Dreams of Warm Feet

An epiphany: a sudden insight

For several years I’ve wanted a warm spot.

We keep the thermostat at 60 dF during the winters. Our house in Kansas was tight, so 60 dF meant 60 dF. Our house in Nebraska is drafty. A reading of 60 dF at the thermostat can accompany a 40 dF draft on the couch.

The idea of a hundred-watt light bulb as a heat source appealed to me; they give off as much heat as an adult human.

The challenge was how to I warm myself without burning myself, or the house.

My response to a desire is to design and re-design the project in my head.

By this process of redesign, “a warm spot” had come to mean a wooden chair with a glass and wire-shielded, outdoor light fixture attached to the underside of the seat: I think they are called “explosion proof” fixtures. There would be a snap-on skirt attached to the back and sides of the chair. The rheostat is a slide type, so I can tell by feel thru the covers how much power I am putting to the bulb. The rheostat is attached to the right side of the seat, toward the front.

In my imagination, when I sit on my warm spot, I have a blanket across my lap. The blanket combines with the chair skirting to enclose my legs and feet in a tent. A wonderfully luxurious, heated tent.

As I was taking my shower - my long hot shower - this morning I had an epiphany. The chair of my dreams must be a rocking chair. A rocking chair could be occupied for longer periods. The rocking action would reduce the pain of peripheral neuropathy. The rocking would satisfy the needs of restless legs. The rocking would prevent blood clots in the legs.

Oh, this “warm spot” idea is not new. I cannot claim it for my own.

What we Westerners didn’t know is that that the traditional, low Japanese dining table has a hole under it where the diner’s legs dangled thru the floor. In cold weather there was a brazier under that table, too. The tablecloth sealed in the heat. The diner’s legs were in a heated tent.

Of course, that meant modest girls sat cross-legged in the company of strange men, but that story is for somebody else’s blog. These days my fantasies are confined to my own warm feet.

Chelsea Clinton

Hard questions, especially unfair ones, make Chelsea more competent. Campaigning for mother lets her be politically active without being the lightning rod. It lets her learn what it is like and whether she really wants to play the game.

Chelsea Clinton is 28 now. That makes her eligible to serve in the House.

In 2 years she will be eligible for the Senate.

In 8 years she will be eligible for the Presidency.

Can she truth-tell better than her parents? Will she know what the definition of "is" is?

How will you feel the first time you see a bumper sticker saying "Chelsea in 2016"?

Lady L and the Mortgage Crisis

My favorite movie is Lady L, but I haven’t seen it since leaving school, Denver, and late-night television.

I tried to buy Lady L, but it can’t be done.

The reason I can’t buy a movie I love, is that property rights were distributed to the actors and crew. When digital media came along, the rights had been distributed too widely; nobody could get all the principals, heirs, and assigns to agree on new terms.

The sad result is that I don’t get to see my favorite movie.

Strange to say, that this is what caused the mortgage crisis, too.

The lender gave a loan and took a mortgage. The lender discounted the note and sold it to a big guy. The big guy split up the income streams; he sold the principal payments to one sucker and the interest payments to another.

The rights to the loan got spread too thin. Now no one has control.

If a borrower defaults while the local bank still owns the note, the bank gets the property. They don't cost much to manage, if you live nearby. The bank should make money on the deal; presuming they only lent 50% to 90% of the property value. Even if the lender lent too much, time and Government’s policy of money inflation will eventually make the lender well.

But how does the owner of “interest” foreclose? What would he possess after foreclosure stopped the income stream? Every one of the derivative owners would have to foreclose separately, but in coordination.

Even then, the present value of a zero cash-flow is nothing. Does “Interest” lose out entirely while “Principal” gets the house? (Talk about a messy divorce!)

No, the mortgage industry is in the same boat as the holders of rights to the movie “Lady L”. They have too many chiefs. They have no ability to change with the times.

Don't weep for the banks. Inflation will make all lenders well.

Weep for me. Lady L’s ownership is going to continue becoming more dilute.