MIKEWEEK

06 Septmeber 08/Bulletin 202
Quote of the Month: “I must admit feeling a bit guilty about this.”

New Orleans Dodges Bullet: The Bulletin was glad to hear from many New Orleans friends who made the wise choice not to stick around to meet “Gustav” in person. Even better news was that the G-named Hurricane turned and landed west of the city, packing lighter winds than had been forecast.

Perhaps no evacuee had it quite as good as the “Dabs” aka Bob Dabney who uttered this month’s quote from the safety of dad’s seats at the US Tennis Center. Not only did Bob get to flee directly to the US Open and the delights of Serena Williams blasting an opponent off the court, but his guilt pangs were made all the worse when American Airlines upgraded him to first class on the flight out of New Orleans.

The Dabs and I and our pal Lisa enjoyed the evenings matches and we could not help but make note that some folks simply know how to flee better than others

Culture Watch: If my partner Vincent were not an economist, he would likely be singing for his supper. Dad, Karlene, V & I took in the new production of “Hair” ….under the stars, in Central Park…V has been belting out “Good Morning Sunshine,” pretty much night and day.

While Hair is stamped all over with phrases and symbols from the 60’s, the play still delivers a powerful message while it delivers one intelligent, memorable tune after another.

I first saw Hair in the 10th grade, with the Viet Nam War in the last stages of quagmire and a wrong number in the draft card lottery was still a likely ticket to the killing fields.

The producer introduced this production with a live remarks explaining that those little cards they are burning at the end of Act One “are draft cards.” It seems undeniable that this country drifted back to war and was able to stay there for almost five years with so little protest, largely because the draft no longer threatens the country at large.

Lou Dobbs Almost Comes Knocking: Less than 24 hours before Vincent was to start his job at a major accounting firm, he got a letter from a law firm (seldom good news) advising him that his visa request had been denied (really not good news) GULP…what now, we wondered?

Thankfully, Vincent had offered to start his job early, and the company liked him so much, that they allowed him to continue working under his existing visa. They will try to get him the new work visa again next year. Since V now has a Mater’s Degree his odds of approval are much better next time—as the U.S. sets aside 20-thousand so called H1B visas for people with advanced degrees.

If that Visa request fails, the backup plan would be to work for the same company in England, which we both think would be quite an adventure. Still, it all seems quite silly. Vincent got his BS and his Masters from Fordham-he had scholarships for much of his education and he is trained in Economics and Math- the very skills this country badly needs. How stupid, if this country can’t benefit from people educated in this country.

Uncle Duties: Yes, the time between Bulletins has stretched to incredible lengths, so much so that we can report that Vincent’s niece Chloe just celebrated her first birthday and my Nephew Benjamin will celebrate his on October 7th! Vincent’s sister Mae and her fiancé Jon purchased a condo from the same developer, just two blocks from our place, so Vincent and I get plenty of time for Uncle duties.

We are both looking forward to our second chance to say hello to Ben at the first ever Longman Christmas in Vermont at Matty and Nicolle’s.

New York Print Debut: In the late 90’s I meet an up and coming investigate reporter at an Investigative Reporter’s and Editor’s Conference. As I recall, I had an expense account and he did not, so I bought us a meal and we traded war stories. Flash forward to the New Orleans Magazine article I wrote from Band Camp which included my mailing address at Butner. The up and coming reporter (who was by now working for the Village Voice) wished me well and suggested he would repay that lunch upon my release. The reporter left the Voice in the middle of one of many management shakeups and became the investigative editor of an urban policy magazine. This spring he convinced his editor that they should take an in depth look at efforts to rebuilt New Orleans and he suggested that my knowledge of the city in question might come in handy. Many of you have already gotten the link to this article, but for those who did not; please follow this link to read my first work in print in the Big Apple.
http://www.citylimits.org/neworleans/

House Warming: Our new place is bigger than the old one, but still only fits about ten, so we had a small gathering for the housewarming. More photos of the digs coming soon.

Bulletin 201 "The Big Move"

MIKEWEEK
4 June 08/Bulletin 2008
Quote of the Month: “Oh I see, Mike and Vincent…both mens!”

The Big Move: I know we must have set the land speed record for a real estate purchase in the Empire State.

Come the first of May, I let our old landlord know that I was “petty sure” we would be moving out at the end of the month, but couldn’t be sure because we did not even have a closing date yet…let alone financing.
My landlord was an Italian guy named Tony, who owns about 6 buildings in New York. Tony said, “Those condo conversions are crazy. Thanks for letting me know…and keep me updated.”

I did get financing approved several months back, but it took the state a little longer than expected to approve the change over to the condo. And, wouldn’t you know it: but it was during those very months that the United Stated home mortgage industry chose to dive into major meltdown.

Luckily, Vincent and I had turned to a mortgage broker by the name of Glenda. She hails from England and has nerves of steel. “Michael” she would say, “let me do the worrying, don’t you worry about a thing.”

Easy advice to give, but hard to take; especially considering the fact that the ten percent that I had already put down on the condo, could end up being forfeited, should I not be able to obtain financing for the entire deal. That is how it works, with these condo conversions. What…me worry?

Countrywide…rides to the rescue: I would have laughed harder when Glenda called with the good news, that there was one bank in America still writing so called “non income verification loans.” That’s the sort we needed to qualify for this purchase, because Vincent’s future income at Ernst and Young could not be counted at the time we closed.

Relieved we were that Countrywide (now owned by Bank of America) still was willing to loan based on such metrics and snatch that option we did, at a remarkably fair 6.35%, 30 years fixed rate.

Ah, but wait. The story gets more interesting, because even Countrywide decided to bail on this

particular method about a week after they gave us the approval. Still, thanks to our broker, they made good on our deal. We are given to understand that we got one of the final ten or twelve such loans that Countrywide ever issued of this sort.

The rest was an Amazing race to the finish…After getting financing approved in the second week of May it turned out the sellers were still willing to close the very next week. We dashed down to the law offices of one of Dad’s former Yale Classmates (the Pryor) of Pryor and Cashman for the closing and signed all the papers.

The signing happened at 1pm, we got the keys at 2:15 and by 4pm we were already starting to move stuff in.

The place is even better than we imagined it: The condo sits on the 5th floor of a 6 story pre-war building with 35 other units. As fate would have it the fifth floor will be all owners but for one kind older black woman named Ms. Williams.

Vincent and I were the very first condo owners to move in, and our agent suggested we knock Ms. William’s door. She is a renter and it turns out, a shut.

She came to the door with a big smile. “I am so relieved to have somebody else moving in and living on the same floor” she told us. We traded small talk and as we said goodbye she looked us each up and down, smiled and then uttered the quote of the month.

June arrived and We have gotten the cardboard box count down to under a dozen and will take some pictures soon. We get wonderful morning light from the kitchen and bathroom windows which face north. Then the sun travels in the afternoon and evenings… to the living room and bedroom which face south. That also means we get something we did not have in the last studio, and many New York City dwellers only ever get to imagine…cross ventilation. Amazing!

The neighborhood is called Hamilton Heights: And, it is a work in progress. Columbia University is migrating slowly up our way, with new buildings slated to takeover abandoned properties in a run down area that sites halfway between us and the university. Above is another neighborhood, Inwood which has gone through major improvement.

Our neighborhood is largely Dominican and Jamaican and Vincent’s research tells us that he is not the only Asian moving here—they are the fasted growing ethnic group in our zip code. For now, I guess you could say I am from the local minority group.

People have been outgoing and friendly, and we have already found more than a few steals at neighborhood restaurants. A Cuban sandwich with a cup of deep rich café con leche can be had for five dollars.

Riverside Drive is a big reason we moved here. It is a wonderful Avenue with wide sidewalks, lots of trees and many places to sit and enjoy New York. Other motivation came from the fact out rent at the studio finally got so high that it was crazy not to buy.

And finally, there is Riverbank State Park, which local’s call the “secret park” because so few New Yorkers even know it exists. It boasts everything from a skating rink to a full track, but our main use will likely be the four tennis courts, which are lighted every night until 11pm.

More to follow, but I figured it was high time I got a bulletin out and shared the good news about the new place and our new “hood.”

Clinton's Not So Big Win: Primary Math for Democrats

Dick Morris will never make Keith Oberman's list of Best Person's in the World (and may have made the Worse, Worst, or Worser) but he did get the math right!

After all the boxing, horse racing and yes even tennis examples; the scrore is Hillary with a ten percentage point win, but minus the ten percentage points she needed to catch Obama.

The bottom line has been clear for all to see: Obama WILL win 1) twice as many states 2) the most delegates 3) the popular vote.

Hillary's last gasp is the super delegates. She has given them the new name, AUTOMATIC, but I doubt they will turn out to follow her argument like robots.

Hillary's bet is that they will hunker down, out of fear BECAUSE OBAMA MIGHT NOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES and instead give the nomination to her: the candidate who could not win by any of the three standard measures.

Like Morris, I think even the Democrats are wiser than that.

Just because one state that is populated by a large number of older people (who remember and some even rode in the covered wagon) went big for Hillary---and 10 points is Big, just not BIG Eough. That does not mean that is the way to go for this party. The future is the new blood, the independents (who could not vote in PA).

Hillary cannot change the math... and it is not Obama's job to find the Fat Lady--I guess Howard Dean will have to suffice.