Collateral Damage

We all know them. We love them individually, but in a group, they are a true terror. When they are together they can create a storm, almost hurricane-like, of noise and outlandish, boorish behavior. Who is this? The 9th grade boy, of course. This year's 9th grade class has, like every class, a group of these boys. It's just my luck that I teach every single one of them, but compound that, I have them all in the same section. There are eight of these boys along with seven girls in one of my sections of Geometry.

The second week into class, there was a day in which the boys were all clustered on one side of the room, being themselves and I was having difficulty getting them to pay attention, let alone learn anything. At some moment, I announced that as of the next day, I would have a class seating chart. I was in charge, not them. And the next day, as they walked into class, I had post-it notes on each seat showing the students where to sit. The goal was to divide and conquer the boys. I succeeded, whether it was the separation of the boys by the seating chart or simply the fact that the students got a clear picture that I was in charge, classroom chatter and noise has been reduced.

A couple days later, the Upper School held its Parents night, in which parents go to all of their childrens classes to meet the teachers. When the parents of this infamous section entered the room, they looked around at the other parents. There was an immediate sense of doom and one of the parents said that I was in for a long year. In response, I told parents of the boys about the seating chart and how classroom decorum had been greatly improved from the first week of school.

I then looked at the parents of the girls in the class and told them that, unfortunately, their daughters were collateral damage in the strategy to divide and conquer the boys. The girls had merely become buffers between the boys. I am glad that there was laughter from the parents.

Set Your VCR's (ok TIVO's here in the 21st century)!!!

Hey all!!! My friend Dave F.'s Acorn Theater will be featured on HGTV's Building Character. It will be shown four times at different times on October 13th, 14th, 17th and 18th. It's a great place and story about the reuse and transformation of older buildings for new purposes. Plus, you get to see my friend Dave.

How Alan Greenspan influences my life!

Well, I will admit that the catchy title is a bit exaggerated, but not by much. This posting will deal with the world of home mortgages and the crazy games that are played to save money. When I purchased my share of 121-123 Cortland, I inherited the 30-year fixed mortgage that the Streiffer's (121) had purchased with the Shimetz's (123). We had a 30-year fixed rate of 6.625%, which back in 1999 when the mortgage was intitiated, a pretty good rate.

Mortgage rates have been low for the past year and a half or so, but I was always a bit overwhelmed by the idea of refinancing the mortgage, that I just avoided it. That was until, in February 2004, my colleague and friend Shahana referred me to her broker Mark B. of Wymac Capital. He helped me through the process and just like everything in life, was much more managable once I understood the why's and how's of what Brian, Meredith and I were doing. There were lots of papers to submit, documents to photocopy, papers to sign and an apprasial of the building done.

In the end, Mark, locked us in at a 6% 30-year fixed mortgage, saving us $300 a month. We decided to continue to pay at the previous amount, thereby paying down the principal $300 a month, which meant that we would pay off the mortgage in 21.75 years instead of 30. In addition, the entire process cost us NOTHING. We did not pay a cent to save $300 a month. Great!!

This past Friday, Mark left me a message on my school voicemail telling me that on Thursday the 23rd of September, there was a three hour window in which 30-year fixed mortgages rates dipped to 5.75% and Mark locked us in at that rate. The process this time would be the same, except even easier. Most of the documents that we submitted back in February are still valid and the only things we need to submit are paystubs and bank statements.

Mark had the documents delivered by courier service on Saturday morning and after looking at them, it looks like the quarter point drop in the rate will save us a grand total of $54 a month. Not that much in the grand scheme of monthly life, but it will mean we pay off the mortgage even quicker than at the 6% rate. Saving money:very cool.

ONE FINAL NOTE: I have only ever spoken to Mark B. on the phone. Hopefully, someday I will get to meet the man.