Macy's Parade

Thanks to good weather, we took on the crowd to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my college friend Peter and his daughter. None of us had seen it live before. Leaving the house at about 7am got us to the West side of Central Park West by 8am. Not anywhere near the time to be curbside for the 9am parade start. Rather, we were roughly 15 people deep into the crowd.

We stood on 70th Street next to some police sawhorse barriers. When the parade began, the girls took turns standing on the sawhorse (three girls and two spots). I spent a large part of the remaining time with one of them on my shoulders. Yes, they are sore.

We saw all the balloons, most of the floats and only a few of the people on the street. We saw Miley Cyrus, Nickelodeon's Miranda Cosgrove and Santa Claus in person. We missed seeing David Archuletta, and the girls were disappointed - me, not so much. I have a friend on 70th St., so we were able to duck the outgoing crowds for about a half an hour. By the time we emerged, the street was basically empty, the subways was mild, and Metro North was empty. Worked well. This three minute video is a good summary of it.

Lots of fun were had by all. Happy Thanksgiving!

Citi Card Update

After speaking to a customer service rep on Thursday who acknowledged that my credit limit downgrade was ridiculous, she put me in for credit "reinstatement." I haven't spoken with anyone from there today, but noticed on their website that my credit limit was increased. It's not back to normal, but is 20% of my original amount rather than a ludicrous 5%. I'll probably still switch banks, but at least the rush to replace the card isn't as great.

Maybe the reprive was related to their $306 billion Treasury bailout funds received over the weekend, or maybe they just realized they were being STUPID.

Cassel's time

Matt Cassel is developing for sure. In the first half of the season, he seemingly only had the ability to make one read. If that option was covered he was doomed. The next option often resulted in stepping up into the on-coming rush. I was highly critical of him both privately and on Football Outsiders.

However, his improving pocket pressence and new-found mobility have allowed him to make multiple reads. Note the change in sacks. In his first 5 full games, he was sacked 23 times. In the latest 5 games, 9 sacks. The offensive line has not materially changed over that time period. During those same sets of games, he rushed for 46 yards (with 29 coming against Denver), versus 140 yards. The additional time he's given himself behind the line of scrimmage has led to a more wide open game plan, and a ability to throw the ball downfield. Was anyone else surprised how often the Patriots came out in empty-backfield formations yesterday?

He has now thrown for 400+ yards in two games in a row. Considering Brady didn't do that even with last year's absurd numbers is impressive. However, before we get too crazy, Miami and New York have very mediocre pass defenses. According to our Football Outsiders rankings, incoming Pittsburgh has the third best pass defense in the league (as well as the second best run defense). I'll be there to watch it in person.

Newspaper Star

Although I can't seem to find the associated article online (I haven't even seen it in print myself), Katie made the front page of the local, local, local newspaper.



She, and many from her Girl Scout troop, made cards and other items for local area veterans for delivery on Veterans Day.

Credit Crunch Hits Home, again - Absurdly

This is ridiculous. I have been a Citibank Credit Card customer for 11 years. I run all my bills through it, and it's the only card we really use. It was quite convenient. All of our regular bills get automatically paid with the card, we pick up airline miles, and have one central source of record keeping. I pay the balance in full at the end of every month, and don't carry a balance.

A couple of years ago, they wanted to save money and switch to all electronic communications, and even offered an incentive to do so. About a year ago, they moved customer service overseas to save more money. Earlier this year, I started having problems with their electronic communication. They are supposed to send me an e-mail stating, you card is due in 5 days (or something like that), and I stopped getting those e-mails. So, in a bunch of months this summer, the account went between 2 and 10 days overdue - but awlays paid in full. I'd call and complain that e-mail never went out, and I'd get some incompetent person who couldn't help. Meanwhile, Citi is racking up fees on me. Finally, I get sick of it, and put the card on Auto-Pay in ealy August.

In October, I get an e-mail that my account if over 30 days past due. How can that be?

I call and speak to more incompetent customer service reps, and finally they conclude that it doesn't look like Auto-Pay withdrew the funds for September. Oops. Sorry. So over the phone, at Mr. Stellar Customer Service Rep's advice, I pay the whole balance - September and part of October. Frankly, I don't want to be charged finance charges on the October balance. He says he'll fix it and call back in a couple of days to make sure no fees were attached. Crisis averted ... or so I thought.

When I get my October Statement, I find that I was debited TWICE - once on the phone and once on Auto-Pay. I now had a multi-thousand dollar CREDIT! And that it turns out isn't the worst of it.

Today, I get an e-mail that I am within $5000 of my credit limit. How can THAT be? I have a credit balance on the account, and I've never been ANYWHERE near my account limit, EVER.

I call again [surprsingly, I get an American agent] who transfers me to the accounts department. "Oh, you didn't get the letter?" Ummm, No.

Apparently, since my account had an over 30 days due, it got flagged. Since there were also a couple of delinquencies over the Summer, combined with an over 30 day delinquency, my credit limit was reduced to less than 5% of the original amount.

I can get it reversed, but it can't be done without six months "clean" record. No appeals process, no notification. Nothing. Nice job Citi, way to manage your "risks."

Is the Money Hole the Answer?

Concise and Clear from a Source You Wouldn't Expect

We attended a birthday dinner for my brother-in-law, Chris, last night. The conversation turned to politics and economics. Near the end, my mother-in-law, posed an interesting question to me and similarly-minded Chris. "What is important to you [politically and economically] for the future - looking out ten years?" We each spoke shortly about our ideal government priorities and policies.

Coincidentally, the Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed piece this morning called, "The Path to Prosperity." I began reading it, and thought that it was extremely well written. It was a clear and concise summary of an idealogy for proper government policies to promote the positive aspects of capitalism and thus overall prosperity. I like the editors of the WSJ, but hadn't noticed who had written the piece. I scanned down the page to see how much more the article had to go, and noticed it was not written by one of the editors, but rather was an editorial submission. I was shocked to see who had submitted it - George W. Bush. The article is an excerted speech that he gave to an audience in Manhatten on Thursday. If it was delivered with anywhere near the eloquance with which it was written, it should rank among the best speeches on capitalism and free trade ever given by a US President. I wasn't there, but I unfortunately doubt it was. Too bad.

Here is a link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122670648178429695.html#printMode

Matching Set

Emily loses her first front tooth



Now, they are a matching set

Emily's other one is not all that far behind. She may be asking Santa for her two front teeth afterall.

Halloween Treats

Emily the Cat

Katie the Pirate

Katie's Soccer

Katie's 3rd/4th grade soccer came to a close this past week. Her team didn't fare to well. I think they ended the season 1-5-1, or something like that. At this age, the game can turn on the talent of one player. Twice, she played against a team that had one girl who was a good six inches taller than every other girl on the field.

That girl (pictured furthest on left), who started the first half on defense, scored two goals in the second half, and Katie's team was eliminated from the postseason tournament 2-0. Although there were some talented girls on Katie's team, there were none that could sway a game.

Katie started the season timid, and with little understanding of the game beyond traditional kids'

version of "magnet ball." However, by the end of the season she had a good grasp of the responsibilities of each position, and had honed her skills. Although the coaches played her at defense in the last two games, I think she best served the team at mid. Unlike many on the team, she had the will and the stamina to run both ends of the field, and was best utilized when playing on the offensive side of the ball.

Although she scored no goals during the season, she came close in the second to last regular season game. Collecting a pass just outside of the goalie box, she unloaded a good kick to the left of the goalie. Now in this case, the goalie happened to be one of her good friends, Elizabeth - a solidly athletic girl. Elizabeth reached back to her left, and grabbed the ball before it could cross the goal line. Katie who has always valued friendship over competition, caught Elizabeth's eye, and gave her a "thumbs up."

R U Kidding?

This guy gets a job, and I can't?!?

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York hired Michael Alix, the former chief risk officer of Bear Stearns Cos., into a group that supervises banks to maintain their safety. Alix was chief risk officer of Bear Stearns from 2006 until 2008, when the bank was forced to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase to avoid bankruptcy. He was global head of credit risk management from 1996 to 2006 and worked previously at Merrill Lynch & Co. Alix will be a senior adviser to William Rutledge, executive vice president of the bank supervision group, according to a statement on the New York Fed's Web site. Staff in the group``assess the safety and soundness of domestic banking institutions,'' according to the Web site.