Um, I can see why someone would compare Purim to Halloween -- the secular celebrations look pretty similar, what with the costumes and parties and all.

What secular celebrations of Purim?

Speaking of Easter and calendars, this is the first and only time in my life that my birthday is on Easter! I remembered it being on Good Friday a few times, but never Easter, and I was right. The last time Easter was on 3/23 was 1918, and the next time isn't until 2228.

Speaking of Easter and calendars, this is the first and only time in my life that my birthday is on Easter!

Yay!

When I was a kid, I went through all the tables of dates and whatnot, and was bummed to discover my birthday would never be on Easter....

I thought it was cool to have a holiday depend on the phases of the moon to determine what day it was on... maybe I should have been Jewish....

Captain, I'm sensing a great deal of hostility coming from the shriftian.

Red Alert! Shields up! All power to the phasers!

What secular celebrations of Purim?

I mostly mean the costume party part. Am I wrong?

Red Alert! Shields up! All power to the phasers!

"Captain, the shriftian says we will be assimilated."

"That is so stupid. Don't make me come over there and choke you."

"See! It's happening already!"

I've never been to a Purim "party" that wasn't held at the synagogue as part of the Purim service.

But the risk with an ARM is that a loan you can comfortably afford can turn into one you can't pretty much overnight if the market doesn't go your way when your introductory low-interest period expires.

Ah. I figured there would be differences other than laxer eligibility requirements. (Though I think it's pretty darn easy to get a mortgage here.) We don't get "introductory low-interest" on a variable rate mortgage. We just get a lower rate than is offered on a fixed mortgage.

Expecting people to think, "Well, suppose something happens and we don't move, or we move in four years, at a time when the market is down. and the house stays on the market for two years" is asking a bit much of the crystal ball.

You don't think that some people did think that?

I don't know--I guess I'm just scared of the big numbers. I had a good income when I moved here, and worked for a huge lender, and was urged to buy while the rates were low, and there was nothing I could do with the numbers that made it look sensible.

But I'm not heaping contempt on people who did get in over their heads. I just want to see the lenders' game.

Also, a lot of people did "no doc" loans, which bothered me when my broker suggested it. Of course, he also wanted to go with Countrywide, which doesn't surprise me in light of their current issues.