Smoke And Mirrors In Solving Global Warming

So we've all seen An Inconvenient Truth and heard the dire predictions of our climatological future. What do our leaders propose as a solution? Smoke and mirrors. Literally.

Yep, our submission to the UN report for a worldwide climate plan is to reflect some of the sun's energy back into space, through the use of giant mirrors or reflective particles shot into the atmosphere.

Would it work? Maybe. But why the heck are we resorting to lofty projects like these (literally), when we waste so much power we produce through dirty means? Let's reduce the emissions from those coal plants, for one. Let's invest more in cleaner energy production and mass transit, for another. And let's do it fast.

Funding, you say? I know where $5-$10 billion a month is going that we could put to better use...

Darfur Wall Featured In Our Local Papers

Props to Jonah for getting written up in the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. When I first blogged about Darfurwall.org, the site had already raised several thousand. Now he's over $30K. My prediction: we'll hit the goal of $400K by the end of the year.

The Most Rotten Movies Of This Decade

I like the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes. It aggregates reviews from lots of sources and gives you a sense of whether most reviewers did, or didn't, like a movie. Anything above 60% positive is considered "fresh", and anything below is considered "rotten".

Today, I became curious: what are some recent movies (say, since 2000) that rendered no positive reviews? Zero. Zilch. In other words, a 0 % rating on Rotten Tomatoes, or the most rotten rating a movie could earn.

Thanks to the advanced search features on the site, it appears there are seven movies that fit this dubious distinction.

• Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever
• Pinocchio
• Zoom
• Crossover
• King's Ransom
• Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2
• National Lampoon's Gold Diggers

Apart from the National Lampoon's movie, I haven't heard of any of these. Has anyone had the unfortunate experience of seeing one of these?

This Is What Happens When It Snows In The Northwest

This video pretty much describes how people drive when it gets unseasonably snowy and icy up here in the Pacific Northwest, and people try to drive. Admittedly this is Portland, Oregon and not Seattle. But trust me, the the driver mentality is very close to the same.

Blog Housekeeping: Feed Update

For those subscribers to my blog: a couple of housekeeping changes today.

1. I've changed my feed to show the full post text, not summaries. Yeah, summaries are kinda irritating.
2. I've changed my feed URL to use FeedBurner. The new feed URL is here, and can also be found when visiting the blog itself. Please update your readers!

Fine print: the old URL should still work for a while, but I can't guarantee for how long.

Update: Yes, some images may appear to break when using the FeedBurner feed. That's because it doesn't process relative links as relative to my blog. I'll think about whether that tanks it or not. :)

Update 2: Looks like the feed viewed in the browser has image issues, but viewed from within Google Reader looks fine. Anyone else seeing broken images in their feed reader (example: does the picture of the robot show up in the post below?).

Washington Mutual customer service has been taken over by robots

We're getting ready to take the plunge into home ownership. Given we don't have several hundreds of thousands of dollars lying around, we're looking for a home loan. I emailed my bank, Washington Mutual, to ask them about their home loans. I had two simple questions:

• Do we need to go to a branch in person to get a good-faith estimate? Or can it be done over the phone?


• What Washington Mutual locations are staffed with people who can help me with this?

I decide to send an email to the customer service department to get these two, simple questions answered.

My initial mail:

Hi there, I'm interested in receiving a pre-qualification /
good faith estimate for a home mortgage. I have a couple of questions:
- Is this something that is done in person, or can it be done over the
phone?
- In either case, what WaMu locations are staffed with people that can
provide this for me? I live in Seattle.

Soon, the first reply comes back:

Thank you for your inquiry about your Washington Mutual home loan.

Unfortunately, I need more information to assist you with your inquiry.
Please provide your property address, and loan number so that I can
assist you.

Thank you for the opportunity to assist you. If you have any additional
questions or concerns, please reply to this email. We can also be
reached toll free at 866.926.8937.

Hmm...but I don't have a home loan or a property address. Let's try again. Mail #2:

Hi, I don't have a property or a home mortgage from WaMu right
now. I'm inquiring about obtaining a pre-qualification / good-faith
estimate from a WaMu loan officer. I'm a first-time home buyer.

I hope this clarifies my question.

A second reply comes back from them:

You have reached the home loan servicing division for existing home
loans and we are unable to assist you with new loan or refinancing
information. Please contact our New Loan and Refinancing Department toll
free at (877) 800-9268 Monday through Friday 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST for
assistance with your inquiry.

Oh, come on. Other financial institutions (BECU for example) provided me with this information over email. Why can't WaMu? My email #3:

My questions are very general. Can someone from Customer Care
not contact the Loan and Refinancing department with my two questions
below and report the answers to me back in email? Really, it's just:
- do I need to be present in person, and
- what locations in my area (Seattle, WA) should I contact?

I trust you'll be able to produce the answers to these questions in
short notice. As a point of comparison, another financial institution
answered all these questions over email for me with just one reply.

Here's WaMu' reply:

Thanks for contacting Washington Mutual!

To find a Washington Mutual financial center, ATM, or Home Loan Center
near you:

- Go to wamu.com
* Click "Find a branch/ATM."
* Type your local address,
*Select the desired location type then click "Find Location."

If there's anything else, you may call us toll-free at 800.788.7000,
send us an email by visiting wamu.com, or visit a Washington Mutual
financial center. To find the financial center nearest you, please go to
wamu.com and select "Find a Location."

What?! I know where WaMus are, and I know how to use the web site to find them. That wasn't my question.

I try again:

This is email #4 for me and you've yet to answer my questions.
Please try again.

And they reply:

Unfortunately, I need more information to assist you with your inquiry.
Please provide your name, property address, and loan number so that I
can assist you.

And...we're back to the initial reply.

OK, Washington Mutual. What. The. Hell. I have two simple questions for you. It's been 4 emails now, and not only have you not answered them, but you're repeating yourself word for word.

I'm convinced WaMu's customer service department has been taken over by evil, but dim, robots.

As a point of comparison, here's the single, illuminating, email I got back from BECU after asking the exact same questions. Hmm..I wonder where I'll be taking my business?

Dear George:

There's a 3 ways you can apply for a home loan.

1) Online at www.becuhomeloans.org;
2) You may go into the nearest Express Center or Financial Institution
(Everett or Tukwila) and apply in person. This doesn't require an
appointment. It's on a walk-in-basis.
3) You can also call 206-439-5772

You can also get Good Faith Estimates from our website above.

I'll update this post as the conversation with the WaMu customer service robots continues.
=====
Update #1: The fun continues.

My reply #5:

Nope, that's the same response you gave me initially. Try again.

Their reply #5:

Thank you for your inquiry about your Washington Mutual home loan.Unfortunately, I need more information to assist you with your inquiry.
Please provide your name, property address, and loan number so that I can assist you.

My reply #6:

I don't have a property or loan number. All I need is a good faith
estimate and a truth-in-lending for a mortgage. I need to know how and where to get one from WaMu.

Their reply #6:

Thank you for your inquiry about your Washington Mutual home loan.Unfortunately, Wamu does not have those documents on file. You will need to contact your closing agent. I do regret any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Does anyone want to take bets on how long this will go on?
=====
Update #2: It's still going.

My reply #7:

I have to ask - are you all reading my responses?I don't have a closing officer. I don't have a loan with WaMu. I'm just asking two simple questions
about who I need to contact, and where,for a good-faith-estimate for a home
loan.

Their reply #7:

Unfortunately, due to security and privacy reasons, I am unable to provide you with your loan information. However, you may contact your closing agent for more information. I regret any inconvenience this may have caused you.

I'm pretty sure they're not reading any of my responses. Why do they think I have a closing agent or a loan when I've repeatedly told them I don't?
=====
Update 3: I got a different reply, but quickly regressed back to the old automated pattern.

My reply #8:

Hi. I don't have a closing agent. I don't have a WaMu loan. My questions have nothing to do with an existing WaMu loan.

Their reply #8:

Unfortunately, we're unable to respond to email messages regarding consumer loans (auto loans, lines of credit, etc.) at this time. We're preparing to offer email service in the near future, but we still want to help you find the information you need right now. For information and service on your consumer loan, please call our Consumer Loan Servicing department toll-free at 888.800.8738. We're available Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (PT).

What the...? So they can't answer this question over email, but they're building some service to be able to in the future? What, they can't pick up the phone, call the number, ask the questions, get the answers, and relay them to me? I try again.

My reply #9:

But my questions are very general, and don't refer to any specific product or account. I just need to know where to go or who to call to receive a good-faith-estimate on a home loan.If the phone number is the only way to get this info, why can't you call, get the info, and relay it to me over
email?

Their reply #9:

Unfortunately, I need more information to assist you with your inquiry. Please provide your name, property address, and loan number so that I can assist you.

And, we're back to the stock line. I'm speechless...but I'll keep trying. At this point I'm just curious how many times we'll get back to stock answers, versus some actual intelligent response to my questions.

Seattle Snow 2007

No, it's not deja vu. But maybe it's history repeating itself. First we had a snow storm. Then, we had another snow storm. Then, we had a wind storm. Now that we're in a new year, I guess it's back to the snow storm.

This one wasn't as bad. Some buses actually had chains installed from the get-go. And, Seattle didn't get nearly as covered as it did last time. Still, folks in the outlying areas had trouble getting into work today because of snow and ice on the roads.

One consolation: at least it's pretty outside.

Home, Sweet Home

It's easy to lose touch with the news of the day from a place where you grew up near and lived in during college. In my case, I'm referring to Atlanta, Georgia.

Fortunately, there's news stories to keep me in touch as well as blogs. And what a great one that hit the blogosphere today: Atlanta police arrest an Oxford historian for jaywalking. That's right; Felipe Fernandez-Armesto was arrested, thrown in jail, asked to post bail, and eventually released for crossing the street incorrectly.

Check out his bio page. Wow: global environmental history; comparative colonial history; topics in Spanish and maritime history and the history of cartography. Dangerous stuff and a dangerous character, too. What, with all of that tweed he's wearing! Definitely a guy who'd disturb the peace, hmm?

I hang my head in shame.

Flip-Flopper, Part Deux

In the 2004 election, it was all about how Kerry supposedly was a flip-flopper, and wasn't a reliable, "stay the course" kind of decision maker. Putting aside where that mantra has led us, looks like one potential political candidate for 2008 has had his share of flip-flops.

I'm all about people changing their minds, provided with more information about a subject. But when it comes to some pretty key policy issues (energy, torture, taxes) that we've had enough information about for a while, these types of changes smell less like "more information" flip-flops and more like "cave to the Administration" flip-flops.