Thursday, December 28, 2006
Terry, Again
Back in August 2006 I was contacted by this publishing company about something I submitted to the CBC about my memories of Terry Fox. I was a little confused because I didn't even remember submitting anything to the CBC... (although, I must have, obviously)? Anyway, after reading this rather longish letter (mostly explaining why payment for our memories isn't being offered), the release, submission guidelines... I got back to them at their request, and said yes, I would be delighted to have my essay included in the book (but according to their letter it may not be included; they certainly leave themselves a tonne of loopholes). I think the book, called Memories of Terry, is coming out this Spring. I emailed them today to ask them to credit me as Bourke, if possible.
Back in August 2006 I was contacted by this publishing company about something I submitted to the CBC about my memories of Terry Fox. I was a little confused because I didn't even remember submitting anything to the CBC... (although, I must have, obviously)? Anyway, after reading this rather longish letter (mostly explaining why payment for our memories isn't being offered), the release, submission guidelines... I got back to them at their request, and said yes, I would be delighted to have my essay included in the book (but according to their letter it may not be included; they certainly leave themselves a tonne of loopholes). I think the book, called Memories of Terry, is coming out this Spring. I emailed them today to ask them to credit me as Bourke, if possible.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
When the Dog Bites, When the Bee Stings...
Two things have basically shaken me to my core lately. And that doesn't happen too often.
First, I had some nagging questions about a very elderly person about whom I care very much. On two occasions this person confided me in about some financial losses over which they expressed much worry and concern. The first was a long time ago when Nortel tanked. They said that they had told their broker to sell some Nortel when the stock price had still been fairly high and yet he didn't. More recently they spoke to me about income trusts and how they had told their broker several times in the past to stop investing in income trusts, and yet he didn't, and then there were some significant losses the day after the gov't announced the moratorium (this was a few weeks ago).
My concern was about relationship they had with their broker, whoever he is, wherever he is. Keep in mind I know nothing about my person's investments (other than these two things they shared with me). However, it strikes me as odd that this person even has a broker, which as you know is the most expensive investing relationship - brokers always need to make the trades to make the commissions. Furthermore, the broker doesn't seem to listen to my person! He should be doing what he's told.
My point is: to me it seems really risky to be 90+ yrs old and playing the stock market, which is essentially what seems to be happening here by proxy.
If it was my mom / dad or grandparent I would hope that they would be in something less risky and that the banking / investing relationship was more holistic, like a private client thing where some kid isn't buying and selling stock on their behalf. At that age my person shouldn't be worrying about individual stocks, but be into something like a fund that meets the need for income, and where things are more blended and diversified.
After much thought I brought this to the attention of my person's power of attorney dude (for personal care, not money). It turns out he had heard the same disturbing things and had gone ahead and looked at the statements (with permission). Long story short, after some quick and dirty trending he concluded the account was being churned. Almost 80 trades over two years = CHURNING.
What bothered me was the bank where it was happening. After PRAYING that it was not my institution, it turned out that it was. This angered me to the point of tears.
It is not known to me who the broker is. If I had a name, I would go down there and confront him in a way that would probably have us both crying. And I would probably lose my job, confronting a colleague like that.
He will not be fired over this although the matter will soon be before the ombudsman. The kicker is, he still gets to be the broker for the account, although he has to answer to a higher power now. And, the power of attorney dude did confront him with the obvious data. There was nothing illegal done, although the client was MOST OBVIOUSLY taken advantage of, to put commissions into the pocket of the broker.
It's over now but it really bothered me. And still does.
Even more scary...
I was recently at an event where I met a lot of new people. I got talking to someone who espoused extreme views of hate and discrimination. Although we were in a large group of people, you know what happens, people pair off and start talking and no one in the room is really listening in or following anyone else who's not directly in front of them because it's really loud.
So, for about 30 minutes I got a faceful of completely terrifying rhetoric and beliefs that included:
- There is a worldwide Jewish conspiracy
- Jews run Hollywood
- Jews run the banks
- Jews run the world
- Turks and Armenians are mongrel scum
- Jews are white because they deliberately bred themselves with wasps to rise above Arabic-looking desert dwellers
- Jews run a shadow government that controls the US gov't and the Christian right wing
- All of Bush's closest advisors are Jewish
- Jews start and control wars (um, hi, Mel?)
- Jews control oil
- Jews control the Middle East with the Saudis
- The holocaust was exaggerated (yawn)
- The Nazis were working with the Zionists (I don't even know what this means or to what end)
- Aryan Nation and other white supremacy groups are highly organized and a race war is coming, which side do I want to be on?
- And some choice words about blacks which began with "N"
So, this was not the typical holiday party chat. For various reasons I didn't run off screaming or even act rudely toward the person. I just tried to keep calm, and implored him to also keep calm, while firmly letting him know that I DID NOT agree with any of these theories and he should for no reason think he has a sympathetic listener in me. You can't reason with a child who's having a tantrum. And basically, it's impossible to tell crazy people they're crazy. And when someone is off their head drunk, there's no point in telling them that they "need to sober up". I thought, just keep your cool and pray to god that they don't get behind the wheel or whatever.
This episode made me completely paranoid for the rest of the night and I did not sleep. I thought, why? Why confide in me (um, except maybe I have "the look" - I could play a Nazi housewife in a Leni Riefenstahl film...)? Or am I giving off an Aryan vibe? OMG! And all the next day I was really down. In our little worlds we just think that everything is fine and we're good people and we put out enough karmic good to be well-balanced... And then you encounter someone who's really messed up and probably evil, and it infiltrates your world and makes you very, very uncomfortable. And that fucking sucks!
Between the taking advantage of the elderly and the white supremacists, I'm a bit down.
Two things have basically shaken me to my core lately. And that doesn't happen too often.
First, I had some nagging questions about a very elderly person about whom I care very much. On two occasions this person confided me in about some financial losses over which they expressed much worry and concern. The first was a long time ago when Nortel tanked. They said that they had told their broker to sell some Nortel when the stock price had still been fairly high and yet he didn't. More recently they spoke to me about income trusts and how they had told their broker several times in the past to stop investing in income trusts, and yet he didn't, and then there were some significant losses the day after the gov't announced the moratorium (this was a few weeks ago).
My concern was about relationship they had with their broker, whoever he is, wherever he is. Keep in mind I know nothing about my person's investments (other than these two things they shared with me). However, it strikes me as odd that this person even has a broker, which as you know is the most expensive investing relationship - brokers always need to make the trades to make the commissions. Furthermore, the broker doesn't seem to listen to my person! He should be doing what he's told.
My point is: to me it seems really risky to be 90+ yrs old and playing the stock market, which is essentially what seems to be happening here by proxy.
If it was my mom / dad or grandparent I would hope that they would be in something less risky and that the banking / investing relationship was more holistic, like a private client thing where some kid isn't buying and selling stock on their behalf. At that age my person shouldn't be worrying about individual stocks, but be into something like a fund that meets the need for income, and where things are more blended and diversified.
After much thought I brought this to the attention of my person's power of attorney dude (for personal care, not money). It turns out he had heard the same disturbing things and had gone ahead and looked at the statements (with permission). Long story short, after some quick and dirty trending he concluded the account was being churned. Almost 80 trades over two years = CHURNING.
What bothered me was the bank where it was happening. After PRAYING that it was not my institution, it turned out that it was. This angered me to the point of tears.
It is not known to me who the broker is. If I had a name, I would go down there and confront him in a way that would probably have us both crying. And I would probably lose my job, confronting a colleague like that.
He will not be fired over this although the matter will soon be before the ombudsman. The kicker is, he still gets to be the broker for the account, although he has to answer to a higher power now. And, the power of attorney dude did confront him with the obvious data. There was nothing illegal done, although the client was MOST OBVIOUSLY taken advantage of, to put commissions into the pocket of the broker.
It's over now but it really bothered me. And still does.
Even more scary...
I was recently at an event where I met a lot of new people. I got talking to someone who espoused extreme views of hate and discrimination. Although we were in a large group of people, you know what happens, people pair off and start talking and no one in the room is really listening in or following anyone else who's not directly in front of them because it's really loud.
So, for about 30 minutes I got a faceful of completely terrifying rhetoric and beliefs that included:
- There is a worldwide Jewish conspiracy
- Jews run Hollywood
- Jews run the banks
- Jews run the world
- Turks and Armenians are mongrel scum
- Jews are white because they deliberately bred themselves with wasps to rise above Arabic-looking desert dwellers
- Jews run a shadow government that controls the US gov't and the Christian right wing
- All of Bush's closest advisors are Jewish
- Jews start and control wars (um, hi, Mel?)
- Jews control oil
- Jews control the Middle East with the Saudis
- The holocaust was exaggerated (yawn)
- The Nazis were working with the Zionists (I don't even know what this means or to what end)
- Aryan Nation and other white supremacy groups are highly organized and a race war is coming, which side do I want to be on?
- And some choice words about blacks which began with "N"
So, this was not the typical holiday party chat. For various reasons I didn't run off screaming or even act rudely toward the person. I just tried to keep calm, and implored him to also keep calm, while firmly letting him know that I DID NOT agree with any of these theories and he should for no reason think he has a sympathetic listener in me. You can't reason with a child who's having a tantrum. And basically, it's impossible to tell crazy people they're crazy. And when someone is off their head drunk, there's no point in telling them that they "need to sober up". I thought, just keep your cool and pray to god that they don't get behind the wheel or whatever.
This episode made me completely paranoid for the rest of the night and I did not sleep. I thought, why? Why confide in me (um, except maybe I have "the look" - I could play a Nazi housewife in a Leni Riefenstahl film...)? Or am I giving off an Aryan vibe? OMG! And all the next day I was really down. In our little worlds we just think that everything is fine and we're good people and we put out enough karmic good to be well-balanced... And then you encounter someone who's really messed up and probably evil, and it infiltrates your world and makes you very, very uncomfortable. And that fucking sucks!
Between the taking advantage of the elderly and the white supremacists, I'm a bit down.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
You Take the Good, You Take the Bad...
You take 'em both and there you have The Facts Of Life. This show has been airing on the local Christian TV station in the evenings and I've been tivo'ing it. Such a guilty pleasure. I think I'm in the middle of season 4 right now. Although, those tricky Christians played an out-of-order Christmas episode clearly from a later season, which made me question myself. I hate it when Christians make you question yourself. But on the other hand, they bring back coolio shows like The Facts of Life and Happy Days.
When this show came out I was just a little kid, but since I went to a stuffy private school it caused a big sensation and we all watched it and loved it. I stuck with it over the years: from the first season cast of thousands (Molly Ringwald?!), the Diff'rent Strokes folks, to the slimmed down following seasons (less characters, but they were decidedly heavier, the so-called Fats of Life), moving away from campus life to Edna's Edibles, "handicapable" cousins, and that weird candy shoppe with Clooney and Astin Mackenzie and Cloris Leachman... What a long, strange journey. Scroll down the full credits page and see and the famous names (famous NOW, not then).
I always thought that Mindy Cohn was truly funny and had great lines. I was sitting on the couch watching an episode and laughing out loud. What does that say. The show doesn't seem to age particularly well (the writing is a bit bad at times), and yet, there I was laughing away. All the talent seem to have transitioned ok from being teen to adult actors, and most have numerous screen, voice and other types of credits. The exception is Lisa Whelchel, a Christian most of her life, who has been a home schooling mom pretty much since the wrap party in 1988.
You can buy the first 3 seasons on Amazon...
You take 'em both and there you have The Facts Of Life. This show has been airing on the local Christian TV station in the evenings and I've been tivo'ing it. Such a guilty pleasure. I think I'm in the middle of season 4 right now. Although, those tricky Christians played an out-of-order Christmas episode clearly from a later season, which made me question myself. I hate it when Christians make you question yourself. But on the other hand, they bring back coolio shows like The Facts of Life and Happy Days.
When this show came out I was just a little kid, but since I went to a stuffy private school it caused a big sensation and we all watched it and loved it. I stuck with it over the years: from the first season cast of thousands (Molly Ringwald?!), the Diff'rent Strokes folks, to the slimmed down following seasons (less characters, but they were decidedly heavier, the so-called Fats of Life), moving away from campus life to Edna's Edibles, "handicapable" cousins, and that weird candy shoppe with Clooney and Astin Mackenzie and Cloris Leachman... What a long, strange journey. Scroll down the full credits page and see and the famous names (famous NOW, not then).
I always thought that Mindy Cohn was truly funny and had great lines. I was sitting on the couch watching an episode and laughing out loud. What does that say. The show doesn't seem to age particularly well (the writing is a bit bad at times), and yet, there I was laughing away. All the talent seem to have transitioned ok from being teen to adult actors, and most have numerous screen, voice and other types of credits. The exception is Lisa Whelchel, a Christian most of her life, who has been a home schooling mom pretty much since the wrap party in 1988.
You can buy the first 3 seasons on Amazon...
Monday, December 04, 2006
Blowing the Bonus
I get an annual bonus. At this point I don't know how much it's for (it gets paid out on December 15), but I'm fairly sure that I've already blown it with the following purchases all made within the last 10 days:
x-c ski starter level package, includes skis, bindings, boots, poles, wax and new long johns < $400
Jacket and pants for above activity (I learned last year that you cannot wear a huge down-filled car coat and yoga pants when you x-country ski, you will faint within minutes because you sweated out all your moisture, then as you lay passed out on the trail your sweat-soaked body started to freeze and become a part of the trail, and then people just skied unknowingly over your body; the lady at Velotique instructed me to dress for "the second 10 minutes", meaning that I would be freezing for the first few minutes on the trail but would quickly warm up and be feeling good in light layers < $400
Landscape painting classes at the AGO (Tuesdays starting in January) < $350 or thereabouts because I got talked into becoming a member. I KNOW the city / board of ed. also has art classes but I've done a class before at the AGO and it was an amazing experience; I didn't pick landscape painting, rather my oldest friend Susie did. I wanted to see naked people but it wasn't meant to be and that's just fine
MOST BORING UNSEXY SPUR OF THE MOMENT PURCHASE EVER Continental winter tires for Jetta wagon; this is something I talk about every year and never do but then stress about having to drive on the 400 or some shit and every year I regret not doing it; I called at 3pm and the tires were installed by 4:30pm. It helps that the garage is around the corner from my house > $600
I get an annual bonus. At this point I don't know how much it's for (it gets paid out on December 15), but I'm fairly sure that I've already blown it with the following purchases all made within the last 10 days:
x-c ski starter level package, includes skis, bindings, boots, poles, wax and new long johns < $400
Jacket and pants for above activity (I learned last year that you cannot wear a huge down-filled car coat and yoga pants when you x-country ski, you will faint within minutes because you sweated out all your moisture, then as you lay passed out on the trail your sweat-soaked body started to freeze and become a part of the trail, and then people just skied unknowingly over your body; the lady at Velotique instructed me to dress for "the second 10 minutes", meaning that I would be freezing for the first few minutes on the trail but would quickly warm up and be feeling good in light layers < $400
Landscape painting classes at the AGO (Tuesdays starting in January) < $350 or thereabouts because I got talked into becoming a member. I KNOW the city / board of ed. also has art classes but I've done a class before at the AGO and it was an amazing experience; I didn't pick landscape painting, rather my oldest friend Susie did. I wanted to see naked people but it wasn't meant to be and that's just fine
MOST BORING UNSEXY SPUR OF THE MOMENT PURCHASE EVER Continental winter tires for Jetta wagon; this is something I talk about every year and never do but then stress about having to drive on the 400 or some shit and every year I regret not doing it; I called at 3pm and the tires were installed by 4:30pm. It helps that the garage is around the corner from my house > $600
