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Lies, Damn Lies and Rigged Markets
Lies, Damn Lies and Rigged Markets
By
Cognitive Dissonance
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It has been fascinating to watch Michael Lewis and the Flash Boys spread the shocking truth that the stock markets are rigged……rigged I tell you. One need only watch the video of author Michael Lewis’s, IEX’s Brad Katsuyama’s and BATS Global Markets President William O’Brien’s recent CNBC Wrestlemania 666 to witness the hilarity as certain vested interests, such as the mainstream financial media and the BATS exchange, defend the indefensible all in the pursuit of the almighty buck.
And who could forget the cheers erupting from the NYSE floor as each ‘point’ was scored. I could almost hear Howard Cosell calling the blow by blow on national pay-per-view TV. “Down goes Frazier, down goes Frazier, down goes Frazier.” One always knows the position one will take when our paycheck and/or livelihood depends upon our position. Though in some cases we can signal otherwise, such as the floor traders cheering the ‘news’ even though they feed off the same money teat.
I like to play a game with my fellow shoppers while walking the aisles of our local grocery store. Mrs. Cog, at times a reluctant, at times an enthusiastic participant, usually plays the straight man in the verbal exchange. We roll up to a spot and either Mrs. Cog or I will grab an item off the shelf, always near someone else who is shopping or possibly an employee who is stocking shelves, and express shock at the high price. In my very loud out-loud voice I will proclaim, “But honey, the government says there is no inflation” making sure the sarcasm is dripping off every word.
Almost always there is some type of reaction, be it verbal such as a snort, a sigh, a chuckle or outright laugh. Or maybe something more subtle, such as a shift in their body language, a tilt of the head, the sideways movement of the body or the shifting of weight from one foot to the other. I usually take any and all of these clues as a sign to engage them in some sort of conversation. Rarely are Mrs. Cog and I surprised by what we hear from our hooked fish. It is nearly universally agreed upon that of course there is inflation, lots of inflation, and naturally the government is lying about it. It seems that nearly all the people we talk to hold a view very different from that of the supreme monetary authorities. When venturing into other subjects we discover similar results.
So why then are we so surprised when we are ‘informed’ of something we already know? Clearly most participants in the stock market suspect something is very wrong, though they might not know exactly what. The average ‘investor’ who has not already removed themselves from the market ‘playing field’ still play the field with the hope they might pick up some profitable crumbs. Many veterans already ‘play’ the waves in the market when the big boys jump in and splash about; picking up leftovers and spillage from the trough when the pigs have had their fill, plucking dimes from in front of the steamroller.
The answer for this behavior is so simple that many will be outraged by the answer in the same manner the BATS Global Markets President William O’Brien was outraged that someone would yell fire in the burning movie theater before he could extract his last pound of IPO flesh. We all participate in the collective lies because we all perceive we have something to gain in not fighting the collective lie. And that something might just be to avoid scrutiny and stay under cover while the wolves circle the flock looking for the injured and newly aware to pick off for a snack or early supper.
Bottom line…the more dependent we are upon something, anything, the more likely we are to enable and support that ‘thing’ regardless of the fact that it might no longer be supporting us in the manner it previously did and might actually be killing us. Once this realization is fully denied, usually by never acknowledging its existence as it applies to us personally, we can then all go about our life laughing or mocking whatever ‘it’ is because ‘it’ is no longer, or never was, perceived as directly harmful to us.
Thus the collective lie is seen for what it really is; a lie, while still being promoted and enabled by all of us as truth. When ‘the’ truth is finally spoken about the lie, we are all personally attacked because we enabled, no…we embodied the lie and thus we must all act in mock surprise and horror that we were lied to. The result is monumental hypocrisy by all parties involved, even the so called innocent bystanders and spectators, on par with the outrage expressed that there was actual gambling going on in Casablanca. The games people play.
This is how we all arrive at the theatre of the absurd, the CNBC Wrestlemania episode where everyone has a dog in the hunt and all are expressing their own conflicted point of view defined by their own set of standards and parameters. The apoplectic BATS O’Brien was in a near panic because someone with credibility had declared the market ‘rigged’. He was obsessed with the word ‘rigged’, as if to imply that any other word, such as damaged, faulty, glitchy, prone to errors, den of thieves, clusterf**k, anything would have been more acceptable than ‘rigged’. My God, to expose the market to be anything other than fair and balanced might just spook the sheep before they are fully fleeced.
There was the CNBC crew who, while anxiously trying to show they could remain impartial and ask reasonable and fair questions, were also as desperate as William O’Brien was to pull the wool back over the eyes of the un-sheared sheep. After all, if the markets were actually rigged where the hell has CNBC been all these years? Wasn’t their job supposed to be business reporters as opposed to what they have become, corporate PR repeaters and CON drum beaters? Sadly their credibility rested upon O’Brien’s shoulders and O’Brien was withering fast under the hot spot lights, spittle spouting from his Hollywood white teeth.
Then there was author Michael Lewis, who has single handedly slain many an ugly giant and was once again riding his prancing white horse to the rescue of us poor peons and wage slaves. Just buy the book Damnit, it’s all in there. While he pulls off in a convincing manner that he is genuinely and deeply concerned that the markets are rigged, something he didn’t fully understand until he researched the book, his mission now was to sell the book. Just buy the book Damnit. What I find so laughable is that the vast majority of people, including the people at Wrestlemania, have not read the damn book, yet everyone is arguing about its contents including me. Pure unadulterated absolute insanity.
Then we have IEX’s Brad Katsuyama, clearly scripted to be the ‘good’ guy here. After all he gave up a lucrative J.O.B. that paid him millions each year to win at playing the market. Don’t even think about losing in this rigged market when the algos know only one way…..up, for now at least. He left it all behind in order to strike out on his own and slay those big bad HFT algos.
Or at least to devise a work around, then gather capital and create his own exchange where those who want honest execution of their trades can bring their business to him. And doesn’t everyone want honest execution of their trades? Of course they do. Next problem…..carefully explain to EVERYONE that their trades aren’t being honestly executed where they presently trade. While he may be speaking truth, he was just as conflicted as everyone else in the room…..floor…..building……island.
While Brad also appeared sincere in his pronouncement that the markets were rigged, it was precisely this rigging that would enable his new exchange to be profitable. Without the general belief that the markets were rigged his exchange would be just like every other exchange out there. Actually it would be worse because his gizmo setup prevented him from charging the HFT crews for privileged access to front run the order flow if all else failed. Meaning that while he was calling the kettle black, his pot would not be the white knight if not for the black market. Be careful Brad, the FBI HFT investigation just might ruin your coming out party.
I suppose the cheers and chuckles coming from the NYSE exchange floor peanut gallery during this wrestling match were the most hypocritical of the bunch on a multiple of fronts. Most market ‘insiders’ are now aware that the NYSE exchange ‘floor’ is about as relevant as teats on a bull and remains a fixture of the ‘market’ for the same reason banks still retain brick and mortar store fronts for the public.
The floor brokers are there solely to provide the illusion that humans are still riding shotgun over the HFT herd, thus maintaining some sort of CONfidence that the market is still ‘there’ and not actually residing in some random access memory chip in a server farm in East Whateverford, NJ. I always laugh when I see the NASDAQ ‘market’ site located in Times Square, NY. It reminds me of those flashing lights placed on computers in movies since the 50’s. They help you to think there is humanlike activity going on in there. The comparison to WOPR of WarGames is too close for my comfort. Shall we play a game?
The NYSE understands the value of human capital grazing the ‘trading’ floor where floor brokers hurriedly poke at hand held computer devices as if executing critical trades that might just be my 6 shares of IBM crossing the tape now. All the while the HFT algos have scalped them six ways to Sunday on every frigging execution. Those good ole boys down there know their days are numbered and anything that can stave off the culling of the floor herd until early retirement kicks in is AOK by them.
I guess you could say they are the most honest amongst the bunch. They know where their bread is buttered and it sure isn’t in a ‘market’ server farm providing so called ‘liquidity’ and a natural human pause in the middle of market insanity. In an admittedly imperfect market system of yesteryear, the floor brokers were there to push back on market runs and to be a buyer or seller of last resort when no one else would stand up. You know, true liquidity as opposed to the fantasy HFT liquidity that amounts to a mere drop in the bucket when it’s really needed.
That is so old school in this brave new world. So when they were cheering on the idiocy of BATS O’Brien they were cheering their own book and being honest about it. You’ve got to love old school greed and conflict of interest worn right out in the open and on your sleeve. The buggy whip makers are pleading for a reprieve, or at least to be dealt back into the game for one more hand. And they might just get something out of this latest public ‘scandal’ unless the US government rushes in and throws a TARP over the entire mess under the cover of national security.
There are lies, there are damn lies and then there are rigged markets. I would suggest that there always were rigged markets….but at least it was Spy vs. Spy, human against human and the Earthlings had a fighting chance to steal with the best of them. Now with Artificial Intelligence (is it really artificial if it’s intelligent?) almost upon us we puny humans are just worried we might be dealt completely out of the hand. It’s the end of the world as we know it and I’m just fine. Cue the Terminating autonomous killer robots in 3……2…..1….
04-03-2014
Cognitive Dissonance
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Rule #1
If some big scandal is revealed in the mass media, it has an approval stamp and a hidden agenda.
Likely the facts are twisted or full of half truths and lies by omission. Don't be fooled otherwise.
In the end it does not matter, people will have masters that rule them one way or another, every revolution only prepares the way for new rulers who will turn out the same or worse.
The problem lies in the fact that the masses are to superficial, selfish and plain stupid to handle real freedom. The question is were they always? Or were they conditioned that way trough social engineering? (school, media, sports, film, TV, popculture,...)
Make no mistake, I love freedom, but freedom can also turn out into total chaos. Overpopulation is rapidly becoming a real problem..
"The world's current growth rate is about 1.3%, representing a doubling time of 54 years. We can expect the world's population of approximately 6 billion to become 12 billion by 2054 if the current rate of growth continues. The world's growth rate peaked in the 1960s at 2% and a doubling time of 35 years."
People seem to be doomed one way or another.
All of this can be traced back to the fear based "egoic" mind running the human show since the cerebral cortex evolved ( basically) into what it is today. Rational thinking, run by the ego, has created it's own destruction. So called "esoteric" mindfulness is sadly lacking in the balance of natural human existence. We put it back in the equation or we perish!
Everyone in the discussion including you right CD? I mean of course you are right about Brad. He is not pristine. Nobody is. But Brad is trying, in his own way, to create something where people will be better of for it. Of course Michael Lewis wants you to buy his book. But I have read several and am better off for it.
You have an article about these same rigged markets front and center on Zerohedge. Kudos to you. That is impressive. But tell me I am wrong when I say that the hope is people read it and end up on your new blog and they pay a fee (or get clicks like ZH or whatever the plan) to get access to your other stuff and both they, and you, are better off for it. Not much different than Brad. Nothing wrong with it imho. But we have to call a spade a spade for everyone right? Including me, and almost everyone else on here in some way.
I am absolutely a whore just like everyone else. I just do it with style.
/sarc
<And I do not allow advertising on my website either. So there.> :-p
As I have stated in many of my articles, as the world is presently constructed we are all whores and cannot exist without our hypocritical slip showing. As long as we are trapped in the money meme this is the case. This is by design my friend. I never claim to be holier than thou. I simply point out the Cognitive Dissonance in all of us and I always make sure to point out mine.
For example. From the article above.....
"What I find so laughable is that the vast majority of people, including the people at Wrestlemania, have not read the damn book, yet everyone is arguing about its contents including me. Pure unadulterated absolute insanity."
Now, just hold on a minute> I am pristine < and will continue to be so.
Fair enough. I just think at some point if we are going to tear down this guy Brad and people like him..
" Then we have IEX’s Brad Katsuyama, clearly scripted to be the ‘good’ guy here. After all he gave up a lucrative J.O.B. that paid him millions each year to win at playing the market. Don’t even think about losing in this rigged market when the algos know only one way…..up, for now at least. He left it all behind in order to strike out on his own and slay those big bad HFT algos.
Or at least to devise a work around, then gather capital and create his own exchange where those who want honest execution of their trades can bring their business to him"
Then we might as well start tearing each other apart and forget about civilization. Because last I checked ZH and WB7 and everyone else I see on here is in some way a for profit institution. So why does Brad get get one label and we on here declare this place the last bastion of truth? Tyler is a former trader if I remember correctly. Anyway all I mean is your saying that about Brad made me point out the hypocrisy I saw in this article, which you graciously admitted to. So in the end we get back to square one.
Maybe we are better off holding Brad up as an example of someone who is trying to do the right thing in the world as it is "presently constructed".
"Maybe we are better off holding Brad up as an example of someone who is trying to do the right thing in the world as it is "presently constructed"."
The problem with man made Gods and idols is that they are ultimately just as human as you and I. When we seek inspiration in others of this magnitude we most often tend to ignore their conflicts and foibles, thus setting them up for their own self destruction.
Why not just admit we are all flawed and work on our own issues by looking within. The reson every revolution always fails is because the premise that starts it is deeply flawed. That flawed premise is the idol we hold up to whorship and rally around.
Maybe we should try somethng different this time. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Been there, done that, am willing to try something different this time.
"Why not just admit we are all flawed and work on our own issues by looking within."
That is what Brad did, and Tyler etc. They did it within the system as it is presently constructed. I don't label Brad or anyone else a god. Maybe the media builds up these "gods and idols" but anyone who accepts that was never going to wake up to begin with. That is just how it is. So since I have zero control over the big picture, I just do the best to be a good person within the system. The other option is to move to Tiaga and live in a cabin, and I'd last 2 days at best.
So when you say "we should try somethng different this time" I am not really sure who you are referring to and what you are proposing.
I guess I'm missing something here. All I did in the article was point out Brads glaring conflict of interest. And the reason it was glaring was because nearly everywhere I read where the author was in agreement that the markets are rigged (including ZH) Brad was held up as pretty much the good guy, honest and full of integrity.
He may be all that. But he also has much to gain by calling the system rigged and nothing to gain if the system is 'fixed'. So in many ways he doesn't want the system 'fixed', he just wants the imbalance to be more obvious so others will flock to his new exchange. Why should I, or anyone else, venerate him when he doesn't actually want the system fixed because that would hurt him financially.
You could probably make the same exact case with ZH.
Tyler is doing better than ever right now, and the more michael snyder articles the better. Tyler is probably doing pretty damn good right now. Good for him. This is assuming he is still here, and did not sell and is sipping on a coctail in Bora Bora. So are we sure that Tyler wants the system fixed? Or just get a few more people clicking and reading?
As for fixed. I still don't understand what you mean by "the system" and "fixed". Are you talking about the market? Because the market is rigged on such a higher level that you can't fix it without vaporizing it.
If by "system" you mean we go back to the barter system where a person was only as good as their word and real productivity was rewarded etc. etc. I don't believe that utopia ever truly existed, and if it did, we are not getting back there without a reset that will be so massively awful that I would not trust people to be able to start over.
This guy was right. So do what he did. Laugh at it, and find a way to get by within it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07w9K2XR3f0
You could probably make the same exact case with ZH.
I couldn't agree with you more. Every rebel voice, every rebellion, contains its own seeds of destruction when it finally 'wins' and goes mainstream.
"This guy was right. So do what he did. Laugh at it, and find a way to get by within it."
I contend in article after article that "getting by' is the impetus for our inner insanity because we are not true to ourselves. Either we create our own reality or we live within, and go insane within, someone else's reality.
I do get your points here fonz. Ultimately you are not 'wrong' in your views. I simply wish to abandon the entire dialogue and try to understand why I am forever chasing the brass ring that is always just out of reach.
You wrote "I simply wish to [...] try to understand why I am forever chasing the brass ring that is always just out of reach."
Because there is no ring! You must unlearn what you have learned!
I was using a metaphor to explain that I don't wish to play this game anymore because it ain't real. This is why I can never reach the brass ring. That is the grand illusion that keeps all of us spinning our wheels while never moving. Thus the reason I am seeking alternatives. And for me the place to begin is within, to attempt to understand the illusion so that I may see past it.
What I have found is that the illusion is many layers deep. So often we dig down a bit, find an 'alternative', and think we have struck Gold. But it is just another illusion already constructed for our eventual arrival. Been there, done that, want no part of it if I can help it.
BUT....while unlearning we all must still exist to some extent or another in this world. Thus the reason for my website, Two Ice Floes, to document and discuss how we can live in both worlds while we learn to discard some or all of this one.
Anyone who offers to fix something in return for some consideration knows damn well that if or when the problem is fixed, the job is finished. To the short-sighted, it appears that the repairman's success will put him out of business (this short-sightedness is widespread, especially in idiotic mid-level management). The confident repairman who trades on voluntary consent knows someone else will break something or he can always offer some other kind of value once the problem is fixed, and that being the one who fixed it might bring future opportunities. It's only those who get their money by force or who live off a con scheme who easily see that the best way to keep the income flowing is to make sure the problem never gets fixed. There's risk of backlash, but people love a comforting lie, so generally the nihilistic and avaricious do quite well, and don't seem to be the least concerned whether or not I hate them.
So I hope the guy makes money by offering to make fair trades (but I predict now that the system knows his scheme they will find a trivial way to defeat him), I hope the attention gets the problem fixed (but I think the big money doesn't want it fixed so I predict there will be a cosmetic adjustment and everything will be whitewashed away, another way to defeat him), and I hope he succeeds in whatever he does next after the problem is fixed (which might be managing a McDonalds after they get done with him).
Brad stuck his head out of the hole. Here comes the mallet to pound him back down again.
The other way he can survive is to become someone else's Muppet.
We are all Muppets or we are puppeteers in this reality. Someone stop this merry-go-round cus I want off.
TaxSlave pointed out exactly what I was getting ready to write.
So the really interesting point is
"does a person try to finish a job and make himself unnecessary at the same time, or does he strive to make a perpetual job out of it and himself as indispensable as possible?"
Now answer the question for politicians, bureaucrats in general, and various professions. The results are not good.
And what is the underlying intent?
Avoid adjustment. Avoid change by avoiding/blocking/undermining competition!
Because of fear.
And suddenly most little guys are on the same page as most rich, in that aspect!!!
I can write this because I overcame many of my fears.
I believe Brad also overcame a lot of fears and he is to be acknowledged at least for that.
There's no getting off the merry-go-round, might as well enjoy the ride. The delusions of others are good for amusement and knowledge of them is handy for sidestepping their clumsy manipulation attempts. As far as this reality goes, we survive by altering our environment, by creating the actual reality that suits our nature, and if we can get ourselves some happiness out of the deal, it's all good. The mass-produced reality churned out for mass consumption isn't that hard to leave behind, interaction with it will leave poop on your shoes that you have to constantly scrape off, but I prefer that to being the poop.
Edit: I hope he can grab some cash and duck fast enough to dodge the mallet.
Hmm ... the illusion is many layers deep, no dobt about that. But what if, just if, the illusion is all there is and ever will be?! You get my drift? It's turtles all the way down. What does separate an illusion from reality? Another illusion? It all derives from you, and that's to where it all will eventually return.
As for the ring:
One ring to rule them all
one ring to find 'em
one ring to bring them all
and in the darkness bind them
And your site, Two Ice Floes, is indeed nice, and I visit it from time to time, but I won't post there, just because I am not a native speaker of english. Here at ZH I post something from time to time, but that's different. You can, however feel free to use anything of interest I post for your icefloat, if you like to. If I can be of help with your site, let me know. But you seem to do fine, even without some Bearwagon's rambling ... ;-)
I love that you get it....as do many here on ZH. The art is in practicing it on a daily basis. I keep trying.
It is all an illusion. I suspect we are all just avatar's in Tyler's computer on Alpha Centauri. :)
But precisely because it is all an illusion I have the power to create my own. The problem is that I have been conditioned to believe that the present one, the place we call the real world, is all that there is.
Lies. All damn lies to convince me to transfer my energy, my essence, to the present day illusion to maintain and grow it. It is all a mind virus and I wish to find the inner peace and courage to remove it and make my own reality. This is why the only way out is to look within.
"I reject your reality and substitute my own. " George Costanza
Spot on. This is why I won't play the market anymore, even though I think I could still extract a few coins — it perpetuates the Illusion, not just the illusion proposed to be the "real world," but the illusion's power over my mind. I have always thought it was rigged and played anyway. Now all I do is pay the bills in my debt-free house and unidirectionally exchange fiat for metal from time to time. This is all I can do to "rage against the machine."
I bumped on this one.
The Fear Of Finding Truth For Yourself : http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/fear-finding-truth-you...I may not be wrong but i am sure as hell not right. I just don't see a way the system gets fixed (and like I said I have no idea what fixed is). None, and not without such a painful reset along the way that, outside of a few people living in huts in Tiaga, most others will wish we never tried.
That is the ultimate irony here. There is no way out. Not to link more Carlin, but as you have heard "we're goin away folks, and we won't leave much of a trace". That is why you just have to make your peace with things and surround yourself with good people and make the best of it. Sure you try to wake some people up in between fart jokes. But that's about it. Whatever all this is, it's bigger than us, and I am not religious. That is just reality.
Anyway I have to go pretend to work so people can pretend to pay me. Catch you later man.
Very nice response.
If I feel that I can do nothing to change everyone else, then it is wonderfully therapeutic to turn inward and work on the one thing I can change.......myself.
You are a good man Charlie Brown. I understand your frustration. I flirt with the same feelings of impotence on a daily basis. When I finally stopped trying to play God (well....almost stopped) and fix things external to me and began to work on me, myself and I, only then I begin to find some inner peace.
Doing so doesn't change a damn thing wrong with this world.......except me.
"Doing so doesn't change a damn thing wrong with this world.......except me."
Do not underestimate the effect of your efforts on the collective.
It needs to burn.
And it is going to burn, right to the foundations, and probably won't mess around much or waste our time on the way there.
As you well know I've had a lot of fun with my fictional characters Diamond and Fortran. I will confess it is because they happily -- even, playfully -- embrace a healthy kind of devouring, soul-destroying annihilation. If it is all going to burn then it may as well be a bonfire party. A party with sexy bitches and plenty to eat and endless screaming and running every direction in terror and ...
Wait ... suddenly that doesn't sound so great.
Maybe I should find some different kinds of friends.
Nah, the markets were always rigged all the way back to the days of Jesse Livermore. Who needs markets? Bring back the bucket shops!
Keep going, don't stop at Livermore...
I agree. Markets don't move, they are moved. Always has and always will be.
this is a good piece cog. i recall mcluhans response to the charles van dornen scandal in the TV gameshow the 64K question, (many years ago) the producers had given him the answers (just as they rig these game shows today) mcluhan said "its entertainment, what do you expect?" to paraphrase. and to that we can now add ALL of professional sports and most of the news, including GEOPOLITICAL CONFLICT (as long as its managed according to the mass audience) now i know some people are saying WELL PROVE IT, but of course the way its manipulated is more symbolic than direct. (if i want you to win a game show i can SUGGEST certain items which will come up in the final answers, just as most answers have a clue inside them - Jeopordy) its a long and intersting study, particularily how the public first votes for a president, (on hope and change) and later loses faith, and comes to despise him in his or her second term, despite the margin of victory in the reelection. the american people are being played like a piano, by the marketing gurus. despite the efforts to alter the views of the mass audience, people continue to stick to old habits, and die by them. its sad. obama was elected on a retro 60s platform, but in reality he is just another millenial power broker.sad sad sad
We are being entertained to death. Kill your TV.
It's not much but it's a start. After about 10 years without your head will start to clear.
TV is already being killed. We are playing on the new interactive version as I speak ( type)!
".....but of course the way its manipulated is more symbolic than direct."
A very astute observation. The symbols are almost always much more important than the actual item itself. Symbols speak to the sub-conscious mind, the direct path to control.
Symbol maintenance and preparation of the mind for reverence of them has always been one of the most important expenditures of any government. (Businesses ride along, if they know how.)
Snow, snow and wind and then more snow here in MN. The winter just will not end here. In one hour and 39 minutes I will turn 40 years old. I have never seen anything like this last winter in my life. I have broken pipes all over the place. We are talking broken washing machine, dishwasher, toilet, hot water heater and all the fixtures in the sinks. My nightmare will not end. Now 18 inches of really wet heavy snow tonight and tomorrow for here? We are talking about breaking roof trusses now.
I have never seen anything like this in my life and it's not like I am doing an investment on real estate. I am trying to clear out my Mom's estate. Mom and Dad are dead and gone. I did not get the life insurance money. I spent my own money on everything from gas, electric and insurance and then relisted the place for sale. Now, I am really fucked. Now I have to play the insurance game again. I'm am not sure about the furnace going out stuff because it was overwhelmed by snow because it was a "high efficiency furnace" but I read the policy and I should be covered. Here I are again. Has anyone been through this before? I have exterior guys who know how that works but interior is different and we won't know the extent of damge is until we thaw out.
There was really no way to stop this from happening. What is the extent of the damage? I do not even know. It makes it very hard to be a creative writer... let's put it that way.
I'd get some kerosene (indoor rated, beige floor-type) heaters and crank those up after shutting off the water main at the service entry to the house. Those indoor heaters crank some serious BTUs.
As far as water, usually the first thing that is going to freeze are the outside spigots for hoses (from conduction). Those are easily replaced. If you've got lines broken in indoor fixtures, it could be more complicated. Making an assumption that you've got old style copper pipe and fittings; those typically are more resilient than the newer coiled stuff. You won't really know until you get the house warmed up, turn the water back on and see if you've got issues. If the basement piping is exposed, I'd check that first. pinhole leaks may be an issue. Just do a thorough inspection of what is exposed. Look for wet spots on the wet walls, or in the basement where your floor penetrations are that feed your faucets. The water will drip down the pipe usually and give you a good idea what the problem is.
Oh, and if you can, get on the roof and scoop the snow off. Crampons might be a good plan, or use a really long stick attached to a floor broom to scoop it off.
I've never personally been through that Manipulflation but I've had a master pipefitter license for many years and tens of thousands on no heat calls under my belt. (Including many frozen pipes) If you have any specific questions I'll be glad to try and answer them.
Happy Birthday to you.
"It makes it very hard to be a creative writer... let's put it that way."
It sounds like the crash is hitting you in the belly. Sorry to hear that. This winter has been brutal all around. Mrs. Cog reminds me that it's only a crash when it hits you or me, otherwise it's just a crumble.
I suspect your trials and tribulations will make for an even better creatively written story. Keep all of us here on ZH informed of the ongoing rebuilding process Manipuflation.
Sorry to hear that Manipuflation.
Forsythia blooming in the Intermountain West so your Spring can't be far off.
Older house in MN? The trusses should be fine - they built for those kinds of Winters.
We're going through a cyclical shift of the jet stream, not global warming or climate change.
Winter on the east coast back in '87 and '88 was this way if I recall right, the pendulum swings.
If you can't be at the Parents house all the time set up a couple oil filled radiator heaters set on high and thermostat to 55 degrees; if the gas fails those will kick in and should prevent pipes inside from bursting (leave doors between floors and rooms open and of course nothing flammable near the heaters).
If the insurance company jerks you around and you're looking at $20,000 in repairs spend $2,000 on a mean Jewish lawyer.
Hang in there, Spring is buying season and Old Yeller won't raise rates until 2015 at the earliest, if ever.
Thank you all for understanding and offering help. This is why I like Banzai and Cog. They have heart in what they do and so do most of the people who post under their articles. Right now I have lost my heart. It is the worst feeling ever. I feel like I am building Pink Floyd's wall but I know can't do that. I see it affecting what I write. How can it all be described? I would have tell a really long story and I am not sure if anyone is interested in hearing it. I think we all go this sort of thing in our lives. Why would my story be any different?
Hitting 40 years of age has taught me that you DO need other people and that we need to cooperate with each other rather than try to rip one another off. Sometimes it seems to me that we act like children even when we are adults.
I will tell you a short and true story. One day about a year and a half ago, I was coming home from work and there is famous corner in St Cloud where panhandlers hang out begging for whatever. It is usually the same folks so you get the idea. One day, it was a younger family with two children standing on the corner with a sign that read, "Stranded, Please Help." I had never seen these folks before. They looked a bit disheveled. They were not professional beggars but I drove by anyway in my cynical own way but then my conscience started to bother me so I turned around and went back.
I pulled up near them and motioned them over. The wife came over. I had to ask what the problem was. Of course they had run out of money. They were clearly not from here. The husband had gotten a job on the Bakken oil fields but they ran out money trying to get there. We had a quite a conversation. I had to ask a lot of questions. They were headed to Fargo where they could catch a ride to the worksite. I asked how much money they needed and they had some cash. I said that I will pay the difference so let's go and we went the Greyhound bus station and I did pay the difference.
They didn't even know my name but they thanked me profusely. I told them to forget about it. I have never seen them back here. I have no idea who they were but I did that. I am not a religion freak or anything like that but it was the right thing to do. I did something similar in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2003 in front of a church that we going to go visit. There was ostensibly a veteran there in a wheel chair. I don't know what happened to him exactly but he was short a couple of legs. I stopped and gave him four U.S. one dollar bills because that was all the one dollar bills I had. Mrs. M, who was Ms. S at that time, asked me if I was an idiot. She said, "Don't give them any money because they will only ask for more."
I don't like when I see people hurting. My socialism, if you could call it that, should be based upon my own option. Help should be given because you have a heart and not a government diktat. Some folks say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Yes, it is if the government is involved. It is not that way if you do it on your own. Sometimes you need some help back and I hate to ask for it, but I will need it this time.
As far as how much damage has been done? I have a friend who is a plumber and he went over and checked it out and said it is not good. He found six blown pipes on a cursory inspection. He said it is not good. You can bet I have blown pipes in the walls as well. Now we are talking drywall issues. What do you do? This winter will not end. What is the point in trying to fix it now with propane prices where they are? Pretty much everything is broken now. There is no point in trying to fix it just yet when you do not know the extent of the damage. This winter just will not stop. Yes, it is copper in that house. That's both good and bad at the same time.
we are here in overwarm socal and the last storm our palm tree snapped and hit the house. broke the facia, and crimped a solar panel. i cannot get anyone to even come look at it. what the hell is going on, all i can say is get yourself a woodstove, and learn to split wood, and if you want to write, get a coleman lantern and a royal typewriter. i am not being facetious, it just seems this is where we are going
good idea, Grateful Unemployed. And for everyone tired of splitting wood, look into making your own rocket-mass heater.
It's more "the rigging" than the fact that they are "rigged."
It sounds like a superficial distinction but if true it is not as it goes right to the heart of market integrity (can't trust the market counterparty...the Government is your only intermediary) and the problem of "trust."
I think this HFT crap goes a LONG way towards explaining why there is no economic recovery.
In effect Wall Street is ACKNOWLEDGING they're nothing more than a criminal syndicate. "Who would want to loan money into that?"...let alone turn around and lend it out again.
I think what makes this even worse is that things really are worse in Europe and Japan...and China, and Russia, and Brazil...and on...and on...and on....and on.
I mean seriously...these people are total pond scum and should be phucked by Donkeys.
REPEATEDLY.
These moneychangers really are moneychangers!
Jesus is coming assholes.
He's tired of the phucking BULLSHIT.
Jesus is Not Coming with Flowers and Candy..
He is going to Have a Freekign Sword in His Hand..
and you can down vote me all you want
and no didn't for get the sarc tag.
Jesus is only coming when YOU get out of his way.... as in free your mind!
Disabledvet, did you happen to look at the debt clock in that very long comment above?
If you did you'd see that the US citizens per person portion of the national debt is $42,299.60 and that the debt is 82% of GDP.
On the other hand a Russian citizens portion of their national debt is 1,404.26 and their debt is 8.1% of GDP
See what happens when American exceptionalism is taken for granted. I'd hardly say Russia is worse off.
"I mean seriously...these people are total pond scum and should be phucked by Donkeys."
In defense of some very nice Donkey's we pass nearly every day that we leave the homestead to visit civilization........I resemble resent that. :)
Christ and they are already in a FEMA camp?!?
What makes you think they're looking out and not gazing in?
"Inside Looking Out": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZM25ZG6ZZU