A couple of weeks ago J and I visited the National Gallery of Art, I was moving through at a leisurely pace, meaning I was about two rooms ahead of J, so I sat down for a couple of minutes to let him catch up. I looked around the room, saw the painting above and immediately though, "that is Salisbury Cathedral", the spire is unique. If I hadn't traveled as much as I have, I probably wouldn't have recognized the feature in this English Landscape. We stayed at a small hotel next to the Cricket Field in Salisbury, taking the local bus out to Stonehenge the next morning. It was out first trip to England together. The Cathedral has an original of the Magna Carta, at the time we were there (over 25 years ago) it was in a side chapel, in a plywood box, with a plastic cover with a simple hasp and padlock. This was a few years before another copy sold for tens-of-millions of pounds. The Salisbury Magna Carta toured the United States about a decade ago, I saw it in a museum, in a bullet proof case with inch thick glass protecting it.
Travel changes us, we learn, we see, we observe.
I was on a call recently and someone remarked about "unprecedented, record high interest rates." I started to chuckle, and had to say. "I bought my first home in 1982, at a bargain first time home buyer discount interest rate of 13.5%, I am amused by people being baffled by 7% 30 year fixed rate mortgages." One of the other people on the call added, she graduated from law school in 1982, and her student loans were at 12%. I am surprised by how short people's memories are, how little they know about the economic history of the country and the world. These are good times, we have survived and thrived through much more challenging times. The anomaly was really the extremely low interest rates of the past decade.
When did you buy your first home?
I had to have my dipstick replaced. The handle broke off. A replacement as ordered, came in overnight, and was changed out within minutes the next morning. When I told J I was headed out to have my dipstick replaced, he had a much need laugh.
How is your dipstick doing?
I think we've seen Salisbury Cathedral but I can't remember. It is a lovely painting. England I believe has changed to summer time and I saw a photo of machinery at Stonehenge moving rocks to adjust the time.
ReplyDeleteWow, I've never had a broken dipstick but I did come close once by someone else's lack of dipstick knowledge.
17.5% interest we were paying on our mortgage in the early 1990s, and it was hurting, but decent housing now costs so much more compared to back then as a percentage of your income.
My kitchen remodel cost o=more than that first house,
DeleteThe interest rate on our first home was 16% for a 30-year fixed in 1982. Back then the housing inventory was high and real estate prices weren't inflated like they are today. I think the "shock" of 7% interest rates is wearing off but housing prices aren't coming down.
ReplyDeleteI client close one time at 18%,
DeleteWhen I started paying back my student loans in the early 1980s, the interest rate was nearly 16%. It was like financing my education on a credit card. Still worth it, though! Yes, we've had freakishly low interest rates for so long now by comparison.
ReplyDeleteI paid for my BA as I went to school, law school was the late 90's and interest rates were around 5%.
DeleteI think I will keep the state of my dipstick to myself, thankyouverymuch! 😁
ReplyDeleteBought my first home in the last century and after meeting Carlos I had a renter move in, who stayed for many years paying the mortgage and a bit more in rent. When I sold it finally it hit me that i could have bought six more of those houses for what i sold it for. California real estate! Oy!
I have a friend who started buying rental property about the time I started law school. He retired before I did. Not that it wasn't a lot of work, but the renters paid off the mortgages on about 30 homes for him. He is in the process of selling them all and banking the cash.
DeleteI agree...each time I take a trip...it someone builds upon me and my memories and each place adds something to your make up.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile , hope your enjoying your new dip stick!
It is orange
DeleteI'm afraid my dipstick might be the next thing to break.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a good subject. Our short memories are probably the reason why history keeps repeating itself. I remember all kinds of past economic problems. I also remember when we couldn't get gas for our cars and had to wait in very long lines only to have it run out before we got to the pump.
I bought my first car, just as gas prices were going above $1
DeleteMy dipstick is doing just fine. At least that's what he told me.
ReplyDeleteSafer to take his word for it than to ask for proof
Deletep.s. I forgot to mention, I loved visiting the Salisbury Cathedral. It was very impressive and of course Stonehenge is magical.
ReplyDeleteThat was a memorable trip, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Bath, and my great grandmother's birth place in Swansea, Wales.
DeleteOur first house was purchased in 1978/9 and during the later part of that year and the mid 1980's (before the late 80's stock market crash and recession in Great Britain) the mortgage interest rate topped out at 15%. Inflation rates were so high that the government at the time imposed national pay rises and all companies and employers had to increase their workers pay. I can remember at one time we were getting a pay rise every week, this was the era of weekly pay in cash in a little brown envelope.
ReplyDeleteJane in England
And now you can't even get a paper check from most employers.
DeleteMy first house was an adjustable rate mortgage. I think it was something like 18%, but maybe I am not remembering correctly. I was in the mid 80s.
ReplyDeleteRates flirted with those lofty highs, I had one adjustable - my ex refinanced after our freedom pact.
DeleteOur first house purchase is a blur...I don't remember our rates but I know we were mortgage poor and in over our heads and sold it two years after we purchased it. Our current home was purchased in 2012 at a really good 30 year fixed interest rate which is allowing us to pay off our mortgage sooner. Woohoo. yes, things have been better, but they've also been worse.
ReplyDeleteSassybear
https://idleeyesandadormy.com/
Happiness is the last mortgage payment.
DeleteI haven't checked my dipstick in . . years(?). Do I still have to?
ReplyDeleteI am not sure I know how to raise the hood.
DeleteMy dipstick in in robust working order and I regularly pull it out, check it and push it back in again. I was 28 when we bought our first house back in 1981. It cost us £15,250 or $19420 US. I believe the mortgage interest rate at that time was14%.
ReplyDelete