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Did I mention I hate Student Loans?

I don't have time for a thorough post, but why oh why are there at least three different Federal Student Loan portal sites? How un-consumer friendly is that? Why isn't there one site for me to manage my federal loans from application, through dispersal, through consolidation, through payback? Even looking at the summary description of each page, I still can't tell the difference!

Welcome to the homepage of the U.S. Department of Education's Direct Loan Program,
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/index.html

Welcome borrowers, schools, and loan holders to the Federal Direct Conslidation Loans Information Center
http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov/

Welcome to Federal Student Aid Direct Loan Servicing on-line
https://www.dlssonline.com/borrower/BorrowerWelcomePage.jsp

Up or down?

Random topic but one I've wondered about and so am pleased to see an article on it: flag lowering.

I feel like, when I was little, it was rare for flags to be flown at half-staff. So much so, I can remember going to school one day - maybe 4th or 5th grade - seeing the flag lowered on the way in, and wondering for much of the morning why it was so. Maybe I should have just asked someone...ah, a lesson I still haven't learned.

Anyway, today it seems that whenever I walk through the Diag, the flag is lowered. So much so, I now routinely find myself asking if it is ever not at half-staff.

Apparently politicians, in their infinite wisdom, have drafted a bill to ensure a consistent approach to the decision of whether the flag shall be up or down.

Much of the debate is over what to do when a local soldier is killed in combat. I certainly agree that a single soldier's life is valuable and, in many cases, they have probably given greater service to the country than the elected officials for whom the flag is always and automatically lowered. But I think one interviewee summarizes my own experience best:

“When we lower it now, people notice it and ask why,” Mr. Burk said. “If you lower every time a soldier dies, it will be down so often that people will only notice and ask when it’s up.”

My good man from Ohio makes an important point as well:

Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio, a Democrat who opposes the war but does not lower flags for killed Ohio soldiers says, “I think putting the flag at half-staff is a strong symbolic thing to do. But quite frankly, it’s a fairly easy thing to do. It doesn’t require anything of us either as political leaders or as citizens.”

Fallen soldiers deserve to be commemorated by their hometown. When there are so many fallen soldiers however, lowering the flag quickly loses a lot of its meaning. Maybe, if such honoring is truly so important to these politicians, they should think a little longer on a more meaningful way of doing it.

I hate lines

So, apparently, it is perfect that I am moving to New York where lines at grocery stores can be epic.

But wait! An article in the NYTimes today details how the wildly popular Whole Foods has so cleverly managed to address this problem. It is all very interesting, but of course also very silly. I didn't do so well in Operations, and I'm pretty sure all I really needed to know was that Little's Law is I=RT (but I don't know what I, R, or T is), but one thing I do remember is queuing theory, which is all Whole Foods is using.

As the article points out, banks have long used a single queue with multiple teller-windows to ensure no one gets stuck in a long, slow moving line, and that generally every customer is helped in the shortest time possible. It would have been nice if the article had also given props to Best Buy, since they have been using this same system, first at busy times like Christmas, but I believe now all the time - at least in their Midwest stores. So while the article is right to mention the fear of customers abandoning a queue when it looks too long to them, Best Buy could be pointed to as a fellow retailer who has made this work.

Also interesting was their use of first people, now electronic signage, to reveal the expected wait time. Again, great application. Let's give it up for Cedar Point though! How many times have we raced to the Gemini or Magnum XL, not been able to see the whole line, but seen that sign that says, "The expected wait from this point is: 1/4 hours" and then kept on running!

So basically what this article teaches us is that Whole Foods execs are using their fat bonus checks from the ridiculous popularity of their stores to, a) buy new plasma TVs, Wii's, and to pre-order the iPhone and b) take weekend trips to Sandusky, OH to kick the sky on the Raptor. Nice.

Why does it have to be so complicated?

I hate loans. But this is pretty much a given, right? Who likes loans? Who likes calculating their new budget at their fancy new job, only to realize that with their loan payments, they might actually be taking home less than they were before school!

But I especially don't care for my FAFSA, Gov't, Direct Student Loans - I don't know what the official name is supposed to be, but those loans from our government that have the good rates. Why? Let me see...

1. I came back from my trip to S. America, and granted I was gone for a bit, but I had eight separate pieces of mail from these guys! Two a week?!? Are you kidding?
2. Not only was there a ton of mail, but it was contradictory. One letter said my first payment was due on 6/7, another said 6/21. Some letters have my full account number, some only have a partial number which means I can't tell which of my three loans they apply to as the one unique number amongst them wasn't printed. So some of my letters made it seem like my payments were due till November.
3. You can sign-up for e-delivery of your statements which is great because you end up saving hundreds of trees given how many statements they send you. But if you then sign-up for direct debit, for some reason this cancels the e-statements and they revert you back to paper. It isn't possible for you to have both e-delivery and direct debit...why? Those are two complimentary services it seems to me. Wouldn't the person who wants the ease of direct debit also probably appreciate not getting two pieces of mail every week regarding their loans??
4. Related: each of my loans is treated as a separate "account". Why? I am one person. How ridiculously non-customer focused is that? Let's not treat this customer as one person and roll all of his loans into one account (you can still break them which I understand is necessary since they are at different interest rates), let's instead give him three account numbers and mail three separate statements each month. Not only does this add to my mail, but it means I can't see my total payments anywhere, I have to add them up manually!
5. This might be my favorite...what is the deal with the damn pin number they give you which they think should be treated like the most sacred thing in the world? If you enter your pin incorrectly twice, it is disabled. You can't then request a reminder until you first "reactivate" it. The reactivation process takes four hours, then you finally get an email. And this is all done for "your safety." Oh no, please don't let someone break into my account and pay my loans for me!
6. Wait, no, this is my favorite. Here is the process for reactivating your pin, and then for getting the email reminder. In BOTH places, they ask you the EXACT SAME three questions: Social security number, first two letters of your last name, and your date of birth. Okay, first, if you are asking for the same info in both steps of the process, why the hell do you need two steps? There is no extra security there - some bad person either has stolen my information or they haven't, but making them enter it twice isn't going to prevent anything. But second, how are these three questions so super secure? My last name and birthday - anyone can figure that out. If a username and password is secure enough for my credit card and bank accounts, I think it will do for my loans as well.

It has been a while since I posted and that was a long one. My two loyal readers probably didn't make it to the end. But I feel better now. Thanks.

Viral Marketing

Most of it sucks right? How sweet is this though?

Why is this so funny?

There are "explicit" lyrics in this (kind of) but it is genius. The Color Me Badd spoof is by itself almost as funny as the lyrics. I especially enjoy the three-step directions provided in the song.