Miscellaneous Ramblings On A Sunday Evening

I'm winding down a pleasant weekend that started Friday with finally closing on a refinance of my mortgage. I wanted to take advantage of the lower interest rates, and since I went through the original lender, it should have been a breeze. Well, that was the theory. The reality is the bank was pretty dysfunctional in the last couple of weeks. It's a good thing I'm officially retired, though I do have a home based business, and am almost completely flexible with my time. The reason is that the closing was rescheduled four different times. If I had been still commuting to work, that would have meant taking time off four different times. And that would not have made me happy.

But in the end it worked out, and starting in July I'll see a lower payment by close to $100 a month. Until I'm 85. No, really, I'll be paying for that long. But that's my choice. I planned well ahead for my retirement so I could afford to actually do so, meaning I'm not worried about losing my home in the future. One thing I insisted on was a 30 year fixed rate, the only type of loan that should exist. ARM's, interest only loans, etc. should be banned. Those have and still do sucker in those who have no business being home owners and within a few years find themselves without that home and hideously in debt, should have their fingernails ripped out one by one.

But that was Friday. Saturday and Sunday were pleasant days spending quality time with horses, sipping wine on that back porch after sunset while being serenaded by the sounds of the night, gardening and of course preparing yet another masterpiece of a barbecue.

At the same time I was following more news stories on the horrendous oil spill in the Gulf. This thing is a total fiasco besides being a potential environmental catastrophe. The fiasco part comes in two flavors. First, it's obvious there was no contingency plan on anyone's part, British Petroleum, Transocean, or Haliburton, should anything like this happen. Oil platforms by their nature are hazardous and every safety precaution has to be made to keep tragic accidents like this one from taking place. Still, conditions can arise that will lead to that accident. (And as an aside to that blithering idiot Rand Paul, just dismissing it as an accident with no accountability only proves he's as much of a moron as his father).

However, there should have been redundant shut off valves in the pipeline so if one was damaged another could be used. And if oil was spilled, have a fleet of ships with containment gear on standby. It's ok if these ships are employed in other tasks when there isn't a spill, that just makes economic sense, but they should be considered as the National Guard, be ready for action when necessary.

Then there's the controversy of using the dispersant Corexit. Basically this is a chemical that breaks down the oil so that bacteria in the water can more easily consume the oil. It works fairly well, but the toxic aftereffects aren't completely known. There are other, less toxic and more effective dispersants on the market, however, BP apparently has a rather cozy relationship with the manufacturer of Corexit.

And of the government's response? Wow, a Presidential commission! We're saved! They'll just bluster and talk all that oil into slinking back into the blown out well. Or how about the EPA all of a sudden getting concerned about Corexit, (which they approved use of some years ago), and asking BP to use an alternative? In other words, the Federal government is doing its usual proverbial closing the barn door after the cows have escaped. Again, no planning ahead of time, no oversight on safety on the drilling platforms, then when a crisis hits the government does what it does best, go into complete panic mode with everyone running around trying to act and sound important.

So what should be done? First duct tape the mouths of every lawyer, government official and BP executive. Second, plug the well. Third, clean up the spilled oil by any means possible, (and use an alternative to Corexit). Fourth, come up with a contingency plan in case of future incidents like this. If offshore drilling is going to be permitted in deep waters, then the excuse, "We have no idea what to do if things go wrong at this depth", just isn't going to fly.