreciated in value far lower than the amount of outstanding loan you have on it Like buying a 400k home whose value has fallen to 200k, and buying a smaller apartment at closer to normal rates. In such markets it also makes sense to go debt free, 100 percent.
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
You are lucky, out there. We in india have to deal with home loan rates greater than 10% pa, reducing balance. The only advantage is tax breaks on principal and interest payments -- srs (blackberry) -Original Message- From: John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com Sender: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus@lists.hserus.net Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:39:47 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Reply-To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention? Suresh, Sorry if I responded too testily. I appreciate your good wishes. I'm sure I have a bit of a hair trigger, having received over the years people telling me my wife you should do this or your should do that when they have no idea what our actual circumstances are, why we have made the decisions we have made, what constraints we are under. I do understand that it's sometimes best to cut one's losses. In our case, it makes the most sense, insofar as we are able to judge, to hold on to what we have. Under the terms of our new mortgage, we're paying 2% interest, and that's locked in for the next several years. The highest it can go is 4.5%. If, a few years from now it seems that we should sell, we'll find some way to come to terms with that, I'm sure. Although we're not getting any younger, and the prospect is not enticing. Thanks for your clarification, jrs On Jan 29, 2012, at 11:28 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: Hi John This was actually well meant and I am sorry if you thought it condescending. Sometimes in finance cutting losses by exiting an investment of any sort is actually a good way to go. It may not be applicable in your case, I acknowledge. My personal experience has been in closing down some dud insurance + investment type policies to the tune of about 100k rupees annual premium that an agent had sold my wife years back, and replacing them with term life insurance plans -- srs (blackberry) -Original Message- From: John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com Sender: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus@lists.hserus.net Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:19:50 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Reply-To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention? Hello Suresh, With all due respect, your comment seems at the least presumptuous, if not outright condescending. Do you think I have not considered such things as you suggest -- when, as I've said, I've lived with a virtual gun to my head? My situation is vastly more complicated that I care to elaborate here -- and indeed, contrariwise, I would not be surprised if your own personal life situation contains subtleties and complexities that I never could have imagined. So I guess what I'm saying is, I'm happy to get any friendly advice from any quarter, but maybe we can keep such things off list? I'm john@wetmachine. Regards, jrs On Jan 29, 2012, at 10:56 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: Hi John It MAY be strategic to sell an asset that has depreciated in value far lower than the amount of outstanding loan you have on it Like buying a 400k home whose value has fallen to 200k, and buying a smaller apartment at closer to normal rates. In such markets it also makes sense to go debt free, 100 percent.
[silk] JT Edsons
Does anybody have these around - especially the older ones from the 1960s Willing to buy / swap to fill out my collection -- srs (blackberry)
Re: [silk] JT Edsons
Similarly older tabor evans longarm series - numbered under #200 Tall order - not too many people still hooked on pulp westerns :) -- srs (blackberry) -Original Message- From: Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.net Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:03:52 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Reply-To: sur...@hserus.net Subject: JT Edsons Does anybody have these around - especially the older ones from the 1960s Willing to buy / swap to fill out my collection -- srs (blackberry)
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 9:22 AM, John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com wrote: Of course in theory somebody in Bangalore can understand the subtleties of a problem I'm trying to resolve and can help me resolve it. While not a native Bangalorean, I've lived here a long time and I consider it home. I mourn the loss of the quiet, civilized town that I moved to. I hate the fact that the software and call centre boom has turned it into a crowded, polluted, crass sprawl. I especially hate that it's caricatured as the call centre capital of the world. There's a whole lot more to Bangalore than call centres: software dev, manufacturing and more. There's a small but active theatre, music and art scene. The restaurant scene has greatly improved: it's a lot more cosmopolitan -- though the quality is inconsistent. Bangalore may not the best place to live in India, but it sure as hell doesn't deserve to be used as a shorthand for crappy foreign call centre. -- b
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 10:45 AM, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com wrote: While not a native Bangalorean, I've lived here a long time and I consider it home. I mourn the loss of the quiet, civilized town that I moved to. I hate the fact that the software and call centre boom has turned it into a crowded, polluted, crass sprawl. I especially hate that it's caricatured as the call centre capital of the world. There's a whole lot more to Bangalore than call centres: software dev, manufacturing and more. There's a small but active theatre, music and art scene. The restaurant scene has greatly improved: it's a lot more cosmopolitan -- though the quality is inconsistent. And being a native Bangalorean, I echo all this.
Re: [silk] JT Edsons
On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 10:33 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.net wrote: Does anybody have these around - especially the older ones from the 1960s Willing to buy / swap to fill out my collection Blossoms in Bangalore will have a bunch. For reading (not for sale or swap) willing to lend stuff from my collection. Udhay -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] JT Edsons
I clearly need to revisit blossoms, it has been years. I'll browse through the trash western part of your collection too, thank you. --Original Message-- From: Udhay Shankar N Sender: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus@lists.hserus.net To: silklist@lists.hserus.net ReplyTo: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] JT Edsons Sent: Jan 30, 2012 11:03 On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 10:33 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.net wrote: Does anybody have these around - especially the older ones from the 1960s Willing to buy / swap to fill out my collection Blossoms in Bangalore will have a bunch. For reading (not for sale or swap) willing to lend stuff from my collection. Udhay -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com)) -- srs (blackberry)
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
From: Thejaswi Udupa thejaswi.ud...@gmail.com To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Sent: Monday, 30 January 2012 10:57 AM Subject: Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention? On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 10:45 AM, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com wrote: While not a native Bangalorean, I've lived here a long time and I consider it home. I mourn the loss of the quiet, civilized town that I moved to. I hate the fact that the software and call centre boom has turned it into a crowded, polluted, crass sprawl. I especially hate that it's caricatured as the call centre capital of the world. There's a whole lot more to Bangalore than call centres: software dev, manufacturing and more. There's a small but active theatre, music and art scene. The restaurant scene has greatly improved: it's a lot more cosmopolitan -- though the quality is inconsistent. And being a native Bangalorean, I echo all this. And not being a native Bangalorean, non-resident at that, I echo all this too. A pox on those who offload their dirty work and then call the laundry a slum. JRS explicitly excluded.
Re: [silk] JT Edsons
On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 10:33 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.netwrote: Does anybody have these around - especially the older ones from the 1960s Had a few Dusty Fogg and Ysabel Kid books. Just gave them away to a friend who works with govt. schools. Will see if I have more in cold storage. Have a couple of L'Amour if you're interested. C
Re: [silk] JT Edsons
On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 11:43 AM, Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan chandrachoo...@gmail.com wrote: Had a few Dusty Fogg and Ysabel Kid books. Just gave them away to a friend who works with govt. schools. Will see if I have more in cold storage. Have a couple of L'Amour if you're interested. It must be 10-15 years since I read a JT Edson. Hmmm ... time for something cheesy to go along with my pizza? :-) -- b
Re: [silk] JT Edsons
Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan [30/01/12 11:43 +0530]: Had a few Dusty Fogg and Ysabel Kid books. Just gave them away to a friend who works with govt. schools. Will see if I have more in cold storage. Have a couple of L'Amour if you're interested. I have just about every l'amour - but I lost most of the old jt edsons, and the ones I can find on kindle / second hand bookshops etc in chennai are the recycled trash he churned out in the late 70s..80s
Re: [silk] What is the greatest human invention?
On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 7:39 AM, John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com wrote: Under the terms of our new mortgage, we're paying 2% interest, and that's locked in for the next several years. The highest it can go is 4.5%. If, a few years from now it seems that we should sell, we'll find some way to come to terms with that, I'm sure. Although we're not getting any younger, and the prospect is not enticing. if it will make you feel any better: the home loan interest rate in Nairobi is 23% . Inflation is somewhere between 27 and 32%. Unbelievably there is no shortage of people willing to take on such loans. Rents are hideously inflated because of high mortgage payments. Its only a matter of time before when the bubble bursts. Some banks will give you a fixed deposit interest rate of 16-17% if you are willing to deposit the equivalent of $10,000 or more.
