Shaken Up But Ok...

I am sure you know by now. There's a 5.6 or 5.8 earthquake here, centered in Chino Hills which is about 15-20 miles from where I am.


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It started out with two bumps, up and down, followed by horizontal motion. At first I thought there was a truck driving by but when the ground start shaking I realized it's an earthquake. I crawled under my desk thinking I'd got no chance trying to run the length of the warehouse if the building were to come down. Thank God the shaking stop seconds after it started.

This is the strongest earthquake I felt since the Northridge Quake about 15 years ago. However, this one didn't feel as long as Northridge. Maybe today's happened in daylight vs. Northridge was very early in the morning...

We experience no power outage nor interruption with internet service. Cell phones were not working but I think it's because the circuits were jammed by everyone trying to make a call. Text message didn't seem to work either. However, my Blackberry text service were working fine as I was able to communicate with family in New York.

My co-worker lives in Chino Hills. I hope and pray everything is ok for everyone.

Will You Pay to Get Home Sooner?

There is a proposal called "Congestion Pricing" from our transportation agencies to turn the HOV Lanes into Toll Lanes. I was going to blog about it. TheRealZajac did an excellent job articulating the issue over at the Foothill Cities Blog. You can read about it it here.

Regional traffic issues are complex. But one thing is clear, if you want less traffic on the highways, offer alternative modes of transportation which will get us out of our cars.... How about extending the Gold Line eastward?? Many who work in Downtown LA will be glad to give up their cars and ride the train to work and home.

It's Not My Fault!.... Oh, Really??

More on IndyMac....

Chuck Schumer said on Sunday, "Don't blame me for calling 911..." Yeah right... It's not certain that whether IndyMac' would have faced the same fate had Chucky not write that public letter to the Feds. One thing for sure, Chucky's letter destroyed however little confidence the depositors have. YEA, CONFIDENCE ......Bush was talking about it this morning...

My friend, after finding out the bank's take over by the Feds, waited in line at 4am Monday morning....got all his deposits out...

IndyMac Bank was brought down by the the mortgage crisis. Here's some thought....

"Stated Income Loan" = LIE about your income
"No Doc Loan" = LIE about everything

Where's the regulators when this was going on? The Feds say they are on it now. Better late than never...

But, where did all that $$$ go? Who gets all the $$$. Any form of government rescue/bailout means us tax payers are left holding the beg!

Oh NO! Feds take over IndyMac Bank

Wow, this is major. I never thought this would ever happen again after the Savings & Loans failures of the 80's.

Pasadena Star News is reporting the Feds take control of IndyMac Bank.

My home mortgage is with IndyMac Bank. No, it's not an ARM which would have cost me an arm and a leg, it's a conventional 30 year mortgage. What happen today will not change anything according to my agreement with the Bank.

You $ is safe up to $100,000...

here's a blurb from a friend who went to an IMB branch this afternoon,

"The Feds took over Indy Mac this afternoon and all their branches are closed. The new name is Indy Mac Fed and they will re-open next Monday normal hours. I imagine there will be long lines. I went to the one in MP Atlantic Square and there was a traffic jam and people milling around"

Here's more information from FIDC.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!