He who gosspis to you will gossip about you.

We should have bought a lottery ticket today.

Pam flew from Grand Rapids to Chicago O'Hare, and from there home (hooray!). When she got to the gate in Chicago she immediately volunteered to be bumped if they needed the seat. We both typically do that to get the vouchers they give to those who agree to fly on a later flight. It helps pay for the next trip on our agenda. The gal said they might and wrote her name down. As it turned out they didn't need to bump her, but because she volunteered she was given an upgrade to first class and the vouchers.
SCORE!

On the way home from the airport we stopped by Paradise Bakery for some lunch and then across the street to a Wells Fargo branch. We spent the next 45 minutes signing mortgage papers for a refinance that makes no sense for anyone but us. We dropped from 6.25% to 4.25% and from a 30-year fixed to a 20-year fixed. Over the life of the loan (which will probably live longer than we will) the total savings amount to $66,000.

This refi cost us nothing. Nada. Zilch. We didn't pay for an appraisal because Wells Fargo didn't want one. We didn't pay any processing fees or document fees or title fees or carbon fiber corn stalk fees. Instead, we walked in, signed papers, and walked out with a new, much nicer mortgage.
Why? Why did Wells Fargo call us up and say, "Do you want a new, much nicer mortgage that will save you a boatload of money... for free?" I have no idea. We have always made our payments on time and planned to in the future.
But I expect the federal govt. is involved because I was told we fell under the TARP 2.0 guidelines.

The gal who helped us with the signing said, "Trust me. If Wells Fargo wasn't making money on this they wouldn't be doing it."
So we save money, Wells Fargo makes money... and taxpayers take it in the shorts.
So, thank you!

OK, he's good, but I'm not sure it's going to pay the bills.

We can see the smokey haze from the fires off to the east but it's not close enough to smell.

Did you ever read a book you were told was wonderful, insightful and game changing, and as you're reading it you wonder if you bought the right book? I'm about 30% into it, so maybe the pieces will all fall in place and the grand picture emerge, but so far I'm wondering what all the fuss is about.