Hi, my name is Rick.

I apologize up front for the fowl language.  Let me illuminate you with my logic.

What does a credit score allow you to do?  It’s not a trick question.  It allows you to borrow money, or get a credit card which, for all intents and purposes, is just another way people borrow money.  What give you a bad credit score?  Well, generally it’s a bad debt.  Or two.  Or three.  Unpaid debts (ie. unpaid mortgage payments, unpaid car payments, unpaid credit card payments, etc.) will cause the debt owner to report you to the three credit bureaus who annotate the ding on your credit record and it causes your credit score to go down.  This credit score is of course a completely fabricated metric, but it’s the only metric, so that’s what’s used.

Where am I going with this?  Well, people are worried about their credit scores because a garage band dressed as pirates or Ben Stein told them they should be.  And guess what?  If you have a bad credit score, it’s because you have bad or exorbitant debts and the last thing you should be doing is borrowing money or getting new credit cards.  I don’t understand how more people don’t understand this.  Instead of worrying about a stupid score which can get you more debt, you should be focusing on paying off the debts you already owe.

Of course this is assuming you pay your debts and don’t declare bankruptcy as a result of your ineptitude.  And I admit, that’s a monstrous assumption.

The shot today is of Eva listening to a guided tour in the cathedral of Mont St. Michel in France.

Eva, Mont St. Michel, Normandy Region

First things first, and this probably goes without saying, but if you were debating whether or not you should rent and watch Death Race, let me save you some time: don’t.

I just finished You Can’t Win by Jack Black.  Not that Jack Black.  The first Jack Black was born in the late 1800’s and was a vagrant thief and opiate addict.  Then he became a librarian.  He heavily influenced William S. Burroughs if that means anything.  The moral of the story is now I have to finish Atlas Shrugged which I have been trudging through, reluctant but determined, for over a year.  I’ll lay down in bed, open the book, read two pages of micro-fiche text and go to sleep.  I’m on page 730 or so.  There are 1100 pages.  Ayn Rand would hate Obama; if you’ve read her you agree.

Speaking of Obama, it looks like nationalized health care is slipping through the cracks.  How unfortunate.  My roommate’s uncle went to a Canadian hospital recently while he was there on a trip and he said it was abysmal.  He said the doctors were great but said the place was teeming with people.  It took him hours to get seen.  He was laying on a gurney in a hallway before he went into a two man room that had been equipped with four beds.  The doctors were few and far between and rushed around.  He said the US system is far superior.  “But Rick, what about those people that can’t afford health care?  Don’t you care about them?”  No.  They can join the Army or move to Canada.  “You’re mean Rick.”  And you’re stupid.  “Shut-up.”  You shut-up you damn stupid.

The photo today is of Mont St. Michel through a foggy morning.  It mist-rained the entire time we were there but the place was still incredible.

Mont St. Michel