If there was anybody who should have avoided the mortgage catastrophe, it was I. As an economics reporter for The New York Times, I have been the paper’s chief eyes and ears on the Federal Reserve for the past six years. I watched Alan Greenspan and his successor, Ben S. Bernanke, at close range. I wrote several early-warning articles in 2004 about the spike in go-go mortgages. Before that, I had a hand in covering the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the Russia meltdown in 1998 and the dot-com collapse in 2000. I know a lot about the curveballs that the economy can throw at us.

But in 2004, I joined millions of otherwise-sane Americans in what we now know was a catastrophic binge on overpriced real estate and reckless mortgages. Nobody duped or hypnotized me. Like so many others — borrowers, lenders and the Wall Street dealmakers behind them — I just thought I could beat the odds. We all had our reasons. The brokers and dealmakers were scoring huge commissions. Ordinary homebuyers were stretching to get into first houses, or bigger houses, or better neighborhoods. Some were greedy, some were desperate and some were deceived.

As for me, I had two utterly compelling reasons for taking the plunge: the money was there, and I was in love. It was August 2004, just as the mortgage party was getting really good. I was 48 years old and eager to start a new chapter in my life with Patricia Barreiro, who was then my fiancée.

Clean up credit score to land a sweet mortgage rate

Most borrowers know that falling behind on debts will hurt credit scores. But other issues that could hurt your score may be less obvious, including:

•"Same as cash" offers. These deals, offered on everything from new decks to high-definition TVs, provide a way to postpone having to pay for a large purchase, for anywhere from 90 days to a year. But these offers carry hidden costs for borrowers, says John Ulzheimer, president of educational services for Credit.com.

As far as your credit record is concerned, Ulzheimer says, a "same as cash" offer is a loan. When you apply for the offer, the lender, usually a finance company, will pull your credit reports to check your creditworthiness. A credit inquiry can reduce your score.

Worse, the loan will hurt your "credit utilization ratio," which accounts for 30% of your credit score. This ratio refers to the amount of money you've borrowed as a percentage of your available credit. Your credit score will reflect your overall ratio, along with the ratio for each of your accounts.

Now, suppose you use a "same as cash" deal to defer paying $5,000 for a home theater system for 12 months. That $5,000 will appear on your credit report as a loan until you pay off the balance. And your credit record will show that you've used 100% of the credit available from the "same as cash" account. If you apply for a mortgage during that period, Ulzheimer says, "don't expect to get the best interest rate the mortgage lender has to offer."

• I was putting some bottles in the wine fridge this morning (w00t~!), and I noticed a tuft of cat hair on the bar countertop. The cats are obviously conducting their own building inspections. I hope we're up to code!


• I reiterate: kitties are not digging the "get locked up in the bedroom all day" routine. And of course if the door were open, they'd still spend 90% of their day in there! It's just the closed door they object to. But I don't care what they think. Until all the contractors and subcontractors hand me back their spare keys and I can be assured that no one else will be coming in and out of the house when we're not there, the cats stay sequestered in the bedroom during the day.


• Speaking of the remodel: stuff in the kitchen works! Like last night, I unpacked the microwave stuff and set up the little plate, and found a place to store the convection rack. (Ooooh fancy!) I ran it at very low power for 30 seconds. You know, just to make sure the plate was in right and able to move. And it works! Today we turned on the hood, and it's got 4 nice bright 50 watt bulbs in there. The fan is... kinda loud. But if you turn it down to 2 (out of 6), it's manageable. If I'm watching TV while I'm cooking and running the fan, I'll be very glad for those two speakers installed in the kitchen ceiling. I started putting in oven racks, but it feels too loose. Need to find the manual and make sure I'm doing it right.


• I'm wearing an inexpensive brown T-shirt I bought at Target a couple weekends ago and my new beige skirt. I look decent and am very comfy! I must go snag more of these cheap and cheerful shirts.


• Just saw a headline go by: "Unlike 1Q, Apple shares rise after 2Q report." Translated: when Charity buys Apple shares, she gets a decent earnings report but the stock tanks anyway. After they claw back up to a reasonable level, she sells them to Hubby, who then gets a hhhhhhawesome earnings report, and they go sky-high. Eh, whatevah. I am clearly not cut out to own individual stocks. I will stick to mutual funds. Or bonds.


• But yeah, so I got my Apple stock money back, and my 6-month CD matures next Friday. So when they announce the next release of the MacBook Pro, I am ready, baby! I figure they'll do a refresh in time for the back-to-school buying crowd. I'll wait till November or so to let them work all the kinks out, then SNAG!!!


• Today was "Bring Your Young'uns to Work Day." Remember when the whole idea of it was Bring Your Daughter to Work, so she can see different roles for women so she doesn't have to stick to "nurse" or "teacher" or "mommy" as a career path? Yeah, so that lasted. My company actually has organized programs for the kids now, and they shuffle them off to the auditorium or something so you hardly see them. This is a vast improvement from when it was just an excuse for the kids to eat all our cookies and download South Park cartoons at their mothers' desks. (Tru fax, saw that with my own eyes.)


• Dr. H and Dr. M back-cracked me yesterday. I consistently have tightness and issues with my mid-back, so I got the office ergonomics guru to give my desk a makeover. So he's got my chair rearranged now. It's weeeeird. Not bad, just weeeeird.


• Wanna hear something that sucks? Next month Hubby has to fly down to Tampa for a meeting at 1 p.m., then turn around and fly home! I mean, he prefers not to have to go away overnight and all, and there is value in face-to-face meetings. But doesn't that seem like a huge waste of money!? Not to mention an e-nor-mous pain in Hubby's posterior.


• I'm sneezing and blowing my nose like a mofo today. Hard to tell if it's the cold or allergies compounding the problem. Although I am grateful that the sore throat has finally! passed. Hopefully this won't last much longer.


• I do see my doctor next week, but that's because I need a new scrip for Wellbutrin. Even though it hasn't helped much lately with not overeating, I think I should stay on it. When I read that story a few weeks ago about Cabinet-level members of the administration sitting in on torture meetings, I literally got depressed. I had to shut off the TV and go to bed. Coincidentally, I had been alternating days on with days off, to try and get off it. After that, I was like, "Oh yeah. We're keeping it." I'll be interested to see what the doctor says.


• 3 shots of decaf espresso + large cup full of ice = free iced coffee at work. Take that, Starbucks!


• So glad I'm getting my hair cut on Saturday. It's becoming bushy, and no matter how much effort I put into blow-drying, I still look like a little Dutch boy with a bowl haircut by the end of the day.


• Back to remodeling news: we're meeting with a lady next Wednesday. She's a friend of Georgie's and does cool things with framing and mounting photographs. We're going to have a bunch around the 2nd floor, including two super huge ones on the dining and living room walls.


• To those of you on my F-list who need it, just know I'm pulling for you.


• And finally, boom de yada!

• I am at work.


• And hardly working.


• The odds of us getting out early aren't great.


• I finally bought a cool new camera bag the other day, and naturally I found it online this morning for cheaper. Arrrrgh! Oh well, way to support a local merchant? Sheesh, between this and the engine flush crap, I spent way too much money that we don't really have. Must do more research in future.


• Speaking of the camera, I am trying to buy a replacement lens cap for my telephoto lens. It is 62mm wide, not 67 like my other lens cap. Or 52 like the 50mm prime lens. ARGH. If I buy it online, even via Amazon, I will pay a redonkulous amount of money for shipping. I tried calling the local camera store, but no one was picking up. I just want to know if they will be open today, so I can swing by and grab the right size lens cap.


• Just reinstalled Greasemonkey on my PC, and added a ton of Flickr and LJ scripts. Shiny!


• So I really did go to the gym this morning around 5:50 a.m. to do a Turbulence Training strength workout... aaaaand the gym was closed. They must be opening later due to the NYE holiday. So of course I turned around, went home, read LJ, and didn't work out at all. My plan now is to get on the treadmill this evening, before the NYE party. Not only will I get a workout in, I will earn useful activity points for party noshing. Plus working out after dinner seems to keep me up late, so I should make it to midnight!


• I need to make backup plans for when I can't work out. I still tend to be a little all-or-nothing when it comes to exercise.


• redstapler's gym is not only offering a free weight loss plan to its members, but you can win valuable prizes! Weight loss + prizes = \o/


• Hubby thinks we can move the fridge downstairs to the rec room, if we get rid of the sofa down there, and then I can still park my car in the garage while the remodeling is going on! Hmmmmm. I don't know if that will work. But I appreciate him trying to devise a way for me to not have to park in the driveway this winter.


• PS, we will have a lot of furniture to donate: two sofas, a dining room set, coffee & end tables. Everything is in pretty good shape, except the small two-seater sofa which has been used as a kitty scratch pad. But if you're handy, you can re-cover it and it will be fine. If you are interested in any of this stuff, please let me know. Otherwise it's all going to Homefront.


• I have a funny concept for today's and tomorrow's Photo of the Day. I hope I can make it work.