Author Archives: cosmichomicide

Movin’ Forward: The Certification Train

16 Wednesday Mar 2011

Posted by in Changes & Progress

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Every couple of years I’m presented with a batch of certifications needing renewal. Over time, I’ve let some drop, but I promised myself back when that I’d keep at least a few active even if I wasn’t using them. You know, the economy might tank or something, right?

So, this year a bunch of old are due to upgrade and a bunch of new are on the plate. So far I’ve added my ITIL v3 Foundation and Practitioner: RCV, both of which apply to my new role. MCT renews this month and after that it’s SharePoint 2010 and ITPro exam time. Ohhh! I can set up another page to stare at me until I do something about it, too.   Professional development can be fun, mmhm. :-]

Visit the Certifications page if you want to watch the trek. 🙂

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Hello world! Sorta. =}

14 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by in Cosmic Questions

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Migrated over from my live space blog, finally registered cosmichomicide.com (been meaning to do that for years) and trying to decide what direction I want to go in for 2011, late though I may be in starting.  I suppose I could go with a change or achievement every month that moves me towards a personal goal (working with the theory that it takes a month to engrain a habit).  That way I could count finally getting the domain names I wanted registered, completing two of my ITIL certifications and being most of the way towards my books read goal for the year.  🙂

One other idea was to evangelize my passion – the truly paperless home and office.  Then there is also revisiting the cash savings areas from my cheapskate posts and see how they are doing, maybe look for new cost cutters.  I could go cliched and do a bucket list or vow to write x amount per week or go through some series of literary exercises or – or not…

But hey, blogging is on the way out, slithering down the backside of the curve, pushed out by emoticons, social netbites, digital talking points – so does it really matter?  So, I’ll think about it and probably do a bit of it all.  So, hello world (again, sorta)!

Citibank is Evil & Other Tales of Usury

17 Tuesday Nov 2009

Posted by in Cheapskate

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Cardmember since 1993 – actually earlier than that but my original card was a Chase card that got sucked into Citi.  I’m employed, have a good credit and payment history, generallly carry a balance and use the card for larger purchases.  I’ve not missed payments or even come close to exceeding my limit – pretty much a textbook consumer credit customer.  Last year my interest on the card was 9.99%.  In October that “special rate” went to 15.99% (no negative trigger on my part at all – and remember, I’ve had the card for SIXTEEN years).  Today I get a letter stating that, starting on November 30th (yup, less than 2 weeks away), my new improved rate will be 19.99%.  Again, no negative trigger on my part, just “current economic conditions” – those being that the legislation to stop EXACTLY this type of action goes into effect in February.  It’s an end run by a company that, had they been allowed to fail after engaging in bad business practices would not still be engaging in bad business practices – a company that engaged in GOOD practices would have filled that slot.
 
So, what’s my choice according to the moneylenders at the temple?  Accept a DOUBLING of my interest rate on my existing balance to keep my card or take my lower (but newly higher) rate of 15.99% and have the card closed on me, damaging my FICO.  Or, I can go tomorrow, get a nice card with a transfer option, keep my Citi account, charge that $15.99 monthly gaming charge to it and keep a balance of around $5.00 so the card stays active and used and consumes Citi resources.  I’ll have to figure out exactly what the numbers need to be to keep the vampires at bay with respect to transaction fees, inactivity adjustments and all the other screw the consumer terms Citi so loves.
 
This isn’t choosing to do business with one company or another – this is a company that TOOK TAXPAYER MONEY making an end run around a law and doing it in a manner that negatively (in terms of the FICO credit score hit of a closed account) affects consumers who have done NOTHING negative to trigger a punitive response.
 
Pathetic.  Oh and I’m not one of those folks who will tell you they were perfect for 13 years either – but I was close.  I paid online last Thanksgiving and wound up being late by 4 hours because Citi changed my payment due date without warning; a previous shady practice.  That’s when they lowered me the 9.99% rate after they apologized and dropped all fees – apparently, however, a year of timely payments earns a higher rate…

The Year of Living Frugally – Utilities (Gas)

29 Thursday Oct 2009

Posted by in Cheapskate

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The wonderful world of natural gas.  Seriously – I love the stuff.  Gas radiators, gas stove, gas water heater – tankless.  Yes, the water heater was more expensive than a traditional one.  Love it.  Love it even more when my EPP (Equal Payment Plan) drops $77/mo.  A warm winter, a new tankless waterheater and a bit of added weatherstripping (with a whole lot to go, believe me…) savings with no effort.  I do attribute a good deal of it to the drop in the cost of natural gas, but I also strongly endorse the Rinnai tankless water heater.
 
Utilities (Gas) was July:
July Savings Total – $924/year
Cumulative Savings Total – $7926/year ($451 ahead of $500/mo goal)
Remaing Savings Towards Goal – ($1926)

The Year of Living Frugally – More Telecom & Cable

29 Thursday Oct 2009

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If you remember, there was a bit of a fustercluck with DirecTV – even though I’d had service previously, I was deemed by the installers as requiring a $200 pole.  So, after a day of calling, comparing and other annoyances, we ditched the DirecTV plan and suffered on.  We looked at dropping to a lower service tier with TWC, but they require HD for DVR apparently, which was simply not helpful as we didn’t want to go the TiVO route.  Sooooo….
 
Let’s talk bundles.  I intensely dislike Windstream Wireless but the $100 TWC bill was making my nose bleed.  As a grandfathered CTC customer, I was getting 6Mbps DSL and phone for $75.00, but no long distance.  Total telecom (excluding cellphones) at $175.00/mo.  Windstream’s phone, DSL and TV bundle comes in at $110/mo for the first year, $125/mo for the second with a 2 year committment.   This gives the identical savings for DirectTV reported earlier in the year ($780 first year, $600 second year) and adds unlimited long distance (and I admit to liking land lines).
 
Here’s hoping the service doesn’t suck – I have to give Windstream credit as the service hasn’t been nearly as bad in the last 6 months.  No financial gain (though we are already ahead) but we picked up unlimited long distance on a land line so it’s all good.
 
Cable and Internet were slated for May, so technically…
May Savings Total – $780/year
Cumulative Savings Total – $7002/year ($374 ahead of $500/mo goal)
Remaing Savings Towards Goal – ($1002)