Mini Mania Open House and Lawn Party by Jerry (Siddhartha) Bradbury
What can transform a peaceful sylvan lawn in Gold Country into a carnival overnight? The annual Mini Mania Open House and Lawn Party of course! Those who were there got to see first hand all the eye candy, but for those who were not, the Mini's ranged from an electric Moke to a VTEC powered Classic, to Randy Steven's tricked out CVT to Robert Holt’s Purple Haze convertible to three full on Mini race cars: my sprint car, Jacques Andres' enduro car and Eric and Colin Herricks's rally car, and many in between.
Infineon Raceway, April 11, 2008. by Jerry (Siddhartha) Bradbury
My Mini has a new setup for this race. Speed parts from my sponsor Mini Mania have been added by my sponsor Bay Bridge Motors and USTCC sponsor Nitto has provided four brand new NT 01 tires. This will be my first official race with the US Touring Car Championship and I look forward to hitting the grid with more horsepower and quicker lap times.
The new MINI was launched in 2001, to much acclaim. Although bigger than the original Mini, what it lacked in rear legroom, it made up for in unusual styling and a vast array of personalisation elements, much loved by a local estate agent.
The MINI Clubman has the same raft of options but its main benefit is the extra length, which should make rear passengers happier.
Don't worry about me emmigrating to China. I have no doubt that for the vast majority it is not a nice place to exist. Yes we have it good over here - that is my point - we have it much better than we can afford - China is currently paying for our high quality of life to the tune of @2 Billion a day. What I am saying is that what we are doing now is not sustainable and when it ends it won't be pretty.
I am in no way talking up China, their government, their pollution (I don't mind their food sometime though) or trying to say we are bad and evil. We just need to face reality and make some hard choices before they are made for us.
Oh, BTW the tornado destroyed some buildings in a little place called Driver - that is 1 mile from me - but no damage here.
Nothing is so bad that you can't make it worse by doing something rash or going berserk.
"However, let's look at people who are losing jobs. Campaign rhetoric tells us the jobs are going overseas, but why? The USA (the supposed land of the free) has too many barriers for corporations to make a profit."
Yes, those poor corporations just can't earn a profit in the USA. What a bunch of lousy commsymps those schmucks are.
"Between taxes, environmental regulations, lawsuits, high wages, they cannot really do anything else, but go over seas[sic]. Hong Kong (part of communist China) is ranked as the place with the highest economic freedom strangely enough. It shouldn't be easier to build a factory in China than the USA, but it is by far. We have become a country who wants and expects something for nothing, and I'm worried that like most things we will get not what we expect, but what we deserve."
Let's get one thing straight--it sucks to live in China and pretty nice to live in the USA. The lack of environmental regulations makes city air a fetid, toxic brew of carcinogens and suffocants, the land a dumping ground, and the rivers and streams into means of waste disposal. High wages in the USA enable people like us to have hobbies, like spending money on old British cars, places to live, and nice homes. Yes, it's an unfortunate tragedy that we have such high wages in the USA--I complain daily about getting paid too much (seriously, though, the average wage has been relatively flat since 1973). Our tax rate in the USA is pretty low by world standards, and what we do have pays for roads, colleges, and the world's best military (how well that military is used is another matter entirely). Lawsuits allow ordinary citizens to have redress against the government and large corporations, so we're not pawns and peons (mind you, this is coming from someone who is decidedly not a plaintiff's attorney). I don't know if it's easier to build a factory in China than the USA--states seem to trip over themselves slathering tax credits whenever a company wants to build a new factory--but even if it is, it's probably because in a free nation, you have to take account of the free men and women living in it, not just what the local party apparatchik thinks.
I highly suggest you wathc a documentary on ordinary Chinese life. I highly doubt you'll come away with a desire to emigrate.
At to foreclosures, my symnpathy lies with people being thrown out of their homes, not the banks and financiers who overspeculated (and who, as always, get a federal bailout to soften the landing under their golden parachutes). To some extent, the 2005 bankruptcy act may be to blame; prior to the enactment of that statute, a person or family could discharge it's credit debt relatively easy because the goal was to keep the family home intact. Now, it's harder to discharge the credit cards, giving people an incentive to simply walk away from their homes. Visa 1, Countrywide 0
In an ironic way, it's also a function of the market--when the house loses enough value that it becomes a burden rather than an asset, so the homeowner has financial incentive to walk away and let the bank worry about absorbing the loss. To the extent that the banks inflated applicant's income and property values to get new loans, I suppose it's a form of market self-correction.
"There's more to life than books you know, but not much more." The
Smiths, Handsome Devil, 1983.
Bill, his comments centered more on the supply and demand for houses in the US. While their is great geographic variability, the stock of available older homes, new homes, repo's, etc will take that long to reach some equilibrium...
Exactly, and that variability makes it irresponsible to paint everyone with the same brush. New construction is slim to none in SE CT as a percentage of overall sales. Using national averages or medians is like saying the average weight of a car is 2500 pounds.
Bill, his comments centered more on the supply and demand for houses in the US. While their is great geographic variability, the stock of available older homes, new homes, repo's, etc will take that long to reach some equilibrium...
Make it idiot proof, and someone will make a better
idiot....
I heard a Phd from MIT speculate housing wouldn't bottom out until 2010....
Don't put too much stock in what so-called experts are spouting. I just listened to a noted economist on CNBC talking about the fed funds rates supposed effect on housing sales. The Fed Funds rate and discount rate have nothing at all to do with traditional mortgage products. They are tied to the 10 year treasuries, instead. Mortgage money is still a bargain, although lending standards have tightened quite a bit. 5-1 ARM is 5.5%, 10-1 is 5.75, fixed just over 6.
It likewise fries my bacon when an "expert" opines that housing sales were off in February because of lousy weather. Houses that close escrow in February were sold 30 to 90 days prior, when Buyer and Seller inked the deal.
When I married my wife, her parents gave us what I momentarily thought was just about the most lame gift that you can give someone, a pair of seats at a money management seminar. When they presented it to us my brain was dissappointed because it wasn't a toaster, I really like toast, but as they explained thier thoughts behind the present my craving for toast subsided and I made sense of their gift, and what a good gift it was. We learned a lot about how to handle the money that we had, very little, and how important it was to be realistic in deciding between what we "needed," and what we "wanted," and most importantly how to pay for those things. We took the information to heart and slowly built our credit, living well within our means. I guess it's a good thing that we really like Ramen noodles. And now we live very comfortably, in a house that is just the right size, in a neighborhood that is not overrun with neighbors trying to out accessorize each other. I can safely say that more than half of the people I know live way beyond their means, continually making purchases that they do not need, but must have.
I too think the majority of the people losing their houses were either greedy and bit off more than they could chew, were uninformed and got suckered in by a mortgage broker, or believed in the mob mentality driven belief that home prices would always go up and tghhe path to prosperity was to borrow your way to wealth.
However, let's look at people who are losing jobs. Campaign rhetoric tells us the jobs are going overseas, but why? The USA (the supposed land of the free) has too many barriers for corporations to make a profit. Between taxes, environmental regulations, lawsuits, high wages, they cannot really do anything else, but go over seas. Hong Kong (part of communist China) is ranked as the place with the highest economic freedom strangely enough. It shouldn't be easier to build a factory in China than the USA, but it is by far. We have become a country who wants and expects something for nothing, and I'm worried that like most things we will get not what we expect, but what we deserve.
$2 Billion a day (our current account deficit) is too big to really comprehend for people who live more on the scale of a hundred dollars a day, but even a supply side economic proponent would have a hard time convincing anyone that this is sustainable. Someday I'm afraid the rest of the world will get tired of financing our spending spree.
Our National debt is now at $9 Trillion, but that does not include entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, Dr. Mini's Air Force Retirement pay...when all that stuff is added in it is more like $50 Trillion that we have allowed our government to get in the hole.
I wish I had answers as to how to fix these problems, but I don't.
Nothing is so bad that you can't make it worse by doing something rash or going berserk.
Please don't get me wrong people that have lost their jobs have my utmost sympathy, I just feel that a majority of our problems is that we have to have everything now, no matter what is costs and we have to have the biggest and the best and we don't live within our means. I have a little sister who lives in a trailer going to school, living paycheck to paycheck, but you want to know something? She is not out getting credit cards, rent to own contracts on big screen tvs or buying a house by taking out an interest only loan because then she could afford the payment now. Priorities and just taking a step back and asking "do I really NEED this" could do a lot for people in the long run.
Right now the unemployment rates don't hold this up. What we are experiencing has been plainly identified here as greed and bad judgement by individuals and lenders. Also, overexpansion in construction of new homes and condos. it'll take a while to clear the inventory. I heard a Phd from MIT speculate housing wouldn't bottom out until 2010....
Make it idiot proof, and someone will make a better
idiot....
H82WRK--I don't think it's a matter of people buying more house than they can or could afford. Rather, it's a matter of losing your job, which tends to limit a person's ability to pay their bills. At the same time, banks convinced many others that they could afford houses on an ARM because they could refinanace when the ARM went up. The same banks that get federal bailouts. Of course, an ARM may not have been the best way to go, but that's no reason to blame the victim. As that long-hair said a while back, "He who is without sin . . ." In addition, most families can't afford to live on only one paycheck--if they could, they probably would either only have one or have 2 smaller ones. If you can live well enough on one, it sort of undercuts the rationale for two.
Exactly. I think it is foolish to just blame bad luck on bad judgement.
"No matter how this primary ends, Sen. Clinton has shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and yours will come of age." Obama 2008
I think there's a little bit right with everyone's reply so far. Speaking from my limited observations it seems to me here in Kalyfornya that the majority of people that are in danger of losing their homes caused much of their own problems. NOT EVERYONE, but the bulk of them. The housing market here is/was crazy with prices rising faster than the norm and people wanting to cash in on the short term gain by short term-high interest rate loans, high debt ratios, variable interest rate loans for more than they can afford(we'll sell before it goes up), all to do a quick turn and make money short term.
A good example is a guy in my vanpool, his M-inlaw is a realitor and is looking for a new home for him and the family. They've looked at plenty in the last month and he noted a commonality among them all: the houses are close to foreclosure, deeply discounted, seller is losing money on the deal and there are an abundance of "toys" in the driveway or garage. One house was a month from foreclosure and when he looked at it the new chevy 2500 diesel, 36ft toy hauler, quads, motorcycles and jet skiis were nicely stored at the house. Yes he still had a job, yes he is overextended too and losing his home so one has to ask where are his priorities?
YES, people all over the country are losing their jobs and their homes due to the economy, I think everyone probably knows at least one but has anyone really looked to see how the unemployment rate is compared to the foreclosure rates on the books? I would imagine it is different all over the country based on the housing market and employment conditions in the area but out here I feel it's more greed based than unemployment based. It's just too tempting to make the quick buck (I know someone that made a 6 figure profit in a year and it's not that uncommon here), gamble high debt and if everything goes right make that money. Problem is, it is a GAMBLE!
Once again this is all based on my very limited view point of a 100 X 100 mile area, the people I know, the experiences of those I know and does not reflect a larger knowledge base. dan
"I don't know much, but what I do know I know little
of
"
clubman don't forget to withhold your sympathy from those who fraudulently stated on their loan applications that their annual income was 25-50 % greater than it actually was. In addition to whatever else caused this housing slide and collapse, there was a fair bit of major league criminality that will probably never be punished by the courts. However, those who took this route to bankruptcy are being punished. But what about the brokers and lenders who collected their commissions up front and often encouraged such income inflation? They will likely go unpunished by the courts and the economy. This is one of the worst parts of all.
One mostly overlooked fact in all of this is that states like California, where many thousands of homes are in or past foreclosure, will see a big dip in their property tax revenues which will in turn only exacerbate California's budget debacle. Even the homes that are purchased after foreclosure will be sold for much lower prices than the homes were previously worth, thus further depressing property tax revenues. This combined with many people who either have lost jobs or fear for their jobs, will lead to much lower consumer buying and thus less sales tax revenues. At its 8+ % sales tax, California will get reamed once again. Lord have mercy....and please pass the bizkits. We all gonna die !!!!
We are the U S A's largest trading partner and will feel the full brunt of the U S A slowdown(recession ?)-
The Auto Pact and Free Trade which has been so good to us over the last 25 years will soon "Bite us in the A$$)-The U S A Dollar arriving at par with our Dollar will cripple our exporters(who formerly had a licence to steal)-
We are the U S A 's largest energy supplier, however all of the oil companies are foreign owned-So profits accrue back to the U S A and Britain(BP)-
95% of our auto production sell in the U S A, so when car sales fall off in the States we suffer-
Our Steel industry has now all been sold off to large International compananies-therefore profits once again leaving the country-
Our tourist industry took a major hit with the SARS scare a few years ago and was just getting back on track when the U S Government imposed harsh visa/passport requirements on border crossings-This coupled with the weaker U S Dollar has had the effect of killing out tourist industry-
Of course our Federal Government in Ottawa is oblivious to all of this, preferring to hide their head in the sand and believe everything is continuing to be rosey-
Our farmers are in trouble, high fuel, high taxes, high labour costs and imports from all over the world flooding the market here-Beats me how pickles from India can be cheaper on the shelf than pickles grown by the farmer across the road from me-
The only good thing is our large amount of natural resources-ie: Oil, Natural gas,Fresh water, electricity, wood/lumber(who needs it)Fertilizer and wheat-
Our real estate industry is still humming along but will soon start to fade as unemployment starts to climb-
Canadians are in the same boat as Americans, over extended,credit cards out of control, living beyond their means-
The only good thing is our Health coverage, but that cannot continue forever-
An aging population trying to sustain one of the largest countries in the world with a measly population of 31,000.000-
well the good news is america is on sale. I am now an exporter. My first container shipment leaves for france in 2 weeks.
people need to wake up to the fact the fed is not federal and are owned by international bankers. our banks were hyjacked in 1913 and out schools in 1914.. read your history!!
live within your means, and you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
Cranium
Inner and outer sills, left
and right door steps, left-right-front-rear floors, and inner wings welded in place. Moving to the boot
area, then to the a-panels/front end. Should have the welding done in 3
more years!
:)
Battery Box removed, and rear valence removed. Time to clean up the
rust, and find the holes.
H82WRK--I don't think it's a matter of people buying more house than they can or could afford.
I'm afraid I agree this is exactly what the situation is. They were only able to qualify with loose standards conbined with ARMs. In many cases the people couldn't even afford the payment with the ARM at the bottom of the scale... with it in the middle or nearer the top, there is no way they could afford it. (In many cases it not just the house, but the house plus all the equity pulled out as cash). The vast majority of those now being foreclosed on are in the same or similar employment/income situation they were when they got the job... unemployment until the last month or so has been at near the historic floor.
Do I consider these people "victims" for spending more than they could afford? Unless they were lied to or defrauded, no. And there's little evidence that any of that sort of thing happened.
Sooner or later the US economy will go cold turkey and it'll be ugly. We been indoctrinated to live on 110% of our income. When I grew up home loans were difficult to get. So was credit. you had to actually qualify and prove you were worthy. Our government is even worse in their finances.
I have no sympathy for people who speculated on second or third homes, bought homes beyond their abilities, bought homes with interest only loans, or the sleazy lenders who lent the money. Sorry, but live with it. You bet. you lost. Values can plummet by 50-60% and it won't effect me. Live within (below) your means.
Make it idiot proof, and someone will make a better
idiot....
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Posted: May-01-2008 01:32PM
Edited: May-01-2008 09:20AM
