Dr. Riedy's Random Thoughts

Not everyone will necessarily agree, but I believe the issues of housing affordability and homelessness are substantively different from one another, and as such the solutions to each issue are substantively distinct from one another. In the case of homelessness the solutions tend to emerge from society's general notion that those whose homelessness is beyond their control, at least in the short term, ought to be helped within the limits of  public and private programs whose resources are targeted toward these solutions. It's not that the homeless have a right to decent living space but that society voluntarily will try to help them, at least temporarily, gain access to the space so that they have somewhere other than the street to call "home". The affordable housing issue is different, and tends to be much more politically charged than that of homelessness.  Almost every mayor, city council member, county supervisor and other politician at the local level has ...

Credit scores are important determinants of an individual's ability to obtain credit, and to borrow at a reasonable cost.  Everyone is entitled to a free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) once every 12 months. The lesson to be learned from this issue is that everyone should scrutinize their credit scores regularly because they are important, and they are not always accurate.  Read on. On February 11, I purchased a used car (a pre-owned Genesis, because the state of California will not allow Genesis to sell new cars in California until certain permissions are yet to be obtained, permissions the dealership could/would not explain to me--but that's a different story). I financed part of the cost through a major credit union affiliated with the north county Hyundai dealership I had dealt with previously.  After waiting five minutes for the financing to be approved on-line, I was informed credit had been denied ...

I was shopping at a local Vons grocery store (Del Mar Heights Road, Del Mar, CA) yesterday, filling my cart after a week-long vacation in Cabo San Lucas. While near the back of the store my attention was drawn to a young man seemingly selecting grocery items almost at random.   His cart wasn’t quite half-filled, but what I noticed more than anything else was the speed at which he was shopping. He was wearing a large black backpack, though it was not a burden because it appeared to be empty. No more than five minutes later I crossed paths with him again. This time he no longer had a shopping cart but his backpack was bulging at the seams. We were still near the back of the store, and I knew from prior visits that the men’s restroom was located well back into the storage room/freezer area.   A prominently displayed sign told shoppers not to take items with them into the restroom but there were no employees around and apparently no security cameras either. I walked quickl...