David Mackey

How To: Buy a New or Used Car.

2007-07-07T22:06:00Z

Disclaimer: This How To is based on my personal experience. My suggestions may not always be the best route for all individuals, but I have attempted to give a reasonable method for purchasing a vehicle. Buying a car is a big investment. Charity and I have owned four cars - two of which we have till this day. Our first car was a 1993 Toyota Corolla that we paid $1,300 for. It died on the side of the road when I forgot to put the oil cap back on and the oil low light failed to turn on. Our second...(read more)

Attention Politicians: Guaranteed Way to Lose My Vote.

2007-06-11T21:29:00Z

There is one guaranteed way to lose my vote in the upcoming elections. There are many other issues that I will waiver on, compromise on, but I join with Rev. John Piper when I state - the support of abortion by a candidate excludes them for me as a potential option, just as if they supported the murder of children or adults for any specific reason. Here are a number of quotes (pulled from a Focus on the Family newsletter) from several prominent politicians revolting against the forbiddance of partial...(read more)

My Chevy Aveo 2005.

2007-04-26T02:15:00Z

I think I've written about this in the past, but I figured now that its been nearly two years since I purchased by Chevy Aveo LS I'd write about it again. In those (slightly less than) two years I've been around 21,000 miles on the car. I take it to Bertrand Auto. regularly to have my inspections, oil changes, and regular maintenance checkups. I've had very few problems with the car and overall have been very happy with it. Positives: Great gas mileage. Great safety ratings for a vehicle in its class...(read more)

Review: Capital One Business Credit Card, 1/5 Rating.

2007-01-31T02:23:00Z

I utilize several credit cards. My favorite is a 2% cash back credit card for personal use from 1st Financial Bank USA. Their website stinks horribly - but they continuously pay me to use their card, and that I can't argue with. They also are regularly raising my credit limit, which is always nice. I make a lot of purchases for business purchases, however, so recently I signed up for a Capital One credit card. I figured it would make expensing much easier by having my purchases centralized on one...(read more)

Building a Driveway.

2007-01-14T03:57:00Z

Today, Andrew , Bill , and I built a driveway. If you want, you can see some photos Bill and Andrew took on Bill's Xanga . This has been a bit of a prolonged process. I decided I should look into whether I needed a permit - and I did. I was able to get grandfathered in for a gravel driveway since my current driveway as well was gravel. I submitted the permit request with Middletown Township and paid my $47.00. Less than a week later I had my permit. I called several companies and finally found Eddington...(read more)

Weekend Project - New Driveway.

2007-01-11T22:37:00Z

Well, I successfully received a permit to expand my driveway at our house from Middletown Township. Tonight I ordered 5 tons of modified gravel and 350 feet of a cloth that layers between the dirt and the gravel. Soon I will hang my permit in the window and rent a backhoe type machine from a local equipment store. So, this Saturday and perhaps part of Sunday will consist of digging down two inches and then the cloth, then 4 inches of gravel, and moving the disturbed dirt to the various little indents...(read more)

Modesty, Nudity, and Sexuality (Warning: Mature Discussion).

2006-12-12T03:02:00Z

In general, in the United States we wear pants and a shirt. This is supplemented by under-clothes. For men underwear, for women both underwear and a bra. In general culture it is considered acceptable for women to wear shorts that expose around half their thighs and shirts that expose perhaps 35% of their breasts. One may be considered a "skank" or "looking for trouble" if one wears less, but it is not uncommon to see shirts that expose 50% of breasts and shorts that cover no...(read more)

Youth Group Christmas Party.

2006-12-10T02:52:00Z

We couldn't do a Christmas party with the youth group on Christmas, so we decided to have a party early. We met at the church at 5:30 p.m. to setup decorations - something which has become a new tradition at the church. That went pretty well - the youth had a good time setting up the Christmas tree, the nativity, and hanging out. Then we headed over to our house. We piled nearly thirty people into our rather small home. Its by no means tiny, but on the other hand, it is a 3 bed, 2 bath, with...(read more)

Telligent's Shocking Licensing Decision.

2006-12-09T00:46:00Z

UPDATE: As you can see in the comments from Rob Howard and David Burke of Telligent, they have explained that the licensing terminology expressed in the Daily News is not a reflection of the final final wording of the licensing. In fact, this is still a work in progress on their part and they are throwing around some much more acceptable ideas (such as a cap on the Personal Edition of $500/mo.). Now this isn't finalized either, but I do appreciate Rob and Dave taking the time to comment on my...(read more)

Humour: Being a System Administrator.

2006-11-29T04:53:00Z

Todd Van Hoosear has a funny post over on his site about what a day in the life of a system administrator looks like. While admittedly using some large amounts of hyperbole, it was still an enjoyable read. Note: The post does include several profane words....(read more)

Gangs and Middletown Township.

2006-11-14T03:21:00Z

This is kind of a follow-up to my previous posts on the raid on an Oxford Grant apartment in Penndel and the subsequent arrest of members of the Sex, Money, Murder gang. I've found two more articles relating to this general topic through topix.net - my new favorite local news site. The first by Artemis Coughlan and printed in The Trentonian notices the general move of gangs from some of the big cities, where they have come under heavy law enforcement pressure into Bucks County. The second , by...(read more)

Review: NationPoint, 2/5.

2006-09-01T03:19:00Z

NationPoint is a lender. In fact, they ended up being thee lender in our equation. We used them to purchase our house. I've discovered that everyone sounds great before the sale goes through, once they have you under contract or with money committed to the table, things oftentimes get a little more rocky. I'm afraid that NationPoint was an example of this. I received a call from one of their Senior Loan Consultants. He promised me that they could offer me a loan with good rates even though...(read more)

My Gigantic Cell Phone Bill.

2006-08-29T03:53:00Z

So, I've received a phone bill for around $700. Yikes. Its for Charity and I's cell phones. Work (thankfully) bases for my base plan (though not Charity's). But, $700 is far over the $50 or so a month I usually see in bills. How in the world was my bill so high? First, they charged me $0.45/min. I went over my base limit. Seems a little bit like highway robbery, but I guess I probably signed a contract sometime, somewhere saying I was willing to pay that amount. Secondly, several major...(read more)

Thoughts on Home Buying.

2006-08-10T02:28:00Z

We haven't yet finished purchasing our house, but already I have a few thoughts: 1. Get a buyer's agent. Its great to have someone who is committed to walking you through the process and has a financial interest in seeing you succeed in the transaction. The world of purchasing real estate is so confusing and having an agent makes it so much easier. Especially since they split the commission with the seller's agent, thus not costing anything out of pocket, generally. 2. If you are attending...(read more)

A Better Mail System.

2006-05-10T21:11:00Z

I arrived home from work to see the familiar UPS sticker plastered to my door. It noted that the package could not be delivered because a signature was required. Over the next several days this same process was repeated - like most people I'm not home during the day. In the end, my package ends up stuck at an office till I have it redirected to my office or pick it up at their office. This process and similar situations is oftentimes repeated. Similar examples include the dropping off of packages...(read more)