Ok well that's not true at all but its the lyric stuck in my head right now bc Rock Band is currently being played as I sit on the couch.
If you know someone who owns this game, or know someone who knows someone who used to date someone who played tennis once with this guy who used to be roommates with this girl who was the "office administrator" at your old job....or something like that (and if any of that happens to be true...wow)), then go play. Seriously. I don't care if you can't play guitar, or sing, or don't have any kind of musicality in your body. Why? Why not?! But also bc the game is A LOT OF FUN. For all ages, genders, music tastes (sorry no country...well that's a good thing :D), etc.
The game can accommodate up to four players all doing something at once (so a bigger TV is ideal but not required)...including a lead guitarist, a bassist, a singer & a drummer. Both the guitar and the bass part involved playing a guitar made specifically for the game (sorry both are guitars, there is not an actual bass), that probably pretty intuitively...um...yea that's the word. It's hard to explain how to play these instruments unless you've seen the game (or the Guitar Hero series) or played before.
The singer has a section at the top of the screen where the words scroll from right to left with the corresponding pitch and length of the notes/words. More important than getting the words right (although it helps if you know the song), is hitting the right pitch and length of each word. If you do this well, then the game likes you and gives you multipliers and other good things. If you do this poorly however, the game effectively trash talks (says you did that segment "weak" or "messy" or "poor") and will start to "kill you." If you sing badly, there is a meter on the left side of the screen that drops each time you sing a segment badly, and if this meter gets to the very bottom then you fail. You can be saved if other players have enough "energy." If the band fails any part (guitar,bass, singing or drums) three times then the band fails the song and you have to retry the song, or try a new song.
The drums are pretty sweet, and probably the coolest part of the game. Its a little "modern type" drum set...with 4 "pads" instead of actual drums. It reminds me of those "fake drums" you see church bands use so that the drums aren't as loud...or something. Anyway, their sweet. And it comes with a bass pedal. Each pad has a different color that corresponds to a note on the screen, and you hit that pad as that note scrolls down the screen. Again its hard to explain this scrolling note idea. Needless to say though, the drums are a lot of fun to play. There's even sections in some song where you can "drum solo" and just go crazy playing anything you want.
I'm not sure how well any of that was explained but this game is a lot of fun when you can get a group of three or four (or more, but you'd have to rotate who plays) together. And there's enough older rock, contemporary rock and modern/classic pop songs to suit almost every one's taste...such featured artists include The Who, Metallica, Foo Fighters, Weezer, Boston, Deep Purple and more.
Even if you hate video games, or think they're stupid or that a video game, mock-type version of playing real instruments is the dumbest idea ever...I challenge you to partake and still hold that opinion. It may not be something you want to go out and buy for yourself (bc video game systems aren't cheap, and neither is the game itself (retail $170ish) bc of all the peripherals)), but its fun to play every once in awhile with some friends.
More on the NFL playoffs and Seattle's big win tomorrow....GO HAWKS!!!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
True or False?
The more you learn about something, the more intriguing it becomes? No? hmm...the more interesting it becomes? Still no? uhh...the more you understand why others could be so intrigued/interested in it? Bingo.
What am I referring to? Well it could be a great many things, but today this relates to politics. Eek! Yes. Politics. Never a hot topic on my radar, nor anything I've ever really bothered to investigate or even have the slightest passing interest in. But today I learned a little more about how the system works, and could start to see how some people (yes i accented those two words for effect...i still don't get how people can get some consumed and fascinated by politics...i just don't) could be so fascinated by it.
After watching a pretty terrible, and yet for the very same reason, a wildly entertaining movie (Shoot 'Em Up), I flipped over to the channel guide and saw the IOWA CAUCUS was on, or had just ended, and because of both of those were true/were going to be true, some 1800 of the channels had current or post-caucus coverage. Political caucus coverage? Really? Even before I knew what that was I found it rather dull and boring. Then I come to find out its just the state of Iowa determining who the people prefer. Apparently its kind of like a primary election, but I still don't see why it didn't several different channels of coverage...or even a single channel. Political pundits debating and arguing and arguing and arguing and trying their hardest to sound hyper-intelligent about what the state of Iowa thinks about this year's candidates. Or maybe it was ongoing footage of people voting. WHOA! Or maybe the actual candidates were there and it was a lot of LIVE!!!!! footage of them pacing a stage, using lots of hand gestures, and OVer ENUNCiaTING theIR worDS to try AND mAke theiR POints seEm THat much MORe....annoying?.....artificial?....oh wait...important? Meh.
So whatever the coverage was....yay CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, etc for all covering the same boring stuff. I mean...even the boring matchup of Kansas v. Va Tech in the Orange Bowl (which turned out to be slightly more exciting because the underdog (Kansas) ended up winning and thus proving they belonged in such a BIG bowl game...woot for Jayhawks football in '07 (no really I'm serious here)) was 10 times more interesting to me than the caucus coverage. And who came up with the word caucus anyway? It sounds dirty. Sounds made up. Sounds...again like I don't care.
Anyway. At lunch today the winners for the two parties at the caucus was brought up by one of my two bosses. Apparently Obama was the "winning" donkey & Huckabee was the "winning" elephant. Notice I didn't call him an ass...ha. See I can do political humor...on second thought, no thanks. So I had no idea what all of this meant, or why it was necessary, or blah-dee-dee-blah-blah. So I asked. And here is what I learned (I think):
-a caucus is a like a primary election, which serves the purpose of giving a preliminary reading on which party, and which candidates from each party the state, as a whole, favors.
-WA state has primaries, not a caucus (good call us...I don't like the way caucus sounds)
-(was reminded of this, bc I forgot I knew this) in WA state if you vote Donkey or Elephant for your presidential candidate, all the rest of your votes have to be within the same party.
-now i think this is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard.
-after all these prelim type votes are cast, eventually the national partisan political something or rather convention meets and picks their "main man" for their respective party...the person who they believe will best represent their party as President. I guess this convention is made up of a select few/several from each state.
-but apparently this choice does not have to be who their state favored...or something...yea
-then after the animals choose their respective leaders of the pack, the nation gets to vote in the popular vote...which in some states means absolutely diddly squat when the electoral votes for that state are cast. (This is what I found most interesting.)
-in certain states, the popular vote determines the electoral vote. its an all or nothing type deal. in other states, a candidate can win the popular vote for the state, but the person(s) casting the electoral vote can vote for whoever they want...if they want to keep their job they will choose who the state chose, but still interesting the "power of choice" they still posses.
This is why the recount in FL was such a big deal (which I didn't know, bc I know the popular vote doesn't win elections, electoral votes do), because FL is one of those "all or nothing" states, so whoever won the popular vote got the electoral votes, and thus the presidency.
I found all that interesting...and I may have screwed up the explanation, or even flat out lied, but that's what I remember (or that's what I was told, and if I was told wrong then I have no control over that).
Mother's Mortgage update: they won't allow her Pampered Chef income bc she hasn't been doing it for two years. They will only allow her soon-to-be raise to be retroactive back to September 1 (which is what the raise is doing, but they won't let us project it out forward and use that higher number). They won't change the program from EA1 back to 30 YR FRM (Expanded Approval (for "risky" borrowers...which my mom is NOT but the numbers aren't coming out coming out good enough for them)...30 year fixed rate mortgage). And the boss has been on the phone for the last 30-45 minutes to try and see if switching to a 5 YR I/O (interest only) will solve the problem (bc the qualifying rate for an I/O is lower bc its interest only and not a fully amortized principal and interest payment).
So we shall.
Luckily it was a good day and should continue that way as its Friday & my dad's birthday. Us kids are takin' him out to a hockey game, which is always fun, so the night should just keep gettin' better...although it will be weird to go to a hockey game with my dad and not partake in some beers...bc I did give up booze for 2008 and after four days sober I'm feelin' good I'll make it all year
:D
What am I referring to? Well it could be a great many things, but today this relates to politics. Eek! Yes. Politics. Never a hot topic on my radar, nor anything I've ever really bothered to investigate or even have the slightest passing interest in. But today I learned a little more about how the system works, and could start to see how some people (yes i accented those two words for effect...i still don't get how people can get some consumed and fascinated by politics...i just don't) could be so fascinated by it.
After watching a pretty terrible, and yet for the very same reason, a wildly entertaining movie (Shoot 'Em Up), I flipped over to the channel guide and saw the IOWA CAUCUS was on, or had just ended, and because of both of those were true/were going to be true, some 1800 of the channels had current or post-caucus coverage. Political caucus coverage? Really? Even before I knew what that was I found it rather dull and boring. Then I come to find out its just the state of Iowa determining who the people prefer. Apparently its kind of like a primary election, but I still don't see why it didn't several different channels of coverage...or even a single channel. Political pundits debating and arguing and arguing and arguing and trying their hardest to sound hyper-intelligent about what the state of Iowa thinks about this year's candidates. Or maybe it was ongoing footage of people voting. WHOA! Or maybe the actual candidates were there and it was a lot of LIVE!!!!! footage of them pacing a stage, using lots of hand gestures, and OVer ENUNCiaTING theIR worDS to try AND mAke theiR POints seEm THat much MORe....annoying?.....artificial?....oh wait...important? Meh.
So whatever the coverage was....yay CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, etc for all covering the same boring stuff. I mean...even the boring matchup of Kansas v. Va Tech in the Orange Bowl (which turned out to be slightly more exciting because the underdog (Kansas) ended up winning and thus proving they belonged in such a BIG bowl game...woot for Jayhawks football in '07 (no really I'm serious here)) was 10 times more interesting to me than the caucus coverage. And who came up with the word caucus anyway? It sounds dirty. Sounds made up. Sounds...again like I don't care.
Anyway. At lunch today the winners for the two parties at the caucus was brought up by one of my two bosses. Apparently Obama was the "winning" donkey & Huckabee was the "winning" elephant. Notice I didn't call him an ass...ha. See I can do political humor...on second thought, no thanks. So I had no idea what all of this meant, or why it was necessary, or blah-dee-dee-blah-blah. So I asked. And here is what I learned (I think):
-a caucus is a like a primary election, which serves the purpose of giving a preliminary reading on which party, and which candidates from each party the state, as a whole, favors.
-WA state has primaries, not a caucus (good call us...I don't like the way caucus sounds)
-(was reminded of this, bc I forgot I knew this) in WA state if you vote Donkey or Elephant for your presidential candidate, all the rest of your votes have to be within the same party.
-now i think this is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard.
-after all these prelim type votes are cast, eventually the national partisan political something or rather convention meets and picks their "main man" for their respective party...the person who they believe will best represent their party as President. I guess this convention is made up of a select few/several from each state.
-but apparently this choice does not have to be who their state favored...or something...yea
-then after the animals choose their respective leaders of the pack, the nation gets to vote in the popular vote...which in some states means absolutely diddly squat when the electoral votes for that state are cast. (This is what I found most interesting.)
-in certain states, the popular vote determines the electoral vote. its an all or nothing type deal. in other states, a candidate can win the popular vote for the state, but the person(s) casting the electoral vote can vote for whoever they want...if they want to keep their job they will choose who the state chose, but still interesting the "power of choice" they still posses.
This is why the recount in FL was such a big deal (which I didn't know, bc I know the popular vote doesn't win elections, electoral votes do), because FL is one of those "all or nothing" states, so whoever won the popular vote got the electoral votes, and thus the presidency.
I found all that interesting...and I may have screwed up the explanation, or even flat out lied, but that's what I remember (or that's what I was told, and if I was told wrong then I have no control over that).
Mother's Mortgage update: they won't allow her Pampered Chef income bc she hasn't been doing it for two years. They will only allow her soon-to-be raise to be retroactive back to September 1 (which is what the raise is doing, but they won't let us project it out forward and use that higher number). They won't change the program from EA1 back to 30 YR FRM (Expanded Approval (for "risky" borrowers...which my mom is NOT but the numbers aren't coming out coming out good enough for them)...30 year fixed rate mortgage). And the boss has been on the phone for the last 30-45 minutes to try and see if switching to a 5 YR I/O (interest only) will solve the problem (bc the qualifying rate for an I/O is lower bc its interest only and not a fully amortized principal and interest payment).
So we shall.
Luckily it was a good day and should continue that way as its Friday & my dad's birthday. Us kids are takin' him out to a hockey game, which is always fun, so the night should just keep gettin' better...although it will be weird to go to a hockey game with my dad and not partake in some beers...bc I did give up booze for 2008 and after four days sober I'm feelin' good I'll make it all year
:D
Thursday, January 3, 2008
And this brings me back to my initial point...
Keep your loved ones close. I just let myself get so upset and so down about things that are almost entirely out of my control. Shit happens. There's no better way to say it. But that's the beauty of having people around you who care. They can say the simplest, most basic thing to you and totally make your day better. Doesn't have to be anyone "special" either. Your parents. A sibling. A child. A co-worker. A roommate. A friend. Or even a stranger. The nicest little things go a long way.
So even tho "tis the season" no longer rings true in the commercial/holiday sense, make this time to make it the season you tell those around you how much they mean to you, or that you appreciate them, or that you like their new haircut, or their shoes, or how helpful they've been, anything positive/complimentary/heartfelt will do great. And its my theory that if you keep doing that, those nagging, stressful things in your life won't be quite as bad. And you may even get a few nice things coming back to you...which is something I know everyone can use from time to time.
So even tho "tis the season" no longer rings true in the commercial/holiday sense, make this time to make it the season you tell those around you how much they mean to you, or that you appreciate them, or that you like their new haircut, or their shoes, or how helpful they've been, anything positive/complimentary/heartfelt will do great. And its my theory that if you keep doing that, those nagging, stressful things in your life won't be quite as bad. And you may even get a few nice things coming back to you...which is something I know everyone can use from time to time.
Keeping loved ones close & trying like hell not to let the rest bring you down...
Now that's a title.
It's easy to get into a post Christmas/early New Year funk. You overspent. You didn't get what you wanted under the tree. You spent New Year's Eve at home. You missed someone at midnight. You don't make resolutions. You do make some, but have already started to falter. But no matter how bad or how good these last few weeks have been, hopefully you have someone, or multiple someones, who you can count on to cheer you up, build you up or simply make you feel loved. (For the record I only qualify for maybe one of those "You" statements.)
Unfortunately, these loved ones cannot always stay out of the things that drive you crazy or bring you down, so then your stresses and frustrations are even worse. For me, this manifested itself yesterday after quite a promising start. (attention...maybe contain work like (mortgages!!) substance) Almost immediately after I arrived at work, I checked on the status of my mom's file. We were waiting on the appraisal company to re-evaluate the appraisal they completed, as we felt the property had more value than what they originally returned. To be delight, the new value was now high enough to complete the loan, and only slightly lower than our estimated value. This only meant a quick phone call to my mom to change some numbers and we were looking good. HUZZAH!!!
Now I was very ecstatic about this for several reasons... a) it's a new, better loan for my mom... b) the appraisal company cancelled my original order, then did the wrong type of appraisal, then I had to re-order the correct appraisal, and it still came in massively undervalued... c) the new value was high enough to do the new loan (the original value would not have been sufficient), and only required a few slight changes... d) with this new loan I was going to be able to help my mom pick out new furniture & a new TV (woot!)
So as you can see, I was pretty out of control excited. Well...fool me once (d'oh! already happened before), shame on you... fool me again, SHAME ON ME!! Why did I think my processor wasn't going to screw this up?!?! Wishful thinking I guess.
So now its later in the day and my mom's file is not dead in the water, but its not looking so good. The income was entered in incorrectly, and then a new pay stub was needed bc its not longer November (when the loan was exported), and that one had even less than the original amount, but was still too high. So now this new income figure is not big enough to support the loan amount needed to payoff the existing liens. YAY MORTGAGE TERMINOLOGY!!! What we're now waiting/hoping for is a letter stating my mom will be getting a $3 raise. Yep. A $3 raise/hr. solves all these income issues. Yesterday it looked as though she might get to sign her docs and close next week, but now it looks as though this file might not close until month's end. AWESOME...only TWO MONTHS to do a simple refi.
I'm so beyond irritated and upset right now. And I know it's mostly because this is for my mom, but regardless this file has been problematic...and its not the borrower's fault. Thankfully for us, it is my mom's loan, so she's understanding and won't get all pissed off....unfortunately it is my mom's loan and WaMu is dropping the ball big time. Woo hoo! Look where I work mom...we can't do anything right!!!
Good thing I gave up booze for 2008 or I'd probably be heading to a bar after work...or right now. Looks like the new responsible "me" is getting its first test...and this guy is hoping he passes the test...and that his employer does too.
It's easy to get into a post Christmas/early New Year funk. You overspent. You didn't get what you wanted under the tree. You spent New Year's Eve at home. You missed someone at midnight. You don't make resolutions. You do make some, but have already started to falter. But no matter how bad or how good these last few weeks have been, hopefully you have someone, or multiple someones, who you can count on to cheer you up, build you up or simply make you feel loved. (For the record I only qualify for maybe one of those "You" statements.)
Unfortunately, these loved ones cannot always stay out of the things that drive you crazy or bring you down, so then your stresses and frustrations are even worse. For me, this manifested itself yesterday after quite a promising start. (attention...maybe contain work like (mortgages!!) substance) Almost immediately after I arrived at work, I checked on the status of my mom's file. We were waiting on the appraisal company to re-evaluate the appraisal they completed, as we felt the property had more value than what they originally returned. To be delight, the new value was now high enough to complete the loan, and only slightly lower than our estimated value. This only meant a quick phone call to my mom to change some numbers and we were looking good. HUZZAH!!!
Now I was very ecstatic about this for several reasons... a) it's a new, better loan for my mom... b) the appraisal company cancelled my original order, then did the wrong type of appraisal, then I had to re-order the correct appraisal, and it still came in massively undervalued... c) the new value was high enough to do the new loan (the original value would not have been sufficient), and only required a few slight changes... d) with this new loan I was going to be able to help my mom pick out new furniture & a new TV (woot!)
So as you can see, I was pretty out of control excited. Well...fool me once (d'oh! already happened before), shame on you... fool me again, SHAME ON ME!! Why did I think my processor wasn't going to screw this up?!?! Wishful thinking I guess.
So now its later in the day and my mom's file is not dead in the water, but its not looking so good. The income was entered in incorrectly, and then a new pay stub was needed bc its not longer November (when the loan was exported), and that one had even less than the original amount, but was still too high. So now this new income figure is not big enough to support the loan amount needed to payoff the existing liens. YAY MORTGAGE TERMINOLOGY!!! What we're now waiting/hoping for is a letter stating my mom will be getting a $3 raise. Yep. A $3 raise/hr. solves all these income issues. Yesterday it looked as though she might get to sign her docs and close next week, but now it looks as though this file might not close until month's end. AWESOME...only TWO MONTHS to do a simple refi.
I'm so beyond irritated and upset right now. And I know it's mostly because this is for my mom, but regardless this file has been problematic...and its not the borrower's fault. Thankfully for us, it is my mom's loan, so she's understanding and won't get all pissed off....unfortunately it is my mom's loan and WaMu is dropping the ball big time. Woo hoo! Look where I work mom...we can't do anything right!!!
Good thing I gave up booze for 2008 or I'd probably be heading to a bar after work...or right now. Looks like the new responsible "me" is getting its first test...and this guy is hoping he passes the test...and that his employer does too.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Mortgages, Football & Vegas
Happy new year!
...and yes those three title items are loosely connected.
I don't know about you, but I had quite the year in 2007...I moved, changed jobs, dated, saw my favorite sports team win their division only to get swept in the first round, watched some of the craziest, most entertaining college football in recent memory, made my first trip to Vegas, threw parties, crashed parties, became a guitar hero, bought an XBOX 360, saw my brother graduate high school, almost went to Jamaica, finished my 4th punch card @ Prost!, saw a good friend get married and then move to Germany 7 months later, had another good friend get engaged & get asked to be in the wedding, and found out some other friends are expecting twins!
So for me, 2007 was a pretty good year and yet I have this feeling that 2008 is going to be even better....so long as I get to keep my job. Unfortunately the market has more of an impact on that than any job I've ever had before.
I work as an assistant for two loan consultants with WaMu. As most have seen & heard, the last two quarters of 2007 were like nothing the industry had ever seen before. Fortunately for me, I get to keep my job (at least today, and probably tomorrow), but for how long is still uncertain. All I know is that people still need loans, still want to buy homes, and can still benefit from equity lines of credit. The problem is that, until recently, the media has put so much fear into current and potential home owners, that the deals have been scarce. The other issue is the mass effect the suprime market collapse had on the rest of the mortgage industry. As a result, so long as the companies didn't go out of business (yay WaMu is still here!), they had to tighten up their underwriting guidelines and program offerings to the point that there was more we couldn't do than could do.
Now I really do understand that certain measures has to be put into action in order to limit losses, and protect our current portfolio...but the only way to rebound is to keep bringing in quality loans...which they've effectively eliminated by clamping down too hard!!
And as we speak...yet another reason why deals aren't closing on time, or at all. I WORK WITH THE WORST PROCESSOR OF ALL TIME. She's supposed to be a "Sr. Loan Coordinator" but can't do anything without asking her boss, or taking the file back to underwriting for approval. I've had undwerwriters call up and be like...."why did she bring this to me? she can do this herself." Yea. So I'm going to try and stop the bleeding before she kills the loan all together. Huzzah!!!
Stay tuned for more on the mortgage industry, my adventures in downtown (and another trip to Vegas!) and whatever other various types of trouble I can get myself into.
Prost! (German for cheers, and also a great little pub on Phinney Ridge in Seattle)
-Mo
...and yes those three title items are loosely connected.
I don't know about you, but I had quite the year in 2007...I moved, changed jobs, dated, saw my favorite sports team win their division only to get swept in the first round, watched some of the craziest, most entertaining college football in recent memory, made my first trip to Vegas, threw parties, crashed parties, became a guitar hero, bought an XBOX 360, saw my brother graduate high school, almost went to Jamaica, finished my 4th punch card @ Prost!, saw a good friend get married and then move to Germany 7 months later, had another good friend get engaged & get asked to be in the wedding, and found out some other friends are expecting twins!
So for me, 2007 was a pretty good year and yet I have this feeling that 2008 is going to be even better....so long as I get to keep my job. Unfortunately the market has more of an impact on that than any job I've ever had before.
I work as an assistant for two loan consultants with WaMu. As most have seen & heard, the last two quarters of 2007 were like nothing the industry had ever seen before. Fortunately for me, I get to keep my job (at least today, and probably tomorrow), but for how long is still uncertain. All I know is that people still need loans, still want to buy homes, and can still benefit from equity lines of credit. The problem is that, until recently, the media has put so much fear into current and potential home owners, that the deals have been scarce. The other issue is the mass effect the suprime market collapse had on the rest of the mortgage industry. As a result, so long as the companies didn't go out of business (yay WaMu is still here!), they had to tighten up their underwriting guidelines and program offerings to the point that there was more we couldn't do than could do.
Now I really do understand that certain measures has to be put into action in order to limit losses, and protect our current portfolio...but the only way to rebound is to keep bringing in quality loans...which they've effectively eliminated by clamping down too hard!!
And as we speak...yet another reason why deals aren't closing on time, or at all. I WORK WITH THE WORST PROCESSOR OF ALL TIME. She's supposed to be a "Sr. Loan Coordinator" but can't do anything without asking her boss, or taking the file back to underwriting for approval. I've had undwerwriters call up and be like...."why did she bring this to me? she can do this herself." Yea. So I'm going to try and stop the bleeding before she kills the loan all together. Huzzah!!!
Stay tuned for more on the mortgage industry, my adventures in downtown (and another trip to Vegas!) and whatever other various types of trouble I can get myself into.
Prost! (German for cheers, and also a great little pub on Phinney Ridge in Seattle)
-Mo
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